SYNONYMS    DISCRIMINATED. 


SYNONYMS  DISCRIMINATED 

A   DICTIONARY   OF 

SYNONYMOUS   WORDS   IN   THE   ENGLISH 

LANGUAGE 

ILLUSTRATED   WITH    QUOTATIONS    FROM    STANDARD 
WRITERS 

b;  thk  latb 

CHARLES  JOHN   SMITH,   M.A. 

'SMRIST  CHURCH,   OXFORD;    LATK   ARCHDEACON   OF   JAMAICA,    AND   VICAR   OF    KKITH 

WITH    THE    author's    LATEST    CORRECTIONS    AND   ADDITIONS 
EDITKD   BY 

THE    REV.  H.   PERCY   SMITH,    M.A. 

OF   BALLIOL  COLUIGE,   OXFORD;     VICaR   OF   «RKAT   BARTON,  8UFFOLB 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND   COMPANY 

1911 


CHISWlCK'PRE^:\^HiV^Li^W«ITTINGHAM  AND  CO. 
>      ,  TOQKS,  COURT,  CHANCeW  LANE,  LONDON. 


A. 


SYNONYMS  DISCEIMINATED. 


ABANDON.  Forsake.  Deseut. 
RiLINQUISH. 

The  etymological  force  of  Abandon 
(Fr.  abandoniier,  a  baiidon,  at  liberty; 
feudal  Lat.  bandian,  an  order y  decree; 
see  Brachet)  has  well-nigh  disap- 
peared from  this  word.  To  embandon 
or  abandon  was,  primarily,  to  bring 
under  the  power  of  another ;  and  as 
this  would  imply  the  surrender  of  all 
control  on  the  part  of  the  original  pos- 
sessor, it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  con- 
sequential idea  has  in  modern  English 
become  the  primary,  and  then  the  ex- 
clusive, meaning.  To  abandon  is  now, 
in  the  most  comprehensive  sense,  to 
give  upjinally  and  abso lute ly,  whether 
with  or  without  transference  of  the 
thing  abandoned  to  some  person  or 
power  external  to  ourselves.  A  ti-ace 
of  the  old  meaning,  that  of  placing 
beyond  jurisdiction  and  so  disclaiming 
possession,  appears  in  Shakespeare  : 
"  Madam  wife,  they  say   that  I   have 

dreamed 
And  slept  alone  some  fifteen  years  or  more. 
Lady.   Aye,  and  the  time  seems  thirty 

unto  me. 
Being  all  this  time  abandoned  from  your 

bed." 

Spenser  used  the  form  aband. 

No  praise  or  blame  is  absolutely  ex- 
pressed by  the  term  abandon,  which 
is  one  of  the  widest  in  the  language, 
though  it  has  a  tendency  to  imply 
blanie  when  used  of  persons  without 
qualification.  So  to  abandon  friends 
sounds  blame-worthy,  because  under 
this  simple  expression  the  mind  con- 
templates nothing  but  a  deserted 
friendship.  Yet  it  is  right  to  abandon 
friends,  if  they  betake  themselves  to 
what  is  dishonest  or  disgraceful. 
We  may  abandon  persons  or  things  ; 
in  particular,  places,  positions,  ideas. 


opinions,  hopes,  expectations,  offices, 
possessions,  good  or  evil  habits,  as  the 
case  may  be.  But  that  which  is 
abandoned  is  always  a  thing  of  con- 
sideration, not  a  thing  of  little  value 
or  a  matter  of  petty  detail.  We  may 
abandon  wealtn,  but  not  a  purse. 
Where  loss  or  injury  is  entailed  on 
the  person  abandoned,  or  the  abandon- 
ment is  a  dereliction  of  duty,  this 
moral  colouring  belongs  not  to  the 
force  of  the  term,  which  is  essentially 
no  more  than  that  of  Jinal  leaving  or 
surrender^  but  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  case.  It  is  only  when  all  efforts 
to  save  his  ship  are  hopeless  that  the 
captain  abandons  her  to  the  rocks  and 
waves.  In  times  of  early  Christianity 
men  were  called  upon  to  abandon 
houses,  lands,  and  relatives  in  such 
a  way  as  would  be  now  n:,t  only  un- 
called for,  but  an  unjustifiable  deser- 
tion of  them.  We  may  observe  that  a 
twofold  idea  seems  inherent  in  abnn- 
donment.  We  may  abandon  directly 
or  indirectly,  either  by  actively  trans- 
ferring, or  by  avoiding  and  taking 
ourselves  off.  I'he  former  force  was 
the  predominant  in  the  old  English, 
the  latter  in  the  new. 

"  See  how  he  lies  at  random  carelessly  dif- 
fused 
As  one  past  hope  abandoned, 
And  by  himself  given  o'er."        Milton. 

Forsake  is  the  A.  S.  for-sacan, 
meaning  orig.  to  oppose,  object  (Bos- 
worth).  In  usage  it  implies  some 
degree  of  antecedent  habituation  or 
association  which  is  given  up.  We 
forsake  relatives  to  whom  we  were 
naturally  bound,  friends  with  whom 
we  once  associated,  habits  which  we 
had  contracted,  opinions  which  we 
had  entertained,  places  which  we  used 


252725 


*t45  frequent*  *TBe  cau'se  of  forsaking 
is  altered  taste  or  habit,  variation  ot 
custom,  alienated,  or  abated  attach- 
ment. So,  rhetorically,  "  the  blood 
forsook  liis  cheek,"  that  is,  left  its 
wonted  jilace.  The  term  does  not  go 
beyond  this  breaking  off  of  previous 
habit  or  association,  the  makmg  that 
a  matter  of  neglect  or  avoidance  which 
before  was  matter  of  inclination  and 
seeking;  and,  like  abandon,  implies 
in  itself  neither  praise  nor  blame, 
which  depend  on  the  circumstances  of 
the  forsaking.  Inasmuch  as  there  is 
implied  in  forsake  a  former  personal 
connexion  witli  ourselves,  we  are  not 
paid  to  forsake  abstract  forms  of  good. 
We  forsake  houses,  lands,  friends, 
possessions,  not  wealtli,  station,  or 
rank.  These  we  are  said  to  abandon 
or  renounce.  Persons  on  being  for- 
saken by  those  who  once  loved  them 
have  sometimes  abandoned  themselves 
to  despair. 

"  For  wele  or  wo  she  nill  him  noiforsake," 
Chauceb. 
To  Desert  (Lat.  dish-ae ;  to  for- 
sake or  abandon ;  de  and  severe,  to  join 
or  bind  together,  as  opposed  to  asserere, 
to  fasten — fasten  hand  to  hand  and  so 
assert  a  claim)  is  applicable  to  per- 
sons, places,  causes,  principles,  or  un- 
dertakings in  conjunction  with  others. 
^Ve  abandon  but  do  not  desert  efforts 
or  undertakings  which  are  purely  our 
own,  and  in  which  we  owe  no  obliga- 
tion or  allegiance  to  others.  The 
term  desert  always  implies  blame 
except  when  used  of  localities.  To 
desert  a  person,  a  principle,  or  a  cause, 
e.g.,  is  by  the  force  of  the  term  blame- 
worthy ;  for  it  involves  the  abandon- 
ment of  sympathy,  help,  countenance, 
protection,  effort,  where  these  were 
our  bounden  duty,  and  where  the 
contrary  involves  a  breach  of  trust, 
fidelity,  honor,  or  natural  obligation. 
Not  so  to  desert  a  locality,  which  may 
be  indifferent,  justifiable,  or  com- 
pulsory. It  was  from  overlooking 
the  fact  that  pbces  might  be  deserted 
that  some  have  laid  it  down  that  all 
desertion  is  disgraceful.  "  A  deserted 
fortress,"  a  "  dosertcd  village."  On 
the  other  hand  it  is  opprobrious  in  the 
following,  where  the  word  laud  meaiif 
more  than  locality: — 


SYNONYMS  [abandon] 

"  No  more  ex,  ises  or  delays,     I  stand 
In  arms,  prepared  to  combat  hand  to  nand. 
The  base  deserter  of  his  native  land." 

Dryden. 
Like  forsake,  desert  implies  some  de- 
gree of  previous  habituation  and 
association,  but  the  bond  broken  in 
forsaking  is  that  of  attachment,  in 
deserting  duty;  hence  we  are  not 
said  to  desert  what  there  was  no  moral 
obligation  to  adhere  to,  as,  e.g.^  a 
statement,  an  expression,  or  a  mere 
opinion;  but  principles  which  we 
weie  bound  to  support  as  being 
pledged  to  maintain  them.  Desertion 
involves  tlie  withdrawal  of  active  co- 
operation, forsaking  of  sympathetic 
association.  Desert  is  more  purely 
voluntary  than  forsake.  We  may  for- 
sake under  a  feeling  of  imperative 
duty,  our  inclinations  giving  way  to 
motives  which  our  reason  dares  not 
discard ;  but  we  desert  when  we  dis- 
like our  duty,  or  are  prevailed  upon  by 
some  external  preference  or  allure- 
ment to  escape  from  it. 

To  Relinquish  (Lat.  rcl'mquere)  is 
to  give  up  under  some  influence, 
power,  or  physical  compulsion.  We 
relinquish  as  an  act  of  prudence,  judg- 
ment, or  necessity  that  which,  had  we 
been  left  to  ourselves,  we  should  have 
continued  to  hold.  The  act  of  relin- 
quishment may  of  coui-se  prove  sub- 
sequently to  have  been  necessary  or 
unnecessary,  wise  or  unwise.  A 
wounded  hand  may  be  compelled  to 
relinquish  its  grasp.  In  matters  moral 
1  relinquish  my  scheme  on  finding  it 
impracticable,  or  my  opinion  on  find- 
ing it  untenable,  or  my  hope  on  find- 
ing it  vain.  Some  degree  of  previous 
struggle  with  ourselves  is  gone 
through  before  we  finally  resolve  to 
rehnquish,  or  some  external  influence 
is  brought  to  bear  upon  us  which  in- 
duces us  to  do  so. 

"The  Disdaine  met  him,  and  brought 
to  him  from  her  Majesty  letters  of  revoca- 
tion with  commandment  to  relinquish  for 
his  own   part   the   intended   attempt."  — 

IlAKLUVT. 

It  may  be  observed  tliat  abandon  and 
desert  express  more  positive  acts  of 
the  mind  than  forsake  and  relinquish. 
He  who  abandons  has  finally  resolved, 
he  who  forsakes  has  undergone  change 
of  mind,  he  who  deserta  has  sacrificed 


[abandoned]         discriminated. 


principle  or  duty,  he  who  relinquishes 
has  ceased  to  hope  or  to  endeavour. 
As  the  others  are  applicable  both  to 
things  and  persons,  so  relinquish  be- 
longs to  things  alone.  In  troublous 
times  men  have  sought  to  preserve 
their  treasure  by  concealing  it  under 
the  earth  ;  if,  after  a  while,  it  should 
be  discovered  by  another,  the  law  will 
not  allow  him  to  assume  on  the  part 
of  the  original  owner  an  intention  to 
abandon  it.  Prosperity  quickly  raises 
about  us  a  crowd  of  flatterers,  who 
would  be  the  first  to  forsake  us  in  time 
of  adversity.  It  is  an  aggravation  of 
misfortune,  if  one  who  had  long  pro- 
fessed attachment  should  not  only 
capriciously  forsake  us  but  also  de- 
sert us  in  a  moment  of  difficulty  and 
danger.  How  often  do  we  engage 
ourselves  in  pursuits  which  bring  us 
far  more  anxiety  and  labour  than  profit 
or  pleasure,  which  yet  from  habit  or 
some  other  cause  we  cannot  persuade 
ourselves  to  relinquish. 

ABANDONED.  Profligate. 
Reprobate.  Unprincipled.  De- 
praved. 

Abandoned  (see  Abandon)  is 
strictly  a  part,  passive  of  the  verb 
abandon,  though  used  as  an  inde- 
pendent adj.  In  the  former  capacity 
It  follows,  of  course,  all  the  meanings 
of  its  verb.  As  an  adj.  it  has  the 
meaning  of  self-abandoned,  and  that  to 
vice;  for  the  ways  of  wickedness  are 
easy,  and  not  to  struggle  is  to  sink. 
It  is  used  of  persons  and  character, 
and  so,  by  association,  of  life  and  con- 
duct. It  is  a  voluntary  surrender  of 
self  to  the  temptation  of  self-indul- 
gence; self-control  and  the  estima- 
tion of  others  being  disregarded  and 
defied.  The  abandoned  man  is  em- 
phatically not  the  misguided,  seduced, 
or  overborne  man.  The  abandoned 
man  is  impatient  of  discipline  and 
even  of  reflexion ;  he  is  wanting  in 
virtuous  ambition  ;  he  is  without  as- 
piration, and  has  nothing  worthy  to 
6e  called  belief.  Pleasure  and  ease 
are  his  only  happiness,  and  all  else  is 
either  a  labour  or  a  dream.  His 
Social  nature  seeks  relief  in  the  com- 
panionship of  others  like  himself. 
T  his  systematic  character  renders  the 


tei-m  inapplicable  to  single  acts,  how- 
ever atrociously  bad. 

"  Nor  let  her  tempt  that  deep  nor  make  tht 

shore 
Where  our  abandoned  youth  8he  sees 
Shipwrecked  in  Inxnry  and  lost  in  ease." 
Prior. 

Reprobate  (Lat.  repr'dbalus,  tried 
and  rejected)  expresses  that  character 
in  which  a  course  of  self-abandonment 
to  vice  results ;  one  cast  away  with- 
out hope  of  recovery,  the  very  desire 
and  recognition  of  good  being  lost, 
all  repentance  cast  off,  the  bitter  be- 
coming sweet  and  the  light  darkness, 
by  a  confirmed  blunting  of  the  moral 
perception.  The  reprobate  is  regarded 
as  one  whom  it  would  be  fruitless  to 
attempt  to  reclaim.  This  state  the 
abandoned  may  not  yet  have  reached. 

"  And  strength  and  art  are  easily  outdone 
By  spirits  reprobate."  Milton. 

The  Profligate  man  (Lat.  projil- 
gave,  to  dash  down)  is  he  who  has 
thrown  away,  and  becomes  more  and 
more  ready  to  throw  away,  all  that  the 
good  and  wise  desire  to  retain,  as 
principle,  honour,  virtue,  possessions. 
Hence  it  follows  that  the  very  poor 
or  obscure  man,  though  he  might  be 
abandoned  and  even  reprobate,  could 
not  be  profligate.  For  profligacy  is  a 
vice  of  the  great,  the  powerful,  and 
the  rich.  We  speak  of  a  profligate 
monarch,  nobleman,  court,  ministry, 
aristocracy ;  of  a  corrupt  or  demora- 
lized, but  not  profligate,  peasantry. 
Profligacy  is  characterized  by  shanio- 
lessness  and  a  defiant  disregard  of 
morals.  The  old  physical  use  of  the 
term  has  disappeared,  as  in  Bishop 
Hall's  letter  to  the  Pope: — 

"  Is  it  for  thee  to  excite  Christian 
Princes,  already  too  much  gorged  with 
blood,  to  the  profligation  and  fearful 
slaughter  of  their  own  subjects  ?  " 

The  modern  use  of  it  appears  in  the 
following : — 

"  Hitherto  it  has  been  thought  the 
highest  pitch  of  profligacy  is  to  own  in- 
stead  of  concealing  crimes,  and  to  take 
pride  in  them  instead  of  beicg  ashamed  of 
them."— BoLUsaBROKE. 

The  Unprincipled  man  is  not 
necessarilv  abandoned  to  ways  of 
liceutioMS8elf-indulgence,orproflignte 
of  expenditure.  He  may,  in  the  atiairt 


SYNONYMS 


I  abase] 


of  sensual  enjoyment,  be  even  abste- 
miouB,  and  in  those  of  expenditure 
penurious.  But  as  the  abandoned 
man  sins  against  self-control  and  the 
profligate  against  sobriety,  so  the  un- 
principled against  justice  and  integ- 
rity. The  abandoned  man  injures 
himself  primarily  and  others  only 
indirectly ;  the  unprincipled  is  ready 
to  erect  his  own  interests  on  the  i"uins 
of  the  interests  of  others.  The  term 
unprincipled,  not  an  ancient  one  in 
our  language,  has  a  twofold  mean- 
ing ;  first,  wanting  in  good  principle, 
or  conspicuously  marked  by  an  absence 
of  it ;  in  which  sense  it  is,  negatively, 
applicable  to  acts,  plans,  or  proceed- 
ings ;  and  secondly,  not  acting  on 
good  principle  or  acting  upon  the 
contrary  toward  others  ;  in  which 
sense  it  is  applicable  to  persons  only. 
The  first  employment  appears  in  the 
following : — 

"Whilst  the  monarchies  subsisted  this 
unprincipled  cession  was  what  the  influence 
of  the  elder  branch  of  the  House  of  Bour- 
bon never  dared  to  attempt  on  the 
younger." — Burke. 

The  second  in  the  following : — 
"Others  betake  themselves  to  State 
fcffairs  '.Tith  souls  so  unprincipled  in  virtue 
and  true  generous  breeding,  that  flattery, 
and  courtships,  and  tyrannous  aphorisms 
appear  to  them  the  highest  points  of  wis- 
dom."—Milton. 

DEPnAVED  is  a  term  which  jioints 
to  external  circumstances  or  continued 
practices  which  have  gradually  per- 
verted the  nature.  (Lat.  depravcn-e, 
to  pervert,  d'niort.)  Depravity  is 
perversion  of  the  standard  of  right, 
and  the  term  is  employed  not  only  of 
morals,  but  also  of  manners,  taste,  and 
the  arts;  and  in  a  peculiar  physical 
sense  (which  however  is  technical) 
of  the  humours  of  the  body  ;  a  phrase 
which  illustrates  the  radical  meaning 
of  the  term,  corruptly  depai-ting  from 
a  state  of  wholesome  function.  De- 
pravity involves  the  substitution  of 
false  for  true  principles,  or  the  less 
worthy  for  the  more  worthy,  the 
pretentious  for  the  meritorious,  the 
showy  for  the  intrinsically  solid  and 
valuable,  the  meretricious  for  the 
chastt! ;  tliat  which  attracts  the  admi- 
ration of  the  ignorant  and  vulgar  for 
that   which    will     bear    the    test    of 


exact  criticism ;  a  conventional  stan- 
dard of  morality  for  the  true,  the  vir- 
tuous, and  the  right.  It  is  that  de- 
fective estimation  which  follows  the 
assumption  of  a  corrupt  test. 

"  When  Reason  and  understanding  are 
depraved,  and  as  far  corrupted  as  the  very 
passions  of  the  heart— when  then  the 
blind  lead  the  blind,  what  else  can  we  ex- 
pect than  that  both  fall  into  the  ditch  1  " — 
Sherlock. 

By  tlie  constant  keeping  of  evil 
company  a  man's  taste  and  character 
will  of  necessity  become  depraved. 
There  is  danger  that  he  may  grow  un- 
principled in  his  dealings,  that  he  may 
abandon  himself  to  allurements  and 
temptations,  that  he  may  go  on  to  ex- 
hibit an  open  proJ{ig::cy  of  conduct, 
and  finally  sink  into"  the  condition  of 
a  reprobate,  whom  conscience  ceases 
to  encourage  or  to  warn.  In  old 
English  the  verb  deprave  was  often 
used  in  the  sense  of  to  malign. 

ABASE.  Humble.  Degrade.  Dis- 
GiiACE.  Debase.  Humiliate.  Dis- 
honour. Depose.  Depress.  Lower. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  word 
abase  (Fr.  abaisser,  baSj  low)  was  used 
in  a  purely  physical  sense,  as  hy 
Shakespeare : — 

"  And  will  she  yet  abase  her  eyes  on 
me?" 

To  abase  is  now  only  applied  to 

f)ersons.  It  is  to  bring  low  or  to 
ower  in  such  a  way  as  that  the  per- 
son lowered  shall  be  deeply  conscious 
of  the  lowering.  But  this  is  not  of  ne- 
cessity on  account  of  great  guilt  or 
disgraceful  conduct.  That  of  which 
the  person  abased  is  primarily  con- 
scious is  unworthiness  in  reference  to 
others'  estimation  of  him  or  to  his 
own.  In  abasement  we  suffer  a  con- 
tradiction of,  or  voluntai'ily  forego,  as 
the  case  may  be,  our  own  peculiar 
pretensions.  It  may  even  be  merito- 
rious to  abase  or  humble  one's  self 
(of  these  two  abase  is  the  stronger 
term).  This  could  never  be  said 
of  degrade  or  disgrace.  The  penitent 
man  humbles  himself,  the  remorseful 
penitent  abases  himself.  In  either 
case  a  conquest  is  gained  over  pride, 
an-ogance,  or  self-will.  He  is  abased 
who  suffers  a  diminution  of  his  dig- 
nity, msrit,  or  repute. 


[abase] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


"  Absorbed  id  that  immensity  I  see. 

I  shrink  abased,  and  yet  aspire  to  Thee." 

COWPER. 

To  Humble  (Lat.  hiimilis,  low), 
though  not  in  one  way  so  strong  a  term 
as  abase,  has  a  fuller  moral  meaning. 
He  who  is  abased  is  brought  low,  he 
who  is  humbled  recognizes  the  right 
of  being  so  brought.  It  bears  refe- 
rence to  some  former  condition  of  ex- 
altation or  estimate  of  self,  as  the 
proud  man  may  be  humbled  by  the 
reverses  of  fortune.  lie  who  suffers 
no  more  than  overwhelming  shame  in 
his  reverses  or  change  of  condition  is 
abased  without  being  humbled.  He 
is  humbled,  who  is  forced  to  become 
acquainted  with  those  vicissitudes  of 
nature  or  fortune,  to  which  hitherto  he 
had  been  blinded  by  unreflectiveness 
or  pride.  He  is  abased,  whom  con- 
science or  circumstances  have  unde- 
ceived in  his  claims  to  n'oral  or 
social  superiority. 

"  The  plain  meaning  of  the  Apostle  is  to 
declare  in  one  continued  sentence  that 
Christ  when  He  was  in  the  form  of  God 
humbled  Himself  by  condescending  to  take 
npon  Him  the  form  of  man,  and  not  only  so 
but  humbled  Himself  yet  further  by  con- 
descending to  die  even  the  death  of  a  male- 
factor. " — Clarke. 

Degrade  (Lat.  de,doivn,nn(igr(idtis, 
a  step)  bears  reference  to  some  stan^ 
dard  or  level,  moral  or  social,  below 
which  the  person  degraded  or  who 
Has  degraded  himself  is  supposed  to 
have  fallen.  Unlike  abase  and  hum- 
ble, which  belong  to  sentient  beings, 
degrade  is  not  confined  to  persons, 
but  is  applicable  to  anything  capable 
of  an  accession  or  diminution  ot  dig- 
nity. Art  is  degraded  when  it  is 
treated  only  as  a  trade.  The  higher 
the  social  position,  or  the  moral  re- 
sponsibility of  the  person,  the  more 
degrading  is  the  dereliction.  The 
higher  the  standard  to  which  persons 
may  reasonably  be  expected  to  con- 
form, the  more  degrading  is  the  for- 
feiture of  self-respect.  Sensuality,  for 
instance,  is  peculiarly  degi-ading  in 
those  who  have  great  powers  of  mind, 
meanness  of  dealing  in  the  affluent, 
low  companionship  in  the  nobly  born. 
"  Moments  there  must  be  when  the  sin- 
aer  is  sensible  of  the  degradation  of  his 
state,  when  he  feels  with  pain  the  slavish 


dependence  under  which  he  is  brought  to 
fortune  and  the  world,  to  violent  passion* 
and  settled  habits,  and  to  fears  and  appre- 
hensions arising  from  conscious  guilt  "-  • 
Blaiu. 

DiscHACE is  to  depriveof  respect  (O. 
Fr.  disgrace,  dis-  and  grace, Lat.  gratia, 
favour).  He  who  disgraces  another 
deprives  him  of  such  social  regard  as 
would  otherwise  belong  to  him.  He 
who  disgraces  himself  deprives  him- 
self of  the  respect  of  others.  Disgrace 
is  to  the  feeling  of  respect  what  Dis- 
honour is  to  its  outward  token.  Hence 
disgrace  is  rather  in  a  man's  self,  dis- 
honour depends  rather  upon  others. 
While  conscience  may  excite  in  us  a 
feeling  of  disgrace,  we  can  have  none 
ofdishonourexceptitbe  inflicted  upon 
us  by  others.  Yet  in  the  term  dis- 
grace there  seems  to  be  a  blending  o* 
the  two  ideas  of  the  Latin  gratia  and 
the  English  grace,  namely,  internal 
comeliness  and  external  favour.  The 
minister  who  is  capriciously  dismissed 
by  his  sovereign  is  said  to  be  dis- 
graced. Yet  it  is  plain  that  he  is  m 
no  other  sense  so  than  as  being  mere- 
ly thrown  out  of  favour,  while  as  re- 
gards his  own  character  he  is  rather 
dishonoured  than  disgraced.  The 
general  who  is  taken  captive  after  a 
gallant  resistance  never  could  be  dis- 
graced, though  he  might,  by  an  un- 
generous victor,  be  dishonoured  or 
insulted.  Dishonour  may  be  only  for 
a  moment,  disgrace  is  more  perma- 
nent. We  have  an  exemplification 
in  the  following  of  the  twofold  idea 
of  grace,  from  which  the  double  as- 
pect of  disgrace  arises  : — 

"  And   with   sharp   quips  joy'd  others  tc 

deface, 
Thinking  that   their  disgracing  did  him 

grace."  Spenser. 

"  He  that  walketh  uprightly  is  secure  as 
to  his  honour  and  credit ;  he  is  sure  not  to 
come  off  disgracefully  either  at  homa  in 
his  own  apprehensions,  or  abroad  in  the 
estimation  of  men." — Barrow. 

When  a  man  is  so  humbled  that  his 
state  becomes  externally  manifest  or 
conspicuous,  and  is  reflected  in  the 
condition  and  circumstances  of  the 
person  humbled,  he  may  further  be 
said  to  be  Humiliated,  that  is, 
brought  to  a  condition  and  a  sense  of 
humility.     So  strong  a  part  doea  this 


6 


external  element  play  in  the  word, 
that  one  who  is  only  self-conceited 
may  be  humiliated  by  bemg  thrown 
suddenly  into  an  undignified  and  lu- 
dicrous position.  The  proud  man  is 
humbled,  the  vain  humiliated.  He 
who  humbles  himself  endeavours  to 
cherish  a  feeling  of  humility,  he  who 
humiliates  himself  places  himself  in 
the  attitude  of  humility.  Hence  we 
are  seldom  said  to  humiliate  ourselves. 
Persons  or  circumstances  may  humble 
us  ;  but  it  is  circumstances,  commonly 
speaking,  that  humiliate  us.  The 
case  is  a  little  different  with  the  noun 
humiliation,  which  is  the  only  sub- 
stantive form  of  the  verb  to  humble> 
whose  meaning  therefore  it  follows. 
Yet  in  such  a  phrase  as  a  *'  Day  of 
Fasting  and  Humiliation,"  the  term 
conveys  the  idea  of  both  internal  and 
external  self-humbling. 

"  The  former  was  a  humiliation  of  Deity, 
the  latter  a  humiliation  of  manhood."— 
Hooker, 

To  Dkbase  (De  and  Eng.  base), 
though  of  the  same  etymology  as 
abase,  is  to  deteriorate  or  make  base 
not  the  position  but  the  internal 
nature  as  regards  worth,  or  essential 
purity.  Debased  coin  is  so  mixed 
with  alloy  as  to  have  lost  much  of  its 
intrinsic  value.  A  debased  style  of 
architecture  has  become  corrupt  by 
deviation  from  the  type  and  principles 
of  the  pure.  In  all  things  debased  a 
noi-mal  condition,  form,  character, 
nrinciples,  or  model  is  implied  which 
Las  been  forgotten,  deserted,  or  vio- 
lated. The  systematic  deviation  from 
the  standard  of  virtue  leads  to  moral 
debasement,  from  the  standard  of  cor- 
rect rule  and  pure  taste  to  artistic 
debasement. 

"  The  great  masters  of  composition  know 
Yery  well  that  many  an  elegant  woi-d  be- 
comes improper  for  a  poet  or  an  orator, 
when  it  has  been  debased  by  vulgar  use,"— 
Anuisox, 

Depose  (Fr.  deposer)  expresses  the 
formal  act  of  authority  or  of  a  supe- 
rior, and  is  a  complete  taking  away 
of  the  office,  or  dignity ;  Avhile  degrade 
may  express  a  partial  lowering  in 
rank,  or  removal  to  an  inferior  grade. 

"  A  tyrant  over  his  subjects,  and  thcre- 
hre  worthy  to  be  deposed."— Vryuvz. 


SYNONYMS  [aBASEMENTJ 

Depress  (Lat.  deprtmh-e.  part,  di' 
pressus,  to  press  doicn)  is  physical  and 
analogous.  It  denotes  the  exercise 
of  some  uniform  influence  to  lower 
permanently.  The  muzzle  of  a  ^un 
IS  depressed  which  is  kept  pointing 
towards  the  gi-ound,  the  mind  is  de- 
pressed which  is  weighted  by  some 
burden  of  thought  or  reflexion.  He 
is  depressed  whose  merits,  though 
they  entitle  him  to  promotion,  are 
stifled  by  the  jealousy  of  superiors. 
"  The  Gods  with  ease  frail  Man  depress  or 
raise,"  Pope. 

Lower,  formed  fi-om  the  adj.  low, 
follows  the  various  meanings  of  that 
adj.  Its  forces  are  in  the  main  three : 
1,  to  reduce  in  physical  elevation,  as 
to  lower  a  flag  ;  2,  to  abate  the  feel- 
ing of  exaltation,  as  to  lower  pride  ; 
3,  to  bring  down  in  value,  amount, 
rank,  dignity  or  estimation,  as  the 
price  of  goods,  the  rate  of  interest, 
professional  position,  or  the  respect 
of  individuals,  or  of  the  public.  Like 
the  simpler  and  Saxon  words  gene- 
rally, its  application  in  proportion  to 
its  extensiveness  is  weak  specifically. 
It  stands  opposed  to  "  raise,"  and  is 
as  comprehensive  and  no  more  pointed 
in  its  force. 

ABASEMENT.     Lowness. 

An  idea  of  degradation  common  to 
these  two  terms  makes  them  svno- 
nyms ;  but  they  have  strong  diffe- 
rences. Abasement  (Fr.  abaisser,  to 
loicer)  expresses  the  act  of  bringing 
low  or  the  state  consequent  upon  this, 
and  always  implies  a  former  state  more 
elevated.  Lowness  (allied  to  lie  and 
lay)  expresses  simply  the  condition 
of  tliat  which  is  low  in  any  of  the 
numerous  seuses  of  the  word  low,  such 
as  physical  depression,  meanness  of 
condition  or  character,  absence  ol 
sublimity,  meekness,  mental  depres- 
sion, an  inferiority  of  degree,  a  deep 
pitch  or  inaudible  character  of  sound. 
The  physical  meanings  of  lowness  are 
not  m  modern  English  shared  by 
abasement,  which  has  only  a  moral 
application.  Abasement  is  a  condi- 
tion of  inferiority  bearing  reference 
to  our  own  possible  position,  lowness 
or  inferiority  to  others.  Abasement 
is  moral  or  social  degradation,  and  by 
an  extension  of  meaning  the  painful 


[ABATEj 


consciousness  of  this.  Jesus  Christ 
was  willing  to  be  born  in  a  condition 
of  weakness  and  abasement.  Abase- 
ment is  voluntary  or  involuntary. 
Voluntary  abasement  is  a  virtuous 
act  of  the  soul,  by  which  it  seeks  to 
counteract  and  repress  the  natural 
tendency  to  pride.  A  low  disposition 
on  the  other  hand  is  incompatible 
with  honour,  and  begets  contempt. 
The  low  is  opposed  to  the  lofty  in 
principle  and  sentiment,  and  the  re- 
fined in  taste  and  manners.  A  low 
character  is  one  which  might  be  ex- 
pected to  associate  and  sympathize 
with  the  basest  of  mankind,  a  low 
style  is  such  as  would  commend  itself 
to  the  vulgar.  That  abasement  which 
is  the  result  of  misfortune  does  not 
forfeit  the  right  to  consideration. 
Lowness  is  not  desei*ving  of  consider- 
ation. Virtuous  sentiment  may  re- 
concile the  ambitious  to  a  low  estate 
in  life,  and  assure  them  that  by  itself 
it  involves  no  abasement,  while  yet  it 
is  a  legitimate  object  of  effort  to  ex- 
change a  lower  condition  for  a  higher, 
if  it  be  done  by  just  and  honest 
means. 

*'  'Tis  immortality,  'tis  that  alone. 
Amidst  life's  pains,  abasements,  emptiness. 
The  Soul  can  comfort."  Young. 

Lowness  consists  in  want  of  birth, 
merit,  fortune,  or  condition.  It  may 
be  observed  that  the  noun  lowness 
has  not  the  sti-ong  character  of  dis- 
paragement which  belongs  to  the 
adjective  low.  The  latter  is  always 
derogatory  except  when  employed 
either  physically  or  of  social  infe- 
riority of  rank. 

ABASH.     Confound.     Confuse. 

To  be  Abashed  is  the  O.  Fr. 
Eshahii'j  10  astonish,  part,  esbahissant ; 
connected  with  the  English  bay,  to 
gape,  whence  to  stand  at  bay. 

To  be  abashed  is  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  shame,  and  therefore  will 
vaiy  according  to  the  degree  and 
character  of  the  sliame  felt.  The 
over-modest  are  abashed  in  the  pre- 
sence of  superiors,  the  guilty  at  the 
detection  of  vice  or  misconduct. 
Abase  stands  to  the  reason  and  the 
judgment  as  abash  to  the  feelings. 
The  fonner  implies  a  sentence  of  un- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


worthiness  felt  to  be  passid  against 
one's  self,  the  latter  shows  itself  in  the 
downward  look,  the  blushing  cheek, 
or  the  confused  manner,  and  may  even 
be  the  pure  effect  of  natural  modesty. 
"  Bat    when     he    Venns    view'd    without 

disguise. 
Her  shining  neck  beheld,  and  radiant  eyes. 
Awed  and  abash'd  he  turu'd  his  head  aside. 
Attempting  with  his  robe  his  face  to  hide." 
CONGREVE. 

To  be  Confused  (Lat.  confundere  , 
part,  confums,  to  pour  together,  to 
perplex)  denotes  a  state  in  which  the 
faculties  are  more  or  less  beyond  con- 
trol, when  the  speech  falters  and 
thoughts  lose  their  consistency.  This 
may  be  from  a  variety  of  causes,  as 
failure  of  memoi-y,  conflicting  feelings, 
a  bewildered  j  udgment,  over-modesty , 
shame,  surprise,  a  sense  of  detection 
to  one's  dishonour.  It  is  an  embarras- 
sing self-consciousness  accompanied 
by  a  humiliating  sense  of  shortcoming. 
We  have  formed  our  plan  and  ai*- 
ranged  our  materials ;  the  former  is 
perhaps  forestalled,  the  latter  by  some 
accident  disordered.  We  are  thrown 
into  disturbance,  the  time  is  lost, 
whither  shall  we  look  for  help  ? 

'*Till  I  saw  those  eyes  I  was  but  a  l>nmp  ; 
a  chaos  of  confusedness  dwelt  in  me." — 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

To  be  Confounded,  though  another 
form  of  the  same  word,  is  far  stronger, 
denoting  an  utter  inability  to  exercise 
to  any  practical  purpose  the  power  of 
thought  and  speech,  the  reason  being 
overpowered  by  the  shock  of  argu- 
ment, testimony,  or  detection.  To 
confuse  is  in  its  primary  and  simpler 
sense  a  milder  tenn  than  confound. 
Things  are  confused,  when  they  are  in 
a  state  of  promiscuous  disorder.  They 
are  confounded,  when  they  are  so 
mixed  up  together  that  they  become 
undistinguished  and  indistinguish- 
able, their  individuality  being  lost. 

*'  So  spake  the  Son  of  God,  and  Satan  stood 
A  while  as  mute,  confounded  what  to  say." 
Milton. 

ABATE.  Lessen.  Diminish.  De- 
crease. 

With  the  exception  ot  the  last, 
these  synonyms  are  employed  gram- 
matically as  both  transitive  and  in- 
transitive verbs.    The  simplest  and 


8 


SYNONYMS 


LABERRANX 


therefore  the  least  ppecifically  charac- 
teristic is  LrssEN  (A.  S.  liessa,  adj. 
less),  meaning  to  make  or  to  give  less, 
as  m  force,  hulk,  numher,  quantity,  or 
value. 

"  St.  Pa«l  chose  to  magnify  his  office, 
when  all  men  conspired  to  lessen  it."— At- 

TERBDBY. 

DiMixisii  (Lat.  dimtnutre,  minus, 
less )  is  the  exact  Latin  equivalent  of 
the  Saxon  lessen,  but  is  commonly 
substituted  for  lessen  in  the  intransi- 
tive sense.  The  receding  object  di- 
minishes rather  than  lessens.  There 
is  hardly  a  shadow  of  difference  be- 
tween the  terms,  except  that  the  Saxon 
one  is  the  more  conversational,  the 
Latin  more  likely  to  be  employed  in 
rhetorical,  or  scientific  phraseology. 
"  Hide  their  diminished  heads." 

Milton. 

Abate  (Fr.  abattre,  to  beat  down) 
refers  to  firce,  and  never  to  size,  or 
anything  in  which  the  idea  of  force  is 
not  more  or  less  implied.  A  storm, 
pain,  mental  emotion  or  excitement, 
the  vigour  of  youth,  and  the  like, 
abate.  Of  old  the  verb  had  a  strong 
transitive  force  in  a  physical  applica- 
tion, as  to  abate,  that  is,  beat  down  the 
walls  of  castles.  This  active  force  is 
still  preserved,  but  not  in  its  physical 
application.  The  term  has  grown 
milder.  We  speak  of  abating  pride, 
zeal,  expectation,  hope,  ardour,  a  de- 
mand or  claim ;  and  in  legal  language 
(though  this  is  of  course  technical)  of 
abating  a  writ,  a  nuisance,  or  a  tax, 
the  idea  being  that  of  annulling  va- 
lidity or  legal  force.  The  word  is 
employed  with  singular  appropriate- 
ness in  the  following  passage  from 
Paley's  Moral  Philosophy. 

"  The  greatest  tyrants  have  been  those 
whose  titles  were  the  most  unquestioned. 
Whenever  the  opinion  of  right  becomes  too 

Credominant  and  superstitious,  it  is  abated 
y  breaking  the  custom." 

Decrease  (Lat.  dlcresctre — de, 
down,  and  cresch-e,  to  grow)  differs  from 
diminish  in  denoting  a  more  gradual 
and  sustained  process.  We  might 
even  speak  of  an  instantaneous  di- 
minution, but  not  of  an  instantaneous 
decrease.  To  decrease  is  gradually  to 
lessen  or  diminish.  Yet  we  use  the 
*orm  decrease  in  some  cases  to  express 


more  strongly  the  idea  of  diminution 
by  inherent  force,  or  from  an  internal 
cause,  as  distinguished  from  external 
and  more  palpable  influences;  at  least 
when  speaking  of  physical  matter  or 
subjects,  as  the  cold  decreases  through 
the  season  of  the  year.  Property  is 
diminished  by  extravagance.  To  de- 
crease is  relatively  to  diminish  abso- 
lute and  positive.  Things  diminish 
whicli  are  simply  made  less  through 
any  cause.  Things  decreajse  which 
exist  in  varying  degree?  of  less  or 
more.  Of  the  nouns,  diminution  ex- 
presses a  state,  decrease  a  process.  A 
diminution  in  the  rate  of  mortality  is 
the  result  of  the  decrease  of  an  epi- 
demic. The  cause  which  produces 
diminution,  as  it  is  more  external,  so 
is  commonly  more  traceable  than  that 
which  produces  decrease.  The  royal 
authority  may  be  diminished  by  a 
specific  revolution,  having  such  di- 
minution for  its  object.  It  may  de- 
crease as  the  result  of  a  variety  of 
causes,  e.g.,  the  tendency  of  subse- 
quent legislation,  the  development 
among  the  people  of  the  sense  and 
the  claim  of  self-government. 
"  The  olive-leaf  which  certainly  them  told 
The  flood  decreased."  Dra^tox, 

ABERRANT.  Abnormal.  Ec- 
centric.   Exceptional.    Erratic. 

Aberrant  (Lat.  tiberrare,  to  wander 
away)  dorotes  that  which  deviates  un- 
accountably from  the  uniform  law  of 
operation  or  procedure. 

"  They  not  only  swarm  with  errors,  but 
vices  depending  thereon.  Thus  they  com- 
monly affect  no  man  any  further  than  he 
deserts  his  reason  or  complies  with  their 
aie?Tanc/e5."— Brown's  Vulgar  Errors. 

The  term  is  applied  to  natural  devia- 
tion from  the  type  of  a  class  or  order, 
as  an  aberrant  animal  or  vegetable 
form;  while  as  regards  the  actions  of 
responsible  agents,  or  the  thoughts  of 
reflecting  beings,  it  denotes  a  depar- 
ture from  the  line  of  sober  conduct, 
or  consistent  thought:  so  moral  and 
intellectual  aberrations.  That  is  ab- 
normal in  outward  nature  which  ex- 
hibits a  structure  opposed  to  the  usual 
sti-ucture ;  and  generally  speaking, 
that  whioh  exemplifies  procedure 
contrary  to  the  receivet^  rule,  law,  or 
svstem. 


[abettor] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


EccENTKic  (Lat.  ex,  out,  and  cen- 
ti^um,  a  centre;  Gr.  eh  and  xevt/jov)  de- 
fiotes  that  wliich  is  a  departure,  or 
Rnalogous  to  it,  from  movement  in  a 
natural  orbit. 

ExcEi'TioNAL  (Lat.  exciptre,  part. 
txceptiis,  to  except)  is  applied  generally 
to  anything  which  strikes  common 
observation  as  unlike  what  is  familiar 
in  similar  cases.  Of  these,  the  two 
first  are  terms  enlisted  into  modern 
science,  while  eccentric  and  excep- 
tional are  applicable  to  other  and  un- 
scientific matters.  The  former  of  these 
was  astronomical  before  it  became 
moral  or  descriptive.  In  its  technical 
use,  an  eccentric  body  is  one  which 
moves  in  a  circle,  which,  though 
coinciding  in  whole  or  in  part  with 
another  in  area  or  volume,  has  not  the 
same  centre  ;  hence  deviating  from 
ordinary  methods  or  usual  appearance 
or  practice.  It  is  technically  opposed 
to  concentric.  The  primary  and  se- 
condary ideas  appear  combined  in  the 
following : — 
"  For  had  I  power  like  that  which  bends 

the  sphei'es 
To  music  never  heard  by  mortal  ears ; 
Where  in  her  system  sits  the  central  sun. 
And  drags  reluctant  planets  into  tune  : 
So  would  I  bridle  thy  eccentric  soul. 
In  reason's  sober  orbit  bid  it  roll." 

Whitehead,  oti  Churchill. 
Neither  Abnormal  nor  Exceptional 
are  found  in  the  older  English  litera- 
ture. 

Erratic  (Lat.  erraticiis,  errure,  to 
wander)  has  a  scientific  application — 
as  e.g.  to  geological  material  borne 
away  from  its  original  site.  Erratic 
differs  from  eccentric  in  being  confined 
to  human  conduct,  while  eccentric 
belongs  to  character  and  appearance 
also.  The  eccentric  character  is  in- 
oflfensive  and  simply  odd ;  but  there 
is  danger  that  the  erratic  person  may 
involve  himself  or  others  in  mischief. 
Yet  this  force  has  been  acquired  in 
recent  times.  Its  older  use  was  that 
of  idly  wandering,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  The  season  of  the  year  is  now  come  in 
which  the  theatres  are  shut,  and  the  card- 
tables  forsaken  ;  the  regions  of  luxury  are 
for  a  while  unpeopled,  and  pleasui'e  leads 
out  her  votaries  to  groves  and  gardens,  to 
still  scenes  and  en-atic  gratifications." — 
Caubler. 


ABETTOR.  Accessory.  Accom- 
plice. 

An  Abettor  (O.  Fr.  abetter,  to 
deceive,  incite)  is  one  who  in  any 
way  promotes  the  execution  of  a 
scheme  without  taking  a  direct  part 
in  it.  If  he  do  so,  he  becomes,  ac- 
cording to  cii'cumstances,  something 
more  than  an  abettor.  He  is  an 
Accessory  (Lat.  Accessorius,  Du- 
cange)  if  he  assists  directly,  but  in  an 
exti-aneous  capacity ;  an  Accomplice 
( Lat.  ad,  to,  and  compUcare,  to  fold 
together)  if  he  is  intimately  bouna  up 
in  the  project  and  responsibility  of  the 
scheme  as  a  prime  mover.  It  is  in  this 
way  that  in  treason  there  are  no  abet- 
tors, the  law  not  allowing  the  supposi- 
tion of  indirect  agency  in  the  case,  but 
regarding  it  as  necessarily  direct.  Ad- 
vice,promises, rewards,  or  even  the  ob- 
sei'vance  of  silence  and  a  forbearing  to 
oppose  may  constitute  an  abettor,  but 
no  one  can  be  negatively  an  accessory 
or  accomplice.  Generally  speaking,  it 
may  be  said  that  abettora  urge  and 
promote,  accessories  aid  or  assist,  ac- 
complices design  and  execute.  In 
Law,  an  accessory  before  the  fact  is 
one  who  procm-es,  counsels,  or  com- 
mands another  to  commit  a  felony; 
an  accessory  after  the  fact  is  one  who, 
knowing  of  the  felony,  assists,  com- 
foits,  or  conceals  the  felon.  It  de- 
seiTCs  to  be  remarked,  that  these  terma 
are  by  usage  restricted  almost  univer- 
sally to  bad  or  unlawful  deeds  oi 
causes,  although  Woolaston  in  his 
"■  Religion  of  Nature "  speaks  oi 
"  abetting  the  cause  of  truth."  The 
older  use  of  Shakespeare  is  still  the 
common  one : — 

"  And  you  that  do  abet  him  in  this  kind 
Cherish  rebellion,  and  are  rebels  all." 

"  An  accessory  is  he  who  is  not  the  chief 
actor  in  the  offence,  nor  present  at  its  per- 
formance, but  in  some  way  concerned  there- 
in, either  before  or  after  the  fact  com- 
mitted."— Blackstone, 

Dry  den  uses  the  tenn  accomplice  in 
the  sense  of  a  partner  in  guilt : — 

"  Link'd  hand  in  hand  th'  accomplice  and 

the  dame 
Their  way  exploring  to  the  chamber  came." 

The  ordinary  use  is  that  of  Johnson 
in  the  following  — 


10 


"And  thou,   the    curst  accomplice  of  his 

treason, 
Dechire    thy     message,    and    expect    thy 
doom." 

ABHOR.  Detest.  Abominate. 
Loathe. 

Of  these  the  plainest  is  Loathe 
(A.  S.  lathmn,  to  loathe).  It  is  also  the 
most  purely  physical,  being  in  the  first 
place  employed  to  express  nausea  or 
physical  disgust.  The  sick  man  loathes 
Lis  food.  It  is  employed  of  moral 
objects,  by  a  strong  metaphor  or 
analogy.  In  loathing  there  is  a  kind 
of  passive  disgust,  which  in  the  other 
synonyms  is  more  active  and  demon- 
etrative. 

"  A  wicked  man  is  loathsome  and  cometh 
to  shame.  The  word  translated  loathsome 
properly  denotes  such  kind  of  persons  to  be 
as  nauseous  and  offensive  to  the  judgments 
of  others  as  the  most  loathsome,  unsavory 
things  are  to  their  tastes  and  smells." — 
Bishop  Wilkixs. 

To  Abominate  (Lat.  (ibominor,-pnxt. 
abomuiatiis  ;  ab,  from,  and  omen)  is 
literally  to  shrink  from,  deprecate  as 
ominous,  and  so  to  turn  away  from  as 
not  to  be  endured.  Abominate  occu- 
pies a  place  midway  between  loathe, 
which  IS  strongly  physical,  and  detest, 
which  is,  as  we  shall  see,  emphati- 
cally moral ;  and  in  either  case  denotes 
that  kind  of  strong  dislike  which 
would  excite  protest  and  avoidance. 
Abhou  (Lat.  abhorrire,  to  shrink  from 
with  a  shudder)  differs  from  abominate 
in  being  more  expressive  of  strong  in- 
voluntary recoil,  while  abominate  is 
more  reflective  and  voluntary.  He 
who  abominates  would  destroy  or  re- 
move, he  who  abhors  would  v-cape 
from  and  avoid.  Abominate  is  more 
applicable  to  the  concrete  forms  of 
things,  abhor  to  the  abstract. 

"  That  very  action  for  which  the  swine  is 
abominated,  and  looked  upon  as  an  unclean 
and  impure  creature,  namely,  wallowing  in 
the  mire,  is  designed  by  nature  for  a  very 
good  end  and  use,  not  only  to  cool  his  body, 
bnt  also  to  suffocate  and  destroy  noisome 
and  importunate  insects." — Ray. 

"  I  may  perceive 
'I'hwe  Cardinals  trifle  with  me  ;   I  abhor 
Thij  dilatory  sloth,  and  tricks  of  Rome." 
Shakespeare. 

Detest  (Lat.  ditestari,  to  call  upon 
the  Deity  as  a  vntness  as^ainst  some  per- 
son or  iking)  denotes  a  spontaneous 
And  eiiergetic  hatred  of  what  is  bad  in 


SYNONYMS  '         [abhor] 


principle  or  which  is  strongly  disap. 
provea,  and  in  our  mind  condemnea ; 
not  the  feelings  only,  but  the  judg- 
ment being  concerned  in  it.  It  is  a 
misapplication  of  the  word  to  employ 
it  of  what  is  physically  impure  or  per- 
sonally disagreeable.  We  abominate 
what  is  offensive,  we  abhor  what  is  es- 
sentially uncongenial,  we  detest  what 
is  contemptible  or  evil,  we  loathe  what 
is  nauseous  and  disgusting.  Thus 
there  is  more  of  feeling  in  abhor, 
more  of  reason  in  detest.  Detestation 
is  a  kind  of  hatred  which  does  not 
rest  in  feeling,  but  tends  to  find  ener- 
getic expression  in  words  and  protes- 
tation. The  sick  man  abhors  reme- 
dies and  food,  the  miserable  wretch 
detests  the  day  on  which  he  first  saw 
the  light. 

'*  For  as  the  gates  of  Hades  I  detest 
The  sordid  wretch  whom  want  can  tempt 
to  lie."  CowPER,  Homer. 

ABIDE.  Stay.  Sojouun.  Dwell. 
Reside.     Lodge. 

To  Abide  (A.  S.  d6idan,  to  stay  con- 
stantly) expresses  no  more  than  a  per- 
sonal halting  or  dwelling.  It  is  in- 
definite as  to  time,  and  may  be  tempo- 
rary or  permanent,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. We  may  abide  in  a 
place  for  a  time,  or  for  life.  The  radical 
idea  is,  however,  that  of  a  persistent 
stay.  To  abide  by  a  decision  is  to 
adhere  to  it  with  moral  fixity  of  pur- 
pose. But  it  involves  some  counter 
idea  of  unsettlement  in  the  habits  or 
acts  of  the  person  or  persons  abiding, 
and  the  likelihood  of  after-removal. 
An  abode  is  hardly  a  place  of  per- 
petual habitation.  Stay  marks  dis- 
tinction of  place,  and  has^  as  it  were, 
a  topogi-aphical  force.  I  stay  (con- 
nected with  the  Lat.  stare,  to  stand) 
here,  or  there,  in  the  town,  in  the 
countiy,  at  home,  or  in  the  house  of  a 
friend.  As  to  stop  is  not  to  proceed, 
so  to  stay  is  not  to  change  one's  place. 
Stay  is  more  conversational  than 
abide,  which  is  more  formal  and  his- 
torical. Sojourn  (Fr.  sojourner,  Lat. 
suhdinrnare)  expresses  a  personal  stay 
necessarily  temporary,  yet  implying  a 
living  in  that  place  as  regards  food 
and  shelter ,which  are  not  necessarily 
implied  in  either  stay  or  abide.  He 
stayed  or  abode,  but  not  soiourned,  w 


[ability] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


11 


the  woods  all  night.  It  belongs  to 
localities  made  homes  for  the  time, 
and  not  belonging  to  one's  self.  A 
sojourner  is  by  the  force  of  the  term 
a  stranger.  To  D\ve\.i.(A.S.  diceltan, 
which  however  is  an  active  verb,  to  re- 
lard,to  ^liasf  raj/,"thepeculiar  modem 
use  being  Scandinavian " :  Skeat, 
Etym.  Diet.)  indicates  a  permanent 
stay  in  ».  place  whicli  to  some  extent 
at  least  has  become  one's  own  home. 
Tlie  idea  of  permanent  resting  may  be 
illustrated,  as  in  the  case  of  abide,  by 
other  applications  of  the  term, as  when 
a  speaker  is  said  to  dwell  upon  a  word, 
or  a  singer  on  a  note.  To  Reside  (Lat. 
rcsidere,  re-  and  scdtre,  to  sit)  is  a  more 
dignified  term,  not  applicable  like 
abode  and  dwelling  to  the  inferior 
animals,  and  carrying  with  it  a  notion 
of  civilization  and  society,  of  elegance 
of  living,  of  responsibilities  of  office, 
and  of  rights  of  property.  The  poor 
man  dwells  in  a  liumble  cottage  near 
the  hall  where  the  lord  of  the  domain 
resides.  Hence  the  force  of  reside  is  not 
80  strictly  continuous  as  the  others.  A 

Eerson  may  be  said  to  reside  where  he 
as  a  residence,  which  he  in  the  main 
occupitTo,  tnough  he  should  be  even 
frequently  absent.  Lodge  (Fr./o^er) 
conveys  the  idea  of  an  occupation  of 
a  portion  of  some  larger  place  of  resi- 
dence, or  a  spot  in  a  wider  ai-ea,  and 
so  commonly  a  temporary  stay  under 
a  common  roof.  1  stay  in  Pai-is,  I 
lodge  in  the  Champs  Elysees.  As 
stay  refers  to  the  place,  so  lodge  to 
the  house  in  tliat  place.  We  stay  and 
abide  for  a  long  or  short  time.  We 
sojourn  pleasantly  or  otherwise.  We 
lodge  conveniently  or  not.  We  dwell 
continually.  We  reside  continually 
or  occasionally. 

"  There  is  no  virtue  whipt  out  of  the  court. 
They  cherish  it  to  make  it  stay  there,  yet 
it   will    uo    more    than   abide" — Shake- 
speare. 
"  Say,  uncle   Gloucester,   if  our    brother 

comti. 
Where  shall  we  sojourn  till  our  coro- 
nation ? "  Shakespeare. 
"  He  made  the  Arabians  change  their 
manner  of  living,  who  are  otherwise  called 
Scenites,  as  much  as  to  say  Tent-dwellers, 
because  they  are  vagrant  people  thnt  dwell 
in  no  other  houses  but  tents,  which  they 
ever  use  to  carry  with  them."— North's 
flutarch,  Transl. 


"  His  Grace  ^Henry  VIII.)  therefoie 
willing  and  minding  to  revoke  j»u  all  by 
little  and  little,  except  you.  Sir  Gregoi^, 
being  his  ambassador  there  coniiiiually 
residing  ."—Bv^^^r. 

"  Stay,  and  lodge  by  me  this  night." 
Shakespeare. 

ABILITY.  Skill.  Capacity. 
Capability.  Cleverness.  Talent. 
Genius. 

Of  these.  Ability  (Fr.  habile,  Lat. 
MbUis,  skilful)  is  of  wide  application. 
It  may  be  shown  in  things  physical, 
moral,  intellectual,  social,  legal,  pro- 
fessional, casual.  It  deserves,  how- 
ever, to  be  observed,  that  while  the 
adjective  able  is  employed  in  this 
wide  manner  in  specific  connexion — 
as  he  is  an  able  lawyer,  able  to  com- 
mit passages  rapidly  to  memory,  or 
able  to  lift  a  great  weight — this  ad- 
jective,when  not  so  connected,is  never 
used  (any  more  than  the  noun  ability) 
to  mean  physical  power.  For  in- 
stance, we  might  say,  "  I  dotlbt  your 
ability  to  move  that  y^one  ;  "  but  not 
"He  moved  the  stonfe  with  compara- 
tive ease,  being  a  person  of  great 
ability."  Ability  is  partly  a  gift  ol 
nature,  paitly  a  product  of  training, 
study,  and  experience.  The  able  man 
is  he  who  makes  great  use  of  what  he 
knows.  An  able  general  must  have 
commanded  with  success.  "Natural 
abilities,"  said  Bacon,  using  the  tenn 
in  the  plural(after  the  a;»alogy  of  pai-ts, 
talents,  wits,  and  formerly  intellects), 
"  are  like  natural  plants  that  need 
pruning  by  study."  In  its  widest 
sense  \bility  ia  the  power  of  doing, 
the  possession  of  needful  faculties  and 
needful  means  and  opportunities  for 
the  performance  of  a  thing,  and  is  op- 
posed to  inability ;  the  power  of  ap- 
plying knowledge  to  practical  ends. 
The  erudite  man,  for  instance,  or  the 
philosopher,  however  profound,  is  not 
able  until  he  brings  his  knowledge  to 
bear  upon  a  purpose. 

"  They  say  that  all  lovers  swear  more 
performance  than  they  are  able,  and  yet 
reserve  an  ability  that  they  never  perform, 
vowing  more  than  the  perfection  often,  and 
discharging  less  than  the  tenth  part  of  one." 
—Shakespeare. 

Quickness  of  mind,  showing  itself 
especially  in  readiness  to  contrive 
means  to  an  end,  whether  material  or 


12 


mental,  is  called  Cleveuneso.  Clever- 
ness in  things  of  pure  pliysicsl  ti-eat- 
ment  is  called  dexterity.  It  is  re- 
markable that  cleverness  is  not  a  term 
of  old  English  literatui-e,  the  old  ad- 
jective clever  having  been  only  of  late 
put  into  the  form  of  a  noun.  It  is 
not  a  term  of  the  highest  order  of 
praise,and  belongs  to  ordinary  transac- 
tions and  concerns  of  life.  A  modern 
writer  has  illustrated  this  by  making 
one  of  his  characters,  a  silly  young 
nobleman,  apply  to  Shakespeare  the 
epithet  of  clever.  Cleverness  is  natu- 
ral aptitude  which  dispenses  with 
much  insti'uction.  That  cleverness  in 
things  physical  which  requires  not 
only  adroitness  of  manipulation  but 
judgment  and  discernment  as  the 
result  of  experience,  is  Skill.  The 
root-meaning  of  skill  is  discernment — 
such  accurate  knowledge  as  sees  and 
allows  for  differences.      So  the  old 

Shrase  "it  skilleth  not" — it  makes  no 
ifference.  Hence  it  came  to  mean  an 
art  distinctly  professed,  which  was 
called  a  skill,  and  finally  applied  as 
above.  It  is  special  and  technical, 
not  general  like  cleverness.  We 
might  speak  of  such  an  one  as  a  clever 
man  and  skilful  physician.  Skill  is 
neither  of  purely  abstract  knowledge 
nor  of  mere  physical  habituation,  but 
lies  midway  between  the  two,  and 
practically  comprises  both.  A  skilful 
man  combines  theory  with  practice. 

"  The  Bliip  would  quickly  strike  against 
the  rocks  for  want  of  skilfulness  in  the 
pilots."— Seaech,  Light  of  Nature. 

Capacity  (Lat.  cdpdcitdtem)  is  po- 
tential rather  than  actual,  and  may 
be  no  more  than  undeveloped  ability. 
It  is  employed  commonly  of  the  intel- 
lectual, though  not  excluded  from  the 
moral  nature  (as  we  speak  of  a  capa- 
city for  virtue),  and  is  not  employed 
at  all  of  the  physical  powers,  where 
capability  would  take  its  place.  Gene- 
rally speaking,  capacity  stands  to 
understanding  as  ability  to  action, 
though  the  same  person  may  possess 
both.  So  the  capacity  of  a  great 
general  would  be  rather  in  his  power 
of  remembering,  interpreting,  and 
calculating  the  movements  of  the 
enemy,  in  grasping  and  recognizing 
the  chaiacter  and  resources  of  a  coun- 


8YN0NYMS  [ABILITY] 


try,  with  reference  to  the  movements 
01  tlie  campaign,  his  ability  in  his 
actual  direction  of  those  movements, 
and  in  the  disposition  and  employment 
of  troops  in  action. 

"  An  neroic  poem  resembles  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  great  undertaking  whici 
requires  the  duty  of  a  soldier,  and  the 
capacity  of  a  general." — DbydeN. 

Capability  (Lat.  citpdMlis,  suscep- 
tible of),  Tv'hen  employed  passively 
of  things  and  not  persons,  means  spe- 
cific practicability,  as  a  plot  of  ground 
intended  for  landscape  gardening  may 
be  said  to  have  great  capability  for 
the  purpose.  When  applied  to  per- 
sons it  may  be  said  that  generally, 
as  capacity  is  the  inherent  faculty 
of  understanding,  so  capability  is  the 
inherent  faculty  of  use  or  action, 
especially  of  mental  action.  So  we 
should  say  of  a  hopeful  student  of  phi- 
losophy that  he  had  capacity,  the 
main  end  being  knowledge ;  of  a 
hopeful  student  of  oratory  that  he 
had  capability,  the  main  end  being 
action.  It  is  not  impossible,  nor  even 
uncommon  to  find  capability  com- 
bined with  want  of  ability  in  the 
same  person  and  in  kindred  matters. 
For  instance,  one  has  great  capability 
for  learning,  and  so  becomes  learned, 
yet  has  no  ability  to  teach,  lacking 
the  power  of  imparting  knowledge  to 
others.  Hence  the  common  observa- 
tion that  the  most  erudite  men  are 
not  necessarily  the  best  instructors. 
Capable  denotes  sufficiency  of  (qualifi- 
cation, able,  the  possession  of  it  in  an 
eminent  degree.  He  is  capable  who 
is  not  incapable.  He  is  able  who  is 
more  capable  than  others. 
"  Sure  he  that  made  us  with  such  large 

discourse 
Looking  before  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capability  and  godlike  reason 
To  rust  in  us  unused."       Shakespeare. 

Talent,  a  term  borrowed  from  the 
Scripture  Parable  of  the  Talents,  and" 
Genius  (Lat.genius,  the  tutelar  deity  oj 
a  person  or  place)  differ,  in  that  talent 
is  the  capacity  of  learning  rules,  and 
the  capability  of  readily  acting  upon 
them ;  genius  is  that  innate  intuition 
which  is  hardly  conscious  of  rules,  and 
can  in  a  measure,  by  natural  force, 
supersede  the  use,  that  is,  the  specifto 
recognition  of  them. 


l_  ABJURE  J 


DISCRIMINATED. 


13 


"  Like  many  other  men  oftalent,  Fielding 
was  nnfortunate."— Sir  W.  ScoiT. 

"  Homer  was  the  greater  genius,  Virgil 
the  better  artiat." — Pope, 

In  the  oldest  English,  as  in  Chaucer, 
the  word  talente  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  desire  or  propensity,  the  Latin 
animi  affectus.  This  comes,  no  doubt, 
fi'om  the  idea  of  weight,  bias.  For  the 
Greek  rdXavTov  meant  a  certain  weight 
as  well  as  a  certain  value  of  metal.  So 
Gower : — 

"  But  not  to  steal  a  vestmente. 
For  that  is  nothing  my  talente" 

I.e.,  propensity. 

Talent  may  be  hid  and  require  to 
be  searched  for,  genius  develops  itself. 
Genius  creates,  talent  leai*ns,  appre- 
hends, and  executes.  Talent  needs 
opportunities,  genius  makes  them  for 
itself. 

ABJURE.  Recant.  Retract. 
Revoke.  Recall.  Renounce.  Re- 
pudiate. 

All  these  terms  refer  to  the  verbal 
undoing  of  what  has  been,  or  in 
some  cases  of  what  might  be,  main- 
tained, declared,  or  professed.  Ab- 
jure (Lat.  abjurare,  to  deny  on 
oath)  retains  so  much  of  its  original 
a^  to  mean  a  deliberate  and  solemn 
giving  up.  Hence  it  applies  to 
things  seriously  maintained  and  there- 
fore feeriously  abandoned.  It  is  to 
give  up  deliberately,  as  principles  of 
belief  or  conduct,  allegiance  to  a  sove- 
reign, claims,  connexions  or  obliga- 
tions, or  even  pleasures  and  advan- 
tages. We  abjure  what  we  declare 
ought  not  to  be  held,  or  not  by  us. 
Yet  in  order  to  abjure  a  thing  it  is  not 
necessary  to  have  actually  held  it. 
So  in  this  country  and  elsewhere  men 
abjure  allegiance  to  the  Pope,  not  the 
less  for  having  never  rendered  it.  It 
implies  a  protest  against  the  thing 
abjured,  whereas  we  may  renounce 
what  we  regard  as  trifling,  or  what 
we  still  value  though  we  renounce  it. 
Policy  may  induce  us  to  renounce,  but 
principle  compels  us  to  abjure.  Abju- 
ration is  always  taken  in  a  favorable 
sense  as  being  dictated  by  a  love  of 
truth  or  right  and  an  aversion  to  their 
contraries.  The  eri'or,  if  any,  is  intel- 
lectual not  moral.  On  the  other  hand 
've  may  recant  in  form  but  not  in  heart. 


"  A  Jacobite  who  is  persuaded  of  the  Pre- 
tender's right  to  the  crown  cannot  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  or  if  he  could,  the  oath 
of  abjuration  follows,  which  contains  an  ex- 
press renunciation  of  all  opinions  in  favour 
of  the  exiled  family.'' — Paley. 

To  Recant  (Lat.  rccantdre,  lit.  to 
chant  back,  to  recall)  refers  not  so  much 
(like  abjure)  to  any  inherent  solemnity 
in  giving  up,  as  to  the  formality  and 
publicity  of  doing  it.  A  man  may 
change  his  opinions  in  secret,  but  he 
recants  them  openly.  So  entirely  does 
the  idea  of  publicity  occupy  the  word, 
that  the  recantation  is  complete 
though  it  should  be  feigned  and  hol- 
low, so  long  as  it  be  openly  and  pre- 
cisely made.  Moreover  a  change  of 
opinion  real  or  professed  is  implied  in 
recant,  which  as  we  have  seen  is  not 
necessarily  implied  in  abjure. 

*'  How  soon  would  ease  recant 

Vows  made  in  pain  as  violent  as  void," 
Milton. 

To  Retuact  (Lat.  retractdre,  to  re- 
handle,  reconsider)  is  a  taking  back 
for  the  purpose  of  undoing  the  prac- 
tical effects  of  what  has  been  declared. 
It  has  a  more  varied  application  than 
recant,  being  employed  of  other  mat- 
ters than  doctrine  or  opinion,  to  which 
recant  is  properly  restricted.  We  re- 
tract promises  on  which  others  have 
calculated,  expressions  by  which 
others  may  haye  been  wounded  or  mis- 
led, accusations  which  we  feel  cannot 
be  supported.  As  we  abjure  on  princi- 
ple and  recant  either  on  principle  or 
policy,  so  we  retract  under  the  in- 
fluence of  interest  or  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances. As  in  strength  of  pur- 
pose we  abjure,  so  in  the  same  we 
often  refuse  to  retract.  Though  Plenry 
IV.  of  France  abjured  Calvinism,  he 
would  not  retract  the  promise  of  pro- 
tection he  made  to  the  Calvinists.  A 
recantation  is  primarily  by  word  of 
mouth,  a  retractation  is  also  by  writing. 

"I  would  as  freely  have  retracted  the 
charge  of  idolatry  as  I  ever  made  it." — 
SxiLLINGrLEET. 

Revoke  and  Recall  are  the  same 
word  under  a  Lat.  (rivocdre,  to  call 
back)  and  an  Engli  sh  form ;  but 
though  thus  identical  etymologically 
they  are  employed  with  some  little 
diflference.  Recall  is  more  conver- 
sational and  ordinary,  less  formal  and 


14 


SYNONYMS 


[abolish] 


authoritative  than  revoke.  We  recall 
generally  or  in  particular,  inaccurate  or 
otherwise  objectionable  expressions ; 
but  formal  acts,  authoritative  deci-ees, 
orders,  and  solemn  promises  are  re- 
voked. 

"  The  lord  in  the  Gospel  really  forgave 
his  servant  all  his  debt,  but  revoked  the 
grant  on  that  servant's  new  misbehaviour," 
— Waterlaxd. 

*'  In  his  retractations  he  recalleth  and 
correcteth  this."— Cudworth. 

Renounce  (Lat.  rcnuntiare,  to  send 
a  tnessage  opposed  to  a  previous  one ;  cf. 
prov.  Eng-.  to  "  backword ")  is  a 
wide  term  applicable  to  anything 
bearing  a  close  relationship  to  one's 
self  whether  mental  or  external,  as 
hopes,  designs,  claims,  possessions, 
one's  friends,  the  world.  It  is  to  pro- 
claim against  all  connexion,  actual 
or  possible,  between  one's  self  and  the 
tiling  or  person  renounced,  even  ex- 
tending to  such  things  as  maxims  or 
customs  which  one  intends  no  longer 
to  follow,  and  to  claims  and  preten- 
sions which  one  is  determined  to  put 
forward  no  more.  It  was  to  these 
last  that  the  word  primarily  applied. 
It  is  possible  to  renounce  willingly  or 
reluctantly.  As  the  thing  renounced 
commonly  has  the  nature  of  a  good  or 
supposed  goodj  or  some  value  or  in- 
terest real  or  imagined,  renunciation 
ordinarily  involves  a  decided  change 
of  sentiment  and  an  act  of  indirect 
preference  of  something  else  over  the 
thing  renounced. 

"  A  solemn  renunciation  of  idolatry  and 
false  worship  under  the  general  title  of  the 
devil  and  all  his  pomps." — Waterlakd. 

Unlike  the  foregoing,  Repudiate 
(Lat.  ■^epYidiare,  to  divorce)  is  only  ap- 
plicable where  a  relation  has  been 
established,  or  sought  to  be  esta- 
blished, towards  us  from  without, 
either  in  the  course  of  nature  or  by  the 
force  of  circumstances.  We  renounce 
opinions  irrespectively  of  others ;  we 
repudiate  them  when  others  have  fas- 
tened upon  us  the  charge  of  holding 
them.  We  repudiate  what  has  come 
to  be  closely  associated  with  us.  The 
idea  of  repudiating  obligations  or 
debts  is  recent,  and  a  deviation  from 
the  earlier,  which  was  that  of  un- 
worthines.s  (not  simple  rejection)  in 
the  thing  cr  person  repudiated. 


"  Servitude  is  to  be  repudiated  with 
greater  care  by  us  than  domination  is 
effected  by  them."— Frysne. 

ABOLISH.  Abrogate.  Repeat^ 
Revoke.     Annul.     Cancel. 

Of  these  Abolish  (Fr.  abolir,  Lat. 
Hholcre)  is  the  most  general,  and  is  ap- 
plicable to  many  things  to  which  the 
rest  are  inapplicable.  It  denotes  the 
voluntary  exercise,  or  the  operation  of 
extinctive  power.  Anything  which 
is  entirely  done  away  with  so  tliat  it 
is  as  if  it  had  never  been,  may  be  said 
to  be  abolished.  The  term  ordinarily 
involves  some  length  of  standing  in 
the  thing  abolished.  Asa  synonym 
with  the  above  terms  it  denotes  the 
total  doing  away  with  laws,  customs, 
institutions,  and  the  like,  by  any 
power,  gTadual  or  sudden,  personal 
or  impersonal ;  as,  e.g.  a  specific  act 
of  legislation  may  abolish  a  right,  or 
as  the  silent  influence  of  fashion  or 
a  change  of  taste  may  abolish  a  cus- 
tom. The  application  to  persons  is 
obsolete,  though  Tennyson  says : — 
"  His  quick  instinctive  hand 

Caught  at  the  hilt  as  to  abolish  him." 

"  The  rtio/iYion  of  spiritual  courts,  as  they 
are  called,  would  shake  the  very  foundationa 
on  which  the  Establishment  is  erected." — 
Warburton. 

Abrogate,  though  primarily  ap- 
plicable to  laws  (Lat.  abrogare,  to  re- 
peal, in  the  general  assemblies  of 
citizens  of  Rome,  literally  to  ask  back 
or  off  a  law),  has  been  extended  to 
customs  as  having  a  force  like  that  of 
law.  The  essential  force  of  abroga- 
tion is  the  exercise  of  authority  to 
undo  what  authority  had  previously  es 
tablished  or  recognized.  Non-usage 
may  abolish,  but  a  positive  act  is  re- 
quired to  abrogate.  To  say  that  a 
thing  was  abrogated  by  disuse  would 
be  to  imply  that  disuse  furnished  a 
power  or  ground  for  causing  it  to 
cease.  Old  practices  are  often  abo- 
lished by  new  ones  superseding  them. 
What  equity  had  established  has  been 
abrogated  by  despotic  power. 

"  It  appears  to  have  been  an  usual  prac- 
tice in  Athens,  on  the  establishment  of  any 
law  esteemed  very  useful  or  popular,  to  pro- 
hibit for  ever  its  abrogation  and  repeal." — 
Hume. 

Repeal  (Fr.  rappeUr,  Lat.  re-ap 
peltdrej  to  call  back)  is  applied  charac- 


[above] 


teristically  to  the  acts  of  a  number,  as 
an  assembly  or  council  may  repeal  a 
law.  An  irresponsible  ruler  would 
hardly  be  said  to  repeal,  because  the 
word  wears  an  air  of  legality.  In 
the  resolutions  of  deliberative  assem- 
blies, which  have  not  the  force  of  law 
but  are  only  regulatively  binding  upon 
its  members,  the  term  employed  is  re- 
scind. To  Revoke  (Lat.  rcvucfire) 
stands  to  personal,  as  repeal  to  collec- 
tive, authority.  As adespot does notre- 
peal,  so  a  parliament  does  not  revoke. 
As  laws  and  customs  are  abrogated  or 
repealed,  so  edicts  are  revoked,  and, 
indeed,  any  formal  expression  on  the 
part  of  individuals,  especiall}'^  such 
as  affects  others,  e.g.  an  epithet  or 
promise,  whether  in  word  or  writing. 
The  proclaimed  law  is  revoked,  the 
written  law  is  repealed.  The  revoca- 
tion, not  the  repeal,  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes.  The  repeal,  not  the  revocation, 
of  the  Irish  Union.  The  object  of  re- 
vocation is  that  an  act  or  a  word 
should  be  regarded  as  if  it  had  never 
been  made ;  the  object  of  repeal  is 
that  a  thing  should  cease  to  have 
force  or  operation. 

"  A  devise  by  writing  may  be  also  revoked 
by  burning,  cancelling,  tearing,  or  oblite- 
rating thei'eof  by  the  devisor,  or  in  his 
presence  and  \v;th  his  consent." — BlaCK- 

STOXE. 

Annul  (Lat.  annnllare,  to  bring  to 
nothing)  expresses  no  more  than  the 
rendei-ing  inoperative  of  what  before 
had  force,  whether  by  law,  custom, 
or  consent.  The  term  belongs  to  legal 
enactments  and  compacts.  Annulling 
is  done  by  some  provision  to  the  con- 
trary, proceeding  either  from  authority 
or  those  from  whom  the  original  pro- 
vision emanated.  A  reciprocal  obli- 
gation may  be  annulled  by  the  parties 
who  imposed  it  upon  themselves,  but 
if  the  binding  force  were  one  of  au- 
thority the  annulling  force  must  be 
Buch  also. 

"  Your  promises  are  sins  of  inconsidera- 
tion  at  best,  and  you  are  bound  to  repent 
and  annul  them." — Swift. 

To  Cancel  is  a  kind  of  annulling. 
(Lat.  cajicelliire,  to  strike  through 
writing  by  diagonal  lines  of  erasure 
resembling  D-mfi/i^,  Lat.  cancelli,  pi.) 
It  is  to  undo  something  the  force  of 


DISCRIMINATED. 


15 


which  ali'ected  the  condition  of  an- 
other, as  a  promise,  a  contract,  or  an 
obligation.  It  is  like  the  erasure  or 
tearing-up  of  a  bond.  A  thing  may 
be  annulled  virtually,  as  by  the  force 
of  circumstances  which  neutralize,  in- 
validate, or  supersede  it ;  but  it  is 
cancelled  by  some  deliberate  or  spe- 
cific exercise  of  power  striking  out 
what  had  operative  force,  whether  in 
law  or  moral  obligation.  The  term 
wears  a  legal,  social,  or  conventional 
air,  belonging  to  ti-ansactions  between 
man  and  man. 

"Shake   hands  for  ever,  cancel   all    our 
vows."  Drayton. 

ABOVE.   Over.   Beyond.    Upon. 

These  terms  all  have  both  a  physi- 
cal and  a  figurative  meaning.  Phy- 
sically, Above  indicates  a  superiority 
of  physical  altitude,  as  the  sun  is 
above  the  earth,  an  interval  being 
supposed,  without  exact  verticality. 
OvEK  indicates  what  is  expressed  by 
above,  with  the  addition  of  the  idea 
of  verticality,  as  the  cloud  hangs  over 
the  sea.  UroN  denotes  what  is  ex- 
pressed by  over,  with  the  addition  of 
contact,  or  the  absence  of  the  interval 
supposed  by  above,  as  the  crown  is 
placed  upon  the  king's  head.  Beyond 
relates  to  the  horizontal  or  to  the 
measurementof  length  and  not  height, 
though  it  may  chance  that  this  length 
is  measured  vertically,  and  may  or  may 
not  imply  adjacency,  as  the  river  and 
the  country  beyond ;  the  ivy  has  grown 
beyond  the  first  storey  of  the  house. 
'J'hese  analogies  are  preserved  in  the 
metaphorical  uses  of  the  words.  So 
if  we  said  that  the  general  was  above 
the  captain  we  should  mean  that  he 
was  of  higher  rank  in  the  arm.y  ;  over 
llie  captain  would  mean  that  he  exer- 
cised authority  in  regard  to  him  spe- 
cifically. ^Vhen  one  misfortune  comes 
upon  another  it  is  as  if  there  were  no 
respite  or  interval  between.  When  a 
thing  is  beyond  conception  it  is  as  if 
the  stretch  and  grasp  of  the  mind 
were  insufficient  to  reach  so  far. 

"  The  Gospel  places  morafity  above  rites 
and  ceremonies." — JoRTlN. 

"  For  He,  be  sure, 
In  height  or  depth  still  flrst  and  last  will 

reign 
Sole  King,  nnd  of  His  Itin^dom  lose  nop«rt 


16 


By  our  revolt,  but  over  Hell  extend 
His  empire."  Milton. 

"  A  place  beyond  all  place,  where  never  ill 
Nor  impure  thought  was  ever  harboured." 
Fletcher. 

"  He  sawe  vpon  the  grene  gi-as 

The  faire  flower  freshe  springe.'      GoWER. 

ABRIDGE.  Abbreviate.  Cur- 
tail.   Contract. 

Of  these  ABKiDGEand  Abbreviate 
are  etymologically  tbe  same  word,  the 
Latin  form  abbrcviare  becoming  the 
French  abrtger  (brcviSy  short).  Yet 
abbreviate  is  hardly  ever  used  but  in 
the  simple  sense  of  to  shorten,  while 
abridge  is  applied  with  more  play  of 
metaphor,  as  to  abridge  powers  and 
privileges.  We  speak  peculiarly  of 
abbreviating  words  in  writing,  as  Dr., 
Lieut.,  Esq.  To  abridge  is  to  shorten 
by  condensing  or  compressing,  whilst 
to  abbreviate^s  to  shorten  by  cutting 
or  contracting.  In  literary  abridg- 
ments we  have  the  same  substance  in 
smaller  compass,  and  if  the  abridg- 
ment is  well  made  the  original  runs  a 
risk  of  being  neglected  for  it. 

"  This  book  was  composed  after  two  old 
examples  of  the  same  kind  in  the  times  of 
Ethelbert  and  Alfred,  and  was  laid  up  as 
sacred  in  the  Church  of  Winchester,  and 
for  that  reason,  as  graver  authors  say,  was 
railed  Liber  Domus  Dei  and  by  abbrevia- 
tion Domesday  Book."— Sir  W.  Temple. 

Differences  deserve  notice  between 
Abridge,  Curtail  (formerly  curtail, 
Lat.  curlus,  docked),  and  Contract 
(Lat.  contrahtre,  part,  contrac.lus,  to 
dra  w  together).  VV  hen  used  of  things  not 
purely  physical,  abridge  seems  usually 
to  refer  to  number  and  duration,  curtail 
to  extent,  and  contract  to  compass  or 
sphere  of  exercise.  Hence,  for  in- 
stance, pleasures  or  privileges  are 
abridged  and  contracted  when  they 
are  made  fewer  and  shorter,  curtailed 
when  the  sphere  of  their  exercise  is 
in  any  way  diminished,  contracted 
also  when  the  inherent  power  of  en- 
joyment is  lessened  in  individuals. 
Commonly  also  the  exercise  of  per- 
sonal power  curtails,  and  the  force  of 
circumstances  conti'acts  privileges  or 
enjoyments.  It  should  be  observed 
tliat  unlike  Abridge  and  Abbre- 
viate, which  may  accidentally  in- 
volve diminution  of  value,  incom- 
pleteness,  or    deficiency,   these    are 


SYNONYMS  [abridge] 

necessarily  involved  in  curtail  and 
contract.  We  may  say,  generalh 
speaking,  that  pleasures  are  abridged, 
privileges  or  expenditure  curtailed, 
and  powers  contracted ;  but  they  are 
employed  to  a  large  extent  inter- 
changeably. It  may  also  be  said  that 
time  is  abridged,  and  space  contracted, 
which  fundamental  rule  may  best 
govern  the  application  of  the  words. 
Abbreviate,  Abridge,  and  Cur- 
tail, belong  to  artificial  processes. 
Contracted  is  a  term  sometimes  ex- 
pressive of  natural  limitation  within 
narrow  bounds,  as  the  stream  is  by 
drought  contracted  within  naiTOW 
limits.  A  person  of  contracted  mind 
is  so  either  from  want  of  largeness  of 
sympathy  or  understanding  constitu- 
tionally, or  as  the  result  of  narrowing 
influences  which  have  cramped  and 
fettered  it. 
"  That  man  should  thus  encroach  on  fellow- 


Abridge  him  of  his  just  and  native  rights." 

COWPER. 

"  Have  the  burdens  of  the  war  compelled 
them  to  curtail  any  part  of  their  former 
expenditure  ?  " — Burke, 

"  In  all  things  desuetude  doth  contract 
and  narrow  our  faculties." — Government 
ofihe  I'ongue. 

ABRIDGMENT.     Compendium. 

Epitome.  Summary.  Abstract. 
Draught.  Digest.  Synopsis.  Pro- 
gramme. 

An  Abridgment  is  anything  which 

f)urports  to  give  the  substance  of  a 
iterary  production  in  a  shorter  form. 
Some  such  abridgments  are  formed 
by  the  simple  omission  of  portions 
which  are  regarded  as  unessential  or 
subordinate,  some  by  a  condensation 
of  the  diction  or  style,  but  tlie  sub- 
stance of  the  original  is  in  an  abridg- 
ment supposed  to  be  unaltered.  It  is 
the  same  thing  shortened,  and  is  itself 
a  work.  Itmay  be  added  that  Abridg- 
ment may  be  used  as  a  generic  term 
under  which  most  of  the  others  might 
be  included. 

*'  An  abridgment  or  abstract  of  anything 
is  the  whole  in  little,  and  if  it  be  of  a  science 
or  doctrine  the  abridgment  cogsists  in  the 
essential  or  necessary  parts  of  it  contracted 
into  a  narrower  compass  than  where  it  was 
diffused  in  the  ordinary  way  of  delivery." — 
Locke. 

Compendium    (Lat.   a   shorteuingf 


[abrupt] 


DISCKIMINATED. 


17 


ahndgmg)  is  not  of  a  work  but  of  a 
subject,  purporting-  to  give  as  much 
as  need  be  known  of  some  branch  of 
science  or  knowledge  in  a  concise 
form,  and  is  also  a  work,  as  a  com- 
pendium of  universal  history.  Sum- 
mary (^hsLt.Summnriiun,summa,tliesui7i 
or  total)  professes  to  give  heads  or 
general  results  of  the  body  of  a  narra- 
tive or  lengthened  statement,  as  in 
headings  prefixed  to  chapters.  Ab- 
stract (Lat.  absirdhcre,  to  draw  off  or 
Away)  gives  the  general  drift  and 
tenor,  and  belongs  rather  to  writings 
than  to  printed  books.  The  summary 
is  commonly  deficient  in  consecutive- 
ness  of  style  ;  while  the  abstract, 
unlike  the  abridgment,  maybe  a  pro- 
duction in  which  the  form  has  been 
altered  by  the  reproducer^  who  may 
have  assimilated  the  subject-matter, 
and  re-expressed  it  in  a  style  of  his 
own. 

"  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  is  a 
summary  of  a  Christian's  life." — Bishop 
Taylor. 

"All  those  excellent  persons  of  whose 
acts  and  sufferings  we  have  a  compendium 
or  abridgment  in  this  chapter." — Bishop 
Hall. 

A  Draught  (literally,  a  thing 
drawn  out)  commonly  precedes  the 
work,  and  is  of  the  nature  of  a  sketch 
or  outline  intended  for  the  guidance 
of  another  who  is  to  fill  it  up  and 
finish  it.  The  term  is  more  technical 
than  literary,  as  of  deeds  or  judicial 
proceedings. 

"And  thus  Poetry  and  the  Writer's  art, 
as  in  many  respects  it  resembles  the 
Statuary's  and  the  Painter's,  so  in  this  more 
particularly,  that  it  has  its  original  draughts 
and  models  for  study  and  praetite." — 
Shaftesbury, 

Epitomk  {iTiirofxh,  iTTnifA.yaoj  1 
abiidge).  It  is  such  an  abridgment 
as  prunes  or  lops  off  all  but  the  most 
salient  and  characteristic  points  or 
features,  and  is  a  summary  of  all  tliat 
is  most  distinctive.  We  may  observe, 
as  regards  present  use,  that  as  com- 
pendium is  of  science,  so  epitome  is 
of  facts  or  history. 

"  This  sentence  (St.  Matthew  vii.  12),  I 
read  unto  is  very  fitly  placed  towards  the 
close  of  our  Saviour's  admirable  Sermon 
111  the  Mount,  as  being  in  great  measure 


the  epitome  and  sura  of  what  the  Divine 
Preacher  had  there  expressed  more  at 
large."— Bishop  Aiterbury. 

A  Digest  (Lat.  d'lgtrtre,  to  distri- 
bute, anange ;  part,  dlgestus)  has  for 
its  object  arrangement  or  re-arrange- 
ment of  given  materials  in  an  orderly, 
convenient,  and  available  shape,  under 

Eroper  letters,  as  the  Digest  of  Roman 
,aws  by  order  of  Justinian;  and 
results  iu  abridgment,  though  brevity 
is  not  its  primary  or  direct  purpose. 

"  If  we  had  a  complete  digest  of  Hindu 
and  Mahommedan  laws  after  the  model  of 
Justinian's  celebrated  Pandects,  we  should 
rarely  be  at  a  loss  for  principles  and  rules 
of  law  applicable  to  the  cases  before  us."— 
Sib  W.  Joxes. 

Synopsis  (o-Jvo^jj,  a  collective  view, 
a  table  of  contents)  difl['ers  from  the 
preceding,  with  the  exception  of  sum- 
mary, in  not  aiming  at  any  style  in 
consecutiveness,  and  in  giving  nakedly 
and  disjointedly  a  view  of  all  needful 
points,  as  in  a  chart  or  table.  It  aims 
at  totality  and  juxtaposition,  so  that  a 
number  of  matters  may  be  viewed  as 
a  whole,  and  in  their  reciprocal  bear- 
ings or  concurrence.  A  synopsis  of 
general  history  brings  into  con- 
spicuous collocation  facts  which 
would  otherwise  lie  as  it  were  dis- 
persed or  disconnected  in  the  several 
particular  histories. 

"  Not  to  reckon  up  the  infinite  helps  of 
interlinearies,  breviaries,  synopses,  and 
other  loitering  gear," — Milto:^. 

As  synopsis  gives  what  is  to  be  ob- 
served, so  Programme  (TTfoyoaju/ua, a 
public  notice,  programme)  gives  what 
is  to  be  done.  It  ia  a  summary  of 
practical  proceedings,  and  belongs 
not  to  the  past  but  the  future. 

ABRUPT.     Rugged.     Rough. 

These  terms  may  be  taken  in  their 
order  to  express  the  same  thing  in 
o:radually  lessening  degrees.  Those 
features  of  nature,  which  on  a  large 
scale  are  precipitous  (  Lat.  prcEcYpifem, 
headlong)  on  a  lesser  are  abrupt  (Lat. 
abruinpcre,  abruptus,  to  break  off). 
Abruptness  on  a  smaller  scale  is  Rug- 
gedness  (A.  S.  hreog,  rough,  stormy), 
and  this,  on  a  reduced  scale  again,  is 
ilovcu'S¥.ss(A.&.hreof, rough, scabby). 
The  terms  have  their  figurative  uses, 
An  abrupt  style  or  manner  is  one  tlja^ 


)ii 


passes  from  one  point  to  anotlier  by 
jerks,  witliout  easy  transitions.  Such 
abruptness  may  be  sbown  in  the  com- 
bination of  manner  and  words,  as  an 
abrupt  salutation,  an  abrupt  depar- 
ture. Shakespeare  must  have  contem- 
plated the  word  in  its  etymology  when 
he  wrote 

«'  Oi-  if  thou  hast  not  broke  from  company 
Abruptly,  as  my  passion  no\Y  makes  me. 
Thou  hast  not  loved." 

Of  ruggedness  and  roughness,  the 
former  commonly  belongs  to  appear- 
ance, the  latter  to  character  and  bear- 
ing, yet  not  exclusively  so.  Scott,  in 
his  "  Christian  Life,"  speaks  of  that 
unmanly  sharpness  and  ruggedness  of 
humour  which  renders  us  perverse  and 
untractable  in  our  conversation.  In 
this  sense  it  is  less  coarse  and  violent 
than  roughness,  which  carries  with 
it  the  idea  of  a  rude  overbearing. 
Ruggedness  is  characteristic  of  the 
individual  only  ;  roughness  passes  on 
to  the  treatment  of  others. 

"  Sleek  o'er  your  rugged  looks." 

Shakespeark.  ■* 

"  To  take  a  cause  out  of  your  hands  into 
mine  I  do  but  mine  office.  You  meddle 
farther  than  your  office  will  bear  you,  thus 
roughly  to  handle  me  for  using  of  mine."— 
Subnet. 

Abrupt  is  opposed  to  continuous 
or  unbroken,  rugged  to  even,  rough 
to  smooth.  The  abrupt  and  the  rough 
may  be  the  result  ot  nature  or  the 
eft'ect  of  character  or  art.  The  rugged 
is  never  artificial.  An  abrupt  man- 
ner, a  rough  behaviour,  a  rugged  dis- 
position or  humour.  The  first  comes 
of  want  of  refinement  and  social 
training,  or  in  some  cases  is  the  sud- 
den action  of  feeling  ;  the  second 
from  want  of  moral  discipline  ;  the 
third  from  selfish  inconsiderateness. 
Men  of  equable  temper,  good  breed- 
ing, and  self-command  are  not  abrupt. 
He  who  has  sympathy  with  others  is 
not  rugged  in  his  humours. 

ABSENT.  Abstracted.  DivF.n- 
TED.  Distracted,  Absorbed.  En- 
grossed. 

Of  these  the  simplest  is  absent 
(J^at.  abesse,  to  be  absent),  which  de- 
notes either  the  specific  or  habitual 
state  of  one  whose  mind  is  inattentive 
V}  what  is  goin^  on  1  efore  or  around 


SYNONYMS  [absent] 

liim.  Absence  may  be  the  result  of  a 
habit  of  abstract  thought,  or  the  oppo- 
site, namely,  an  impatience  of  pure 
reflexion  or  casual  inattention.  It 
implies  naturally  thought,  but  not 
deep  thought. 

"What  is  commonly  called  an  absent 
man  is  commonly  either  a  very  weak  or  a 
very  affected  man." — Chesterfield. 

Abstractp:d,  on  the  other  hand 
(Lat.  abstrtihtre,  part,  abstractus,  to 
draw  away),  implies  the  influence  of 
something  sufficiently  strong  to  draw 
oflf  the  mind  from  present  things  and 
fix  it  in  a  state  of  rapt  contemplation 
of  others.  One  may  be  abstracted  in 
solitude,  one  is  absent  only  in  the 
company  of  others.  The  mind  of 
the  abstracted  man  is  closely  at  work, 
that  of  the  absent  man  may  be  en- 
gaged with  light  fancies.  The  absent 
man  is  in  one  place  while  his  mind  is 
in  another.  He  sees  not  present 
objects,  nor  hears  what  is  said.  He 
is  at  Paris  in  the  midst  of  London, 
and  when  others  are  talking  of  love 
he  is  engaged  with  mathematics  or 
the  contrary.  Absence  differs  from 
Distraction  in  being  the  result  of  a 
single  influence,  while  distraction 
(Lat.  distrHhtire,  to  draw  asunder)  may 
be  of  many,  nor  has  it  the  uneasiness 
and  disturbance  of  distraction.  ]M ore- 
over,  distraction  implies  an  influence 
in  contradiction  to  some  proposed 
matter  of  thought  for  which  the  mind 
is  accordingly  incapacitated,  while  in 
abstraction  it  is  wholly  given  to  it. 
The  distracted  man,  taking  the  term 
in  that  sense  in  which  it  is  opposed 
to  the  absent,  has  his  eyes  and  ears 
open  to  everything  at  once,  and  so 
cannot  be  attentive  to  anything  in 
particular.  In  trying  to  hear  every- 
thing he  apprehends  nothing  clearly. 
A  common  cause  of  distraction  is  a 
tiresome  talk  to  which  politeness 
compels  us  to  listen,  while  words  of 
interest  fall  upon  our  ears  fi-om  an- 
other quarter.  As  regards  social 
conversation,  the  absent  do  not  care 
for  it,  and  the  distracted  get  no 
benefit  from  it.  Our  own  ideas  make 
us  abstracted.  External  objects  dis- 
tract us.  Hard  study,  responsible 
and  arduous  duties,  strong  passions, 
make  persons  abstracted.    Trifles  are 


[absolute] 


enough  to  distract,  more  especially 
the  young  and  thoughtless.  A  dreamy 
habitude  leads  to  abstraction ;  a 
lively  curiosity  to  distraction.  The 
absent  man  makes  irrelevant  answers, 
the  abstracted  does  not  answer,  the 
distracted  is  continually  answering 
himself. 

"  Whether  dark  presages  of  the  night 
proceed  from  any  latent  power  of  the  soul 
daring  her  abstraction,  or  from  the  opera- 
tion of  subordinate  spirits,  has  ^leen  a  dis- 
pute."— Addison. 

*'  As  for  me,  during  my  confinement  to 
this  melancholy  solitude,  I  often  divert 
myself  at  leisure  moments  in  tiying  such 
experiments  as  the  unfurnishedness  of  the 
place  and  the  present  disti-actedness  of  my 
mind  will  permit  me." — Boyle. 

Diverted  is  a  term  of  lighter 
meaning,  and  is  applicable  to  cases  of 
mental  recreation  or  amusement,  in 
which  the  mind  is  turned  aside  (  Lat. 
divert tre,  to  tiii-n  aside)  from  studious 
or  grave  thought  to  matters  less 
serious.  Further  remarks  will  be 
found  under  Amusement.  Absorbed 
(Lat.  absorbire,  to  suck  np,  to  e7igi-oss) 
and  Engrossed  (Fr.  gros^  big  ;  Lat. 
grossus)  differ  from  the  preceding  in 
denoting,  not  so  much  a  drawing  off 
from  present  matters,  as  an  intense  or 
excessive  contemplation  of  them.  Ab- 
sorption excludes  distraction  and 
diversion  of  the  mind,  which  is  swal- 
lowed up  with  present  employment. 
Engrossment  of  mind  is  relative 
absorption  ;  that  is,  absorption  to  the 
disregard  of  other  matters  wliich  may 
possibly  have  equal  or  greater  claims 
upon  the  attention.  So  it  may  be  well 
to  be  absorbed,  but  it  is  not  altogether 
well  to  be  engrossed.  • 

"  Circe  in  vain  invites  the  feast  to  share. 
Absent  I  wander  and  absorpt  in  care." 
Pope. 
•'  Too  long  hath  lore  engrossed  Britannia's 

stage. 
And  sunk  to  softness  all  oar  tragic  rage." 

TiCKELL. 

ABSOLUTE.  Despotic.  Arbi- 
trary.   Tyrannical. 

Of  these  Absolute  (Lat.  absolvere, 
part.  absUutus,  to  hose  or  free  from  re- 
straint)  denotes  simply  the  possession 
of  unlimited  and  irresponsible  power, 
fvithout  implying  anything  as  to  the 
way  in  which  it  may  be  exercised,  or, 


DISORTMINATEi.. 


19 


necessarily,  that  it  is  exercised  at  all ; 
only  that  it  exists.  Absolute  power 
is  independent  of  all  other  })Ower,  and 
superior  to  it.  It  is  rarely  employed 
of  the  character  and  acts.  When  so 
employed  it  may  be  said  that  tlie  ab- 
solute man  expects  exact  and  un- 
questioning obedience,  which  may  be 
exacted  in  a  spirit  of  calm  determina- 
tion. It  is  a  cliaracter  of  firmness, 
and  makes  itself  felt  continually 
within  the  sphere  of  its  influence. 

"An  honest  private  man  often  grows 
cruel  and  abandoned  when  converted  into 
an  absolute  prince." — Addison. 

Despotic  may  be  used  either  in  the 
abstract,  of  the  power,  like  absolute, 
or  relatively,of  the  way  in  which  it  is 
exercised.  Despotic  power  may  have 
been  acquired  with  the  consent  or 
through  the  instrumentality  of  others. 
The  Greek  Sfs-Trcr*!?  was  strictly  a  mas- 
ter of  slaves,  hence  an  absolute  ruler 
whose  subjects  were  slaves;  while 
Tupttwoc  meant  a  sovereign  ruler  whose 
power  was  unlimited  by  law  or  con- 
stitution. His  conduct  might  be  the 
very  opposite  of  cruel,  and  he  might 
owe  his  elevation  to  the  State,  or  to 
some  party  in  it.  As  employed  by 
ourselves  in  a  moral  sense,  the  des- 
potic character  is  he  who  enforces 
implicit  obedience  to  his  will.  Abso- 
lute is  a  term  general  and  descriptive. 
Despotic  is  political  or  social.  A  man 
is  absolute  in  himself,  despotic  in  his 
rule  over  others.  When  absolute 
power  resides  in  the  ruler  of  a  State, 
the  form  of  government  is  a  despot- 
ism. The  moralist  may  draw  the 
reflexion  how  unfit  man  is  to  wield 
absolute  power,  from  the  fact  that  it 
has  been  found  impossible  that  the 
terms  tyrant  and  despot,  tyrannical 
and  despotic,  should  preserve  a  mo- 
rally neutral  meaning.  Tyrannical, 
in  modern  parlance,  relates  not  only 
to  the  disposition  and  proceedings  of 
the  governing  party,  but  to  the  result 
upon  the  governed.  It  associates  the 
suffering  or  oppression  of  the  latter 
with  the  domination  and  caprice  of 
the  former.  The  despotic  man  may 
be  not  less  exacting,  but  he  is  a  more 
equable  character  than  the  tyrannical 
man.  For  the  despotic  feels  more 
sure  of  his  power,  while  the  tyranni- 


20 


c&l  makes  the  most  of  his  opportunity. 
The  despotic  character  will,  however, 
naturally  tend  to  become  tyrannical ; 
that  is,  when  the  will  is  thwarted,  or 
against  those  who  thwart  it.  The 
sjjoilt  cliild  allowed  to  be  a  despot 
will  grow  into  a  tyrant.  Despotism 
is  measured  by  the  will  of  the  person, 
tyranny  by  the  excess  of  legitimate 
autliority.  A  democrat  would  call 
any  monarch  a  tyrant  by  reason  of 
his  excessive  possession  of  power, 
though  a  humane  sovereign  of  a  Con- 
stitutional State  could  never  be  called 
a  despot.  Despotism  is  a  more  esta- 
blished force  than  tyranny.  Despo- 
tism is  crushing,  tyranny  vexatious. 
The  former  reduces  to  submission,  the 
latter  rouses  to  resentment.  A  people 
lies  powerless  under  a  military  despo- 
tism, and  rises  in  rebellion  against  the 
tyranny  of  an  aristocracy. 

*'  ^TiateA'er  the  will  commands  the  whole 
mftn  must  do.  the  empire  of  the  will  over 
all  the  faculties  being  absolutely  overruling 
and  despotic."-  South. 

"  These  poor  prisoners  eat  nothing  but 
rice  and  drink  water,  and  are  tyrannically 
insulted  over  by  their  rigid  creditore  till 
the  debt  is  paid,"— Dampieb's  Voyages. 

The  Arbitrary  character  (Lat. 
arhitrdrius,  having  to  do  with  arhitra- 
tion;  2,  depending  on  the  will)  ex- 

f)ects  submission  where  nothing  but 
lis  own  will  or  decision  constitutes 
the  principle  of  rule ;  hence,  as  im- 
pressiveness  belongs  to  the  despotic, 
fickleness  is  associated  with  the  arbi- 
trary. The  arbitrary  character  is  far 
less  violent  than  the  tyrannical  or 
despotic.  The  despot  enforces  his 
will,  the  tyrant  his  power,  the  arbi- 
trary man  his  preference.  Tyranny 
is  always  hateful.  Despotism  may, 
under  certain  circumstances,  be  exer- 
cised with  salutary  effect  and  in  the 
interest  of  its  subjects.  Arbitrariness 
reflects  upon  the  character  and  dis- 
position of  the  man,  but  not  on  the 
truth  of  his  opinions  or  on  the  justice 
of  his  decisions. 

"  By  an  rtr5iYn;ry  proceeding,  I  mean  one 
conducted  by  the  private  opinions  or  feel- 
ings of  the  man  who  attempts  to  regulate." 

— BUREE. 

A  Bsoi.uTE,  Positive. 

'"'lese  terms  are  applicable  to  the 


SYNONYMS  [absolution  J 

subject-matter  of  statements.  An  ab- 
solute or  positive  statement.  They 
express  an  incontestable  truth,  but 
under  different  aspects.  Absolute 
is  the  Lat.  absolidus,  part.,  from  abso- 
lua-e,  to  loose  or  detach ;  hence  that  is 
absolute  which  is  complete  in  itself, 
freed  and  unfettered,  and  dependent 
upon  nothing  for  its  existence,  con- 
tinuance, or  support.  Positive  (Lat. 
posifivus,  settled  by  agreervent)  is  that 
which  has  a  real  substantial  position, 
existence,  or  force  of  its  own  as 
opposed  to  what  is  negative  or  to 
what  is  relative.  A  positive  good 
is  distinguished  from  a  negative 
good.  It  is  a  positive  good  to 
be  happy,  a  negative  good  to  live 
unmolested,  a  relative  good  to  be- 
come possessed  of  a  field  advantage- 
ously adjoining  one's  estate,  which, 
therefore,  has  a  value  for  one's  self 
which  it  has  not  for  others.  The 
word  absolute  is  passive,  indicating  a 
state;  the  word  positive  lias  the  Latin 
termination  "  -wus,"  which  probably 
marks  an  inherent  quality  or  force. 
A  positive  law  is  one  which  has  the 
force  of  a  law  laid  down  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  moral  obligation. 
Hence  it  follows  that  a  positive  truth 
or  statement  is  one  which  cannot  be 
shaken  or  impugned;  an  absolute 
truth  cannot  even  be  touched.  An 
absolute  truth  is  true  independently, 
a  positive  truth  is  true  incontestably. 
I  know  absolutely,  and  therefore  can 
speak  positively.  The  system  of 
philosophy  called  Positivism  excludes 
everything  but  natural  phenomena, 
and  properties  with  their  ascertain- 
able and  known,  because  invariable, 
relations  in  time  and  space.  Such 
relations  are  called  laws,  and  are  dis- 
covered by  observation,  comparison, 
and  experiment.  The  system  excludes 
all  inquiry  into  causes  eflScient  or 
final,  that  is,  what  produces  things,  or 
why  they  are  produced.  It  declares 
that  such  things  imply  an  assumption 
of  absolute  knowledge,  which  is  not 
possessed  by  mankind. 

ABSOLUTION.  Pardon.  Re- 
mission. 

The  Pardon  (Fr.  pardon)  is  in 
consequence   of  an  offence,  and   re- 


[absolve] 


g-ards  principally  the  person  who  has 
committed  it.  It  depends  upon  the 
person  offended,  and  produces  recon- 
ciliation wlien  it  is  sincerely  asked 
and  sincerely  accorded. 

The  Remission  (Lat.  rcmissionem) 
follows  upon  a  crime,  and  relates 
specially  to  the  penalty  with  which 
it  deserves  to  be  visited.  It  is  ac- 
corded by  the  dispensing  power  in 
the  State  or  community,  and  inter- 
poses to  arrest  the  execution  of 
justice. 

The  Absolut  ION  (Lat.  absMiitionem) 
is  in  consequence  of  a  fault  or  sin, 
and  relates  mainly  to  the  guilty  state 
of  one  who  has  offended  against  the 
laws  divine,  and  who  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority,  after  penitence,  is  re- 
instated in  the  condition  and  rights  of 
the  innocent. 

ABSOLVE.  Acquit.  Exonerate. 
Clear.    Exculpate. 

To  Absolve  (  Lat.  absolvcre,  to  loose) 
is  against  the  idea  of  sin  and  guilt  hav- 
ing a  religious  or  gravely  moral  ap- 
plication. It  refers  to  the  loosing  of 
solemn  obligations,  or  tlie  setting  free 
from  the  consequences  of  moral  or 
religious  offence.  Even  in  its  lighter 
significance, absolution  is  still  a  loosing 
from  such  ties  as  it  would  be  sin  or 
guilt  to  violate,  as  oaths,  promises, 
and  the  like. 

"  Compelled  by  th-eats  to  take  that  bloody 

oath. 
And  the  act  ill,  I  am  absolved  by  both." 
Waller. 

As  Absolve  applies  to  offences  against 
the  laws  of  God  and  man,  or  from 
moral  obligations  towards  the  latter. 
Acquit  (Fr.  acquitter,  Lat.  adquiitdre, 
to  settle  a  claim)  bears  reference  to 
specific  charges  of  offences  against  the 
laws  of  man  only.  Absolution  sets 
free    the    conscience,    acquittal    the 

f)erson,  goods,  or  reputation.  Abso- 
ution  sets  free  the  guilty ;  acquittal 
recognizes  the  innocent.  Acquittal 
is  a  kind  of  legal  reparation  which  es- 
tablishes the  accused  in  his  former 
state.  Yet,  though  the  legal  effect  of 
acquittal  is  always  complete,  the  moral 
effect  may  be  variable.  A  man  may 
be  acquitted  on  the  ground  of  clear 
and  ample  evidence  in  his  favour,  or 
the  want  of  such  evidence  against  liim. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


21 


Absolve  is  the  more  moral,  acquit 
the  more  judicial  term.  Human  au- 
♦^hority  acquits,  the  force  of  circum- 
stances may  absolve. 

"Those  who  are  truly  learned  will  acquit 
me  in  this  point,  in  which  I  have  been  so 
far  from  offending  that  1  hare  been  scrupu- 
lous, perhaps  to  a  fault,  in  quoting  the 
authors  of  several  passages  which  I  might 
have  made  my  own." — Addison. 

To  Clear  (0.  Fr.  cler,  Lat.  cldrui, 
clear)  is  the  simplest  and  most  general 
of  these  terms.  A  man  is  cleared  by 
anything,  whether  fact  or  argument, 
which  shows  him  to  be  innocent.  It 
implies,  therefore,  the  antecedent  in- 
nocence of  the  l>arty,  while  absolve 
implies  an  antecedent  offence,  except 
where  it  is  used  in  the  sense  of  to  free 
from  an  obligation.  The  innocent  are 
cleared,  the  guilty  are  absolved. 

"Although  innocency  needs  no  defence 
as  to  itself,  yet  it  is  necessary,  for  all  the 
advantages  it  hath  of  doing  good  to  man- 
kind, that  it  appear  to  be  what  it  really 
is  ;  which  cannot  be  done  unless  its  reputa- 
tion be  cleared  from  the  malicious  asper- 
sions which  are  cast  upon  it." — Stillikg- 
fleet. 

Exonerate  and  Exculpate  are 
both  less  formal  than  absolve  and  ac- 
quit. They  imply  a  moral,  the  former 
a  magisterial  decision.  They  may  be 
used  of  cases  in  which  blame  is  im- 
puted without  any  public  indictment. 
They  indicate,  however,  some  superi- 
ority, real  or  assumed,  in  the  person 
who  exonerates  or  exculpates.  Tlie 
terms,  however,  are  also  employed  of 
the  process  of  proving,  as  well  as  the 
act  of  declaring  free  from  blame.  Id 
this  sense  a  man  may  be  exculpated, 
or  he  may  exculpate  himself;  he  may 
also  be  exonerated  by  himself  or  an- 
other. Exculpation  (  Lat.  c» /pa,  6/a7ne) 
is  a  rescue  from  the  guilt,  exoneration 
(Lat.  exMirare,  to  unload)  from  the 
charge  and  liabilities  of  an  offence,  or 
even,  in  a  different  sense,  from  the 
burden  of  an  obligation.  Exculpation, 
as  the  term  implies,  is  restricted  to 
fault?  and  crimes ;  exoneration  extends 
to  other  responsibilities  than  those 
of  fault  or  blame.  Exculpation  is 
from  an  actual  fault  or  offence,  ex- 
oneration may  be  even  from  the  su9^ 
picion  of  it.  Exculpation  is  a  simple 
term,  exoneration  a  metaphorical  term. 


22 


SYNONYMS 


[ab 


STAIN  I 


Hence  the  wider  and  more  varied  ap- 
plication of  the  latter  to  things  which 
press  upon  us  as  moral  burdens,  as  by 
obligation  external  or  self-imposed. 
I  am  exculpated  by  the  decision  of  a 
judge;  I  may  be  exonerated  by  the 
indulgence  of  a  friend. 

*'  I  entreat  your  Lordships  to  consider 
whether  there  ever  was  a  witness  brought 
before  a  court  of  justice  who  had  stronger 
motives  to  give  testimony  hostile  to  a  de- 
fendant for  the  purpose  of  exonerating  him- 
self."—5te?e  Trials. 

"  In  Scotland  the  law  allows  of  an  ex- 
culpation,hy  which  the  prisoner  is  suffered 
before  his  trial  to  prove  the  thing  to  be 
impossible." — Burnet. 

ABSTAIN.  FoRBEAn.  Refrain. 
Desist. 

Of  these  Abstain  (Lat.  abstinere,  to 
hold  off,  act)  is  the  most  general  in  its 
sense.  It  is  simply  not  to  do  wlien 
to  do  would  be  possible.  We  may 
abstain  with  a  slight  effort  of  self-con- 
trol from  what  we  are  inclined  to  do, 
or  with  a  stronger  effort  from  what 
we  are  powerfully  attracted  to  do,  oi 
with  no  effort  at  all  from  doing  that 
which  we  might  have  done  in  the  ordi- 
nary course,  but  which  we  avoid  doing 
from  the  thought  of  inconvenient  or 
disastrous  consequences.  We  may 
abstain  under  the  strongest  impulses 
or  the  slightest  tendencies.  Prudence 
or  a  sense  of  duty  may  cause  us  to  ab- 
stain from  things  in  themselves  in- 
different. 

"  He  that  can  apprehend  and  consider 
vice  with  all  her  baits  and  seeming  plea- 
sures, and  yet  abstain,  and  yet  distinguish, 
and  yet  prefer  that  which  is  truly  better- 
he  is  the  true  way-faring  Christian." — 
Milton. 

As  abstain  regards  mainly  an  external 
object  with  which  we  refuse  to  con- 
nect ourselves,  or  an  external  act 
which  we  refuse  to  perform,  so  both 
to  Forbear  (literally,  to  bear  or  keep, 
and^or  with  tlie  sense  of  negation ;  to 
withhold)  and  Refrain  (Lat.  re- 
frlnare,  to  bridle,  curb)  regard  mainly 
the  internal  impulse  which  we  resist. 
Refrain  and  forbear  differ  in  the  de- 
gree of  the  impulse  and  in  tlie  nature 
of  it.  In  refraining  we  put  a  stronger 
check  upon  ourselves  than  in  forbear- 
ing. To  refrain  from  doing  a  thing  is 
to  prevent  ourselves  from  d  )ing  it.  To 


forbear  doing  a  thing  is  not  to  do  it 
when  we  might.  We  for  the  most 
part  refrain  from  what  primarily 
afiects  ourselves,  we  forbear  doing 
that  which  primarily  affects  others. 
Refraining  belongs  rather  to  a  decision 
of  will,  forbearing  is  the  result  of  ante- 
cedent judgment  or  reflexion.  The 
force  of  refrain  appears  more  plainly 
in  tlie  reflexive  use  of  it — to  refrain 
one's  self,  to  which  forbear  has  no 
parallel. 

"  In  pretence  o^ forbearance  they  resolve 
to  torment  him  with  a  lingering  death." — 
Bishop  Hall. 

Desis'i  (X-Vit.  d'esisltre,  to  stop  from) 
expresses  voluntary  cessation  of 
hitherto  continuous  action.  It  differs 
from  abstain  in  not  being  applicable 
to  objects,  but  only  to  actions,  and  also 
in  implying  a  notion  which  abstaining 
excludes.  He  Avho  abstains  from 
doing  a  tiling  does  it  not,  he  who 
desists  does  it  for  a  while,  or  to  a 
certain  extent.  We  desist  from  a 
course  of  action  or  systematic  pur- 
suits, and,  commonly  speaking,  be- 
cause we  see  that  they  are  unseemly, 
unjust,  or  profitless ;  and  sometimes 
from  weariness  or  dissatisfaction. 

"  A  Politician  desists  from  his  designs 
when  he  finds  they  are  impracticable." — 
Blair. 

ABSTINENCE.     Fast. 

These  terms  are  technically  distin- 
guished. Abstinence  (see  Abstain) 
is  a  refraining  from  certain  sorts  of 
food. 

"  The  temperance  which  adorned  the 
severe  manners  of  the  soldier  and  the  philo- 
sopher was  connected  with  some  strict  and 
frivolous  rules  of  religious  abstinence  ;  and 
it  was  in  honour  of  Pan  or  Mercury,  of 
Hecate  or  Iris,  that  Julian  on  particular 
days  denied  himself  the  use  of  some  parti- 
cular food." — Gibbon. 

Fasting  (A.  S.fiestan,  to  fast ;  Teu- 
ton, fast, i.e. firm  ;  and  so  tokeep,i.e,  from 
food ;  or  (?)  as  an  ordinance),  whence 
fast  is  to  refrain  from  food  altogether. 

"  Froni  hence  may  an  account  be  given 
why  the  inhabitants  of  hot  countries  may 
entlure  longer  fasting  and  hunger  than 
those  of  colder,  and  these  seemingly  prodi- 
gious and  to  us  scarce  credible  stories  of 
the  fastings  and  abstinence  of  the  Egj-ptian 
monks  be  rendered  probable."— Rat,  On 
Creation. 


[abstraction]    discriminated. 


23 


ABSTINENT.  Sober.  Abste- 
MFOus.     Temperate.    ]\Ioderate. 

Abstinence  expresses  the  power 
and  the  habit  of  refraining  from  in- 
dulgence of  the  appetites. 

"  13e  abstinent,  show  not  the  corruption 
of  thy  generation.  He  that  feeds  shall  die, 
therefore  he  that  feeds  not  shall  die,  there- 
fore he  that  feeds  not  shall  live." — Beau- 
mont AND  Fletcher. 

When  abstinence  refers  to  matters 
of  food  and  drink,  it  is  called  Abste- 
miousness. 

*'  Promised  by  heavenly  message  twice  de- 
scending 
Under  her  special  eye 
Abstemicms  I  grew  up,  and  thrived  amain." 
Milton. 

Sober  (Lat.  sbhrius,  i.e.,  se-,  pre- 
fix, meaning  separation,  and  ibrius, 
drunken),  denotes  the  character  which 
by  its  natural  gravity  is  constitution- 
ally untempted  to  excesses  of  any 
kind,  being  content  with  what  is  mo- 
derate and  sufficient.  It  has,  how- 
ever, two  characters,  according  as  it 
is  employed  of  abstinence  from  intoxi- 
cating liquors  and  of  the  character 
generally.  In  the  fonner  use  it  de- 
notes no  more  than  the  opposite  to 
intoxicated,  so  that  a  man  may  be 
called  sober  who  is  not  drunk,  though 
he  be  not  at  all  abstemious,  and, 
through  strength  of  constitution,  or 
even  habitual  drinking,  may  be  able 
to  drink  much  without  being  affected 
by  any  degree  of  intoxication.  In  its 
more  widely  moral  significance,  sober 
applies  to  all  situations,  and  even  to 
thoughts  and  opinions  as  well  as  out- 
ward behaviour.  In  this  way  sobriety 
includes  reserve,  discretion,  modera- 
tion, restraint.  It  consists  in  not  say- 
ing, doing,  thinking,  feeling  exces- 
sively, but  in  all  these  things  being 
according  to  the  rule  of  right  reason. 
"  Sobriety  is  sometimes  opposed  in  Scrip- 
ture to  pride,  and  sometimes  to  sensuality." 
—Gilpin. 

Temperate  (Lat.  temptrdre,  to  tem- 
per) expresses  the  character  which  is 
well-balanced  in  its  appetites,  and  to 
<vhich  moderation,  even  though  it  be 
the  result  of  effort,  is  yet  congenial. 
As  abstinence  is  the  power  of  refrain- 
ing altogether,  so  temperance  is  the 
power  of  enjoying  with  moderation. 
We  are  temperate  in  what  is  good,  we 


abstain  from  what  is  not  good.  Some 
are  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  absti- 
nence, feeling  their  inability  to  be 
temperate.  Moderation  (Lat.  mor/e- 
rdtionem,  a  limiting)  and  temperance 
are  very  nearly  alike ;  but  moderation 
is  a  somewhat  wider  term,  belonging 
both  to  the  desires  and  to  the  subject- 
matter  of  their  gratification.  So  we 
might  say  a  person  of  moderate  de- 
sires, temperate  habits,  and  sober  dis- 
position, character,  or  life.  But  we 
must  press  yet  farther  the  distinction 
between  temperance  and  moderation. 
Temperance  is  the  regulative  measure 
of  the  person,  moderation  of  the  thing. 
Temperance  is  the  mean  between  over- 
abstemiousness  and  over-indulgence. 
Moderation  is  the  mean  between  too 
much  and  too  little.  The  temperate 
man  is  content  with  that  which  is 
moderate.  Generally  speaking,  people 
are  abstinent  from  rule  or  policy, 
sober  from  natural  constitution,  tem- 
perate from  virtue  and  upon  prin- 
ciple, moderate  from  reason  and  sound 
judgment,  and  frugal  by  philosophy. 

"  What  goodness  can  there  be  in  the 
world  without  moderation,  whether  in  the 
use  of  God's  creatures  or  in  our  own  dispo- 
sition and  courage  1  Without  this  justice 
is  no  other  than  cruel  rigour,  mercy  unju&t 
remissness,  pleasure  brutish  sensuality, 
love  frenzy,  anger  furv,  sorrow  desperate 
mopishness,  joy  distempered  wildness, 
knowletlge  saucy  curiosity,  piety  supersti- 
tion, care  wracking  distraction,  courage 
mad  rashness." — Bishop  Hall,  Christian 
Moderation. 

"  Temperance  permits  us  to  take  meat 
and  drink  not  only  as  physic  for  hunger 
and  thirst,  but  also  as  an  innocent  corcfial 
and  fortifier  against  the  evils  of  life,  or 
even  sometimes  (reason  not  refusing  that 
liberty)  merely  as  matter  of  pleasure.  It 
only  confines  us  to  such  kinds,  quantities, 
and  seasons  as  may  best  consist  with  our 
health,  the  use  of  our  faculties,  our  fortune, 
and  the  like,  and  show  that  we  do  not  think 
ourselves  made  only  to  eat  and  drink  here." 
— WooLASTON,  Religion  of  Nature. 

ABSTRACTION.  Abduction. 
These  terms  are  expressive  of  surrep- 
titious or  unlawful  carrying  away. 
The  difference  lies  in  their  applica- 
tion. The  former  is  applied  to  articles 
of  value,  the  latter  only  to  persons. 
To  pick  another's  pocket  of  a  purse, 
or  to  carry  away  for  one's  own  use 
and  possession  some  commodity  out 


24 


of  his  house,  is  Abstraction  (Lat.  ab- 
itractionem,  abitrHhtre,  to  draw  off  or 
away).  The  taking  away  of  his  wife, 
child,  or  ward,  whether  by  fraud, 
persuasion,  or  open  violence,  is  Ab- 
duction (Lat.  abductionem,  abductre, 
to  lead  away). 

ABSTRUSE.  Curious.  Rkcon- 
DiTE.    Quaint. 

These  terms  are  employed  of  matters 
of  art  or  learning.  In  the  things  of 
knowledge,  that  is  abstruse  (Lat.  ab- 
strhda'e,part.  abslriisus,  to  thrust  away^ 
hide)  which  is  thrust  away,  and  as  it 
were  out  of  common  sight  removed 
from  easy  understanding — with  an 
occult,  rather  than  a  plain  meaning. 
In  this  way  ideas,  knowledge,  reason- 
ing, expressions  may  be  abstruse. 
Anything  is  abstruse  which  for  any 
cause  is  remote  from  apprehension,  as 
from  an  involved  or  enigmatical  style, 
as  well  as  from  the  generally  inacces- 
sible character  of  the  department  of 
knowledge  to  which  the  matter  be- 
longs. It  must  be  observed,  however, 
that  some  character  of  remoteness  or 
profundity  in  the  subject-matter  is 
needed  to  constitute  the  abstruse,  and 
f  hat  the  term  would  not  be  applicable 
to  common  every-day  matters  ex- 
pressed with  a  want  of  clearness. 
Recondite,  on  the  other  hand  (Lat. 
ricoudtre,  part,  rccondttus,  to  stow 
away),  belongs  purely  to  the  subject- 
matter  of  thought  and  knowledge, 
and  in  no  degree  to  the  mode  of  utter- 
ing it.  The  recondite  is  that  which 
lies  out  of  the  plain  path  of  observa- 
tion, or  the  beaten  track  of  inquiry, 
and  is  known  to  the  few  who  care  to 
search  for  it  without  being  of  neces- 
sity, when  found,  perplexing  to  the 
understanding,  like  the  abstruse.  A 
matter  recondite  in  itself  may  sound 
abstruse  to  him  before  whom  it  is 
nut,  or  from  the  way  of  putting  it. 
The  Cuuious  (Lat.  cura,  care)  wears, 
so  to  speak,  a  double  aspect,  accord- 
ing as  It  implies  minute  care  in  forma- 
tion or  composition  on  the  one  hand, 
or  minute  care  in  inquiry  and  inves- 
tigation on  the  other.  Strictly  and 
etymologically,  the  artist  is  curious ; 
and,  by  consequence,  the  work  which 
ihows  traces  of  his  care  and  exact- 


SYNONYMS  [abstruse] 

ness.  Then  a  third  element  is  im- 
ported into  the  word,  viz.,  minute- 
ness and  care  in  investigating  such 
things.  The  curious  denotes  that 
which  is  the  result  of  specific  investi- 
gation or  accidental  discovery,  and 
when  found  impresses  the  mind  with 
a  mingled  feeling  of  familiarity  and 
use.  Curious  and  cunning  artists 
produce  curious  works,  which  by 
lovers  of  such  arts  are  made  the  ob- 
jects of  curious  search  and  study. 
Such  objects  are  called  curiosities. 
They  are  neither  quite  strange  and 
new,  nor  quite  common  and  familiar, 
but  for  the  most  part  strange  render- 
ings of  familiar  things.  They  excite 
interest  and  stimulate  inquiry;  they 
appeal  to  the  faculty  of  inquisitive- 
ness,  and  gratify  it. 

"Let  the  Scriptures  be  hard;  are  they 
more  hard,  more  crabbed,  more  abstruse 
than  the  Fathers?" — Milton. 

"  It  is  true  our  bodies  are  made  of  very 
coarse  materials ;  of  nothing  but  a  little 
dust  and  earth.  Yet  they  are  so  wisely 
contrived,  so  curiously  composed."— Beve- 

BIDQE. 

Quaint  is  from  the  O.  Fr.  coint, 
neat  (Lat.  comptns).  Its  primary 
meaning  is,  artificially  elegant  or  in- 
genious, then  affectedly  artificial,  and 
finally,  odd,  antique,  yet  retaining 
always  an  element  of  the  pleasing. 
The  idea  of  quaintness  belongs  at 
present  most  commonly  to  style  of 
thought  and  verbal  expression  in 
which  appears  a  combination  of  fancy, 
originality,  delicacy,  and  force,  yet  a 
disharmony  with  present  modes. 
Quaint  architecture,  for  instance,  is 
in  detail  antiquated  and  curious, 
showing  an  obsolete  beauty  and  an 
unfashionable  ingenuity. 

"  You  were  glad  to  be  employed 
To  show  how  quaint  an  orator  you  are." 
Shakespeare. 

ABSURD.  Foolish.  Irrational. 
Preposterous.     Paradoxical. 

Absurd  is  the  Lat.  absurdus,  irra- 
tional,  disso7iaiit,  denoting  that  which 
jars  against  common-sense  and  re- 
ceived notions  of  propriety  and  truth, 
as  when  an  argument  is  reduced  to  an 
absurdity  on  which  every  man's  judg- 
ment is  competent  to  determine;  or 
men  form  absurd,  that  is,  practically 


[absurd] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


26 


improbable  expectations,  or  conduct 
themBelves  in  an  absurd  manner,  that 
is,  one  in  which  even  common  persons 
would  perceive  a  palpable  unfitness. 
The  ridiculous  or  ludicrous  are  not  of 
the  essence  of  the  absurd,  though  the 
absurd,  especially  when  exhibited  in 
matters  of  demeanour,  dress,  action, 
and  the  like  externals,  will  be  pro- 
bably attended  with  ludicrous  effects. 
An  absurd  remark  is  out  of  tune  with 
the  general  subject,  and  comes  from 
one  who  does  not  see  the  point  at  is- 
sue. It  is  like  a  note  struck  in  a  dif- 
ferent key  from  that  of  a  piece  of 
music. 

"  That  we  may  proceed  yet  farther  with 
the  atheist  and  convince  him  that  not  only 
his  principle  is  absurd  but  his  consequences 
also  as  ahsurdly  deduced  from  it,  we  will 
allow  him  an  uncertain  extravagant  chance 
tgainst  the  natural  laws  of  motion." — 
Bektley. 

Irrational  (Lat.  irrittidnnlis,  de- 
void of  reason)  is  employed  to  express 
sometimes  the  want  of  the  faculty  of 
reason  by  nature,  as  in  the  phrase  "the 
irrational  animals;'*  sometimes  a  defi- 
ciency in  its  exercise,  and,  like  the 
rest  of  these  synonyms,  is  applicable  to 

fiersons,  to  principle,  and  to  conduct, 
t  is  a  more  serious  term  than  absurd, 
involving  more  serious  results  as  a 
dereliction  of  that  reason  which  is  the 
distinctive  light  and  guide  of  men. 
As  absurdity  lies  in  false  relation,  so 
irrationality  lies  in  absurd  conception. 
Hence  it  is  applied  rather  to  matters 
theoretical  than  practical,  principles, 
schemes,  suppositions,  notions.  Ex- 
pectations may  be  irrational.  Pro- 
found ignorance  or  inexperience,  or 
extravagant  credulity  may  lead  us  to 
entertain  what  is  irrational.  Absur- 
dity belongs  to  things,  irrationality  to 
our  estimate  of  them.  If  we  could 
not  see  a  manifest  absurdity,  we 
should  be  ourselves  irrational. 

"  These  are  all  of  them  suggestions  of  in- 
ternal sense,  consciousness,  or  reflexion, 
which  we  belieA'e  because  we  believe  them 
to  be  true  ;  and  which,  if  we  were  not  to  be- 
lieve them,  would  bring  upon  us  the  charge 
of  irrationality."  —  Beattie. 

As  irrational  denotes  the  contra- 
diction of  reason,  so  Foolish  denotes 
the  insufficient  exercise  of  it.  So  the 
conduct  of  children  is  not  called  irra- 


tional, but  silly  or  foolish.  As  the 
irrational  is  unsound  in  principle, and 
contrary  to  experience,  so  the  foolish 
■  is  contrary  to  the  practical  under- 
standing. The  fool  speaks  and  acts 
absurdly  and  irrationally  in  things 
practical  and  moral.  Hence  folly  is 
closely  allied  to  wickedness,  as  wisdom 
to  virtue.  As  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
the  beginning  of  wisdom,  so  the  fool 
says  in  his  heart  there  is  no  God. 
He  wants,  or  has  lost  the  natural 
light  which  enables  a  man  to  choose 
the  better  way  which  coincides  with 
his  higher,  truer,  and  more  solid  in- 
terests. The  fool  mistakes  the  rela- 
tive value  of  things.  As  wisdom  is 
reason  perfected  by  knowledge,  so 
folly  is  reason  deluded  or  uninformed. 
Even  irrational  animals  are  called 
foolish  when  they  seem  to  be  neglect- 
ing the  light  of  instinct  in  self-preser- 
vation. Some  men  of  low  mental 
ability  are  nevertheless  too  shrewd  to 
be  called  fools.  Some  who  are  philo- 
sophers in  intellect  are  fools  in  prac 
tice. 

"  It  \s  foolishly  imagined  in  France  thst 
to  deprive  one  great  man  of  his  dishes  of 
silver  and  gold,  and  another  of  his  money, 
will  be  of  advantage  to  the  poor." — Fox. 

As  the  absurd  contradicts  every- 
day notions  of  fitness,  so  the  Prepos- 
terous (Lat.  pra-postcruSy  reversed  in 
order),  the  putting,  as  it  were,  of  the 
cart  before  the  horse,  contradicts 
every-day  notions  of  right  relation- 
ship. To  say  that  a  thing  is  prepos- 
terously absurd  is  to  say  that  it  ex- 
liibits  such  gross  unfitness  as  to 
amount  to  a  contradiction  of  the  com- 
mon sequences  of  causes  and  eflfects. 
The  term  is  now  used  as  a  mere  syno- 
nym for  very  absurd,  as  by  Dryden : — 

'•  What's  more  preposterous  than  to  see 
A  merry  beggar,  mirth  in  miserj-  ?  ' 

The  following  exhibits  the  exact 
use  of  the  term  : — 

"Some  indeed  preposterously  misplace 
these,  and  make  us  partake  of  the  benefit 
of  Christ's  priestly  office  in  the  forgiveness 
of  our  sins  and  our  reconcilement  t<*  Sod, 
before  we  are  brought  under  the  sceptre 
of  His  kingly  office  by  our  obedience." — 
South. 

Paradoxical  (wapaJo^o?,  contrary  to 
opinion f  pwradorica/),  belongs  to  forms 


26 


SYNONYMS  [a BUSK] 


ot  statement.  When  Southey  speaks 
of  a  "  perverse  and  paradoxical  intel- 
lect," he  only  means  one  which  likes 
to  express  itself  in  paradox.  A  para- 
dox is  a  proposition  which  in  form  is 
out  of  harmony  with  common  concep- 
tions, yet  is  not  so  in  substance.  It 
is  truth,  reason,  or  consistency  wearing 
the  garb  of  the  false,  unreasonable,  or 
absurd.  By  analogy,  the  term  para- 
doxical may  be  extended  beyond  mat- 
ters of  verbal  expression  to  anything 
which  conveys  an  impression  or  a 
meaning  in  a  manner  contrary  to  ex- 
pectation. For  instance,  to  many 
persons  a  man  dressed  in  yellow  for 
mourning  would  present  a  paradoxical 
appearance.  The  paradox  vanishes 
when  he  is  told  that  the  man  is  a  na- 
tive of  a  country  where  yellow  means 
mourning. 

"  A  gloss  there  is  to  colour  that  paradox, 
and  make  it  appear  in  show  not  to  be  alto- 
gether unreasonable." — Hooker. 

ABUSE.    Misuse. 

As  verbs  and  synonyms  (the  root 
of  both  being  the  Lat.  fiti,  part,  usus, 
to  use)  these  words  seem  to  be,  in  the 
following  manner,  distinguished.  To 
Misuse  is  simply  to  use  in  a  >rrong 
way,  to  Abuse  is  to  misuse  in  such  a 
way  that  hurt  accrues  to  the  thing 
misused,  or  to  some  other.  To  misuse 
may  be  the  consequence  of  inexpe- 
rience or  unfamiliarity  with  the  thing 
used ;  to  abuse  is  intentionally  to  use  it 
in  wrongdoing.  In  misuse  one  offends 
against  reason,  order,  propriety,  me- 
thod, interest;  in  abuse  against  jus- 
tice or  honesty.  In  misuse  there  is 
derangement,  in  abuse  excess.  Ex- 
cess is  the  characteristic  in  the  idea  of 
abusing  one's  powers,  or  the  patience 
and  forbearance  of  others.  It  de- 
serves, however,  to  be  remarked,  that 
tJie  abusing  of  one's  own  powers  may 
arise  from  imprudence  or  even  gene- 
rosity, as  wliere  the  anxiety  to  serve 
or  benefit  others  has  made  us  forget 
the  care  and  consideration  due  to  our- 
selves. 

But,  generally  speaking,  to  misuse 
i«  to  use  with  waste  of  power;  abuse 
is  to  use  with  wrongfulness  of  pur- 
pose. Language  is  abused  when  it  is 
employed  to  deceive,  to  advocate  in- 
justice,   to  excite   bad   passions,  in 


blasphemy,  and  the  like.  It  is  mis- 
used when  it  is  spoken  unidioraati- 
cally  or  ungrammatically. 

"  The  gravest  and  wisest  person  may  be 
abused  by  being  put  into  a  fool's  coat." — 

TiLLOTSOX. 

"How  much  names  taken  for  things 
are  apt  to  mislead  the  understanding,  the 
attentive  reading  of  philosophical  writers 
would  abundantly  discover,  and  that  per- 
haps in  words  little  suspected  for  any  such 
misuse." — Locke. 

ACADEMY.  School.  College. 
University.    Seminauy.    Institute. 

Academy  is  a  term  borrowed  from 
the  Greek  ixa^n/xua,  a  gymnasium  in 
the  suburbs  of  Athens  where  Plato 
taught.  Hence  the  Platonic  schools 
were  called  academies,  and  societies 
of  learned  men  have  since  been  called 
academies.  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  societies  for  promoting  the  fine  arts 
and  sciences,  as  the  Academy  of 
France,  the  Royal  Academy  of  Pain- 
ters in  England,  and  many  others.  It 
is  an  affectation  to  call  a  school  for 
young  boys  an  academy.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  no  common  living  together 
is  involved  in  the  simple  idea  of  an 
academy,  which  is  constituted  simply 
on  tlie  jirinciple  of  a  community  in 
learning  or  art,  and  denotes  more 
than  their  first  rudiments. 

"  In  a  conference  of  the  French  Academy, 
one  of  the  Academicians  desired  to  hare 
their  opinions  on  the  conduct  of  Paul  Vero- 
nese, who,  though  a  painter  of  great  oon- 
sidei-ation,  had,  contrary  to  the  strict  rules 
of  art,  in  his  picture  of  Perseus  and  Andro- 
meda, represented  the  principal  figure  in 
shade." — Sir  J.  Reitjolds. 

A  School  (Greek,  a-x^y^n,  leisure), 
commonly  expresses  among  ourselves 
the  idea  of  youthful  students  and  the 
discipline  and  instruction  of  elders, 
except  where  the  word  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  a  school  of  art,  as  of  painting, 
meaning  a  succession  of  artists  of  the 
same  style.  Even  here,  however,  the 
earlier  painters  or  founders  of  the 
style  are  spoken  of  as  masters,  and 
their  imitators  as  pupils.  Like  aca- 
demy, but  more  strictly,  common  study 
is  implied  in  school,  but  not  of  neces- 
sity common  living  together.  Aca- 
demy and  school  are  also  applicable 
to  places  where  bodily  accomplish- 
ments are  practised,  as  a  School  of 
Fencing,  or  a  Riding  Academy. 


[accede] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


27 


"  This  place  shoald  be  at  once  both 
School  and  University,  not  needing  a 
remove  to  any  other  honse  of  scholarship, 
except  it  be  some  peculiar  College  of  Law 
or  Physic,  where  they  mean  to  be  practi- 
tioners."— Milton. 

In  College  (Lat.  ColUgium^  col- 
leagueship  ;  and  so  antj  kind  of  corpo- 
ration) is  involved,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  societv  of  persons  living  together  or 
acting  officially  in  concert.  And  this 
is  tlie  essence  of  the  idea,  that  of  learn- 
ing being  accidental.  Some  colleges 
are  not  institutions  of  learning  or 
science,  as  the  College  of  Cardinals. 
A  college  in  the  educational  sense  is 
supposed  to  be  more  under  public 
government  than  a  school,  which  may 
be  Bti-ictly  private. 

"  When  we  consider  the  greatness  of 
our  wants  in  this  kind,  we  should  be 
tempted  to  wish  for  a  College  destined  for 
the  supplial  of  a  sufficient  number  of  able 
missionaries  in  constant  succession,  brought 
up  from  their  early  youth  in  such  a  disci- 
pline as  may  be  judged  best  fitted  for  such 
a  service." — Warburtox. 

An  aggregate  of  colleges  may  form 
an  University,  which,  however,  is 
not  thereby  constituted,  but  rather  by 
being  a  place  oi'universal  learning  (  Lat. 
nm versitatem,  orig.  a  guild  corporatioii) 
has  commonly  a  corporate  existence 
and  rights  which  are  recognized  by 
the  State  to  which  it  belongs.  A  uni- 
versity may  consist  of  one  or  more 
than  one  college.  The  building 
called  the  University  of  London  is 
not  a  college,  but  represents  a  central 
seat  of  learning  to  which  colleges  are 
affiliated. 

"  As  it  resembled  a  royal  court  in  regard 
of  those  many  nobli-mea  and  persons  of 
quality  that  lived  in  it,  so  one  might  esteem 
it  an  University,  for  those  many  accom- 
plished men  in  all  kinds  of  knowledge  and 
good  learning  that  were  his  domestics." — 
Strype. 

ACCEDE.  Assent.  Consent. 
AcnEE.    Comply.    Acquiesce.   Con- 

FOUM. 

Accede  (Lat.  acctdere,  to  go  to  or 
join)  expresses  a  voluntary  going 
forth  of  the  mind,- to  attach  itself  to 
some  proposed  matter.  That  to  whiih 
we  accede  is  of  the  nature  of  some- 
thing .proposed  to  our  consideration, 
OS  a  request,  or  a  plan  of  action.  We 
accede  when  we  go  over  to  the  side, 
as  it  were,  of  another,  in  consequence 


of  his  representations  made  to  us.  We 
accede  when  we  agree  to  the  terms  of 
a  person  or  party  or  a  convention. 

"  And  vain  were  reason,  coui-age,  learning, 

all. 
Till  power  accede  ;  till  Tudor's  wild  caprice 
Smile  on  their  cause."— Shekstoke. 

As  we  accede  to  practical  proposals, 
so  we  Assent(  Lat.  assenfn'c)  to  matters 
of  judgment  as  enunciated  in  spe- 
culative propositions.  We  assent  to  a 
thing  when  we  admit  it  to  be  true,  or 
recognized  as  such,  whether  formally 
proposed  to  our  acceptance  or  not. 
It  is  opposed  to  dissent,  which  is  to 
express  an  opposite  or  different 
opinion,  as  assent  a  similar  or  the 
same.  It  is  purely  mental,  but  is 
also  taken  for  the  voluntaiy  expres- 
sion of  concurrence,  as  an  act  of  the 
judgment. 

"  Subscription  to  articles  of  Religion, 
though  no  more  than  a  declaration  of  the 
subscriber's  assetit,  may  properly  enough  be 
considered  in  connexion  with  the  subject 
of  oaths,  because  it  is  governed  by  the 
same  rule  of  interpretation." — Paiey. 

Consent  (Lat.  consenhre)  is  to  con- 
cur to  some  practical  pui'pose,  to 
agree  to  act  according  to  the  will  of 
another.  But  the  noun  consent  bears 
the  meaning  of  collective  assent,  as  in 
the  phrase,  "  the  universal  consent  of 
mankind."  Consent  is  given  to  others 
in  some  matter  in  which  they  are  in- 
terested, and  which  is  promoted  by 
such  agreement  on  our  part.  Some 
superiority,  either  personal  or  of  posi- 
tion, springing  out  of  the  circum- 
stances is  implied  in  consent.  Assent 
may  be  the  result  of  some  proposal  or 
request  to  express  it.  Consent  is  al- 
ways consequent  upon  request.  The 
effect  of  assent  is  to  involve  in  the 
responsibility  of  expressed  opinion  ; 
the  effect  of  consent  is  to  implicate  in 
a  course  of  action. 

"  My  poverty  and  net  my  will  consents." 
Shakespkarb. 

Agree  (Fr.  agrier=^prendre  a  g"6^ 
t.e.ad  gralum,toreceiiefavourabtu, (rom 
Lat.  grntus,)  is  the  most  comprehen- 
sive. Assent  is  agreement  of  opinion ; 
consent,  agreement  of  action;  acced- 
ing, agreement  to  proposals  :  confor- 
mity, agreement  to  outward  rules  or 
practices  ;  compliance,  agreement  to 


28 


ittbmit  one's  self  to  the  wishes  of 
another.  As  the  rest  are  voluntary  and 
deliberate  acts,  so  a^eement  may  be 
voluntary  or  involuntary.  Agi'eement 
may  be  between  persons  and  things, 
or  a  person  and  a  thing.  It  may  be  a 
harmony  of  will,  moral  likeness,  me- 
chanical aptitude,  external  similarity ; 
and,  in  short,  anything  which  is  not 
disagi-eement  or  difference.  Agree- 
ment may  be  complete  or  partial,  of 
all  points  or  of  some  only.  Things 
agi-ee  which  harmonize  m  opinion, 
feeling,  statement,  proposal,  appear- 
ance, operation — that  is,  where  they 
meet  in  some  third  tenn,  which  is  a 
test  or  standard  of  judgment,  senti- 
mei.t,  expression,  or  evidence,  pur- 
pose, likeness,  or  result. 

"  Knowledge  seems  to  me  to  be  nothing 
but  the  perception  of  the  connexion  ana 
agreement  or  disagreement,  and  repugnance 
of  any  of  our  ideas." — Locke. 

Comply  and  Consent  (the  former 
from  Lat.  complire,  tofuljil,  through  It. 
complire,  not  Fr.  compiler)  very  nearly 
coincide,  but  compliance  denotes  far 
more  strongly  and  personally  the 
surrender  of  one's  own  will  to  that  of 
another.  We  may  comply  reluctantly 
or  gladly.  We  comply  with  the  wishes 
of  another  as  such ;  but  we  might  con- 
sent to  do  a  thing  on  its  being  shown 
to  be  for  our  own  interest,  or  if  a 
sufficient  inducement  were  held  out 
to  us,  though  it  should  not  be  of  any 
particular  advantage  to  the  person 
who  should  endeavoui-  to  induce  us  to 
act.  To  consent  is  a  more  indepen- 
dent act  than  to  comply.  In  con- 
senting we  recognize  proper  ground 
of  action,  though  at  the  request  of 
another.  I  n  complying  we  recognize 
nothingbuthis  desires.  Consentmay, 
and  generally  does,  come  from  a  supe- 
rior, or  one  independent  of  us ;  comply- 
ing, from  one  who  is  in  some  degree 
the  inferior  or  weaker.  If  we  con- 
sent wrongly,  it  is  from  an  error  of 
judgment ;  if  we  comply  wrongly,  it 
IS  from  weakness  of  character.  Not 
to  consent  is  to  refuse  ;  not  to  comply 
is  to  resist. 

"  He  that  complies  against  his  will. 
Is  of  the  same  ojiinion  Btill." 

HUDIBRAS. 

fo  Acquiesce  {LqX.  acqtue&ctre)   is 


8YN0NYMS  [ACCELERATE] 

to  concur  with  what  is  said  or  done 
in  some  degree  short  of  a  full  and 
hearty  concurrence,  and  even  with 
the  mere  absence  of  contradiction  or 
opposition.  Acquiescence  is  a  passive 
act  dictated  by  prudence,  dutj^,  or  ne- 
cessity. It  is  a  negative  or  permissive 
act  which  refi-ainsfrom  challenging  the 
truth  of  statements,  or  the  justice  of 
decisions  and  dispositions.  It  is  the 
act  of  an  inferior  by  position  or  circum- 
stances. It  is  a  kind  of  consent  or 
compliance,  which  comes  not  so  much 
from  the  will  or  the  judgment  as  from 
a  determination  to  have  no  will  and 
exercis*  no  judgment  of  our  own  in 
the  matter. 

"  Submission  to  God's  will,  and  acquies- 
cence in  the  event  disposed  by  Him."— 
Barrow. 

CoNFOUM  (Lat.  conformare,  to  form 
symtneirically)  denotes,  as  the  structure 
of  the  word  expresses,  an  external,  or 
at  least  formal,  agreement.  We  con- 
form only  in  externals,  or  the  opinions 
which  affect  them,  or  the  rules 
which  regulate  them.  We  conform 
to  habits,  customs,  and  practices ;  not 
to  thoughts,  but  to  the  modes  in  which 
they  find  expression;  not  to  principles, 
but  the  action  which  is  the  result  of 
them.  An  outward  confonnity  may 
even  conceal  an  inward  dissent. 

'*  I  think  those  who  make  laws  and  ost 
force  to  bring  men  to  Church  conformity 
in  religion  seek  only  the  compliance ;  but 
concern  themselves  not  for  the  con^^ction 
of  those  they  punish." — Locke, 

ACCELERATE.  Hasten.  Speed. 
Expedite.  Despatch.  Quicken. 
Urge.    Instigate. 

Of  these  Hasten,  Speed,  Quicken, 
are  used  both  as  active  and  neuter 
verbs;  Expedite,  Despatch,  Accele- 
rate, Urge,  only  actively.  It  is  as 
active  verbs  that  they  are  hei*e  con- 
sidered. 

Accelerate  (Lat.  acc^lh-dre)  has 
much  the  sense  of  the  English  form 
Quicken  (A.S.  civic,  quick,  alivCy 
lively,  rapid),  which  is  the  most 
generic  of  all.  Accelerate  refers  to 
some  movement  already  begun,  and 
except  as  a  scientific '  tei-m,  is  not 
applied  to  the  object  itself— the  rota- 
tion of  a  wheel,  not  the  wheel  itself, 
is  accelerated  ;  the  speed  of  a  horse, 
not  the  horse.      In  this  respect  it 


[accelerate] 


differs  from  Hasten,  which  may  be 
employed  where  no  movement  has  as 
yetDe.2:un;  and  in  tlie  sense  of  shorten- 
ing the  interval  before  something 
tftkes  place,  as  to  hasten  a  person's 
departure.  It  has  a  character  more 
purely  mechanical  than  hasten.  To 
accelerate  is  to  cause  increased  ve- 
locity of  movement;  to  hasten  (of. 
German,  hasten)  is  to  cause  di- 
minished occupation  of  time.  la 
hastening  we  have  a  final  object,  in 
acceleratmg  we  may  have  no  more 
than  an  operative  object.  I  hasten 
the  despatch  of  business  in  order 
that  it  may  be  the  sooner  concluded ; 
I  accelerate  the  rotation  of  the  gi-ind- 
stone  that  it  may  grind  the  more 
effectually.  The  setting  of  additional 
sail,  by  accelerating  the  speed  of  the 
vessel,  will  hasten  our  an'ival  at  the 
port.  If  we  accelerate  a  conclusion. 
It  is  that  we  accelerate  the  process  by 
which  it  is  airived  at. 

"  Motion  may  be  in  an  endless  variety  of 
directions.  It  may  be  quick  or  slow,  recti- 
lineal or  curvilineal.  It  may  be  equable, 
or  accelerated,  or  retarded." — Reid. 

"  The  two  Houses,  finding  things  in  this 
posture,  hastened  the  departure  of  their 
Commissioners  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  with 
powers  and  instructions  to  treat  with  the 
king." — Ludlow. 

Spekd  in  this  sense  (  A.S.  spkdan,  to 
hasten)  is  a  little  old-fashioned,  and 
is  rather  used  when  the  idea  of  pro- 
gperous  or  successful  furtherance  is 
intended,  without  of  necessity  an  in- 
crease in  the  rate  of  motion.  It  be- 
longs to  the  enterpiises,  undertakings, 
and  transactions  of  men,  which  occupy 
time,  and  run  a  prescribed  course,  and 
need  management  and  regulation. 

"  Speeder  of  Night's  spies 
And  guide  of  all  her  dreams'  obscurities." 
Chapman,  Homer. 

Urge  is  employed  in  matters  in 
which  the  action  of  persons  is  con- 
cerned, and  is  only  poetically  used 
in  the  sense  of  propel  mechanically 
(Lat.  urg'ere),  as  by  Gray — 

"  To  chase  the  rolling  circles'  speed. 
Or  urge  the  flying  ball." 
We  say,  however,  to  urge  a  conside- 
ration, argument,  plea,  and  the  like. 
It  conveys  the  idea  of  hastening  by 
pressure,  and  from  a  feeling  of  the 
danger  or  undesirableness  of  light 
suggestions  or  delay. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


29 


"  My  brother  did  urge  me  in  this  act." 

Shakespeare. 
He  who  urges  acts  under  a  grave 
impulse.  Circumstances  as  well  as 
persons  may  urge,  that  is,  exercise, 
strong  inducement  to  action  when  we 
reflect  upon  their  nature  and  conse- 
quences. When  we  urge  we  supply 
a  stimulus  to  action  where  it  is  want- 
ing, or  we  regard  it  as  wanting.  The 
use  of  the  whip  will  urge  the  horse 
to  his  highest  speed.  Ambition  will 
urge  men  to  arduous,  almost  to  des- 
perate attempts.  We  are  urged  equally 
by  the  violent  promptings  of  passion, 
and  by  the  incontrovertible  force  of 
reason.  To  urge  stands  midway  be- 
tween incline,  which  is  weaker,  and 
compel,  which  is  stronger. 

Expedite  and  Despatch  (Lat.  gi- 
pcdire,  and  Fr.  dtpScher,  It.  dispacciare) 
are  employed  of  transactions  in  busi- 
ness, but  expedite  refers  rather  to  the 
hastening  oi  the  process,  despatch  to 
the  attainment  of  the  end  ;  so  that 
both  may  concui",  in  the  same  phrase, 
to  expedite  the  despatch  of  business. 
The  idea  of  expediting  is  to  free  from 
incumbrances,  so  as  to  enable  to  move 
faster ;  the  idea  of  despatching  is  to 
unfasten,  and  so  to  set  loose  or  free. 
A  matter  is  expedited  when  it  is  got 
over  more  quickly,  it  is  despatched 
when  it  is  disposed  of  as  done.  To 
despatch  a  messenger  is  to  send  him 
off,  to  despatch  an  enemy  is  to  send 
him  out  oi  life. 

Insiigate  (Lat.  instigare)  is  only 
used  towards  persons,  and  commonly 
in  an  unfavourable  sense.  We  urge 
to  honest  exertion,  and  instigate  to 
crime.  The  idea  of  instigation  is  that 
of  goading  on  to  do  something ;  to 
this  has  come  to  be  added  that  of  a 
secret  motive  or  impulse.  Instigation 
is  a  means,  by  stimulation  and  secret 
excitement,  of  urging  one  to  do  what 
he  is  not  otherwise  inclined  to  do, 
and  which  he  may  even  resist.  He 
who  is  instigated  is  forced  on  in  some 
way.  Sound  and  sober  reasons,  how- 
ever unanswerably  forcible,  do  not 
instigate,  though  they  may  prompt, 
urge,  and  even  compel. 

*' Your  Imperial  Majesty's  just  influence, 
which  is  still  gi'eater  than  your  extensive 
power,  will  animate  and  expedite  the  effort* 
of  other  sovereigns." — Buuke. 


30 


SYNONYMS  [accent] 


"  Ere  we  pnt  ourselves  in  arms,  despatch  we 
The  business  we  have  talked  of." 

Shakespeare. 

As  the  idea  of  quick  is  first  that  of 
life,  and  then  that  of  such  active 
movement  as  flows  from  life,  the  verb 
quicken  follows  this  twofold  idea, 
and  besides  being  employed  of  the 
mere  acceleration  of  motion,  may  be 
used  also  of  increasing  tlie  motive 
faculty,  as  in  the  following  : — 

"  Liice  a  fruitful  garden  without  a  hedge, 
which  quickens  the  appetite  to  enjoy  so 
tempting  a  prize." — South. 

"  He  hath  only  instigated  his  blackest 
agents  to  the  very  extent  of  their  malig- 
nity."—Warbubtox. 

ACCENT.     Emphasis.     Stuess. 

Of  these.  Stress  is  the  most  gene- 
ral, expressing  an  idea  of  effort  (O. 
Fr.  estroissir,  to  straighten),  while  Em- 
phasis (Gr.  EiJt.<f>usig,  from  ifX'^oiivofjiai) 
expresses  the  idea  of  light  and  shade, 
and  Accent  (Lat.  acceiUns)  that  of  in- 
tonation, flletaphorically,  stress  is  used 
as  the  others  are  not — upon  ideas, 
arguments,  or  moral  considerations. 
We  lay  stress  upon  that  to  which  we 
attribute  importance,  to  which  we 
desire  to  assign  a  prominent  place  in 
our  representations.  As  accent  and 
em])ha5is  belong  not  to  thoughts  but 
to  their  utterance  in  language,  so  ac- 
cent is  on  syllables,  emphasis  on 
words.  The  object  of  accent  is  gram- 
matical, for  the  purpose  of  character- 
izing words;  the  object  of  emphasis 
is  rliPtorical,  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing the  idea  which  they  express  into 
prominence,  and  illustrating  the  sense 
by  a  marked  pronunciation  of  the 
word.  Accent  is  a  matter  of  rule, 
and  belongs  to  the  requirements  of 
the  lano^uage,  and  in  no  sense  to  the 
taste  of  the  speaker.  It  has  in  some 
cases  its  written  signs  which  are  in- 
variable. Emphasis  is  variable,  and 
depends,  where  it  is  deliberate,  on  the 
taste  and  interpretation  of  the  reader 
or  speaker ;  where  it  is  spontaneous, 
on  his  emotion. 

"  Agi-eeably  to  this  (short  pronunciation 
of  our  words)  is  a  remarkable  peculiarity 
of  Engli.«h  pronunciation,  the  throwing  the 
accent  farther  back— that  is,  nearer  the  be- 
ginning of  the  word,  than  is  done  by  any 
other  nation." — Blair. 
"  The  voice  all  modes  of  passion  can  express 
That  marky  the  proper,  and  with  proper 

stress : 


Bat  none  emphatic  can  that  actor  call, 
Who  lays  an  equal  emphasis  on  all." 

Lloyd's  Actor. 

ACCEPT.     Receive.     Take. 

Of  these.  Take  (A.S.  tacan,  to  take, 
lay  hold  of)  which  is  the  simplest  and 
most  purely  physical,  is  employed  in 
the  twofold  sense  of  spontaneous  as- 
suming, and  of  ready  receiving  at  the 
hand  of  another ;  in  other  words,  to 
assume  with  or  without  the  interven- 
tion of  another  person.  The  force 
oscillates  between  the  most  active 
and  the  most  purely  passive  senses. 
I  take  a  thing  by  force,  or  I  take  an 
injury — that  is,  endure  without  resent- 
ing it.  In  this  passive  sense  it  is  em- 
ployed of  inanimate  substances  to 
denote  no  more  than  a  natural  im- 
pressibility, or  capability  of  being 
acted  upon.  Wax  will  take  the  im- 
pression of  a  seal.  In  fresco  painting 
the  moist  ground  will  take  the  colors 
better  than  when  dry. 

Receive  (Fr.  i-ecevoir,  Lat.  rcciptre) 
is  purely  passive.  Like  take,  it  be- 
longs both  to  voluntary  agents  and 
inanimate  substances.  I  receive  a 
friend  at  my  house ;  I  receive  a  blow ; 
the  wax  receives  the  impression. 
When  employed  of  the  former,  take 
is  more  or  less  voluntary,  even  in  its 
passive  sense.  Receive  may  be  vo- 
luntary or  involuntary.  To  take  a 
blow  is  passive  and  voluntary.  To 
receive  a  blow  is  passive  and  involun- 
tary. The  voluntariness  is  distinctly 
prominent  in  Accept  (Lat.  acctpere, 
part,  accept  us),  vi-hich  always  implies 
pleasure,  or  at  least  readiness.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  receive  gladly  or 
unwillingly,  as  the  case  may  be.  We 
accept  what  we  choose  to  take  from 
another,  we  receive  what  he  chooses 
to  give  us.  The  difference  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  difference  between 
receiving  an  apology  or  an  invitation 
and  accepting  it.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  accept  is  not  used  in  this  sense 
of  persons  whom  we  always  receive, 
sometimes  gladly,  sometimes  ungra- 
ciously, unless  the  person  is  in  some 
way  presented  to  our  choice.  Ac- 
ceptance is  an  active,  voluntary,  and 
conscious  reception.  We  are  com-, 
monly  said  to  receive  thanks  and  to 
accept  services.    Receive  may  denote 


[acceptance]         discriminated. 


31 


no  more  than  not  refusing.  We  ought 
always  to  be  grateful  for  benefits  we 
hare  received,  and  to  be  very  slow 
in  rejecting  what  we  have  once  ac- 
cepted. 

"  And  toward  the  education  of  yonr  daugh- 
ters 
I  here  bestow  a  simple  instrument. 
And  this  small  packet  of  Greek  and  Latin 

books, 
If  you  accept  them,  then  their  worth  is 
great."  Shakespeare. 

"  Justification  always  supposes  two  par- 
ties, one  to  give,  and  another  to  receive, 
whether  without  any  act  at  all  on  the  re- 
ceptive side,  as  in  the  case  of  infants ;  or 
whether  accompanied  by  receptive  acts,  as 
in  the  case  of  adults,  who  may  be  properly 
said  to  accept  and  assent  to,  as  well  as  to 
receive  and  enjoy." — Waterland. 

"  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body." — English 
Bible. 

"  Do  I  fully  trust  in  God  as  the  Giver 
and  Taker  away  of  all  earthly  things  ?  "— 
Gilpin. 

ACCEPTABLE.  Grateful. 
Wklcome. 

That  is  Acceptable  (See  Accept) 
which  is  gladly  to  be  received  as  a 
relative  good  as  coinciding  with  our 
circumstances  and  requirements.  But 
this  only  within  certain  limits,  for  it 
is  not  a  strong  term.  Tlie  appropriate 
belongs  essentially  to  the  accept- 
able :  we  should  be  speaking  ironically 
if  we  said  of  any  gift  of  great  value 
that  it  was  acceptable.  That  is  ac- 
ceptable which  is  suitable  in  itself 
and  pleasant  to  receive.  The  accept- 
able is  determined  as  much  by  the 
judgment  as  by  the  feelings. 

"  If  the  mind  is  at  any  time  vacant  from 
every  passion  and  desire,  there  are  still 
some  objects  that  are  more  acceptable  to 
us  than  others." — Reid. 

Grateful  (Lat.  ^rnf us)  expresses 
not  so  much  what  is  recognized  as  a 
good  as  rather  what  is  sensibly  de- 
lightful and  consonant  with  the  feel- 
ings. Hence,  unlike  acceptable,  it 
may  be  predicted  of  things  which  are 
not  gifts  at  all,  nor  of  the  nature  of 
possessions.  A  donation  of  money  is 
grateful  to  the  poor  man,  as  gladden- 
mg  his  heart  with  the  means  of  ob- 
taining what  otherwise  he  could  not 
possess ;  acceptable  to  him  as  reflect- 
ing upon  the  improvement  of  hig 
condition  consequent  upon  it.  The 
grateful  commonly  meets  a  natural,  as 


the  acceptable  an  artificial  or  casual 
want.  The  cool  breeze  is  grateful  to 
the  fevered  patient.  As  tlie  accept- 
able excites  satisfaction,  so  the  grateful 
excites  joy  or  pleasure.  The  accept- 
able meets  a  requirement,  the  grateful 
a  want. 

"  Hope's  grateful  stimulus  produces  i 
pleasing  and  salutary  flow  of  the  animal 
spirits,  and  diffuses  a  temperate  vivacity 
over  the  system." — Cogax. 

Welcome,  as  the  word  plainly  in- 
dicates, belongs  to  that  which  comes 
to  us  gladly,  and  includes,  like  grate- 
ful, many  things  besides  gifts  or 
things  offered  to  our  acceptance. 
What  is  welcome  is  always  of  the 
nature  of  an  event.  It  is,  strictly 
speaking,  not  the  person,  but  his  arri- 
val or  coming  which  is  welcome. 
Welcome  expresses,  more  positively 
than  acceptable  or  even  grateful,  the 
fact  that  the  thing  has  accrued  to  the 
person.  That  which  is  acceptable  or 
grateful  one  would  be  glad  to  have, 
that  which  is  welcome  has  arrived. 
The  former  express  the  qualities  of 
things,  the  latter  their  effect  upon 
ourselves. 

"  O  welcome  hour  1 " — Miltox. 

acceptance.     Acceptation. 

Tliese  words,  which  are  only  diffe- 
rent modifications  of  the  word  accept, 
have  come  to  be  employed  with  some 
distinction  of  meaning;  depending, 
nevertheless,  entirely  upon  usage.  It 
is,  however,  consonant  with  tlieir  ety- 
mology that  acceptance  sliould  have  the 
more  subjective  and  active,  acceptation 
the  more  objective  and  passive,  sense. 
So  acceptance  denotes  the  actor  process 
of  receiving,  acceptation  the  mode  in 
which  the  word  or  thing  is  received. 
The  acceptance  of  a  word  would 
mean  the  recognition  and  reception 
of  it,  either  by  an  individual  or  into 
the  vocabulary  of  a  language.  Its 
acceptation  would  be  its  force  and 
meaning  after  it  had  been  so  received. 
The  acceptation  of  a  word  is  conven- 
tional. It  depends  upon  what  a  parti- 
cular people  or  generation  may  re- 
gard as  its  direct  and  proper  force. 
So,  for  instance,  the  Lat.  dbuti,  to  use 
wrongly,  has  gone  out  in  different 
meanings  in  the  French  abuser  and 
the  English  abtise  as  regards  persons, 


62 


SYNONYMS 


[access] 


the  French  notion  of  abuse  in  such 
cases  being  deception,  the  English, 
coarse  denunciation.  The  acceptance 
of  a  word  lies  more  commonly  in  the 
genius  of  a  language,  which  seems  to 
possess,  80  to  speak,  an  instinctive 
faculty  of  admitting  what  is  con- 
sonant, and  rejecting  what  is  uncon- 
genial to  it.  Like  all  instincts,  how- 
ever, it  is  not  unerring;  and  we  are 
sometimes  surprised  to  find  what  we 
regard  as  a  rejection  without  a  cause, 
where  the  a'cceptance  of  the  word 
would  have  added  to  the  resources 
of  the  language. 

"  Such  with  him 
Finds  no  acceptance  nor  can  find." 

Milton. 
" '  Friend,'  quoth  the   Cur,  '  I  meant  uo 

harm. 
Then  why  so  captious,  why  so  warm  ? 
My  words  in  common  acceptation, 
Could  never  give  thee  provocation.' " — Gay. 

ACCESS.    Approach. 

Both  these  words  are  employed 
both  of  the  drawing  near  and  of  the 
line  of  movement  by  which  it  is 
effected — that  is,  of  the  act  and  the 
way  ;  but  Access  (Lat.  accessus,  from 
acctdere,  to  approach  )  bears  reference 
rather  to  the  capabilities,  Approach 
{Fr.approcher,  Lat.  nppro^priare,  Bra- 
cket) to  the  way,  of  drawing  near.  In 
approach,  the  question  is  as  to  the  ri^ht 
or  wrong  line  or  method,  or  the  safety 
or  expediency  of  making  it  at  all.  In 
access,  it  is  as  to  the  ease  or  difficulty 
of  finding  or  obtaining  it.  Approach 
is  used  in  more  varied  senses  than 
access,  which  commonly  means  capa- 
bility of  reaching  or  being  reached. 
Approach  is  the  act  of  drawing  near, 
and  is  applicable  to  time  as  well  as 
space,  or,  in  a  secondary  sense,  bears 
the  meaning  of  resemblance,  an  ana- 
logy existing  between  the  ideas  of 
Bimilarity  and  approximation.  Access 
is  a  complete,  approach  a  partial,  act. 
Approach  may  still  leave  an  interval 
between  us  and  the  object  approached ; 
access  precludes  the  idea  of  such 
interval.  In  regard  to  persons,  one 
would  sometimes  gladly  approach 
tliem,  but  cannot  gain  access  to  them. 
In  such  cases  we  commonly  approach 
them  in  order  to  insinuate  ourselves 
into  their  good  graces,  and  seek  access 
to  them  on  the  ground  of  some  matter 


of  interest  in  which  we  believe  that 
they  may  render  us  assistance. 

"  They  anon 
With  hundreds  and  with  thousands  troop- 

ing  came 
Attended,  all  access  was  thronged." 

MiLTOX, 

"  By  thy  approach  thou  mak'st  me  most 
unhappy."  Shakespeare. 

ACCIDENT.  Contingency. 

Casualty.     Incident. 

All  these  terms  express  the  occur- 
rence of  events  in  the  producing  of 
which,  our  own  design  had  no  part. 
Of  these  Accident  (Lat.  acctdere,  to 
befall)  and  Casualty  (Lat.  cdsudlis, 
fortuitous)  are  more  closely  personal 
than  Contingency  (Lat.  coiitingtre,  to 
fall  to  the  lot)  and  Incident  (Lat. 
inctdtre,  to  befall).  Although  the  term 
accident  means  in  itself  no  more  than 
a  befalling,  it  is  never  used  without 
qualification  to  express  the  chance 
occurrence  of  anything  good,  but 
requires  a  modifying  term ;  as,  a  lucky 
accident.  An  accident  bears  refe- 
rence to  some  person  to  whom  an 
event  occurs  undesignedly.  In  the 
phrase  "  by  accident,"  as,  "  I  met  him 
by  accident  in  the  street,"  the  idea  of 
untoward  befalling  is  not  implied  as 
in  the  case  of  the  simple  noun,  an 
accident.  Accident  is  the  concrete  of 
which  chance  is  the  abstract.  Chance 
instanced  in  somebody  becomes  acci- 
dent. We  may  see  how  the  term 
accident  was  on  the  turn  in  Shake- 
speare's time,  from  an  unexpected 
occurrence  to  an  untoward  one,  in  the 
line, 
•'  Of  moving  accidents  by  flood  and  field." 

Casualty,  like  accident,  tends  to  an 
unfavourable  sense.  The  use  of  such 
words  seems  to  indicate  the  feeling  of 
mankind,  that  where  things  occur  not 
as  the  consequence  of  human  fore- 
thouglit  and  desion,  they  are  in  the 
majority  of  cases  infelicitous  or  disas- 
trous. A  casualty  is  first  a  chance 
occurrence,  then  an  infelicitous  one ; 
as  an  accident  is  first  a  chance  occur- 
rence, then  a  disastrous  one.  Casualty 
is  more  independent  of  ourselves  than 
accident.  An  accident  may  be,  an<? 
commonly  is,  attributable  to  our  own 
acts,  a«  through  rashness  or  neglect; 
but  there   are   casualties   which    no 


[accompaniment]      discriminated. 


human  prudence  could  foresee  or  pre- 
y^ent.  A  casualty  of  this  kind  would 
be  the  death  of  anotlier  at  a  certain 
moment,  or  our  own.  Human  life  is 
subject  to  casualties,  but  it  is  only 
liable  to  accidents.  Accidents  spring 
immediately  out  of  the  situation  of 
the  individual.  Casualties  out  of  the 
character,  condition,  or  circumstances 
which  he  shares  with  others.  Men 
and  women  might  suffer  equally  from 
the  upsetting  of  a  carriage,  but  the 
life  of  men  being  more  active  and 
public,  involving  many  dangerous 
trades  and  professions,  exposes  them 
to  more  serious  and  frequent  casualties 
than  that  of  women. 

*'  The  cause  why  the  children  of  Israel 
took  unto  one  man  many  wives,  might  be 
lest  the  msualties  of  war  should  in  any 
way  hinder  the  promises  of  God  concerning 
their  multitude,  from  taking  effect  on 
tliera."—  Hooker. 

A  Contingency  is  to  a  circum- 
stance or  set  of  circumstances  what 
an  accident  is  to  a  person  or  set  of 
persons ;  but  the  effect  of  an  accident 
IS  simple,  that  of  a  contingency  com- 
plex. An  accident  is  a  chance,  a 
contingency  is  a  chance  upon  a  chance. 
When  one  event  or  set  of  events 
happens  to  fall  in  with  another  event 
or  set  of  events,  so  as  to  produce  a 
result  of  practical  moment,  this  is  a 
contingency.  It  is  a  dependent  or 
resultant  occurrence,  an  event  which 
flows  out  of  antecedent  circumstances, 
themselves  fortuitous,  and  so  itself  a 
fortuitous  combination. 

"  The  remarkable  position  of  the  Queen 
rendering  her  death  a  most  important 
contingenqf"—R&jA.AX.. 

Incident,  like  accident,  expresses  a 
befalling  without  importing  the  idea 
of  chance,  though  it  may  owe  its 
interest  to  a  certain  unexpectedness. 
It  is  an  event  regarded  irrespectively 
of  what  led  to  it,  but  not  precluding 
the  plain  recognition  or  ascertain- 
ment of  its  cause,  as  e.g.  an  incident 
in  a  voyage  or  history.  As  an  acci- 
dent belongs  to  things  without,  and 
comes  in  to  mar,  interrupt,  or  even 
stop  a  course  of  things,  so  an  incident 
belongs  to  that  course,  and  is  a  varied 
feature  ar  episode  in  it.  It  is  to 
action  what  episode  is  to  nan-ative,  a 


33 


deviation  without  loss  of  continuity, 
being  not  untoward  or  finistrative,  but 
illustrative  and  helpful.  It  may  be 
obseiTed  that  the  notion  of  harm  which 
associates  itself  with  casualty  is  not 
attached  to  casual,  which  means  simply 
coming  in  collaterally,  coinciding  with 
other  mattei-s,  but  not  having  any  im- 
portant effect  upon  them,  so  that  its 
meaning  borders  upon  that  of  trivial. 

accompaniment.  Concomi- 
tant.  Adjunct.    Appendage. 

An  Accompaniment  (see  Accom' 
pany)  is  that  which  goes  by  nature  or 
may  be  made  to  go  with  another 
thing  by  reason  of  its  fitness  or  har- 
mony. The  purpose  of  an  accom- 
paniment is  to  make  that  which  it 
accompanies  fuller,  better,  and  more 
complete.  Being  itself  of  a  different 
nature  or  character  from  that  which 
it  accompanies,  it  adds  to  it  in  value 
or  efficiency. 

"  We  have  the  same  representative  of 
Hymen  in  an  epithalamium,  the  usual  in- 
dispensable accompaniment  of  a  wedding." 
— Wartox. 

A  Concomitant  (Lat.  conconularey 
to  accompany)  is  that  which  follows 
another  thing  by  its  pliysical  or  moral 
force  and  tendency,  or  belongs  to  it 
in  time  and  historically.  In  conco- 
mitant the  fact  of  accompaniment, 
rather  than  any  purpose  or  fitness,  is 
expressed. 

"  The  length  of  this  account  I  flatter  my- 
self will  be  excused,  as  it  contains  a  few 
curious  particulars  which  are  not  foreign 
to  the  subject,  and  which  concomitmitly 
illustrate  the  history  of  the  arts." — Wal- 

POLE. 

An  Adjunct  (Lat.  adjniigtre,  part. 
adjunctus,  to  join  to)  is  that  which  is 
joined  to  another  thing,  not  being  an 
essential  part  of  it,  or  belonging  to  it 
in  nature,  but  which  may  be  with  ad- 
vantage attached  to  it,  or,  as  a  fact, 
has  been,  so  that  the  two  go  together. 

"  The  nature,  properties,  adjtmcts,  and 
effects  of  God's  law."— Bakkow. 

Appendage  (Lat.  appendtcinm)  is 
commonly  (where  it  is  not  used  in  a 
purely  physical  sense)  something  or 
the  nature  of  a  privilege  or  possession, 
which  by  its  suitableness  or  agi-eeable- 
nesg  enhances  the  value  of  the  larger 
or  mere  considerable  thing  to  which 


34 


SYNONYMS 


[accompany] 


it  is  annexed.  It  may  be  purposely 
added  to  it  or  drawn  after,  and  in 
some  sense  required  by  it.  So  local 
privileges  may  constitute  valuable 
appendages  to  a  title  and  estates.  On 
the  other  hand,  sumptuous  equipages 
may  be  a  necessary  appendage  to 
such  a  position.  Appendages,  if  not 
actually  onerous,  are  either  valuable 
or  honourable. 

"  Modesty  is  the  appendage  of  sobriety." 
—Bishop  Taylor. 

ACCOMPANY.  Attend.  Escort. 
To  Accojii'ANY  (L.  Lat.  companid- 
tieniy  {romcon,togellterj  andpa/iis,  bread, 
a  companion,  being  literally  a  7ness- 
male)  and  Attknd  (Lat.  attendhe,  to 
give  heed  to,  Fr.  attendre,  to  await) 
are  applicable  both  to  things  and  per- 
sons; Escort  only  to  persons.  When 
applied  to  persons  Accompany  implies 
some  sort  of  equality  between  the  two 
persons  or  parties,  Attend  some  mea- 
sure of  inferiority  in  one  to  the  other. 
Hscort  (Fr.  escorte ;  as  if  from  Lat. 
excorrighe,  to  set  straight)  is  accom- 
paniment of  or  attendance  upon  per- 
sons for  the  sake  of  protection  fi'om 
danger  or  insult,  though  where  there 
is  little  risk  of  tliis  the  escort  assumes 
the  character  of  honourable  and  de- 
ferential accompaniment.  It  is  not  a 
term  of  long-standing  in  the  language, 
and  according  to  usage  may  be  em- 
ployed with  equal  correctness  of  the 
protection  afforded  by  one  person  and 
by  more  than  one.  It  is  used  of  a 
single  person  in  the  following: — 
"  To-day  shut  out,  still  onward  press. 
And  watch  the  seasons  of  access — 
In  private  haunt,  in  public  meet 
Salute,  escort  him  through  the  street." 
Francis'  Horace. 

When  used  of  things.  Accompany  in- 
dicates rather  a  simultaneous,  Attend 
a  consequent,  association.  So  we  say 
such  a  thing  is  attended  with  serious 
consequences  where  we  could  not  em- 
ploy accompanied.  This  force  the 
verb  has  in  common  with  the  noun 
attendant,  which  means  often  not 
only  an  inferior  companion  but  one 
who  waits  or  follows  upon  another 
one,  accompanies  another  out  of  re- 
gard, or  to  show  him  honour,  or  as 
an  act  of  friendship,  or  as  deriving 
pleasure  from  his  society.  One  escort* 


from  fear  of  danger  on  another  s  behalf, 
toward  whom  one  entertains  honour- 
able regard.  One  attends  out  of  a  more 
delicate  regard,  or  as  discharging  a 
duty  which  consists  in  being  ready 
to  take  his  orders  or  supply  his  wants. 
The  subordination,  implied  in  atten- 
dance, may  be  voluntary,  as  when  a 
friend,  out  of  friendship,  attends 
another  in  sickness. 

"  The  Persian  dames 
(So  were  accustom'd  all  the  Eastern  fair). 
In  sumptuous  cars  accompanied  his  march." 

Glover. 
"  All  knees  to  Thee  shall  bow  of  them  that 

bide 
In  heaven,  or  earth,  or  under  earth  in  hell. 
When  Thou  aftoirfecf  gloriously  fi'om  heaven 
Shalt  in  the  sky  appear."  MiLTO?f. 

We  commonly  speak  of  companions 
as  agreeable  or  not,  of  attendants  as 
numerous  or  not,  of  an  escort  as  strong 
or  not.  Accompany  and  Attend  are 
the  terms  ordinarily  employed  to  ex- 
press the  causation  and  sequence  of 
phenomena.  In  that  case  we  use 
accompany,  when  the  results  are 
simultaneous ;  attend,  when  one  re- 
sult leads  to  another.  Exploring  ex- 
peditions into  unknown  countries  are 
invariably  accompanied  with  danger 
and  hardship,  and  frequently  attended 
with  loss  of  life. 

ACCOiAIPLISH.  Effect.  Exe- 
cute.   Achieve.    Perform. 

Accomplish  (Fr.  accompUs;  Lat. 
ad  and  complire,  to  Jill  up)  denotes  the 
complete  fulfilment  of  a  plan  proposed 
in  some  measure  by  one's  self.  One 
is  not  said  to  accomplish  the  designs 
of  another  as  such,  though  of  course 
we  may  make  them  ours.  This  is 
done  by  no  adherence  to  a  fixed 
course,  but  by  the  employment  of 
any  resources  of  which  we  may  be 
possessed,  and  any  insti-uments  of 
which  we  can  avail  ourselves.  It  is 
no  simple  or  trivial  thing  which  is 
said  to  be  accomplished,  but  some- 
thing of  a  complex  nature,  involving 
sustained  effort  in  labour  or  in  skill. 
Personal  qualifications,  generally, 
being  applied  efficiently,  lead  to  ac- 
complishment. To  accomplish  is  to 
realize  a  project.  We  accomplish 
when  we  fill  up  to  the  needful  or 
proposed  extent  by  doing  what  is  suf- 


[accomplish]  discriminated. 

ficient  for  the  purpose.     So  charac- 
teristic is  this  of  the  term,  tliat  it  is 


35 


employed  of  cases  in  which  the  re- 
quirement is  measured  by  simple  du- 
ration, as  to  accomplish  a  period  of 
servitude. 

"  And  TuUins  sayth,  that  grete  tr  in.ees 
ne  r)eii  not  accomplised  by  strengthe  ue  by 
delireraesse  (cleverness)  of  body,  bat  by 
good  conseil,  by  anctoritee  of  persones,  and 
by  science."— Chaucer. 

To  Effect  (Lat,  eff'iccre,  to  effect,  to 
work  out  a  thing)  relates  to  the  bring- 
ing about  of  a  thing  as  a  result,  as  to 
Accomplish  is  to  bring  it  about  as  a 
project.  \Ve  accomplish  by  doing 
what  is  sufficient ;  we  effect  by  the 
appli«ation  of  right  means.  As  the 
measure  of  accomplishment  is  the 
capability  of  the  agent,  so  the  measure 
of  effect  is  the  potency  of  the  cause. 
Yet  the  term  is  not  associated  with 
the  operations  of  mechanical  or  im- 
personal powers,  but  with  personal 
agents,  who  are  said  to  effect  when 
they  set  in  operation  adequate  causes. 
And  so  long  as  these  means  or  causes 
are  ade(juate,  they  may  be  in  them- 
selves either  momentous  or  slight. 
A  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  powers 
enables  man  to  effect  what  cannot  be 
eflected  by  the  most  powerful  of 
beasts.  Sometimes  one  person  has 
effected  his  purpose  by  entreat}', 
where  another  had  employed  intimi- 
dation without  effect. 

"  The  Christian  Dispensation  was  neces- 
sary to  fulfil  the  purposes  of  God  to  man, 
and  to  effect  that  which  the  divine  counsels 
h&d  decreed  in  relation  to  him." — Bishop 

HURD. 

Execute  (Lat.  exscqui,  part,  exsc- 
entus,  to  follow  out)  expresses  a  mode 
of  action,  not  a  result,  like  Accomplish 
and  Effect.  We  do  not  accomplish 
or  effect  till  we  have  ceased  to  work. 
We  begin  to  execute  when  we  begin 
to  act.  When  we  seek  to  accomplish 
or  effect,  the  object  is  before  us. 
When  we  execute,  the  object  is,  so 
to  speak,  behind  us.  We  have  not  to 
gain  it,  but  to  realize  it  or  carry  it 
out.  That  which  we  have  to  accom- 
plish or  effect  has  no  existence  till  it 
IS  accomplished  or  effected.  That 
which  we  seek  to  execute  is  already 
in  existence,  though  its  effectuation 


is  left  to  us.  A  law  is  made,  a  dt^igj 
conceived,  an  object  defined,  a  pro- 
ject  recognized,  a  plan  drawn,  a  com- 
mand given,  a  commission  entrusted ; 
but  they  need  to  be  carried  out,  and 
this  carrying  out  is  the  execution, 
whether  the  thing  to  be  executed 
emanated  from  mys«lf  or,  as  more 
commonly,  from  another. 

"  Would  it  not  redound  to  the  discredit 
of  an  earthly  prince  to  permit  that  the 
attendants  on  his  person,  the  officers  of  his 
court,  the  executors  of  his  edicts  should 
have  the  least  injury  oiFcred  them— should 
lai'e  scantily  or  coarsely,  should  appear  iu 
a  sordid  garb  !  " — Barrow. 

Achieve  (Fr.  achever,  a  chej\  /<>  a 
head  or  end)  is  to  accomplish  under 
special  circumstances  of  dirticulty,  but 
differs  from  the  foregoing  in  that 
some  deo^ree  of  excellence  is  attached 
to  the  idea,  either  in  the  striving  or 
the  tiling  striven  for,  or  both,  ^ione 
of  the  other  synonyms  go  beyond  the 
fact,  and  imply  nothing  of  the  merit 
of  doing.  And  although  a  matter 
cannot  be  in  itself  more  thai:  accom- 
plished, effected,  or  executed,  yet 
there  may  be  room  for  reiJexion  that 
it  might  have  been  more  fully  accom- 
plished, more  faithfully  or  exactly 
executed,  or  more  permanently  ef- 
fected. But  the  thing  achieved  has 
been  pushed  to  the  extreme  limit  of 
success,  both  in  the  result  and  the 
mode  in  which  it  has  been  gained. 
In  the  others  chance  may  have  com- 
bined with  effort,  but  he  who  has 
been  helped  by  luck  in  any  degree 
has  not  achieved. 

"  No  exploits  so  illustrious  as  those  which 
have  been  achieved  by  the  faith  and  pa- 
tience, by  the  courage  and  prudence,  of  the 
ancient  saints.  They  do  far  surpass  the 
most  famous  achievements  of  Pagan  heroes," 
—Barrow, 

To  Perform  is  to  caiTy  on  with  sus- 
tained or  continuous  action,  to  per- 
form perfectly  is  to  do  this  out  to  the 
end.  We  perform  what  is  prescribed 
or  marked  out  by  rule  as  a  part  or 
duty,  a  function  or  office,  a  command- 
ment. In  all  the  rest  the  end  is  well- 
nigh  everything,  in  performance  the 
end  is  irequently  nothing,  and  the 
doing  everything.  A  performance 
as  such,  has  no  object  beyond  itself. 
It  is  itseK  an  end,  the  thing   being 


36 


SYNONYMS  [ACCOSTJ 


done  lor  the  sake  of  doing  it,  or  for 
some  purpose  which  goes  along  with 
it,  as  the  exhibition  of  some  quality 
in  the  performer,  or  some  pleasure 
accessory  to  it.  Continuous  function 
according  to  prescribed  rule  is  per- 
formance, whether  it  be  physical, 
mental,  moral,  or  partly  one  and 
pai-tly  another,  as  dancing  upon  a 
rope,  mental  arithmetic,  an  act  of 
benevolence,  or  playing  a  musical 
instrument,  or  talking  part  in  a  dra- 
matic representation. 

"  Some  men  are  brave  in  battle  who 
are  weak  in  counsel,  which  daily  experience 
sets  before  our  eyes.  Others  deliberate 
wisely,  but  are  weak  in  the  performing 
part."— Dryden. 

ACCOST.  Salute.  Auduess. 
Greet.     Hail. 

Accost  (Fr.accosfc)',  Lat.  accostare) 
is  literally  to  come  to  the  side,  Lat. 
costay  of  or  up  to  a  person,  with  the 
purpose  of  addressing  him.  In  old 
English  writers  occurs  the  form  "  ac- 
coast,"  which  was  employed  as  a 
geographical  term. 

"  So  much  of  Lapland  as  accoasts  the  sea." 
Fuller. 

The  idea  of  the  movement  has  dropped 
out  of  the  word,  which  has  come  to 
mean  exclusively  thf  purpose  of  it, 
namely,  the  address.  It  denotes  the 
ilirection  of  words  to  a  person  in  an  un- 
premeditated Avay  whom  chance  cir- 
cumstances have  thrown  in  one's  way. 
One  accosts  another  as  one  meets 
him  in  the  street,  the  object  being  in 
the  first  instance  to  bring  one's  self 
before  his  notice.  Hence  in  accost- 
ing there  is  some  degree  of  abrupt- 
ness by  the  necessities  of  the  case, 
or  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
person. 

"  If  you  would  convince  a  person  of  his 
mistake,  accost  him  not  upon  that  subject 
when  his  spirit  is  ruffled  or  discomposed 
with  any  occurrences  of  life,  and  especially 
when  he  has  heated  his  passions  in  the  de- 
fence of  a  contrary  opinion." — Waits. 

Salute  (Lat.  sUtutare,  to  ivish 
health)  is  to  exhibit  on  meeting  some 
sign  of  friendship  or  respect  which 
may  or  may  not  consist  in,  or  be  ac- 
conipanitjd  by,  words.  Among  ac- 
quaintance it  is  hardly  a  voluntary 
act,  fcJid  is  reqviired  by  the  usages  of 


society.  While  accost  is  of  equals  and 
in  words,  salute  is  not  uncommonly 
of  superiors  and  without  words.  To 
salute  is  deferential,  to  accost  may  be 
so,  or  it  may  be  cpiite  the  contrary. 
Saluting  is  momentary  and  not  sus- 
tained ;  while  accosting  may  be  mo- 
mentary in  regard  to  act,  and  sustained 
in  regard  to  the  words. 

"  I  shall  not  trouble  my  reader  with  the 
first  salutes  of  our  three   friends." — Ad- 

DISOiV. 

Address  (Fr.  s'adresser,  which 
traces  back,  through  certain  changes, 
to  Lat.  dirigerCy  to  direct)  may  be  with 
or  without  personal  meeting,  as  by 
letter.  It  is  more  sustained  than 
accost.  So  we  might  accost  a  person 
for  the  purpose  afterwards  of  address- 
ing  him  at  length.  Both  accost  and 
salute  belong  more  restrictedly  to  the 
moment  of  first  meeting.  The  verb 
address  is  applied  sometimes  directly 
to  the  person  addressed,  sometimes  to 
the  thing,  as  an  observation  or  a  letter 
addressed  to  him.  For  further  re- 
marks see  the  noun  Address. 

*'  The  shortest  and  best  prayer  which  we 
can  address  to  Him  who  knows  our  wants 
and  our  ignorance  in  asking  ;s,  'Thy  will 
be  done.' "— Bolikgbroke. 

Greet  (A.  S.  grttan)  is  to  salute 
with  some  demonstration  of  personal 
feeling.  This  is  commonly  favourable, 
as  to  greet  with  smiles,  but  usage 
sometimes  employs  the  term  in  re- 
ference to  the  contrary,  as  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  unpopular  orator,  for 
instance,  is  greeted  with  yells  and 
hisses.  It  is  demonstrative  recogni- 
tion by  words  or  other  signs  and  ex- 
pressions. We  accost  and  salute  only 
persons  directly.  We  may  greet  their 
acts  or  words.  By  a  poetical  analogy 
the  term  is  even  extended  to  events, 
though,  in  its  older  use,  it  was  con- 
fined to  persons,  as  very  elegantly  in 
the  following  : — 

"  Roget,  droope  not,  see  the  spring 
Is  the  earth  enammelling. 
And  the  birds  on  every  tree 
Greete  this  moi'n  with  melodie." 

Brown. 
W  hen  used  of  events  it  has  the  force 
of  welcome  or  the  reverse,  but  with  a 
stronger  element  of  emotion. 

Hail  (Icel.  heill,  i.e.,  hale,  healthify 
and  connected  with  heal  and  healthy 


[account] 


DISCKIMINATED 


37 


answering  to  the  Lat.  sahe!  and  so  to 
"  salute  ")  has  lost  its  etymological 
force,  and  means  now  such  a  short 
demonstrative  accosting  as  shall  arrest 
the  attention,  as  when  we  speak  of 
hailing  a  ship  at  sea.  We  hail  in  order 
to  cause  and  excite  attention  by  some 
cry  of  recognition,  or  some  short  and 
stirring  form  of  words,  to  which  we 
add  effect  by  the  very  force  and  sound 
which  we  impart  to  them.  In  greet- 
ing we  demonstrate  our  feelings  in 
regard  to  the  person,  in  hailing  we 
recognize  something  in  him.  A  mul- 
titude, when  it  greets  a  man  as  their 
Prince,  ismoved  by  feelings  of  loyalty. 
In  hailing  him  as  their  Prince  they  do 
no  more  than  give  outward  token  of 
accepting  him  as  such.  This  may  be 
a  formal  act  following  upon  his  elec- 
tion, or  an  outward  acclamation  con- 
cealing inward  disaffection. 
"  I  pray'd  for  children,  and  thought  bar- 
renness 
In  wedlock  a  reproach.  I  gain'd  a  son, 
And  such  a  son  as  all  then  hailed  me  happy. 
Who  would  be  now  a  father  in  my  stead  ?  " 
Milton. 

ACCOUNT.    Bill. 

As  synonyms  these  words  express 
in  common  a  representation  or  state- 
ment of  charo-es  on  money. 

Account  (Lat.  ad  and  compiitare,  to 
compute,  of  which  coiuit  is  an  abbre- 
viation) enters  more  into  details  than 
a  Bill  (O.  Fr.  bille,  a  label  or  note 
of  the  value  of  an  article,  L.  Lat. 
billa).  Hence  bill  has  commonly  but 
one  side  to  it,  embodying  a  charge  of 
one  party  against  another.  An  ac- 
count may  have  two  sides  to  it,  a 
balance  being  finally  struck  in  favour 
of  one  side  or  party  in  the  account. 
"  To  love's  account  they  placed  their  death 

of  late. 
And  now  transfer  the  sad  account  to  fate." 
Parnell. 

"Ordinary  expense  ought  to  be  limited 
by  a  man's  estate,  and  ordered  to  the  best, 
that  the  bills  may  be  less  than  the  estima- 
tion abroad."— Bacon. 

ACCOUNT.  Naiirative.  Nar- 
ration. Description.  Relation. 
Record.  History.  Tale.  Memoir. 
Story.     Anecdote. 

An  Account,  being  literally  a  ren- 
dering of  counts,  is  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  what  makes  up  a  thing,  what 


brings  it  about,  and  what  it  is  com- 
posed of  wlien  it  is  brought  abou,. 
An  account  is  an  explication  of  facts^ 
and  a  true  account  is  an  exact  explica 
tion  of  them.  It  may  be  of  any  com 
pi  ex  phenomenon,  as  of  an  ordinary 
personal  occurrence,  an  historical 
transaction,  a  physical  law  or  fact,  an 
artificial  system  or  theory.  It  is  not 
a  term  of  high  hi'-torio  dignity,  but 
refers  to  matters  of  the  more  familiar 
kind.  We  should  speak  of  Thucy- 
dides'  history,  rather  than  account,  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war.  The  virtue 
of  an  account  is  not  to  be  lengthy  but 
concise,  clear,  sufficiently  full,  and 
correct.  It  should  contain  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  sum  of  the 
facts.  Its  end  is  to  convey  instruc- 
tion with  fidelity.  Accounts  may  be 
vague,  coming  in  from  various  and 
unverified  sources.  On  the  other 
hand,  narrative,  description,  and  re- 
lation, imply  more  distinctly  a  nar- 
rator, describer,  and  relator. 

•'  For  this  cause  chiefly  we  thought  it 
good  to  yield  up  an  account  of  our  faith  iu 
writing." — Bp.  Jewel. 

A  Narrative  (Lat.  narrdve,  to  re- 
late) differs  from  a  narration,  as  the 
objective  fi-om  the  subjective,  that  is, 
the  narration  is  the  narrative  viewed 
in  connexion  with  the  mind  and  act  of 
the  narrator.  A  narrative  is  not  like 
an  account  of  any  complex  fact  or 
transaction,  but  only  of  such  as  are 
characterized  by  an  historic  sequence. 
A  narrative  belongs  to  occurrencea. 
It  is  not  only  bound  to  truth  of  fact 
and  a  representation  of  details  in  the 
order  of  occurrence,  but  it  possesses  a 
rhetoi'ical  style.  In  narration  general 
truth  takes  the  place  of  minute  ex- 
actitude ;  the  manner  takes  pre- 
cedence of  the  evidence.  It  may  be 
the  combined  result  of  study  and  art. 
It  has  to  do,  not  with  naked  facts, 
but  with  facts  clothed.  It  does  not 
dispense  with  interest  in  aiming  at 
instruction.  Its  virtue  is  to  be  clear, 
consecutive,  striking,  touching,  ele- 
gant, descriptive,  illustrative.  Livy's 
narratives  of  the  battles  of  early 
Roman  history  cannot  be  regarded 
as  historical . 

Relation  (Lat.  referre,  part,  re- 
latusy  to  relate,  record)  is  literally  a 


38 


SYNONYMS 


bringiMg  bact.  To  relate  in  old  Eng- 
lish meant  simply  to  bring  back.  So 
Spenser — 

"  "  Till  morrow  next  agaia 

Both  light  of  heaven  and  strength  of  men 
rdnteJ" 

But  before  this  it  had  been  commonly 
ased  in  the  sense  of  bringing  back  by 
recital,  representing  in  story. 
"  And  relacion 
Maketh  to  the  Quene  how  he  had  do," 

GOWER. 

The  terra  connects  the  matter  closely 
with  the  speaker,  making  the  action  a 
strictly  personal  one.  It  is  such  an 
account  as  is  given  by  an  individual 
of  facts  which  he  has  either  actually 
experienced,  or  has  assimilated  and 
made  his  own.  Therefore  the  virtues 
of  relation  are  the  virtues  of  therelater, 
such  as  come  from  a  close  observation, 
a  lucid  intellect,  a  sound  judgment  of 
the  relative  importance  of  events,  sym- 
pathy, candour.  Unlike  narration,  it 
may  be  verv  inartistic  yet  very  efFec- 
tfve,  from  the  vivid  and  natural  man- 
ner of  the  relater.  A  narrative  gains  by 
rhetorical  completeness,  a  relation  by 
unstudied  simplicity.  The  narrator 
presents  you  with  a  finished  account, 
the  relater  with  the  aggregate  of  his 
own  experience  in  fact  and  feeling. 
It  belongs,  however,  to  a  more  familiar, 
shorter,  less  grave,  and  more  personal 
subject  than  narrative,  so  that  a  very 
commonplace  occurrence  may  become 
peculiarly  interesting  fiom  the  mind 
and  manner  of  the  relater. 

"Those  relations  are  commonly  of  most 
value  in  which  the  writer  tells  his  own 
•tory."— JoHxsoN. 

'*  In  the  nnrration  of  the  poet,  it  is  not 
innteriul  whether  he  relate  the  whole  story 
in  his  own  chax'acter,  or  introduce  some  of 
his  personages  to  relate  any  part  of  the 
action  that  had  passed  hefore  the  poem 
opens."— Blair. 

History  (Gr.  laro^ta,  a  learning  by 
i7iquiry)  is  a  formal  and  connected 
account  of  many  events  in  series,  for 
which  some  degree  of  importance  is 
claimed  as  illustrative  of  men  and 
nations,  an  account  standing  to  a 
history  as  an  item  to  a  general  sum. 
So  we  might  speak  of  the  account  of 
the  Plague  of  Athens  as  given  in  the 
history  of  Thucydides.  For  further 
remarks  see  J 1  isV  jhy . 


[account] 


"  Secondly,  we  have  likewise  a  most 
ancient  and  credible  history  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world.  I  mean  the  history  of 
Moses,  with  which  no  book  in  the  world  in 
point  of  antiquity  can  contend." — TiLtOT- 
sox. 

The  presumption  at  least  is  that  a 
history  is  true.  This  is  not  neces- 
sarily the  case  with  Story  (the  word 
is  an  abbreviated  form  of  History), 
which  may  be  fictitious.  Where  it  is 
not  fictitious  there  is  still  implied  an 
inferior  de^-ree  of  dignity  and  im- 
portance, the  subject  turning  gene- 
rally upon  incidents  of  private  and 
domestic  life,  as  the  story  of  Robin- 
son Crusoe,  the  story  of  Fabricius 
and  the  Elepliant,  the  story  of  the 
Babes  in  the  VVood.  The  interest  of 
history  lies  in  occurrences  and  trans- 
actions on  a  great  scale ;  the  changes 
of  political  constitutions ;  the  delibe- 
rations of  senates,  the  increase  of 
popular  power,  the  shock  of  battles, 
the  celebration  of  triumphs,  the  pro- 
gress of  armies,  the  lives  of  flictious 
and  ambitious  leaders,  heroes,  orators, 
statesmen.  The  interest  of  story  lies 
in  the  adventures  of  persons  more  like 
ourselves  generally,  in  personal  en- 
terprises, in  scenes  of  home  life.  In 
history  we  look  on  as  upon  a  grand 
spectacle.  In  story  we  identify  our- 
selves with  what  is  passing,  and  feel 
that  fortune  mio-ht  have  made  us  prin- 
cii)al  actors  in  it.  Our  minds  are  oc- 
cupied engagingly,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  history  plays  only  a  secondary 
part.  A  story  may  instruct,  but  its 
first  purpose  is  to  entertain.  It  should 
combine,  in  an  unpretending  manner, 
the  virtues  of  nairation  and  relation. 
"A  story  in  which  native  humour  reigns, 
'Tis  often  useful,  always  entertains." 

COWPER. 

In  Tale  (A.  S.  tal,  a  reckoning 
speech)  the  si-bject  is  often  fictitious*, 
not  of  necessity,  but  because  the 
primary  characteristic  is  not  truth 
but  relation.  As  a  good  story  is 
entertaining,  so  a  good  tale  excites 
sentiment  or  sympathy.  A  tale  may 
be  true  or  false,  or  a  compound  of 
truth  and  falsehood.  A  tale  is  ety- 
mologically  a  telling  off  or  coui.ting 
off  (compare  ^ccoj/n/)  of  matters  in 
narration.  A  tale  is  commonly  a  story 
3f  personal  experience  involving  hap- 


[accountable]      discriminated. 


39 


piness  or  unhappiness,  success  or 
disappointment,  prosperity  or  the 
reverse.  It  is  a  story  coloured  by 
human  feelings  and  fortunes,  turning 
on  individual  cases.  A  true  tale,  a 
false  tale,  a  tale  of  happiness,  a 
pitiful  tale,  an  ingenious  tale,  a  tale 
of  glorious  achievements,  a  tale  of 
lying  wonders.  We  may  tell  a  tale 
as  it  has  been  told  to  us,  or  we  may 
invent  it,  or  mix  narrative  with  inven- 
•ion.  As  story  borders  more  closely 
cpon  narrative,  so  tale  upon  relation. 
The  character  of  a  story  depends 
xiore  upon  the  matter,  the  character 
«f  a  tale  on  the  reciter.  In  the  phrases 
tale-bearing,  tale-telling,  we  seem  to 
recognize  the  ideas  of  personal  in- 
cident which  receive  a  colour  from 
Jie  relater. 
**  In   thy  faint  slumbers  I  by  thee  have 

vratch'd. 
And  heard  thee  murmur  tales  of  wars." 

ShAK£SP£ARS. 

a  Description  (Lat.  descfibcrey  to 
wnte  off,  to  writs  down)  professes  to 
be  a  porti-aiture  in  langiiage,  giving 
the  fact  or  the  object  as  it  strikes  the 
eye  or  the  mind  with  fidelity  of  re- 
presentation.     It  is  delineation    in 
detail.     It  is  not  in  itself  a  story  or 
narrative,  though  it  becomes  a  kind 
of  story  or  narrative  to  him  to  whom 
it  is  given  ;  as,  e.g.  a  description  of 
the  whole    appearance  of  a  person 
where  the   sequence  is  the  order  of 
representation  and  not  of  occurrence,    j 
Its  excellence  consists  in  fidelity  to   j 
the   original,  and  a  fine  and  natural    j 
accuracy.     External  objects,   occur-    | 
rences,  transactions,  are  the  common    i 
Bubject  of  description,  while  philo-   j 
sophically,   description  is  a  kind   of 
popular  definition  which  consists  in 
an  enumeration  of  the  essential  cha-    : 
racteristics  of  a  thing.     As  descrip- 
tion is  word-painting,  or  word-sketch- 
ing, the  measure  of  description  is  the 
power  of  the  describer  over  the  re- 
presentati  ve  employment  of  language, 
superadded  to  a  natural  capacity  to 
receive  vivid  and  exact  impressions 
in  himself.     The   case  is  somewhat 
different  between  descriptions  of  out- 
ward objects  and  mental  impressions 
or  sensations.    In  the  former  case  we 
''*>ficribe  by  commensurate  terms,  in 


the  latter  by  likenesses  and  analogies 
to  impressions  derived  through  oUier 
senses.  A  description  of  a  man  would 
consist  in  specifying,  numbering, 
measuring,  and  delineating,  in  giviiTj^ 
his  hue,  complexion,  stature,  dimen 
sions,  character  oi  features,  cha- 
racteristic expression  of  countenance, 
apparent  age,  and  so  on.  The  blind 
man  described  his  impression  of 
scarlet,  which  was  purely  a  mental 
one,  by  saying  that  he  believed  it 
must  be  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet, 
that  is,  that  it  stood  to  the  impres- 
sions of  sight  as  such  sounds  to  the 
impressions  of  hearing.  Spenser  used 
the  form  discrive : — 
"  How  shall  frail  pen  discrive  her  heavenly 

face 
For  fear  through  want  of  skill  her  beauty 

to  disgrace." 

An  Anecdote  (Gr.  avIxJoTof,  not 
published)  is  literally  an  incident  not 
given  out  or  published,  and  so  in 
private  keeping  or  circulation.  It  is 
the  relation  of  a  characteristic  matter 
of  fact  relating  to  individuals,  and 
therefore  stands  to  story  as  species  to 
genus.  It  is  commonly  a  passage  of 
private  life. 

"Antiquity  has  preserved  a  beautiful 
instance  in  an  anecdote  of  Alexander  the 
tyrant  of  Phera?,  who,  though  he  had  so 
industriously  hardened  his  heart  as  to  seem 
to  take  delight  in  cruelty,  even  murdering 
many  of  his  subjects  every  day  without 
cause  and  without  pity,  yet,  at  the  bare  re- 
presentation of  a  tragedy  which  related  the 
misfortunes  of  Hecuba  and  Andromache, 
he  was  so  touched  with  the  fictitious  dis- 
tress which  the  poet  had  wrought  upon  it 
thiit  he  burst  out  into  a  flood  of  tears." — 
Sterxe. 

ACCOUNTABLE.  Answerable. 
Responsible.  Amenable.  Obnoxi- 
ous.    Liable.     Subject. 

Accountable  (see  Account)  means 
literally  liable  to  be  compelled  to  give 
an  account  or  standing  in  such  a  rela- 
tion as  involves  it.  It  is  sometimes, 
like  responsible,  used  in  the  abstract 
sense  of  being  possessed  of  reason  and 
so  being  master  of  one's  own  actions, 
and  by  conseouence  bound  to  render 
an  account  of  them.  As  a  synonym 
with  the  above-mentioned  it  denotes 
in  a  marked  manner  a  personal  service 
or  relationship  which  is  subordinate 
to  some  superior  person,  as  a  steward 


40 


is  accountable  to  his  employer.  It  is 
a  specific  condition  springing  out  of  a 
specific  relationship. 

"  The  first  point  to  be  endeavoured  after 
is  to  impress  upon  children  the  idea  of  ac- 
countableness,  that  is,  to  accustom  them  to 
look  forward  to  the  consequences  of  their 
actions  in  another  world." — Palet, 

This  specific  subordination  does  not 
attach,  or  not  in  so  marked  a  manner, 
to  Responsible  (Lat.  respondcre,  to 
give  answer),  which  is  far  more  gene- 
ral. A  responsible  office  may  be  one 
of  g^-eat  personal  influence  and  dignity, 
and  of  moral  responsibility  rather  than 
specific  accountableness.  Hence  re- 
sponsibility extends  beyond  acts  to 
their  issues.  I  am  accountable  to  my 
superior  for  what  I  do.  I  may  be 
held  in  the  judgment  of  others  re- 
sponsible for  the  consequences  of  what 
1  do.  I  may,  by  a  voluntary  agree- 
ment, make  mj'self  responsible  for 
what  may  occur  to  a  person  towards 
whom  I  stand  otherwise  in  no  relation 
of  accountableness. 

**  He  has  been  pleased  to  ask,  '  Is  the 
doctor  willing  to  be  responsible  at  last  for 
the  nature,  quality,  and  tendency  of  all  his 
notions  I ' " — Waterland. 

Answerable  is  in  English  what  Re- 
sponsible is  in  Latin,  and  so  expresses 
the  simplest  and  most  generic  sense 
of  these  tenns.  It  expresses  a  relation 
to  simpler  and  commoner  things  for 
one's  conduct  in  matters  of  minor 
trusts  and  mere  ordinary  duties.  1  am 
answerable  when  1  take  upon  myself 
a  common  risk  for  the  habits  or  good 
behaviour  of  another ;  for  the  safety 
of  some  article  left  in  my  keeping.  I 
am  answerable  in  cases  where  some 
Dledge  has  been  given  for  the  per- 
formance of  an  act  or  the  fulfilment  of 
an  engagement,  the  breach  of  which 
would  involve  loss,  disgrace,  punish- 
ment, or  disappointment.  Account- 
able and  answerable  rather  express 
the  fact,  and  responsible  the  nature 
of  condition.  Hence  there  is  in  an- 
swerable a  latent  force  which  does 
not  belong  to  responsible,  or  less  ob- 
servably that  of  being  liable  to  punish- 
ment or  penalty  in  case  of  failure  in 
such  trust  or  duty. 

"  If  I  pay  money  to  a  banker's  servant, 
the  banker  is  answerable  for  it." — Black- 


SYNONYMS  [accountable] 

This  force  of  liability  to  punishment 
comes  out  more  strongly  still  in  Ob- 
noxious. This  is  due  to  the  classic 
meaning  of  the  term,  which  is  properly 
applied  to  "  one  who,  on  the  ground  of 
a  mischief  or  wrong  committed  by  him, 
is  justly  liable  to  punishment  {otf 
noxam  poena:  obtigatus).  It  has  what 
has  been  termed  a  lax  and  slovenly  " 
use,  as  a  "vague,  unserviceable  sy- 
nonym for  offensive.  "We  punish,  or 
wish  to  punish,  those  whom  we  dis- 
like, and  thus  obnoxious  has  obtained 
its  present  sense  of  offensive."  It 
may  be  added,  that  in  this  vague  sense 
it  has  extended  beyond  subjects  ca- 
pable of  punishment,  and  we  speak  of 
obnoxious  smells.  In  its  correct  ap- 
plication it  expresses  not  only  a  liabi- 
lity but,  in  some  cases,  that  the  stage 
has  been  reached  when  the  possible 
position  of  the  answerable  has  be- 
come actual,  and  punishment  or  re- 
sentment may  be  expected  in  conse- 
quence of  the  liability  incurred. 

"  Our  obnoxiousness  to  the  cui-se  of  the 
law  for  sin  had  exposed  us  to  all  the  extre- 
mity of  misery,  and  made  death  as  due  to 
us  as  wages  to  the  workman." — South, 

Amenable  (Fr.  amener,  to  lead  or 
guide  to)  means  liable  to  some  thing 
or  person  which  has  an  inherent  power 
to  bind  or  compel,  as  laws,  rules,  au- 
thority, a  parent,  a  governor^  It 
sometimes  further  bears  the  sense  of 
a  natural  willingness  to  recognize 
such  power,  and  then  becomes  an 
epithet  of  moral  conduct  or  character, 
as  when  one  is  amenable  to  discipline, 
advice,  or  reason,  or  simply  amenable. 
To  be  amenable  is  to  be  accountable 
so  far  as  one  is  bound  by  laws  and 
regulations. 

"  The  sovereign  of  this  country  is  not 
ametiable  to  any  form  of  trial  known  to  the 
laws." — Junius. 

Liable  (Fr.  Her,  Lat.  Itgdre,  to  bind) 
expresses  in  a  simple  and  compre- 
hensive manner  a  relative  capability 
of  beino-  acted  upon ;  and  not  only 
has  nothing  of  the  strictly  personal 
action  involved  in  accountaWe,  or  the 
moral  dignity  of  responsible,  but  is 
applicable  even  to  merely  physical 
influences,  as  silver  is  liable  to  be 
tarnished  by  damp.  It  is,  like  an- 
SAverable,  used  for  certain  common 


accredit] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


41 


and  familiar  obligations,  as  to  he  liable 
for  the  debts  of  another.  This  would 
mean  that  a  power  -would  be  forth- 
coming; tf  compel  their  payment.  To 
be  answerable  for  them  would  rather 
mean  that  this  power  resulted  from 
some  relation  to  the  debtor,  natural, 
incurred,  or  assumed  on  the  part  of 
.he  other  party.  I  am  liable  by  law ; 
I  am  answerable  also  by  my  own  acts 
or  obligations.  Hence,  as  the  dis- 
tinctive capacity  of  a  thing  is  very 
likely  to  find  exercise,  or  the  distinc- 
tive quality  of  a  thing  to  find  some- 
thing to  act  upon  it,  the  word  liable 
has  become  a  synonym  for  likely, 
that  is,  likely  to  act  or  be  affected  in 
a  certain  way  under  certain  circum- 
stances, as  in  the  following  : — 

"  In  geometry  we  are  not  liable  to  adopt 
the  same  paradoxical  conclusions  as  in  al- 
gebra, because  the  diagrams  to  which  our 
attention  is  directed  serve  as  a  continual 
check  on  our  reasoning  powers.'' — Stewart. 

It  may  be  worth  while  in  this  place 
to  notice  the  difference  specifically 
between  Liable  and  Subject.  Subject 
(Lat.  siibjich'e,  part,  subjectus,  to  cast 
or  ■place  under)  stands  to  nature  as 
liable  to  circumstances.  JNIen  are 
subject  to  error  from  their  mental, 
to  aeath  from  their  physical,  to  temp- 
tation from  their  moral  constitution, 
to  anger  from  the  in-itability  of  their 
temperament.  They  are  liable  to 
catch  cold  in  draught,  and  to  arrest 
for  debt.  From  one  point  of  view  it 
may  be  said  that  we  are  subject,  and 
become  liable  ;  or,  again,  we  are  sub- 
ject to  that  which  dominates  over  us 
as  partaking  a  common  nature,  we  are 
liable  to  what  affects  us  as  individuals. 
That  to  which  we  are  subject,  as,  for 
instance,  death,  will  overtake  us 
sooner  or  later.  That  to  which  we 
are  liable,  as,  for  instance,  accident, 
may  be  happily  escaped,  or  by  cir- 
cumspection avoided.  Subject  im- 
plies the  pressure  of  a  more  uniform, 
liable  of  a  more  casual  influence. 

"  For  what  is   strength  without  a  double 

share 
Of  wisdom  ?    Vast,  unwieldy,  burdensome. 
Proudly  secure,  yet  liable  to  fall 
By  weakest  subtleties."  MiLTON. 

"AH  numan  hemgs  are  subject  to  decay." 
Dbyden. 


ACCREDIT.  Entrust,  Dele- 
gate.    Commission.     Depute. 

These  words  express  the  idea  ia 
common  of  reposing  trust  or  confer- 
ring authority  on  another  for  a  pur- 
pose of  one's  own.  The  simplest  and 
most  general  is  to  Entrust,  to  place 
in  a  position  of  trust  or  by  a  converse 
use  to  commit  to  a  person's  trust  or 
faithful  keeping.  We  entrust  persons 
with  offices,  property,  or  even  secrets. 
In  all  cases  we  entrust  on  the  ground 
of  a  belief  of  a  sufficiency  of  intelli- 
gence, and  such  personal  regard  to 
one's  self,  as  well  as  such  probity  or 
character  as  would  induce  the  other 
to  act  for  our  own  interests,  or  at 
least  not  to  neglect  or  oppose  them. 
Him  whom  we  entrust  with  anything 
we  constitute  a  guardian  on  our  own 
behalf.  It  is  great  folly  to  entrust 
matters  of  importance  to  the  weak, 
the  careless,  tne  thoughtless,  or  the 
dishonest. 

"  He  (the  Lord  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth)  will  enter  into  a  severe  scrutiny 
how  we  may  have  employed  all  those  talents 
that  He  hath  entrusted  us  with." — Sharp. 

Accredit  (Fr.  accriditer)  is  to 
place  in  the  position  of  acting  as  one's 
representative,  and  of  showing  him  to 
be  so  iu  a  formal  and  public  manner,  ii 
necessary,  as  by  giving  him  creden- 
tials. It  is  a  term  of  diplomacy .  To 
accredit  is  to  place  in  a  position  of 
public  trust. 

"  I  am  better  pleased  indeed  that  he 
(the  reviewer)  censures  some  things  than  I 
should  have  been  with  unmixed  commen- 
dation ;  for  his  censure  will,  to  use  the 
new  diplomatic  term,  accredit  his  praises." 

— COWPER. 

To  Delegate  (Lat.  delegare,  to 
entrust),  is  to  cause  to  be  done  by 
another  that  which  one  has  to  do 
one's  self.  It  is  closely  allied  to  De- 
pute (Lat.  depiitare,  in  the  sense  of  to 
allot  to),  but  both  persons  and  duties 
may  be  delegated,  while  persons  only 
are  deputed.  The  appointment  makes 
the  deputy ;  the  being  sent  elsewhere 
to  act  makes  the  delegate.  A  mem- 
ber of  parliament  is  the  deputy  of  the 
people  as  soon  as  he  is  returned  ;  he 
18  then  delegate  when  he  has  gone  to 
the  metropolis  to  represent  tlieir  in- 
terests. The  term  delegate  is  em- 
ployed of  important  matters  of  public 


42 


SYNONYMS  [accrue] 


interest.  A  deputy  may  1)6  no  more 
than  the  representative  of  an  official 
of  low  rank.  The  deputy  merely 
does  what  the  other  is  not  present  to 
do  in  person.  The  delegate  has  a 
greater  freedom  of  responsible  action, 
and  may  have  but  little  less  than  in- 
dependent powers. 

"  This  change  from  an  immediate  state 
of  procuration  and  delegation  to  a  coarse  of 
acting  as  from  original  power,  is  the  way 
in  which  all  the  popular  magistracies  in 
the  world  have  been  perverted  from  their 
purposes." — Burke. 

"  Christes  deputie  or  vicar." — Udal. 

To  Commission  (Lat.  commiifn-^,  to 
entrust)  differs  from  depute  in  that 
the  latter  refers  to  a  continuous  charge 
or  vicarious  office.  He  who  is  deputed 
is  a  representative  ;  he  who  is  commis- 
sioned has  no  representative  capacity. 
To  commission  does  not  go  beyond  the 
act  or  work,  and  does  not  imply  neces- 
sarily a  permanent  office.  We  com- 
mission at  will,  and  in  cases  where  it 
suits  our  convenience  to  act  through 
others.  It  is  in  general  the  superior 
that  commissions  the  inferior  in  order 
to  avail  himself  of  his  services.  A 
monarch,  for  instance,  appoints  a 
commission  of  inquiry  in  the  interests 
of  the  public.  It  is  evident  that  the 
commission  depending  upon  the  will 
and  convenience  of  another  may  be  of 
any  character  which  it  is  consonant 
with^such  will  and  convenience  to  con- 
fer, from  the  execution  of  a  trivial  trust 
to  the  investiture  of  official  dignity. 

"  We  are  to  deny  the  supposition  that  he 
(Moses)  was  a  private  person  at  that  time 
of  killing  the  Egyptian,  but  that  he  was 
even  then  commissioned  by  God  Governor 
of  Israel,  and,  consequently,  in  the  right  of 
a  governor  might  revenge  the  wrong  done 
to  his  subjects." — South. 

ACCRUE.  Supervene.  Devolve. 
Redound. 

The  ideas  common  to  these  ternis 
are  those  of  certain  things  coming 
upon  or  out  of  others,  so  that  persons 
are  affected  by  them.  In  Accrue 
(Fr.  accrUf  part,  of  accroitre  ;  Lat. 
accrescire,  to  grow  to),  that  which 
accrues  comes  from  a  natural  ten- 
dency in  its  cause  to  produce  it,  as 
wealth  accrues  from  industry ;  that  is, 
there  is  in  industry  an  inherent  apti- 
tude to  produce  wealth,     't  is  also  a 


personally  relative  term,  involving 
the  idea  of  some  person  to  whose 
benefit  or  harm  the  thing  accrues. 
'J'hat  which  accrues  is  of  the  nature 
of  increase,  profit,  or  damage.  It  is, 
as  it  were,  the  fruit  which  a  thing 
bears  naturally. 

"  Good  men  consult  their  piety  as  little 
as  their  judgment  and  experience  when 
they  admit  the  great  and  essential  advan- 
tages accruing  to  society  from  the  freedom 
of  the  press,  yet  indulge  themselves  in 
peevish  or  passionate  exclamations  against 
the  abuses  of  it."— Junius. 

Supervene  (Lat.  sYtpervtturej  to 
come  upon)  expresses  the  simple  event 
of  one  fact  occurring  upon  another, 
which  other  may  be  itself  a  result. 
That  which  supervenes  intensifies  the 
preceding  cause  or  pre-existent  state 
of  affairs.  It  comes  in  unexpectedly 
with  little  sequence  apparently  of 
cause  and  effect,  yet  with  very  deci- 
sive results.  A  man  broke  his  leg  by 
a  fall,  fever  supervened,  and  he  died. 
The  effect  of  that  which  supervenes  i.«! 
in  proportionto  the  aptitude  of  actual 
circumstances  to  be  affected  by  it  for 
detriment  or  improvement. 

*'  His  good  will,  when  placed  on  any, 
was  so  fixed  and  rooted,  that  even  super' 
vening  vice,  to  which  he  had  the  greatest 
detestation  imaginable,  could  not  easilj 
remove  it." — Fell's  Life  of  Hammond. 

Devolve  (Lat.  devolvere)  is  literally 
to  roll  don-n  upon,  but  is  employed 
only  in  the  figurative  sense,  with  an 
idea  of  transmission  or  succession.  In 
the  absence  of  one  who  has  a  duty  to 
perform,  that  duty  will  often  devolve 
upon  one  who  is  the  nearest  bound  by 
obligation  or  interest  to  perform  it. 
On  the  removal  of  the  proprietor  of 
an  estate  by  death,  the  estate  devolves 
upon  the  next  heir;  that  is,  alights 
as  it  were  on  him  who  is  the  next 
halting  point  in  the  course  of  the  suc- 
cession. Things  which  devolve  are 
of  the  nature  of  duties,  privileges,  re- 
sponsibilities, tasks,  offices,  obliga- 
tions, powers,  or  possessions. 

"Which  was  augmented  by  the  state  ol 
the  sayd  Richard,  and  the  devohdion  of  the 
same  to  Henry  IV." — Grafton. 

To  Redound  (Lat.  rtdunddre,  to 
flow  back,  to  redound)  is  to  come  back 
as  a  consequence  of  good  or  ill  upon 
an   actor,   originator,    or    promoter 


[acjiieve] 


That  whicli  redounds  is  a  remoter 
effect  of  human  action  or  something 
following  ujx)n  that  effect,  whether 
the  action  be  one's  own  or  of  another. 
It  is  a  result  of  a  general  and  abstract 
nature,  and  commonly  of  the  nature 
of  profit,  advantage,  reputation,  in- 
terest, gain,  credit,  or  the  contrary  of 
these.  It  supervenes  as  a  practical 
consequence,  and  accrues  as  the 
Becondary  product  of  a  fact  accom- 
plished. That  which  redounds  may 
nave  been  contemplated  in  action,  but 
it  was  not  primarily  or  directly 
aimed  at,  being  an  eftisct  of  an  effect. 
I  perform  a  gallant  or  generous  action. 
My  motive  was  the  pleasure  or  satis- 
faction of  benefiting  another.  The 
act  may  redound  to  my  interest 
through  the  gratitude  of  those  bene- 
fited, or  to  my  honour  and  reputation 
through  public  admiration  of  the 
deed. 

"There  will  no  small  use  redound  to  them 
from  that  raanufactare." — Addisox. 

ACCUSTOM.  Habituate.  Tvure. 
Use.     Train.     Familiarize. 

Of  these  terms  to  Use  (Lat.  iili, 
part.  iisuSf  to  ttse)  is  the  simplest  and 
the  generic.  It  is  also  the  most  col- 
loquial, yet  seems  to  be  seldom  em- 
ployed, though  its  passive  participle 
used  is  very  common.  To  Accustom 
(O.  Fr.acostuiit ;  Lat.  constietudinem, 
whence  Eng.  custom )  is  employed  both 
ofstatesand actions.  Habituate  (Lat. 
hdbitiuire)  only  of  states.  Hence  an 
alteration  of  mind  is  implied  in  accus- 
tom, an  alteration  of  conditions  only 
in  habituate.  1  may  even  be  accus- 
tomed to  events  which  happen  to  me 
independently  of  any  will  or  action  of 
my  own.  One  is  habituated  to  what 
one  has  often  felt,  accustomed  to  what 
one  has  often  experienced  in  anyway. 
I  may  be  accustomed  to  ill  treatment 
without  being  at  all  habituated  to  it. 
Inure  (Lat.  znurire, to  brand,  impress) 
advances  a  step  beyond  habituate, 
and  indicates  the  process  of  habitua- 
tion against  uncongenial  influences 
till  use  leaves  little  or  no  pain  or 
inconvenience.  Train  (Fr.  trainer) 
is  to  accustom  by  a  given  course  of 
practice  to  a  given  capacity.  F..ami- 
i.iARizK  (Fr.  Jamiiiariser)  is  to  make 
well  known  by  practice  or  converse. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


43 


We  are  familiarized  with  that  which, 
after  we  have  often  witnessed  or 
meditated  upon  it,  has  produced  a 
lively  and  lasting  impression  upon  us. 
Thus  we  may  be  familiar  with  sights, 
scenes,  processes,  facts,  truths. 
Chance  or  intention  may  have  accus- 
tomed, habituated,  inured,  or  fami- 
liarized, but  only  purpose  and  system 
can  train  us. 

ACHIEVE.   Finish.   Tkraiixate. 

One  Achieves  (Fr.  achever,  chef, 
a  head)  by  working  skilfully,  per- 
severingly,  or  undauntedly  at  what 
has  been  undertaken  or  commenced 
One  Finishes  {Fr. Jinir  ;  Lat. J^in'ire, 
to  end)  by  putting  the  last  stroke  to 
what  is  far  advanced.  One  Termi- 
nates (Fr.  terminer;  Lat.  terniinus, 
an  end  or  limit)  what  ought  not  to  be 
continued  further,  by  some  act  of 
discontinuance.  So  that  the  charac- 
teristic force  of  achieve  is  bringing 
the  undertaking  to  its  last  stage,  that 
of  finish  is  the  actual  arrival  of  this 
period,  and  that  of  terminate  the  ces- 
sation of  the  thing  itself.  After 
achieving  one  enjoys  the  sight  or  the 
thought  of  the  work  or  the  action 
brought  to  a  successful  end.  It  is 
the  realization  of  one's  efforts.  One 
may  desire  to  finish  what  has  cost 
much  loss  of  time  and  labour,  and  for 
other  reasons,  as,  for  instance,  that 
one  may  pass  on  to  something  else,  or 
from  weariness  of  the  particular  em- 
ployment. Terminate  is  hardly  applied 
to  any  other  matters  than  discussions, 
differences,  or  disputes,  and  those 
which  have  the  nature  of  a  course  or 
career.  The  achievement  of  a  thing 
is  its  complete  development,  its  per- 
fect and  entire  execution,  the  bring- 
ing it  to  a  state  which  could  not  be 
improved  upon,  and  a  point  which 
could  not  be  surpassed.  The  end  is 
opposed  to  the  beginning,  after  which 
there  can  be  nothing  to  do,  as  nothing 
done  before  the  beginning.  We  have 
to  make  an  end  as  we  make  a  begin- 
ning ;  we  achieve  when  we  have 
worked  the  whole ;  we  finish  when 
we  have  worked  tlie  concluding  part. 
The  termination  is  that  point  of  time 
or  space  where  &  thing  stops.  It 
presuj>j)08es   duration    or  continuity. 


44 


SYNONYMS  [acid] 


One  may  finish  well  or  ill,  ana  more 
or  less  expeditiously,  more  or  less 
effectively,  but  there  is  only  one  way 
of  achieving. 

ACID.     Sour.     Acrid.     Bitter. 

The  two  first  words  express  not 
diiferent  things,  but  ratlier  different 
degrees  of  the  same  quality.  "Acid," 
says  Taylor, "is  an  artificial,  concen- 
trated, corrosive,  sourness."  Sour- 
ness (connected  with  the  German 
saner  and  other  Northern  forms)  is  a 
kind  of  mellowed  Acidity  (Lat. 
Hciditatem)  as  acidity  is  a  sharpened 
sourness.  Acrid  (Lat.  deer,  with 
suflUx  -id)  denotes  the  combination  of 
acidity  or  sourness  with  harshness. 
Lemon  juice  is  acid;  milk  may  turn 
sour  ;  unripe  fruit  is  often  acrid. 
Bitter  (A.S. biter,  frnmbitayi, to  bite) 
expresses  a  different  taste  altogether, 
too  familiar  to  need  any  attempt  at 
description.  It  may  be  observed  that 
in  their  secondary  uses,  sour  is  ex- 
pressive only  of  human  disposition, 
while  bitter  is  expressive  of  feeling 
and  expression,  as  bitter  hatred,  bitter 
sarcasm,  and  also  of  the  character  of 
external  events  as  affecting  ourselves, 
as  bitter  misfortune. 

ACKNOWLEDGE.  Own.  Con- 
fess.    Avow.     Recognize. 

To  Acknowledge  is  to  admit  that 
one  has  knowledge.  Its  element  of 
publicity  it  has  in  common  with  the 
other  synonyms.  It  is  the  opposite 
to  denying,  keeping  back,  or  concealing 
a  fact. 

"  So  ech  that  denyeth  the  Sone  hath  not 
the  fader,  but  he  that  knowlechith  the 
Sone  hath  the  fader  also."  —  Wiclif's 
Translation  of  the  1st  Ep.  S.  John. 

We  necessarily  acknowledge  only 
such  facts  or  matters  as  are  personally 
related  to  ourselves,  because  by  the 
supposition  the  original  facts  were  in 
our  own  keeping.  The  avowal  of 
Buch  facts  furnishes  others  with  pecu- 
liar and  complete  evidence.  The 
extent  to  which  acknowledgment 
furnishes  knowledge  to  others  in  the 
sense  of  information  which  they  did 
not  previously  possess  is  a  matter  of 
degree.  To  acknowledge  one's  obli- 
gations for  the  kindness  of  others  is 
little  more  than  to  express  them.    To 


acKnowieuge  one  s  tault  may  or  may 
not  imply  that  it  was  not  known  to 
otliers.  To  acknowledge  a  secret 
marriage  is  to  give  others  a  complete- 
ness of  information  which  otherwise 
they  had  not  possessed.  Yet  the 
term  where  it  means  more  than  openly 
to  avow  a  relationship,  as  to  acknow- 
ledge a  9on,  implies  some  amount  of 
knowledge,  or,  at  least,  tendency  to 
belief  in  others  already  existent. 
"  Eke  shamefastness  was  there  as  I  tooke 
hede. 

That  blushed  red  and  darst  nat  ben  a 
know. 
She  lover  was,  for  thereof  had  she  drede. 

She  stood  and  hing  her  visage  downe 
alow."  Chaucer. 

Own  has  two  forces:  1,  that  of 
simple  possession ;  and,  2,  that  of 
avowing  such  possession  or  fact  o' 
relationship  to  one's  self.  Both  ac- 
knowledge and  own  in  this  latter 
sense  commonly  imply  some  degree 
of  ignorance,  doubt,  or  previous  con- 
cealment, as  in  the  case  of  offences 
acknowledged  or  owned  which  be- 
fore were  only  imputed .  We  acknow- 
ledge and  own  in  cases  where  our 
evidence  supplements  the  suspicion  of 
others,  and  imply  some  degree  of  sup- 
posed culpability.  The  more  inti- 
mately the  matter  is  connected  with 
one's  self  the  better  may  we  employ 
own  ;  the  more  simply  we  regard  it 
as  a  matter  to  which  we  give  publicity, 
the  better  may  we  employ  acknow- 
ledge. I  own  a  state  of  feeling,  for 
instance ;  I  acknowledge  an  action.. 
I  acknowledge  that  violence  was  per- 
petrated in  the  course  of  the  proceed- 
ings, but  I  will  not  own  to  having 
instigated  or  sanctioned  it. 

"  And  now,  my  dear,  cried  she  to  me,  I 
will  fairly  own  that  it  was  I  that  instructed 
my  girls  to  encourage  our  landlord's  ad- 
dresses."— Goldsmith. 

It  should  be  noted  that  to  Own,  ?'.«., 
to  possess,  the  A.  S.  dgnian,  and  t« 
Own,  i.e.,  to  admit,  the"A.  S.  nnnauj 
are,  strictly,  different  words.  Length 
of  use,  however,  lias  go  blended  them, 
as  to  make  the  disentanglement 
scarcely  possible. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  Confes* 
(Lat.  conjtteri,  part,  confessus)  may 
be  of  some  action  of  which  the  per- 
sons to  whom  we  speak  may  be  ab»o 


Iacquaintance]    discriminated. 

lately  ignorant,  aa  in  the  voluntary 
confession  of  a  penitent  to  a  priest. 
If  the  action  be  kno-wii,  but  not  the 
author,  the  declaration  that  we  did  it 
would  be  an  owning  of  it,  that  is,  an 
acknowledgment  of  one's  authorship 
of  it.  The  essence  of  acknowledging 
an  oflfence  consists,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  declaring  our  self-consciousness, 
so  that  we  may  acknowledge  a  fault 
even  after  we  have  been  known  and 
proved  to  have  committed  it.  In  that 
case,  to  acknowledge  a  fault  is  to  re- 
cognize it  as  it  is  viewed  by  others. 
If  both  the  doer  and  the  deed  were 
known,  we  should  hai-dly  use  either 
own  or  confess.  Yet  a  prisoner  is 
said  to  make  a  full  confession  even 
afterhehasbeenJudged,convicted,and 
sentenced.  This  is  probably  because 
his  confession  is  regarded  as  perfect- 
ing the  evidence  against  him,  or 
making  his  crime  a  matter  of  abso- 
1  ute  knowledp.  We  confess  actions, 
opinions,  and  feelings  as  we  acknow- 
ledge facts,  and  own  our  participation 
in  them.  It  may  be  added  that  Ac- 
knowledge and  Own  are  applied  to 
matters  of  less  grave  moment  than 
confess,  which  denotes  a  more  formal 
publicity.  We  confess  sins  and 
crimes ;  we  acknowledge  and  own 
errors,  mistakes,  faults,  and  minor 
offences.  So  characteristic  ol  con- 
fession is  the  giving  of  formal  publi- 
city to  something  connected  with 
one's  self,  that  the  term  is  used  where 
this  is  the  case  of  matters  in  which  no 
blame  attaches,  as  in  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  a  belief  or  opinion  in  one's 
self,  as  in  the  following  : — 


45 


"  Spite  of  herself  e'en  En^'y  mnst  confess 
That  I  the  friendship  of  the  great  possess." 
Author  (?) 
To  Avow  (Fr.  ai?o»er,  which  orig. 
meant  to  swear  fealty  to,  Littre),  to 
declare  with  boldness  and  frankness. 
This  implies  at  the  same  time  our 
own  consciousness  of  right,  and  of 
the  fact  that  others  do  not  think  us 
80,  or  at  least  are  not  fully  persuaded 
of  it,  for  in  that  case  no  boldness  of 
utterance  would  be  needed.  We  do 
not  avow  what  we  are  ashamed  of, 
but  we  avow  our  motives,  reasons, 
Ofit(ions,  actions,  spontaneously,  as 
M%scrtinff  at  the  same  time  what  is 


true  or  right.  We  confess  sponta- 
neousljr  as  admitting  ourselves  in  the 
wrong.  We  acknowledge  and  own 
with  less  freedom  as  acting  under 
some  necessity  or  obligation,  or  as- 
senting to  what  we  are  charged  with. 
"  I  followed  Nature's  laws,  and  must  avow 
I  broke  my  bonds,  and  fled  the  fatal  blow." 
Dryden. 
ACQUAINTANCE.  Familiarity. 
Intimacy. 

Acquaint  (0.  Fr.  acointerj  L.  Lat. 
adcognttdre).  Acquaintance  is  that 
slight  knowledge  of  another  person 
which  springs  from  occasional  inter- 
course. The  word  acquaintance,  how- 
ever, has  a  force  which  may  be  modi- 
fied, so  tliat  we  may  speak  of  a  slight 
or  an  intimate,  a  superficial  or  an  ac- 
curate acquaintance  with  persons  or 
subjects,  as,  for  instance,  authors, 
books,  branches  of  science.  That  with 
which  we  are  acquainted  we  in  some 
degree  know,  but  beyond  this  know- 
ledge nothing  is  implied  in  the  way 
of  feeling  towards  the  object  or  per- 
son. We  may  be  sufficiently  ac- 
Quainted  with  a  man  to  know  that  we 
should  never  desire  to  be  on  intimate 
or  even  familiar  terms  with  him.  In 
social  parlance  the  word  acquaintance 
is  not  satisfied  by  that  amount  of  ob- 
seiwation  and  experience  which  en- 
ables us  to  recognize  or  identify  a 
person.  An  acquaintance  is  one  with 
whom  we  have  already  held  such 
social  intercourse  a."?  would  justify  us 
in  renewing  it. 

"  Contract  no  friendship  or  even  acqvain- 
tajice  with  a  guileful  man.  He  resembleth 
a  coal,  which,  when  hot,  burneth  the  hand, 
and  when  cold,  blacketh  it." — Sir  W.Jones, 
Translations. 

Familiarity  (Lat.  ftimiliMtuiem, 
fjUmilia  being  o  household,  consisting  oj 
the  members  of  the  family  and  the  slaves 
or  servants).  As  acquaintance  means 
first  knowledge,  then  social  know- 
ledge, so  familiai'ity  has  the  twofold 
sense  of  common  conversance  and 
common  conversation.  A  state  of 
familiarity  is,  as  it  were,  a  result  of 
living  together,  or  of  frequent  inter- 
course. Those  who  live  in  the  same 
house,  frequent  the  same  place,  are 
engaged  in  the  same  routine  of  busi- 
ness or  pleasure,  who,  in  short,  find 
themselves  often  thrown  together,  be- 


46 


SYNONYMS  [acquire] 


come  femiliar.  Such  habitual  re- 
unions have  two  results :  the  one,  that 
persons  become  more  than  super- 
ficially acquainted  with  each  other; 
the  other,  that  they  come  to  waive 
formal  rules  and  usages  of  society, 
and  throw  off  ceremonious  resti-aints. 
'I'hese  facts  coiTespond  with  the  two- 
fold meaning  of  fiimiliarity,  which  is 
applicable  both  to  things  and  persons. 
In  the  one  sense  we  speak  of  a 
familiarity  with  a  particular  branch  of 
science,  in  the  other  of  an  imperti- 
nent familiarity,  which  is  can-ied  too 
far. 

"All  this  was  before  his  (Plorace's)  ac- 
qnaiutance  with  Maecenas,  and  his  intro- 
duction into  the  court  of  Augustus,  and 
the  familiarity  of  that  great  Emperor."— 
Dryden. 

Intimacy  (Lat,  inttmus,  mmosl)  ex- 
presses in  regard  to  persons  such  ac- 
quaintance as  has  grown  into  a  sus- 
tained and  unreserved  intercourse  of 
the  closest  kind,  with  friendship  and 
sympathy  in  thought  and  feeling. 
Intimacy,  like  acquaintance  and  fa- 
miliarity, may  be  employed  to  cha- 
racterize our  knowledge  of  facts,  pro- 
cesses, or  cu'cumstances.  Intimate 
knowledge  arises  from  very  fi-equent 
repetition  and  exhibition,  so  that  we 
have  exercised  opportunities  of  varied 
and  close  observation.  The  noun 
intimacy,  however,  is  confined  to 
persons,  though  we  say  an  intimate 
knowledge  or  acquaintance.  The 
terms  acquaintance,  familiarity,  and 
intimacy  may  be  regarded  as  in  some 
cases  expressive  of  degrees  of  com- 
parison in  practical  knowledge.  An 
acquaintance  with  a  foreign  language 
enables  us  to  translate  or  comprehend 
it ;  a  familiarity  with  it  comes  from 
the  frequent  employment  of  it;  an 
intimate  knowledge  would  embrace 
its  idioms,  authors,  and  finest  shades 
and  distinctions  of  meaning. 

'♦  If  it  were  so  needful  before  the  Fall, 
when  man  was  much  more  perfect  in  him- 
self, how  much  more  is  it  needful  now 
against  all  the  soi-rows  and  casualties  of 
this  life  to  have  an  intimate  aud  speaking 
help,  a  ready  and  reviving  associate  in 
marriage." — iSliLTON. 

ACQUIRE.  Get.  Outain.  Gain. 
Win.     liARN.     Attain.      Procure. 
To  Acquire  (Lat.  acquVere)  is  a   j 


continuous  process  in  which  we  get 
something  by  our  efforts  an  d  abilities. 
Get  (A.S.  gitan)  being  the  simplest, 
most  vernacular,  and  therefore  most 
generic  of  the  tei-ms,  all  the  rest  of 
which  may  be  regarded  as  modes  of 
getting.  Industry  and  talent  are 
commonly  requisite  for  acquiring,  and 
we  use  the  term  of  solid  and  beneficial 
results,  though  sometimes  of  things 
solid,  but  not  beneficial,  as  to  acquire 
a  bad  name.  As  the  process  of  ac- 
quiring is  continuous,  that  which  is 
acquired  comes  to  us  by  the  force  of 
the  term  gradually,  by  sustained  en- 
deavour and  in  the  course  of  time. 
Knowledge  by  sustained  efforts  in 
detail,  honour  as  our  conduct  be- 
comes more  widely  known,  reputation 
as  our  character  is  more  talked  about, 
fortunes  as  our  stock  is  added  to  more 
and  more.  If  successful  in  our  efforts 
we  acquii-e  from  the  time  that  we  begin 
to  seek,  and  the  only  measure  of  our 
acquirement  is  our  endeavour.  A 
quality  of  permanence  attaches  to  that 
which  we  nave  acquired. 

"  No  virtue  is  acquired  in  an  instant,  hut 
step  by  step."— Ba^-us. 

Obtain  (Lat.  obdn'tre)  implies  less 
of  continuousness  in  the  efforts  to  get 
the  thing  obtained,  which  may  even 
be  done  through  the  means  of  others, 
as  when  a  young  man  obtains  a  valu- 
able appointment  through  interest, 
without  having  acquired  through 
patience  and  industry  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  position.  One  may  obtain 
in  a  variety  of  ways,  as  by  patience, 
energy,  honourable  or  dishonourable 
means,  enti'eaty,  fraud,  force,  luck. 
We  have  obtained  when  we  have 
done  something  to  put  into  our  pos- 
session a  good  or  supposed  good,  the 
idea  of  chance  being  excluded.  If  a 
man  obtains  a  prize  in  a  lottery,  what 
is  expressed  is  not  his  luck  simply, 
but  the  happy  circumstance  that  he 
bought  a  ticket. 

•'  Some  pi-ay  for  riches,  riches  they  obtain  " 
Dryden. 

Gain  {Yv.gagner)  says  little  about 
the  mode,  but  implies  a  character  in 
the  result,  namely,  that  it  is  valuable 
or  desirable.  To  gain  is  to  obtain  a 
good.  There  is  in  gain  an  element  of 
risk  and  chance,     ft  is  expressive  of 


;_acquirement]     discriminated. 


speculative  profit.  As  we  acquire 
possession,  and  obtain  our  object, 
whatever  it  may  be,  so  we  gain  re- 
wards, distinction,  public  favour,  live- 
lihood, advancement.  Successful 
gamblers  and  successful  traders  are 
both  said  to  gain. 

"  What  8}m11  it  profit  a  man  if  be  gain 
the  trhole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  I" — 
English  Bible. 

To  Win  (A,S.  winnan,  to  contend^ 
gain)  is  to  gain  with  the  added  notion 
of  certain  chances  or  competitors 
against  us,  or  as  surmounting  difficul- 
ties or  opposition.  To  have  gained  is 
satisfactory,  to  have  won  is  happy  oi 
lucky  also.  It  may  be  even  purely 
lucky,  which  gain  never  is,  as  to  win  a 
toss.  A  general  gains  a  battle,  or  ob- 
tains the  victory,buthe  winstheday  as 
against  his  adversary  and  the  chances 
of  war.  We  gain  in  so  far  as  we  act  with 
intention,  we  win  in  so  far  as  we  act 
prosperously.  What  is  gained  or  won 
may  be  only  a  partial  or  transitory 
possession;  we  gain  or  win  to-day 
what  we  may  lose  to-moiTOW.  We 
gain  the  good  opinions  of  others  by 
consistently  vorthy  action ;  we  some- 
times win  their  affection  without  an 
effort. 

••And  whereas  religion  is  tlie  greatest 
winner  of  men's  affections,  he  (Essex)  en- 
deavoured to  allure  unto  him  the  Puritans 
and  their  ministers,  whom  the  Queen  did 
not  at  all  like  of,  and  withal  the  Papists  by 
seeming  to  pity  their  afflicted  condition." — 
Camdek, 

To  Earn  (A.S.  eandan,  to  gain, 
orig.  to  reap)  is  to  do  that  which 
entitles  to  recompense  or  reward, 
whether  it  be  actually  bestowed  or 
not,  but  commonly  implying  that  it 
has  accrued.  A  labourer  earns  his 
wages  by  riglitly  doing  his  right 
amount  of  work.  A  soldier  earns 
distinction  or  promotion  by  doing  hia 
duty,  or  by  his  bravery.  Like  acquiie, 
it  is  sometimes  used  in  an  unfavour- 
able sense,  in  which  cases  it  is  the 
product  of  misdirected  effort.  In  this 
sense   gain  also  may  be   employed. 

••  To  have  gained  this  harm  and  loss." — 
English  Bible. 

in  earning,  the  thing  obtained  is  an 
eouivalent,  a  balance  as  it  were  bein? 
struck  between  the  thin^  expended 
and  the  thing  awardea.   To  earn  is  to 


47 


purchase  with  labour,  as  to  buy  is  t« 
purchase  with  money. 

"  Yon,  then,  who  are  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  blindfold  goddess,  inform 
me  whether  I  have  a  right  to  eat  the  bread 
I  have  earned  by  the  hazard  of  my  life  or 
the  sweat  of  my  brow." — BoRKE. 

To  Attain  (Lat.  attinere),  which  is 
used  as  an  intransitive  as  well  as  an 
active  verb,  indicates  a  mark  proposed 
beforehand,  or  abstractedly  one  which 
has  been  reached.  All  degrees  of 
effort  are  implied  in  it,  and  sometimes 
no  effort  at  all,  as  "  he  has  attained 
the  age  of  forty  years."  It  is  in  tliat 
case  definitive,  not  of  endeavour,  but 
of  progression.  When  used  as  an  in- 
transitive verb,  it  is  commonly  found 
associated  with  some  expression  indi- 
cative of  decree,  as  to  attain  to  perfec- 
tion or  to  a  high  pitch  of  excellence. 
VVe  attain  that  which  we  have  brought 
within  our  reach,  or  to  the  level  of 
which  we  have  raised  ourselves. 

"  While  we  are  curious  in  tracing  the 
progress  of  barbarism,  we  wonder  more 
•  that  any  arts  existed  than  that  they  attained 
no  degree  of  perfection." — Walpole. 

Procure  denotes  acquirement 
through  a  careful  use  of  means  to  the 
end.  It  applies  to  such  things  as 
are  regarded  as  needful  or  desirable 
to  possess.  We  obtain  honour ;  we 
procure  the  necessaries  of  life.  It  is 
a  term  of  a  very  practical  character. 
We  procure  things  by  knowing  where 
to  look  for  them  and  how  to  get  at 
tliem,  not  by  prodigious  effort,  extra- 
ordinary knowledge,  sudden  luck,  or 
profound  research.  We  often  procure 
by  simply  acting  upon  rule.  By  cer- 
tain substances  combined  in  certain 
proportions  the  chemist  procures  a 
substance  which  is  not  the  mere  sum 
of  the  substances  combined,  or  in  other 
words  a  compound,  but  a  distinct  sub- 
stance. 

"  Such  dress  as  may  enable  the  body  to 
endure  the  diffierent  seasons  the  most  un- 
enlightened nations  have  been  able  to  pro- 
cure."— JoHJfSON. 

ACQUIREMENT.    Acquisition. 

Both  are  from  the  same  verb  (see 
Acquire),  but  in  usage  acquisition 
belongs  to  material  or  jphysical,  ac 
quirement  to  moral  and  intellectual 
mings.  The  acquirements  of  learn- 
ing, the  acquisition  of  fortune.     The 


48 


SYNONYMS  [ACQUIREMENTSj 


force  of  acquire,  namely,  to  get  gra- 
dually, is  stronger  in  acquirement 
than  acquisition.  The  latter  some- 
times means  no  more  than  a  happy 
accession  to  the  stock  of  what  one 
possesses  already. 

"  It  (the  Gospel)  is  not  confined  to  per- 
sons whose  iutellectij^l  excellences  are  su- 
perior to  their  neighbours,  or  who  exceed 
others  in  understanding  and  the  acquire' 
ments  of  the  miud."— Watts. 
"  Her  cook,  an  acquisition  made  in  France, 
Might  put  a  Chloe  out  of  countenance." 
Churchill. 

ACQUIREMENTS.  Attain 

jiENTS.    Accomplishments. 

The  idea  of  developed  capacity  is 
common  to  these  terms.  Acquire- 
ments (Lat.  acquirtre)  are  opposed  to 
natural  gifts.  In  the  broadest  sense, 
anything  which  has  been  learnt,  or  is 
the  result  of  study,  pain,  or  practice, 
is  an  acquirement.  But  as  commonly 
used,  and  in  the  plural  number,  the 
term  denotes  purely  intellectual  re- 
sults, as  of  history  or  languages,  or 
the  subjects  of  study  as  distinct  from 
practice.  Attainments  (0.  Fr.  ulein- 
dre,  Lat.  attingirej  to  touch,  come  in 
contact  with)  differs  not  in  the  idea  of 
the  subject,  but  in  relating  to  the 
progress  and  efforts  of  the  student. 
Accomplishments  (Fr.  accomplir,  to 
accomplish)  are  of  those  things  in 
which  study  and  art  are  combined 
to  produce  skill  or  adroitness.  They 
turn  upon  the  elegant,  the  graceful, 
the  pleasing,  the  effective,  or  the  use- 
ful. An  accomplished  painter,  poet, 
musician,  orator.  We  might  even  say 
an  accomplished  student  where  the 
idea  was  that  of  the  grace  rather  than 
the  depth  of  his  educational  acquire- 
ments. Varied  acquirements,  solid 
attainments,  charming  accomplish- 
ments. 

ACRIMONY.  Acerbity.  Aspe- 
rity. Animosity.  Tartness.  Harsh- 
ness. 

Acrimony  (Lat.  acrtnibnia)  denotes 
a  deep-seated  bitterness  and,  as  it 
were,  corrosiveness  of  feeling,  which 
may  show  itself  in  language  or  man- 
ner. It  may  or  may  not  be  personal, 
and  may  be  generally  excited  by  the 
recollection  of  circumstances.  A  dis- 
appointed man,  for  instance,  is  aj)t  to 


allude  with  acrimony  to  the  circum- 
stances of  his  disappointment.  Acri- 
mony is  the  result  of  disappointment 
or  wrong,  real  or  supposed,  or  per- 
sonal dislike,  or  may  be  caused  by 
ill-tempered  disputations  and  criti- 
cisms. It  is  an  habitual  sourness, 
showing  itself  in  small  things.  It  is 
the  mark  of  a  small  mind.  As  a  scien- 
tific term, it  has  been  applied  to  a  certain 
character  of  the  humours  of  the  body 
and  the  juices  of  plants,  as  the  acri- 
mony of  the  bile ;  hence  its  moral 
meaning  of  a  biting  sharpness  pro- 
duced by  an  embittered  spirit. 

"  These  milks  (in  certain  plants)  have 
all  an  acrimony,  though  one  would  think 
they  should  be  lenitive." — Bacox. 

"Like-  a  lawyer  1  am  ready  to  support 
the  cause  on  which  give  me  leave  to  sup- 
pose I  shall  be  soon  retained,  with  ardonr 
and,  if  occasion  be,  with  8ubtle»-y  and 
acrimony" — Bolikgbroke. 

Acerbity  (Lat.  ttcerUitatem,  bitter 
taste,  severity)  is  less  deep-seated  and 
energetic  than  acrimony,  and  more 
chronic.  It  is  not  so  much  ex.iited  as 
acrimony  is  by  external  causes  as 
constitutional  and  innate.  Indeed,  in 
the  old  use  of  the  term,  it  was  seldon 
connected  with  human  disposition^ 
but  with  acts,  measures,  and  opera- 
tions, as  of  penalty  or  bodily  pain 
So  Bacon  says  : — 

"  There  are  some  penal  laws  fit  to  be 
retained,  but  their  penalty  is  too  great,  and 
it  is  ever  a  rule  that  any  over  great  penalty, 
besides  the  acerbity  of  it,  deadens  t  he  exe- 
cution of  the  law." 

Acerbity  is  the  expression  of  a  cha- 
racter wanting  in  natural  mildness 
and  sweetness. 

Asperity  (Lat.  aspcritatem,  rou^h- 
ness  of  surface,  severity)  relates  rather 
to  the  manner  than  to  the  disposition. 
It  is  a  rough  way  of  dealing  with 
others  which  is  not  incompatible  with 
a  love  of  fairness,  and  indeed  often 
accompanies  it,  and,  being  quite  con- 
sonant with  substantial  kindness  of 
heart,  is  widely  different  from  acri- 
mony and  animosity,  which  are  essen- 
tially uncharitable.  A  reproof,  just 
in  itself,  is  conveyed  with  aspeiity. 
This  is  the  fault  of  one  who  is  more 
intent  on  enforcing  than  sensitive  of 
the  effect  of  what  he  is  enforcing  upoa 
the  feelings  of  others.  1 1  ofttn  S])ri2i<;s 


[act] 


DISCRIMINATED 


49 


from  a  sligLt  feeling  of  resentm*:^'. 
against  a  real  or  supposed  insensibi- 
lity of  others  to  the  truth  or  force  of 
what  we  say,  and  so  is  a  spontaneous 
eifort  to  make  up  for  what  we  feel 
we  lack  in  persuasiveness. 

"  I  hope  it  is  no  very  cynical  asperity 
lot  to  confess  obligations  where  no  benefit 
nas  been  received." — JoHXSox. 

Animosity  (Lat.  diiimositatem)  is 
essentially  personal.  It  is  an  active 
and  energetic  dislike.  It  commonly 
8j)rings  from  some  personal  or  party 
feud,  as  the  animosities  of  race  or 
religion.  It  is  a  violent,  irritable, 
and  inconsiderate  ill-will,  and  may 
he  felt  exclusively  in  one  (juarter. 

"  How  apt  nature  is,  even  in  those  who 
profess  an  eraineace  in  holiness,  to  raise 
and  maintain  animosities  against  those 
whose  calling  or  person  they  pretend  to 
find  cause  to  dislike." — Bishop  Hall. 

Harshness  (Dan.  liarsky  rancid)  is 
much  the  same  thing  in  English  as 
Asperity,  derived  from  the  Latin.  We 
commonly  use  the  term  not  of  the  habi- 
tual demeanourornature  generally,but 
of  treatment  on  some  particular  occa- 
sion, as  some  incidental  act  or  word  ; 
and  it  conveys  the  idea  of  needless  or 
unwarranted  severity  of  speech  or  con- 
duct,proceedingfrom  want  of  consider- 
ation or  feeling,  where  a  more  sympa- 
thetic and  thoughtful  mind  would  have 
seen  it  to  be  unmerited  and  misplaced. 
It  is  the  characteristic  of  unfeeling  na- 
tures where  it  is  habitual.  Acrimony 
may  subside  or  vanish  on  a  better 
knowledge.  Animosity  may  be  paci- 
fied or  reconciled,  asperity  corrected, 
but  harshness  is  ingrained.  Its  most  ef- 
fective cure  is  providential  trouble  or 
iBiction.  It  is  both  unkind  and  rude. 

"  No  complaint  is  more  feelingly  made 
than  that  of  the  harsh  and  rugged  manners 
of  persons  with  whom  we  have  an  inter- 
course."— Blaib. 

Tartness  (A.  S.  teart,  tart,  severe) 
is  that  slight  asperity  which  is  more 
unbecoming  than  bitter,  and  indi- 
cates a  union  of  cleverness  with  in- 
considerateness  and  self-conceit.  It 
is  the  fault  especially  of  some  women 
and  children.  When  used  as  it  is 
almost  exclusively,  it  denotes  a  pun- 
gent readiness  of  mind,  which  is  use- 
ful and  justifiable  in  repartee. 

•♦  One  jeeringly  saluted  him,  '  Good  mor 


row,  Bishop  juondam,'  to  whom  Bcnner  as 
tartli/  replieu,  •  Good  morrow,  knave  sem 
per.' " — Fuller. 

ACT.     Action.     Deed. 

Act  and  Deed  are  etymologically 
almost  the  same  thing.  Acluniy  from 
the  Latin  agere,  to  do,  being  equiva- 
lent to  deed  (A.  S.  deed),  or  the  thing 
done.  They  are,  however,  viewed 
from  different  points.  Ihe  deed  is 
the  result  viewed,  as  it  were,  his- 
torically, the  act  is  the  result  viewed 
in  connexion  with  the  power  and 
will  of  the  doer.  Deeds  are  good  or 
bad.  Acts  are  voluntary  or  involun- 
tary. In  many  cases  action  and  aci 
inight  be  used  indifferently,  yet  some 
distinction  between  uiem  is  observ- 
able. Act  is  never  used  of  things 
mechanical.  When  so  used  action  is 
equivalent  to  mode  of  mechanical 
movement,  as  the  action  of  a  steam 
engine,  or  when  nothing  else  is  con- 
templated, of  a  horse.  An  act  is  the 
simple  exertion  of  power  preceded  by 
volition ;  an  action  is  a  complex  ex- 
ertion of  the  same,  and  is  more  con- 
tinuous', and  occupies  more  time.  To 
poke  the  fire  is  a  physical  act,  to  re- 
collect a  circumstance  a  mental  act, 
to  reconcile  friends  who  have  quar- 
relled a  praiseworthy  action.  Hence 
the  action  often  comprises  several  acts 
under  itself  which  go  to  make  it  up. 
The  act  denotes  power.  The  action 
involves  the  mode  in  which  the  power 
is  exercised.  To  speak  generally,  acta 
are  primarily  physical,  and  seconda- 
rily moral;  actions  are  primarily 
moral,  and  secondarily  physical :  a 
benevolent  action  and  an  act  of  bene- 
volence. In  the  former  case  we  think 
of  the  quality  of  benevolence  as  car- 
ried out  into  practice.  In  the  latter 
of  a  physical  movement  prompted  by 
a  moral  quality  or  impulse.  INIomen- 
tary  intentions  and  impulses  show 
themselves  in  like  acts,  as  hasty  deci- 
sions on  rash  acts ;  but  as  the  life  and 
character  of  a  man,  such  are  hia 
actions.  When  we  speak  of  the  moral 
character  or  of  any  quality  as  the 
motive  and  account  of  something  done 
speciScaliy,  we  use  the  term  act,  not 
action.  So,  on  the  one  hand,  gene- 
rally good  or  bad  actions,  faithful, 
charitable,  prudent,  foolish,    despe- 


60 


SYNOiN  YMS 


[action] 


rate  actions  are  c'/|uivalent  to  acts  of  | 
faith,  of  charity,  of  prudence,  of  folly, 
of  desperation.  An  action  is  used 
DOth  of  what  is  important  and  unim- 
>ortant,  but  an  act,  if  it  have  any 
thing  moral  in  it,  and  be  more  than  a 
mere  physical  movement,  implies 
some  degree  of  importance.  Our 
actions  are  tests  and  indications  of 
our  character ;  our  acts  are  sometimes 
out  of  harmony  with  them.  The 
actions  of  a  wise  man  are  so  far  wise 
actions,  but  the  wisest  occasionally 
commit  acts  of  folly.  Acts  of  the  same 
character  frequently  repeated  by  the 
same  person  will  create  a  habit.  What 
is  done  under  the  force  of  that  habit, 
and  considered  in  connexion  with  it, 
is  an  action.  A  deed  is  a  graver  and 
more  emphatic  term  than  an  act.  An 
act  may  be  confined  to  the  agent.  A 
deed  has  its  prominence,  importance, 
and  influence  upon  others.  It  is  re- 
markable that  tlie  acts  of  bodies  or 
communities  are  not  called  deeds, 
which  belong  to  individuals  only.  In 
many  cases  act  and  deed  may  be  used 
interchano;eably,  yet  it  is  no  tautology 
to  say,  "  This  is  my  act  and  deed."  It 
is  my  act  so  far  as  I  and  no  other  do 
it.  It  is  my  deed  inasmuch  as  the 
tiling  itself  is  done  and  completed  in 
form  and  validity. 

"  Cato  said  the  best  way  to  keep  good 
acts  in  memory  was  to  refresh  them  with 
new." — Bacon. 

"  The  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and 
by  Him  actions  are  weighed." — Eiwlish 
Bible. 

ACTION.  Gesture.  Gesticula- 
tion. 

These  terms  may  be  regarded  as 
belonging  in  common  to  the  art  and 
practice  of  oratory.  Action  when  so 
employed  is  not  general  in  its  relation 
to  the  person,  but  refers  to  some  part 
of  it  set  in  motion,  more  especially  the 
hands  and  arms,  as  being  the  parts 
most  commonly  and  naturally  moved. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  action  of  a 
horse  is  his  way  of  movement  in 
pacing  or  locomotion.  In  this  sense 
the  term  is  also  mechanical,  and  we 
speak  of  the  action  of  a  steam-engine. 
A  Gesture  (  Lat.  gfer&re,  part,  gestus, 
to  bear)  is  a  particular,  significant, 
and  illustrative  action,  as  when  in 


sarcastic  speech,  for  instance,  one 
shrugs  the  slioulders.  When  gesture 
is  sustained,  frequent,  veliement,  or 
demonstrative,  it  becomes  Gesticula- 
tion (L?it.  gesttciilationem). 

"  Suit  the  action  to  the  word." 

Shakespeare. 
"  Moi-pheus  of   all    his  numerous  ti'ain 

express'd 
The  shape  of  man,  and  imitated  best ; 
The  walk,  the   words,  the  gesture  could 

supply. 
The  habit  mimic,  and  the  mien  bely." 
Dryden. 
"  Indeed  that  standing  is  not  so  simple  a 
business  as  we  imagine  it  to  be  is  evident 
from  the  gesticulations  of  a  di'unken  man 
who,  has  lost  the  goverament  of  the  centre 
of  gravity." — Paley. 

ACTOR.     Player.     Performer. 

Of  these  Performer  is  the  least 
specific,  inasmuch  as  performance 
need  not  be  of  a  dramatic  character 
at  all,  such  as  a  performance  on  a 
musical  instrument  or  a  tight-rope. 
We  may  play  in  private  but  we  per- 
form in  public.  The  idea  of  perform 
has  been  explained  under  that  head. 
The  difference  between  Actor  (Lat. 
actorem)  and  Player  (A.S.  flesan,  to 
spoilt)  is  that  the  latter  is  incompatible 
with  high  art.  We  speak  of  an  actor 
of  celebrity  and  a  strolling  player. 
A  player  is  essentially  professional 
ana  acts  for  hire,  an  actor  may  exhibit 
his  talent  in  private  theatricals  or  for 
mere  love  of  the  art.  When  persons 
perform,  as  it  were,  insincere  parts  on 
the  stage  of  life,  professing  what  the^ 
do  not  feel,  or  dissembling  for  their 
own  ends,  we  call  them  actors,  not 
players.  In  the  following  the  poet 
probably  uses  the  lower  word  as 
being  the  more  depreciatory,  as  ex- 
pressing the  routine  and  mercenary 
character  of  social  professions  as  well 
as  the  idea  of  assigned  parts  to  be 
fulfilled. 

"  All  the  world's  a  stage, 
And    all    the    men    and    women    merely 

players."  Shakespeare. 

Not  so  the  following: 
"  Like  a  dull  actor  now  I  have  forgot  my 

part, 
A  id  I  am  out  even  to  a  full  disgrace." 
Shakespeare. 

ACTUAL.  True.  Positive.  Veri 
TABLE.  Real.  Certain.  Extant. 
Present. 

Of  these  True  (  A.S.  treowe^  a  trutt ) 


[actual] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


5. 


is  the  simplest,  denotes  tliat  a  thing  is 
as  represented,  that  the  statement  or 
expression  answefs  to  an  objective 
reality  and  does  so  completely,  that 
is,  is  neither  false  nor  inaccurate.  A 
true  relation  gives  an  account  of  oc- 
cun*ences  which  contains  neither  more 
uor  less  than  has  taken  place,  arranged 
in  the  order  of  their  taking  place,  and 
in  such  proportion  of  statement  as 
leaves  no  room  for  partial  or  total 
exaggeration,  without  counterfeit  or 
adulteration.  Truth  is  expressed 
whenever  subject  and  predicate  are 
rightly  united  in  an  affirmative  or 
negative  proposition.  But  in  the  broad 
sense  of  the  word  we  may  distinguish 
truth  of  perception,  truth  of  fact,  of 
narration,  of  statement,  of  representa- 
tion, of  expression,  of  conception. 
In  this  broad  sense  truth  is  conformity 
to  reality  in  the  world  of  matter  or  of 
mind.  As  regards  ourselves  truth  is 
right  belief  or  correct  impression.  The 
statement  •'  This  is  Thomas,"  is  true 
if  I  am  right  in  applying  the  name  to 
the  individual  before  me.  My  im- 
pression of  the  shape  of  the  earth  is  a 
true  one  if  I  have  that  of  an  oblate 
8{)heroid.  I  believe  wliat  is  true  if  I 
believe  that  all  men  are  mortal,  because 
the  persons  denoted  by  tlie  subject 
are  never  found  but  in  connexion 
with  the  attribute  of  mortality  con- 
noted by  the  predicate. 

"Our  ideas  being  nothing  but  bare  ap- 
pearances or  perceptions  in  onr  minds,  can- 
not properly  and  simply  in  themselves  be 
said  to  be  tnie  or  false,  no  more  than  a 
single  name  of  anything  can  be  said  to  be 
true  or  false."—  Locke. 

A  s  the  word  true  marks  the  precise  ex- 
istence of  objective  verity,  veritable 
(Fr.  vtritubte)  expresses  truth  of  re- 
presentation, or  truth  in  its  expository 
aspect.  True,  when  asserted  of  any- 
thing, means  that  it  is  what  we  say  it 
is,  veritable  that  we  say  what  it  is. 
As  the  fact  is  said  to  be  true,  the 
medium  by  which  the  fact  is  conveyed 
is  said  to  be  veritable.  It  is  not  a 
veritable  history  which  reports  to  us 
the  doings  of  Romulus,  if  his  existence 
be  not  true  in  fact.  The  use  of  veri- 
table is  a  little  strained  on  purpose  in 
the  following,  yet  it  seems  to  bear  out 
the  distinction  just  drawn 


"This  Emperor  was  so  wvee  in  all  things 
that  among  them  that  were  merry  he  was 
of  gi-eat  mirth,  and  in  verities  he  was  Tery 
veritable."— Golden  Book. 

"Real  works  of  nature  or  vintable  acta 
of  story," — Brown's  Vulgar  Errors. 

Positive  (Lat.  pos^Uivus)  denotes 
that  the  truth  is  so  ascertained  as  to 
exclude  all  possibility  of  doubt  or 
question,  being  a  matter  of  demonstra- 
tion as  distinct  from  supposition  or 
inference.  It  has  also  a  subjective 
sense,  in  which  it  means  the  manner 
or  state  of  mind  of  a  person  possessed, 
or  believing  himself  possessed,  of  such 
truth,  and  is  thus  opposed  to  doubtful 
in  mind.  A  positive  fact  is  one  which 
is  direct  and  determinate,  in  opposition 
to  that  which  is  indirect,  indetermi- 
nate, or  negative. 
*'  'Tis  positive  'gainst  all  exception." 
Shakes  PEABK. 

Actual  (Lat.  actttalis)  belongs  to 
that  which  is  beyond  the  state  of  mere 
probability,  possibility,  tendency,  pro- 
gression, or  evolution.  As  a  term  of 
the  scholastic  philosophy  actudlis  was 
opposed  to  p)itentiaUs,  and  had  its  ex- 
istence in  esse  not  in  posse.  The 
actual  is  the  conceivable  realized, 
and  where  this  conceivable  thing  is 
not  only  possible  but  natural  to  con- 
ceive or  to  be  expected  in  a  certain 
order  of  things,  actual,  like  the  French 
actuel,  comes  to  have  the  force  of 
present  in  time.  While  the  monarch 
IS  dying  the  heir-apparent  to  the 
throne  is  only  not  the  actual  king. 

"  How  insensibly  old  age  steals  on,  and 
how  often  it  is  actually  arrived  before  we 
suspect  it."— CowPEB. 

As  the  actual  is  opposed  to  possible, 
probable,  conceivable,  or  approxi- 
mate, true  to  false,  positive  to  indeter- 
minate, dubious,  indirect,  or  negative, 
and  veritable  to  supposititious  or  un- 
authentic, so  Real  (Lat.  redlis)  is 
opposed  to  imaginary  or  feigned.  It 
expresses  tliat  which  has  an  existence 
of  Its  own,  and  not  such  as  our  fancy 
might  attribute  to  it,  or  our  ingenuity 
impose  upon  it.  When  we  speak  oi 
the  actual  condition  of  a  country  we 
refer  to  that  to  which  it  has  been 
brought,  «.g.  by  previous  acts,  events, 
processes,  and  regard  it  as  the  sum  of 
antecedentcauses,which  have  resulted 


52 


in  that  state.  When  we  speak  of  its 
real  condition  we  mean  that  in  which 
alone  it  exists  as  a  subject  of  con- 
sideration. A  real  object  of  com- 
passion is  not  artificially  made  up. 
A  real  sentiment  is  neither  disguised 
nor  pretended. 

"  Our  simple  ideas  are  all  real.  All 
agi-ee  to  the  reality  of  things."— Locke. 

Certain  (Fr.  certain,  Lat.  certus) 
differs  from  the  foregoing  in  some 
important  respects.  Certain  is  a  sub- 
jective tei-m.  That  is  certain  wliich 
follows  necessarily  or  demonstratively 
from  the  inferences  of  reason,  the 
evidence  of  the  senses,  or  testimony 
of  men.  Certainty  is  the  subjective 
form  of  truth.  It  belongs  to  persons, 
and  represents  states  of  mind,  and  is 
only  transferred  secondarily  to  ex- 
ternal facts.  When  we  speak  of  a 
fact  as  certain  we  mean  that  we  ap- 
prehend it  as  true.  Hence,  unlike  the 
others,  certain  may  express  not  only 
what  has  happened  but  what  has  not, 
if  we  conceive  its  future  happening 
to  be  a  thing  of  necessity,  and  so  are 
sure  of  it.  The  cause  being  recognized 
or  ascertained,  its  effect  is  certain. 
The  sun  will  certainly  rise  to-morrow, 
that  is,  this  follows  (if  we  believe  that 
it  does)  from  the  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience which  we  possess.  Things 
\»hich  are  actual,  true,  positive,  veri- 
table, or  real,  are  unalterably  fixed. 
They  cannot  be  set  aside ;  wt  must  re- 
cognize and  acquiesce  in  them.  On 
thf:  other  hand,  1  am  continually  liable 
to  find  myself  mistaken  in  what  I  be- 
lieved to  be  the  certainty  of  things 
which  may  turn  out  on  corrected  or 
more  extended  evidence  to  be  either 
ft  Ise,  or  contingent  and  variable. 

'  I  hope  before  I  have  done  to  make  it 
er/dent  that  this  way  of  certainty  by  the 
knowledge  of  our  own  ideas  goes  a  little 
fa(  ther  than  bare  imagination,  and  I  believe 
it  vill  appear  that  all  the  certainty  of  gene- 
ra truths  a  man  has  lies  in  nothing  else." 
-  Locke. 

3uRE  (Fr.  sur,  Lat.  sicurus)  is,  ac- 
cording to  its  etymology,  first  un- 
an  lious  or  careless,  that  is,  having  a 
seise  of  sureness,  and  thence  objec- 
ti  'ely,  having  the  nature  that  induces 
ti  is,  fixed,  permanent,  regular,  inevi- 
t  hie.     As  a  synonym  with  certain. 


SYNONYMS  [actual] 

and  as  applied  to  persons,  we  may  ob- 
serve that  sure  is  more  closely  asso- 
ciated with  operation  and  action, 
certain  with  fact  and  knowledge.  The 
fact  is  certain,  the  operation  sure. 
Necessary  sequence  inaction  or  cause 
and  effect  is  expressed  by  Sure  ;  as  a 
sure  remedy,  a  sure  success.  1  am 
certain  of  what  1  have  persuaded  my- 
self is  true.  I  am  sure  of  what  I  be- 
lieve to  be  firmly  established,  and 
which  I  do  notsomucn  feel  convinced 
of  as  regard  as  in  itself  fixed.  In  pro- 
portion as  we  speak  of  tiuth  of  nature 
we  use  the  tei-m  sure,  in  proportion  as 
we  rely  on  the  conviction  of  our  own 
minds  we  use  the  term  certain.  Men 
are  sure  of  what  they  have  seen,  and 
certain  of  what  they  have  heard.  I 
am  sure  of  a  fact,  certain  of  a  theory, 
sure  that  the  sun  is  in  the  sky  to-day, 
certain  that  it  will  rise  to-morrow. 
On  this  supposition  that  things  are 
generally  speaking  sure  in  themselves 
and  certain  to  us,  we  may  understand 
how  no  tautology  would  be  involved 
in  such  a  phrase  as  the  "  sure  and 
certain  hope  of  the  resun-ection  to 
eternal  life."  The  term  certain  seems 
more  generally  applicable  to  matters 
of  speculation  and  where  evidence  is 
in  question.  First  principles  are  cer- 
tain. We  speak  of  mathematical  cer- 
tainty not  sureness.  Practical  matters 
and  general  rules  are  sure.  One  is 
certain  of  a  point  of  science,  sure  of  a 
moral  truth.  The  philosopher  claims 
his  right  of  question  on  every  point 
which  is  not  certain.  The  prudent 
man  distmsts  that  of  which  he  is 
not  sure. 

"  It  shows  indeed,  supposing  they  took 
up  tms  practice  as  a  matter  of  duty,  that 
they  were  in  doubt  which  was  the  right 
way  they  were  obliged  to  keep,  and  there- 
fore for  sureness  they  would  keep  both." — 
Sharp. 

We  believe  what  is  certain,  we  count 
upon  what  is  sure.  The  friend  on 
whom  we  can  rely  we  call  not  certain 
but  sure.  When  a  thing  is  testified 
by  a  sure  witness  it  is  certain. 

That  is  Extant  (Lat.  ex-stant-etny 
standing  out  or  forth)  which  still  stands 
out  in  prominence,  and  has  not  been 
denuded  or  overwhelmed  by  any  de- 
structive, removing,   or   superseding 


[actuate] 


DISCRIMINATE  I). 


63 


force,  such  as  violence  or  the  lapse  of 
time.  Bentley  used  the  term  in  its 
literal  and  physical  sense,  when  he 
spoke  of  a  body  partly  immersed  in 
a  fluid  and  partly  extant. 

"  There  are  some  ancient  writings  still 
extant  which  pass  under  the  name  of 
Sibylline  orat-les."— Melmoth's  Cicero. 

It  is  a  term  full  of  picturesque  mean- 
ing. We  look,  for  instance,  upon  some 
ancient  graveyard.  We  cannot  doubt 
that  it  contained  formerly  other  monu- 
ments or  tombstones  besides  those 
which  are  before  us.  Some  have  de- 
cayed, some  have  been  taken  away, 
some  by  frequent  alterations  of  the 
level  of  the  ground  may  yet  lie  un- 
known beneath  its  surface ;  but  others 
have  escaped  these  changes,  chances, 
and  influences,  and  are  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word  extant. 

That  is  Present  (Lat.  pra'sentem) 
which  is  before  us,  that  is,  an  object  to 
us  in  time,  space,  or  thought,  as  op- 
posed to  the  past,  the  future,  or  the 
absent.  It  denotes  simultaneity  in 
time  and  place  with  intelligent  beings 
who  take  cognizance  of  things  pi  esent. 
Co'ilccation  or  contemporaneousness  is 
not  presence.  It  may  be  obsei-ved 
that  presence  in  space  involves  pre- 
sence of  time,  but  that  the  converse  is 
not  true.  The  twofold  aspect  of  the 
present  is  made  up  of  the  here  and  the 
now.  The  meaning  of  the  word  pre- 
sent and  presence  is  satisfied  if  the 
state  of  things  is  such  tliat  cognizance 
might  take  place,  though  in  fact  it  has 
not.  In  this  way  one  person  might 
say  to  another, "  1  was  present  at  such 
a  meeting,  and  was  surprised  after- 
wards to  hear  that  you  had  been  there. 
as  I  did  notsee  you."  In  the  presence 
chamber  of  the  monarch  may  be  some 
who  escape  his  observation.  In  this 
sense  presence  signifies  such  nearness 
as  is  easily  and  perfectly  compatible 
with  personal  communication.  This 
involves  sameness  of  place.  The  fact 
that  it  might  be  just  possible  to  estab- 
lish a  communication,  as  by  speaking 
to  a  person  in  another  room  or  by  an 
electric  wire  across  the  A  tlantic,  would 
Qot  constitute  presence. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  yon 
eing  yet  present  with  you." — Eng.  BMe. 


ACTUATE.     Impel.     Induce. 

Actuate  (L.  Lat.  artuare,  to  put  m 
action)  is  to  subject  to  an  impulse  and 
so  quicken  into  action.  This  is  ap- 
parent from  the  older  form  which 
It  has  supplanted,  activate.  That  is 
actuated  which  has  its  natural  powers 
roused  and  made  more  intense  or 
active.  So  Bacon:  "  Snow  and  ice  es- 
pecially being  holpen  and  then  cold 
activated  by  nitre  or  salt  will  turn 
water  to  ice,  and  that  in  a  few  hours." 

In  the  following  it  is  applied  to 
moral  or  spiritual  things  : — 

"  The  soul  being  an  active  nature  is  al- 
ways propending  to  the  exercising  of  one 
faculty  or  other,  and  that  to  the  utmost  it 
is  able ;  and  yet  being  of  a  limited  capacity 
it  can  imploybut  one  in  height  of  exerciseat 
once:  which  when  it  loseth  and  abates  <«f 
its  strength  and  supreme  vigour,  some 
other  whose  improvement  all  thiswhile  was 
hindred  by  this  its  ingrossing  rival,  must 
by  consequence  begin  now  to  display  itself, 
and  awaken  into  a  more  vigoi'ous  actua- 
tion."—Ql.ak\'ilu. 

We  are  actuated  when  we  are  in- 
ternally stiiTed  to  action  by  an  ex- 
citing cause.  We  may  be  impelled 
by  menaces  or  induced  by  sober  con- 
sideration ;  we  are  actuated  by  pas- 
sion, desire,  instincts  of  nature,  love, 
hope,  fear,  which  produce  an  accelera- 
tion of  the  movements  of  our  moral 
life.  What  most  actuates  us  depends 
on  the  peculiarities  of  our  nature  or 
our  circumstances  at  a  given  moment. 
One  man  is  actuated  by  a  sense  of 
duty  to  do  what  another  would  only 
do  under  great  excitement.  One  is 
actuated  by  reason  as  effectively  as 
another  by  passion. 

"  He  that  studies  to  represent  one  of 
known  and  eminent  merit  to  be  a  mere  fcol 
and  an  idiot, ^i;»C5  himself  the  lie  and  be trajrt 
that  he  is  either  actuated  with  envy  or  cor- 
rupted by  a  faction."— Bentley 

Impel  (Lat.  impellerej  to  drive  on) 
implies  nothing  of  the  nature  of 
the  force  which  induces  action,  be- 
yond the  fact  of  its  strength,  which  is 
in-esistible,  or  at  least  unresisted. 
When  we  are  actuated,  volition  is 
quickened;  when  impelled,it  is  in  some 
measure  superseded  by  a  foreign  force, 
lie  who  is  impelled  is  borne  along 
a  course,  as  he  who  is  Induced  (Lat. 
induchefto  lead  into)is  led  ap  to  a  pomt. 


54 


SYNONYMS 


[acute 


That  which  impels  us  drives  us  before 
it — we  go  along  with  that  which  in- 
duces us.  The  one  has  the  mastery 
over  us.  To  the  other  we  give  in  our 
adhesion,  and  are  not  simply  subject  to 
its  force  but  recognize  it  as  adequate 
to  the  ends  of  action.  Hence  it  com- 
monly expresses  such  milder  con- 
straints as  come  of  reason,  judgment, 
gnd  persuasion,  and  is  applicable  not 
only  to  matters  of  external  action  but 
of  jireference  and  mental  action ;  as 
e.g.  to  be  induced  to  like  or  select  one 
thing  rather  than  another,  or  to  expect, 
ho})?,  or  believe  some  thing. 

"  Offer  a  man  a  gratuity  for  doing  any- 
thing, for  seizing,  for  example,  an  offender. 
He  is  not  obliged  by  your  offer  to  do  it, 
nor  would  he  say  he  is,  tliough  he  may 
be  induced,  persuaded,  j)revailed  upon, 
tempted."— Palky. 

ACUTE.  Keen.  Shrewd.  Sa- 
gacious.    Sharp. 

Sharp  and  Acute  are  much  the  same; 
Acute  being  the  Lat.  (lciitHS,sharpened, 
fromflcittre,  tosharpev.  Sharp  (A.S. 
scearp)  expresses  the  lowest  order  of 
human  quickness  of  perception,  like 
that  of  the  lower  animals,  while  acute 
expresses  sharpness  of  observation 
and  understanding.  This  kind  of 
difference,  if  there  be  no  other,  is 
usually  apparent  in  cases  in  which 
two  words  represent  respectively 
Saxon  and  Latin  equivalents,  the 
former  expressing  generally  the  more 
jiliysical  and  primary  ideas.  The 
sharp  animal  or  person  has  his  faculties 
of  observation  continually  on  the  alert, 
nothing  escapes  him.  It  is  a  sharp 
dog  whose  eyes,  nose,  and  ears  are 
always  doing  their  work.  The  sharp 
person  perceives  and  observes  every 
thing  before  him,  the  acute  one  sees 
deeper  into  any  matter  to  which  his 
attention  is  drawn.  He  discovers 
well;  as,  for  instance,  falsehood 
underlying  truth,  or  the  converse. 
He  goes  beyond  the  sharp  person  in 
being  not  only  observant  but  discrimi- 
nating. He  can  deal  with  specula- 
tive and  abstruse  matters,  and  sees 
rapidly  where  the  important  points 
lie. 

"  Many  other  things  belong  to  the 
materia)  world  wherein  the  sharpest  philo- 


sophers   have    not    yet     obtained    cleai 
ideas."— Watts. 

"  Chrysoppns,the  acutest  of  all  the  Stoics, 
was  at  first  a  racer." — Bkntley. 

Sharp,  Acute,  and  Keen  (A.S. 
ct ne,  keen,  warlike)  &rea\\  employed  of 
matters  of  pure  sensation,  in  which 
the  idea  of  mental  perception  is  en- 
tirely subordinate ;  as  sharp  pain, 
acute  disease,  a  keen  sense  of  shame, 
where  it  will  be  seen  that  the  two 
former  belong  more  naturally  to  phy- 
sical, the  last  to  moral  pain.  Keen 
denotes  an  exceeding  degree  of  sharp- 
ness. Physically,  points  are  acute, 
edges  are  keen,  and  either  might  be 
called  sharp.  A  knife  should  be  sharp, 
a  skewer  sharp-pointed  or  acute,  a 
razor  keen.  The  keen  person  is  one 
of  powerful  penetration;  he  sees 
clearly  and  afar  off:  the  acute  one  of 
understanding  in  speculative,  and  the 
sharp  in  practical  matters  of  common 
life,  business,  and  conversation. 

"In  his  Etnean  forge  the  god  of  fire 
That  falchion  laboured  for  the  hero's  sire 
Immortal  keenness  on  the  blade  bestow'd 
And  plunged  it  hissing  in  the  Stygian  flood." 
Dryden's  Virgil. 
"  His  acuteness  was  most  eminently  sig- 
nalized at  the  masquerade,  where  he  dis- 
covered   his    acquaintance   through   their 
disguises  with  such  wonderful  facility." — 
Johnson. 

Acute,  as  used  of  bodily  pain  or 
disease,  is  opposed  to  chronic,  and 
employed  of  a  specific  disease,  while 
Sharp  is  an  epithet  of  pain  generally. 
Sharp  suffering ;  acute  rheumatism  ; 
a  keen  sense  of  injury,  disappoint- 
ment, and  annoyance,  but  also,  unlike 
the  rest,  a  keen  relish  or  enjoyment, 
a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous.  Keen- 
ness is  a  more  active  element  of  cha- 
racter than  either  sharpness  or  acute- 
nes^s.  The  keen  person  not  only  feels 
and  perceives,  but  seeks.  He  has  an 
appetite  to  satisfy — he  is  an  eager 
searcher.  He  not  only  sees  readily, 
but  hunts  up,  as  it  were,  what  it  is  to 
his  interest  to  procure.  The  keen 
man  is  likely  to  make  a  fortune,  and 
has  a  somewhat  dangerous  skill  in  this 
respect.  Our  appreciation  of  the 
quality  is  tempered  by  distrust  lest  it 
should  be  inconveniently  practised 
upon  ourselves.    A  sharp  remark  is  a 


[add] 


DlSCllIMINATED. 


55 


quick  and  clever  one.     An  acute  re- 
mark is  an  intelligent  one.     A  keen 
remark   shows   insight    into    human 
nature. 
"  Their   weekly   frauds    his    fcee7i    rep.ies 

detect. 
He  undeceives  more  fast  than  they  iufect." 

D  BYDEX. 

Keenness  ought  to  be  in  the  sati- 
rist ;  acuteness  in  the  lawyer,  tlie 
diplomatist,  or  the  scientific  investi- 
gator ;  and  shrewdness  in  the  conver- 
sationalist or  the  wit. 

Shrewd  (which  originally  meant 
ill-disposed)  denotes  one  who  is  prac- 
ticallj''  clever  at  analyzing  motives 
and  accounting  for  conduct  by  a  kind 
of  instinctive  power.  Shrewdness  is  in 
matters  of  common  occurrence  what 
acuteness  is  in  matters  calling  for 
higher  intelligence. 

"  Some  of  the  observers  on  board  the 
•Centurion'  shrewdly  suspected,  from  the 
appearance  of  her  armour,  that  instead  of 
steel  it  was  only  composed  of  a  particulai* 
kind  of  glittering  pajjer." — Assay's  Voyages. 

Sagacity  (Lat.  s<^^ficitatem)  is  a 
higher  quality  than  sarewdness.  It 
manifests  faculties  of  practical  intelli- 
gence and  penetration  inherent  in  the 
nature.  It  is  practical  wisdom  which 
is  independent  of  the  deductions  of 
reason  or  the  guidance  of  rules.  It 
is  the  genius  of  common-place.  It 
is  penetrative  and  discriminative,  but 
unlike  shrewdness,  goes  on  from  dis- 
cernment to  action.  It  detects  the 
hidden,  unravels  the  complicated, 
tracks  the  intricate,  solves  the  diffi- 
cult, elucidates  the  obscure.  Slight 
indications,  wliich  would  generally 
be  overlooked,  are  by  the  sagacious 
observed  and  turned  to  account  in  ar- 
riving at  conclusions.  He  sees  con- 
nectedness under  apparent  discon- 
nexion. It  is  not  mere  conjecture  on 
the  one  hand  nor  scientific  induc- 
tion on  the  other ;  yet  it  partakes  of 
both.  The  necessities  of  his  animal 
existence  quicken  to  an  almost  super- 
human power  the  sagacity  of  the 
American  Indian.  On  the  other  hand, 
Kepler's  discovery  of  the  elliptical 
orbits  of  a  planet  from  certain  observed 
points  in  it  is,  perhaps,  the  highest 
recorded  exemplification  of  scientific 
sagacity.     Sag:icity  Ls  proleptic,  good 


at  theory  and  hypothesis.    It  divines, 
anticipates,  foresees,  discloses. 

"  A  quickness  in  the  mind  to  find  ont 
these  intermediate  ideas  (that  shall  dis- 
cover the  agreement  or  disagreement  of 
any  other)  is,  I  suppose,  that  which  is  called 
sagacity."— LocKK 

ADD.     Annex.     Append. 

To  Add  (Lat.  addcre)  is  sinijdy  to 
put  one  thing  on  to  another.  It  ap- 
plies to  things  as  they  exist  in  num- 
ber or  quantity,  or  conceived  so  to 
exist,  as  in  the  case  of  a  material 
mass,  a  numerical  sum,  or  a  logical 
or  metaphysical  aggregate  ;  as  to  add 
to  a  heap  of  gold,  or  to  two  hundred, 
or  to  the  comfort,  happiness,  misery, 
benefits,  or  disadvantages  of  society 
or  of  men.  It  increases  by  aggrega- 
tion the  thing  added  to.  Addition 
is  the  opposite  of  subtraction,  as  aug- 
mentation is  of  diminution.  Whether 
addingresults  in  collocation,  junction, 
or  coalition,  depends  on  the  nature 
of  the  subject  and  the  case. 

"  All  the  praises  and  commendations  of 
the  whole  world  can  add  no  more  to  the 
real  and  intrinsic  value  of  a  man  than  they 
can  add  to  his  station." — S«tft. 

To  Annex  (Lat.  annectere,  pan. 
annexus,  to  bind  together)  is  not  used 
of  number  nor  in  the  unmodified 
sense  of  fastening  one  thing  on  to 
another,  but  implies  some  whole  or 
main  body  which  is  affected  by  the 
annexation.  It  implies  also  the  sub- 
ordination or  relative  smallnessr of  the 
thing  annexed.  The  gieater  is  not 
annexed  to  the  less,  but  the  less  to 
the  greater,  as  a  province  to  an  em- 
pire or  a  condition  to  a  gi-ant.  A 
dog  is  not  annexed  to  his  kennel,  but 
seals  are  to  a  watch,  as  they  become 
appendages  to  the  same.  Things  an- 
nexed pass  into  general  and  perma- 
nent connexion,  which  we  still,  how- 
ever, conceive  as  separable.  They  ac- 
company, or  follow,  the  fortunes  of 
the  things  to  which  they  are  annexed. 
As  the  purpose  of  addition  is  to  in- 
crease the  quantity  of  the  thing  added 
to,  so  the  purpose  of  annexation  is 
to  increase  its  value,  dignity,  impor- 
tance. Sometimes  the  thing  annexed 
has  a  modifying  or  regulative  force 
over  that  to  which  it  is  annexed.    A5 


56 


SYKOJNYMS 


[address] 


in  the  case  of  a  codicil  to  a  will,  or  a 
penalty  to  a  proliibitory  law,  or  a  re- 
ward to  the  fulfilment  of  certain  pro- 
posed conditions.  It  is  physical, 
political,  and  legal,  or  conventional 
ui  its  different  aspects. 

•*  With  regard  to  the  other  adjacent 
islands  which  are  subject  to  the  cro^\^l  of 
\Jreat  Britain,  some  of  them  are  comprised 
within  some  neighbouring  country,  and  are, 
therefore,  to  be  looked  upon  as  annexed  to 
the  Slother  Island,  and  part  of  the  kingdom 
of  England." — Blackstoxe. 

To  AfPKND  (JMt.  appendcre,  weigh 
somelhmg  to  any  one)  is  to  join  in  such 
a  way  that  the  thing  to  which  some- 
thing is  appended  shall  be  more  fully 
competent  to  answer  its  purpose.  It 
denotes  a  posteriority  of  relationship, 
and  may  be  the  result  of  afterthought. 
It  is  employed  like  annex  in  the  sense 
of  a  physical  hanging  on,  as  in  the 
instance  given  above,  to  append  a  seal 
to  a  watcli-chain,  where  the  only 
difference  is  that  between  fastening 
and  suspending:  and  in  a  figurative 
sense,  as  to  append  notes  illustrative 
of  a  text.  That  which  is  appended 
stands  as  an  accessory  to  the  principal 
thing. 

"  There  is  a  further  purpose  appended  to 
the  primary  one." — J.  Tavlur. 

ADDRESS.  Speech.  Oratiok. 
Hauangue.     Discourse.     Appeal. 

Of  these,  Address  (Fr.  adiesser) 
derives  its  specific  character  from  the 
character  of  the  occasion,  and  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  made.  It  is  a 
formal,  and  more  or  less  continuous 
speaking  to  a  person,  a  collection  of 
persons,  or  a  personified  object.  It 
may  be  of  great  length  or  very  short, 
in  the  latter  case  it  is  equivalent  to 
Accost.  The  address  may  be  purely 
spoken  or  read,  or  partly  read  and 
partly  spoken,  or  purely  written,  and 
recognizes  a  peculiar  capacity  in  the 
pei'sons  addressed.  It  bears  upon 
some  subject  or  occasion.  The  ad- 
dress should  be  appropriate,  clear, 
and  tempered  to  the  quality,  charac- 
ter, and  circumstances  of  the  person 
addressed,  whose  attention  it  is  de- 
sired to  jjrocure.  It  must  not  be 
wanting  in  tact,  tedious,  unsuitable 
iu  phraseology,  bnld,  or  liigh-flown  ; 
not  over-elaborate  and  absti-use  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  shallow  and  flip- 


pant on  the  other.  The  term  is  used 
sometimes  of  the  mode  as  well  as  the 
matter  of  address. 

"  See,  they  approach ! 
This  grove  shall  shrond  me  till  they  cease 

their  strain. 
Then  I'll  address  them  with  some  feigndd 
tale."  Mason. 

A  Speixh  (A.S.  sprecdu,  spcecan,  to 
speak)  very  closely  resembles  an  ad- 
dress, but  belongs  to  another  point  of 
view.  It  looks  at  the  matter  from  the 
side  of  the  speaker,  as  address  does 
from  the  side  of  the  hearer.  It  is  less 
formal  than  address.  So  we  are  ac- 
customed to  hear  of  an  address  to  tlie 
throne,  and  a  speech  fi-om  it.  It  is 
presumed  to  be  unwritten,  being  a 
kind  of  spoken  dissertation  on  some 
subject  to  which  it  owes  its  unity, 
without  being  specifically  addressed 
to  one  or  more  persons,  but  rather 
uttered  in  their  hearing,  as  bear- 
ing on  topics  of  common  interest 
to  speaker  and  hearer.  It  should  be 
ready,  fluent,  neat.  In  the  case  of 
speeches  in  Parliament,  the  speech 
fi'equently  rises  to  tlie  dignity  of  an 
oration  :  on  the  other  hand,  speeches 
from  the  hustings  are  commonly  Ha- 
(  RANGUEs.  In  a  play,  a  set  form  of 
j  woi'ds  of  some  length  is  called  gener- 
ally a  speech,  though  it  should  hap- 
f)en  to  be  a  soliloquy.  On  the  other 
land,  a  soliloquy  and  an  address  are 
contradictions  in  terms. 

"  Every  circumstance  in  their  speeches 
and  actions  is  with  justice  and  delicacy 
adapted  to  the  persons  who  speak  and 
act."— Addison. 

An  OitATioN  (L.  oratibnem)  is  a 
formal  and  public  speech,  laying  claim 
to  a  lofty  and  refined  character,  being 
necessarily  what  speeches  are  occa- 
sionally, the  product  of  premeditation 
and  study,  which  is  due  to  its  gravity 
and  dignity ;  for  the  tenn  is  applied 
not,  like  speech,  to  ordinary,  but  to 
extraordinary  occasions  of  rhetorical 
effort.  The  oration  commonly  turns 
on  matters  of  criticism  or  of  panegyric. 
It  aims  at  captivating  the  imagination, 
and  rousing  the  passions  and  emo- 
tions. Its  beauties  lie  in  its  being 
elevated,  forcible,  delicate,  brilliant. 
It  presents  different  aspects,  and  in- 
volves different  styles  in  an  effective 
versatility.     It  appeals   successively 


[adduce] 

to  fact  and  fancy,  to  reason  and  feel- 
ing. It  deals  in  history  and  parable, 
in  hard  figures  and  brilliant  simili- 
tudes. It  uses  the  lightest  and  the 
most  massive  implements  of  rhetoric. 
In  order  to  effect  this  it  has  its  rules, 
which  extend  to  matters  of  arrange- 
ment, style,  diction,  enunciation,  and 
even  taste  in  expression,  attitude, 
and  gesture. 

"  And  after  the  procession,  the  King  him- 
self remaining  seated  in  the  qnire,  the 
Lord  Archbishop  upon  the  grace  of  the 
quire  made  a  long  oration."— B/LCoy . 

HARANGUE(Fr./iaran^we,  originally 
from  Ger.  hring,a  circle, an  assembly). 
By  it  we  denote  such  speeches  as 
have  for  their  special  object  to  raise 
the  feelings,  or  to  give  vent  to  them, 
and  so  are  not  subject  to  the  rules  of 
an  oration,  but  admit  of  any  style, 
however  discursive,  and  are  untram- 
melled by  the  laws  of  taste.  They 
are  modes  of  address  often  resorted 
to  by  persons  of  more  energy  than 
training,  or  on  occasions  when  ora- 
tions would  be  thrown  away,  or  not 
listened  to.  They  have  to  be  spoken 
on  occasion  without  time  for  preme- 
ditation. The  excellence  of  harangue 
lies  in  its  life.  It  is  essentially  stimu- 
lative of  thought  or  action. 

'*  The  author  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Polity 
had  in  so  many  books  of  his  own  endea- 
voured to  harangue  up  the  nation  into  fury 
against  tender  consciences." — Marvel. 

When  Discourse  (Lat.  discursus) 
is  used  synonymously  with  the.se  it 
conveys  tlie  idea  of  a  methodical  and 
instructive  speech,  addressed  prima- 
rily to  the  understanding.  Its  object 
is  exposition  and  explanation,  and  its 
excellence  consists  in  being  orderly, 
lucid,  exhaustive,  logical.  Discourse 
may  be  familiar,  historical,  academi- 
cal, philosophical,  theological.  Its 
character  is  enunciative. 

'*  My  intention  in  this  and  some  future 
discourses,  is  to  set  before  you  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Christian  Religion ;  and 
that  I  may  do  this  the  more  effectually, 
and  with  the  greater  degree  of  evidence,  I 
propose  to  lead  your  thoughts  as  it  were 
step  by  step  towards  the  important  con- 
clusion."— Pearce,  Sermons, 

An  Api'EAi,  (Fr.  appeler,  Lat.  ap- 
pelldre)  is  a  call  made  uj)on  a  person 
for  a  .special  purpose,  as  to  defend 
himself,  or  to  give  a  decision.    In  the 


DISCRIMINATED. 


57 


language  of  the  old  law.  the  accused 
might  be  said  to  be  appealed  as  well 
as  the  judge.  Hence,  to  appeal  is  to 
have  recourse  to  authority  and  power, 
especially  with  a  personal  interest, 
and  so  in  an  earnest  way  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  one's  position  coii- 
iirmed,  or  assured.  The  orator  is 
said  to  appeal  to  anything  in  human 
nature,  which  might  be  stimulated  to 
induce  men  to  act  or  speak  in  the  re- 
quired way.  One  man  in  discourse 
appeals  to  the  reason  of  another,  to 
his  passion,  prejudice,  common  sense, 
love  of  justice,  selfishness,  hopes, 
fears,  or  anything  else  which  may 
gain  him  over,  or  induce  him  to  do 
or  feel  as  desii-ed.  The  excellence  of 
an  appeal  lies  in  its  being  touching, 
earnest,  powerful,  stirring,  persua- 
sive, convincing,  sympathetic.  Other 
things  besides  words  have  a  power 
of  appeal,  and  may  help  the  words — 
such  are  looks,  gestures,  tears,  atti- 
tude. The  word  is  now  of  general 
application,  but  was  in  the  original 
use  of  it,  legal  and  technical. 
"  Long  have  we  sought  t'instruct  and  please 

mankind. 
With  studies  pale,  with   midnight  vigils 

blind ; 
But  thank'd  by  few,  rewarded  yet  by  none, 
We  here  appeal  to  thy  superior  throne  ; 
(Jn  wit  and  learning  the  just  prize  bestow. 
For  fame  is  all  we  must  expect  below." 
Pope. 

ADDUCE.  Allege.  Assign. 
Advan'ce. 

These  terms  are  all  employed  to 
express  what  is  employed  in  logical 
confii-mation.  To  adduce  (  Lat.  addii- 
ccre,  to  lead  to)  is  simply  to  impart  or 
apply  to  the  case  in  hand,  something 
that  bears  upon  it.  It  may  be  an 
argument,  an  instance,  a  quotation, 
an  illustration,  a  general  considera- 
tion, a  proof,  an  indirect  confirmation, 
or  its  contrary;  something  which  shall 
invalidate  or  tend  to  disprove.  It 
may  be  regarded  as  the  generic  term, 
of  which  the  rest  are  exemplifications. 

"  The  price  had  it  seems  before  the  tax 
been  a  monopoly  price,  and  the  argument 
addziced  to sho^  that  sugar  was  an  improper 
subject  of  taxation  demonstrated  perhaps 
that  it  was  a  proper  one." — Adam  Smith, 

To  Allege  (Fr.  alltguer,  to  eite 
as  an  authority)  is,  according  to  its 
legal  origin,  to  bring  forward  some- 


58 


SYKONYMS 


[adequate] 


thing  whicli  is  of  the  nature  of  a  plea, 
excuse,  or  justification,  and  therefore 
implies  some  antecedent  charge,  or 
hurden  of  proof.  An  allegation  is  a 
statement  of  fact  bearing  upon  a 
moral  or  legal  issue.  One  alleges 
facts  or  reasons  to  maintain  or  defend 
a  position  or  an  example,  as  a  justifi- 
cation of  conduct,  or  a  general  con- 
sideration in  palliation  of  an  offence. 
As  a  legal  term,  and  especially  of  ec- 
clesiastical law.  Allege  applied  not 
only  to  the  plea,  but  also  to  the  origi- 
nal charge.  This  force  still  survives 
in  the  word,  though  less  prominently, 
as  when  it  is  said  that  certain  charges 
against  a  person  were  alleged. 

"  Courageous  chief. 
The  first  iu  flight  from  pain,  hadst  thou 

alleged 
To  thy  deserted  host  this  cause  of  flight. 
Thou  surely  hadst  not  come  sole  fugitive." 
Milton. 

To  Assign  (Lat.  as&ignare)  is  to 
mark  out  something  which  shall  stand 
in  a  certain  relation  to  another  thing, 
and  is  therefore  employed  in  as  many 
connexions  as  tliere  are  relations  which 
it  expresses.  I  assign  one  thing  as 
the  cause  of  another,  its  limit,  its  sig- 
nification, its  purpose,  its  origin,  its 
account,  its  work,  its  method,  personal 
use,  enjoyment,  or  possession.  I  as- 
sign a  point  of  time  for  an  event,  and 
the  like.  Assignment  has  the  charac- 
ter of  specification  and  limitation, 
combined  in  connexion  with  a  parti- 
cular object.  It  declares  that  one 
thing  belongs  to  another  and  in  what 
respect. 

"The  only  adequate  and  assignable  rea- 
son of  the  difference  is  that  the  latter  have 
a  source  to  draw  from  which  was  unknown 
to  the  former." — Bishop  Porteus. 

To  Advance  (Fr.  avancer,  avant, 
before,  i.e.  ub  ante)  is  voluntarily  to  put 
forward;  and,  especially,  something 
against  which  we  challenge  argument 
or  are  prepared  to  make  defence. 
Commonly  speaking,  in  argumenta- 
tive charge  we  advance  ;  in  reply  we 
allege.  Doctrines  or  opinions  ai*e  ad- 
vanced, and  especially  such  as  are  new 
in  character  and  strange  to  those  who 
hear  of  them.  They  betoken  some 
degree  of  boldness  and  originality  in 
him  who  advances  them. 


"  I  have  heard  of  one  that  having  ad- 
vanced some  erroneous  doctrines  of  philo- 
sophy,  refused  to  see  the  experiments  by 
which  they  were  confuted." — Johnson. 

ADEQUATE.  Sufficient.  Com- 
petent. Proportionate.  Commen- 
suuate.     Enough. 

Adequate  (Lat.  McequuhiSy  part. 
7nade  equal)  means  literally  made 
equal  to,  or  brought  to  the  level  of 
another  thing.  It  expresses  the  equa- 
lization, not  of  simple  quantity,  but  of 
forces,  powers,  means,  resources.  It 
expresses  the  coming  up  to  some  re- 
quirement in  regard  to  a  material,  in- 
tellectual, or  moral  standard.  That 
which  is  adequate  either  meets  a  de- 
mand or  fulfils  a  purpose. 

"  To  fear  God,  that  is  wisdom  ;  that  is,  is 
the  proper  and  adequate  wisdom,  suitable  to 
human  nature  and  to  the  condition  of  man- 
kind."— Hale. 

Sufficient  (Lat.  sujftcere,  to  suf' 
Jice)  has  to  be  distinguished  more  es- 
pecially from  adequate  and  Enough, 
(A.S.  genoh,  genog)..  Adequate  is 
general,  Suffici ent  is  specific.  Ade- 
quate is  enough  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  case.  Sufficient  is  enough 
to  meet  a  specific  demand.  Ade- 
quate looks  toward  the  end  that  is 
answeredjSuFFiciENT  towards  the  per- 
son that  requires.  An  adequate  re- 
muneration is  one  which  on  the  whole 
is  fair — which  balances  or  equalizes 
what  has  been  done  and  what  is  re- 
ceived. A  sufficient  remuneration  is 
one  which  is  enough  to  discharge  the 
obligations  of  the  payer.  An  inade- 
quate return  for  benefits  received  may 
be  unsatisfactory  both  in  character 
and  amount;  an  insufficient  return  is 
only  one  that  is  too  small.  Adequate 
regards  the  force  and  value  of  tlimgs, 
sufficient  their  employment.  This 
character  of  sufficient  will  be  seen 
to  hold  good  when  compared  with 
enough.  Enough  relates  to  internal 
satisfaction,  sufficient  to  the  demands 
of  a  purpose.  Enough  is  the  quantity 
which  one  wishes  to  have,  sufficient 
the  quantity  which  one  wishes  to  em- 
ploy. A  miser  has  sufficient  for  all 
his  wants,  yet  has  never  enough. 
The  prodigal  man  never  has  what  is 
enough  or  sufficient.  He  cannot  be 
content  with  what  he  has,  for  he  is 


[adequate] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


5» 


always  desiring  tc  spend  more  than 
be  possesses.  When  we  have  had  as 
much  as  we  want  we  say  it  is  enough. 
When  we  feel  that  we  have  heen  ade- 
quately supplied,  we  say  it  is  suffi- 
cient. There  is  a  use  of  enough 
whicli  is  expressive  simply  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  quality  in  a  satisfactory 
measure,  being  equivalent  to  the  ad- 
verbs rather  and  very.  It  augments 
either  slightly  or  considerably  the  posi- 
tive force  of  adjectives.  In  the  phrase, 
"  The  place  is  pleasant  enough,"  the 
augmentation  is  slight.  In  the  phrase, 
"  He  will  be  ready  enough  to  do  what 
you  ask  him  if  you  pay  him  well,"  it  is 
greater. 
♦*  Whose  wealth  wft«  want,  whose  plenty 

made  him  poor. 
Who  had  enough,  yet  wished  evermore." 
Spknser. 
"  Thus  with  yoar  reverence  me  thinketh 
that  this  e^-ideuoe  as  to  this  point  is  suffi- 
cient."— GEsasn. 

Competent  (Lat.  compcicre,  to 
coincide,  to  be  suitable)  denotes  the 
possession  of  sufficient  personal  quali- 
fications. It  is  not  precisely  the 
same  thing  as  qualified;  for  quali- 
fications may  be  arbitrary  or  conven- 
tional. Competency  comes  of  na- 
tive sufficiency.  It  mostly  respects 
mental  endowments  and  attainments. 
A  person  is  competent  or  not  to  un- 
dertake an  office,  to  decide  a  question, 
to  give  advice,  to  manage  a  business, 
and  the  like  ;  where  the  competent 
man  has  his  advantage,  is  in  matters 
practical,  social,  and  official.  Compe- 
tency is  practical  power,  which  comes 
of  natural  ability  strengthened  by  ex- 
perience, observation,  and  conver- 
sance with  some  particular  depart- 
ment of  knowledge  or  business. 

"  A  competent  knowledge  of  the  world." 
—Bishop  Atierbury. 

Commensurate  and  Propor- 
tionate are  exclusively  terms  of  the 
relation  of  things,  and  not  the  quali- 
ties of  persons,  except  so  far  as  such 
qualities  are  treated  after  the  analogy 
of  quantity  and  number.  Propor- 
tionate (Lat.  proportional  us)  denotes 
the  just  relationship  of  one  thing  to 
another  in  extent,  amount,  or  force. 
Where  the  proportion,  as  in  the  case  of 
coinmensurateness,   is    between    the 


means  and  the  end,  it  becomes  a 
synonym  with  adequate  and  suffi- 
cient. Commensurate  (Lat.  com- 
viensuratus,  adj.)  expresses  a  coin- 
cidence or  equality  in  measure  or 
extent  of  a  fixed  geometrical  character, 
while  Proporiionate  might  denote 
also  a  concunent  relationship  accord- 
ing to  circumstances  which  may  make 
it  variable.  Nor  is  the  idea  of  propor- 
tion that  of  commensurateness.  In  the 
commensurate  there  are  only  two 
tenns  ;  in  the  proportionate  there  are 
four  necessarily.  Proportion  presup- 
poses a  ratio.  Commensurate  means 
only  that  two  or  more  things  have  the 
same  or  an  equal  number  or  quantity. 
Two  things  of  the  same  dimensions  are 
commensurate;  two  things  which  bear 
the  same  relation  to  a  third  thing  in 
point  of  quantity  are  in  the  same  pro- 
portion to  that  third.  "  The  rental  of  a 
man's  house  is  commensurate  with  liis 
income,"  would  mean  that  the  whole  of 
his  income  went  to  pay  his  rent.  "  His 
rent  is  in  proportion  to  his  income  " 
presupposes  a  rule  that  what  a  man 
pays  in  rent  of  his  house  ought  not  to 
exceed  a  certain  portion  of  his  in- 
come. Hence  in  commensurateness 
there  is  no  idea  but  that  of  totality  or 
equal  wholes;  in  proportion  there  is 
that  of  division  and  distribution  also. 
But  Commensurate  has  become  con- 
founded with  Proportion  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  some  attribute  or  qua- 
lity of  a  thing  may  be  conceived  as 
continuously  accompanying  it  for  a 
period  of  time.  This  introduces  an 
idea  of  proportion.  For  instance 
Tillotson  says : — 

"Those  who  are  persuaded  that  they 
shall  continue  for  ever  cannot  choose  bat 
aspire  after  a  happiness  commensurate  to 
their  duration." 

Now  this  is  capable  of  being  con- 
ceived in  two  ways ;  either  that  their 
happiness  and  eternity  both  lasting 
together  are  commensurate,  or  that 
their  happiness  may  bear  the  same 
relation  to  eternity  that  they  them- 
selves will,  which  becomes  proportion. 

"  O  let  us  be  sure  then  our  confidence, 
our  claims  to  heaven,  improve  not  above 
their proportio7i,  that  we  preserve  this  sym- 
metry of  the  parts  of  grace,  that  our  hope 
be  but  commenswdfe  to  our  sincerity,  onr 
daringness  to  our  duty." — Hammond. 


60 


SYNONYMS  [adherent] 


AUJIERENT.  Follower.  Par- 
TizAN.     Disciple.     Scholar. 

Of  these  the  simplest  is  Follower, 
which  is  employed  generically  of  all 
the  rest,  with  meanings  of  its  own,  such 
as  a  pursuer,  a  lover,  a  dependent, 
associate.  When  the  Follower  (A.S. 
fylcgan,  to  follow)  is  such  from  a  belief 
of  the  truth  or  right  of  such  doctrines 
or  principles  he  becomes  a  Disciple 
(  Lat.  disctptilus),  as  learning  or  having 
learnt  to  believe  in  them.  Scholar 
(see  School),  like  disciple,  is  used 
of  one  who  learns  from  another ;  but 
Jie  scholar  learns  from  a  teacher,  the 
lisciple  from  a  master.  The  scholar 
IS  trained  in  the  rudiments  of  things, 
thedisciplein  the  more  advanced  bran- 
ches. Nor  are  the  lessons  used  of  the 
same  subject-matter.  The  disciple  is 
engaged  with  doctrines  and  principles 
as  they  regard  philosophical  systems, 
and  such  sciences  as  admit  of  a  variety 
of  sentiments  and  views ;  the  scholar 
in  such  as  have  been  fixed,  and  have 
simply  to  be  learnt.  The  scholar  is 
in  common  learning  what  the  disciple 
is  in  philosophy,  politics,  or  religion. 
The  scholar  learns  directly  from  his 
teacher  by  simple  and  personal  com- 
munication, the  disciple  may  be  re- 
moved by  an  interval  of  some  genera- 
tions from  the  time  of  the  master 
whose  principles  or  system  he  learns 
by  tradition  or  by  books.  The  Ad- 
herent (Lat.  Mhirnre,  to  stick  to) 
manifests  his  attachment  in  a  public 
way,  the  term  being  employed  of 
tliose  who  openly  support  persons  or 
causes,  whiles  one  may  be  a  disciple  in 
secret.  The  disciple  upholds  the 
opinions  of  another,  the  adherent  his 
interests.  The  same  person  may  be 
both  an  adherent  and  a  disciple,  be- 
cause a  system  of  principles  may  also 
be  a  cause  as  regards  the  vrorld  in 
which  it  has  to  be  maintained  and 
spread.  The  Partizan  (Fr.  partisan) 
is  one  strongly  and  perhaps  violently 
attached  to  a  party,  and  the  interests 
they  represent  or  have  embraced,  na- 
turally accompanied  with  a  strong 
attachment  to  those  who  lead  or  hold 
them.  It  is  the  relation  of  disciples 
or  adherents  in  an  energetic  and  ex- 
clusive w'ay,  and  is  commonly  taken 
to  involve  an  excessive  or  illiberal  and 


one-sided  attachment  to  a  person,  a 
party,  or  a  cause.  A  faithful  follower, 
a  firm  adherent,  a  true  disciple,  a  vio- 
lent and  prejudiced  partizan. 

"  Luther  and  his  adherents  holil  this 
heresy,  that  all  holy  order  is  nothing." — Sir 
T.  More. 

"  No  Indian  Prince  has  to  his  palace 
More  followers  than  a  thief  to  the  gallows." 

HUDIBRAS. 

"The  monarchic  and  aristocratical  and 
popular  partizans  have  been  jointly  lajring 
their  axes  to  the  root  of  all  government, 
and  have  in  their  turn  proved  each  other 
absurd  and  inconvenient." — BuRKE. 

"  We  are  not  the  disciples  of  Voltaire." 
—Burke. 

"  The  Romans  confessed  themselves  the 
scholars  of  the  Greeks."~JoHKSOJf, 

ADHERENCE.     Adhesion. 

These  words  (Lat.  tldha:rire,  to 
stick  to),  which  were  once  freely  inter- 
changed, have  parted  almost  entirely, 
so  that  the  former  expresses  the  moral, 
the  latter  the  physical  idea  of  close 
conformity  or  attachment.  Adherence 
to  a  statement,  a  duty,  or  the  like  ; 
adhesion  to  a  substance.  There  is, 
perhaps,  an  exceptioii  in  the  solitary 
case  of  the  phrase  "  to  give  in  one  s 
adhesion  to  a  principle  or  a  party." 

ADHERENT.  Attached.  An- 
nexed.    Inherent. 

A  thing  isA dh er  ent( Lat. Udhee^rtrey 
to  stick  to),  either  by  a  union  which  is 
formed  by  nature,  or  by  the  contex- 
ture and  continuity  of  the  material. 
It  is  Attached  (Fr.  attacker)  by 
arbitrary  or  artificial  bonds,  by  which 
it  is  kept  in  a  purposed  place,  situa- 
tion, or  connexion.  It  is  Annexed 
(Lat.  ann'eciire,  })art.  annexus,  to  bind 
on  to)  by  such  a  junction  as  results 
from  the  will  and  appointments  of 
man.  Inherent  has  the  force  of  tliat 
intimate  connexion,  which  is  essen- 
tially instituted  in  the  nature  of 
things,  and  may  be  either  physically 
or  morally  employed.  The  wax  of 
the  seal  adheres  to  the  letter.  The 
sails  of  a  ship  are  attached  to  the  mast. 
Sometimes  a  minor  appointment  is 
annexed  to  a  gi-eater,  to  enhance  its 
importance  or  emoluments.  There 
are  certain  evil  tendencies  naturally 
inherent  in  human  nature.  Adherent, 
except  as  a  noun  in  the  sense  of 
follower  or  support,  does  not  lend 
itself  so  readily  as  attached  to  a  monU 


[adjust] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


61 


use.  The  metaphorical  employment 
of  attached  in  the  sense  of  united  by 
affection  or  interest  is  familiar  enough. 

ADHESIVE.     Tenacious. 

The  difference  between  these  terras 
is  best  illustrated  by  their  etymology. 
Adhesive  is  the  Lat. Udhaercre,  tostick 
to.  Tenacious,  ttnacem,  holding  on, 
taih-e.  to  hold.  The  Adhesive, 
therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  one 
kind  of  the  Tenacious,  expressive  of 
that  quality  by  which  one  thing  holds 
on  to  another,  surface  to  surface,  by 
the  inherent  properties  or  qualities  of 
such  surface,  while  the  tenacious  ex- 
presses the  property  of  holding  on  in 
any  way.  oo  ivy  is  tenacious  so  far 
as  it  clings  to  a  ruin ;  it  is  adhesive, 
inasmuch  as  it  spreads  itself  over  the 
expanse  of  the  wall,  and  by  its  minute 
fibres  forms  a  surface  of  vegetation. 
Adhesive  does  not  share  with  Tena- 
cious the  secondary  sense  in  which 
tenacious  is  employed  of  a  persistent  ad- 
herence to  claims,  rights,  or  oj)inions. 

ADJUST.  Arrange.  Range. 
Accommodate.  Adapt.  Compromise. 

Adjust  is  to  set  right  (O.  Fr. 
ajoster ;  L.  Lat.  adjuxtare,  to  put  side 
by  side).  The  word  implies  either  an 
external  standard  or  measure  to  which 
matters  have  to  be  applied,  or  some 
condition  of  inherent  fitness,  pro- 
priety, shape,  or  order  to  which  they 
are  to  be  reduced.  Dress  is  adjusted 
when  its  several  articles  are  suitably 
arranged  and  worn  according  to  their 
right  place  and  use.  Quarrels  are 
said  to  be  adjusted  when  the  alleged 
wrongs  on  both  sides  are  referred  to 
some  satisfactory  decision,  arbitration, 
or  agreement. 

"  When  things  were  thus  far  adjusted 
towards  a  peace,  all  other  differences  were 
»oon  accommodated." — Addison. 

Arrange  (Fr.  a  nan  o^er,  rang,  Eng. 
rank)  deals  with  particulars,  as  Adjust 
with  wholes.  \Ve  adjust  by  rightly 
ordering  the  parts  so  as  to  form  an 
orderly  whole.  We  arrangf^  separate 
and  particular  articles,  whether  as 
parts  of  a  whole  or  not.  We  arrange 
according  to  the  fitness  of  things  to 
stand  by  each  other,  while  in  ranging 
nothing  more  is  denoted  than  the 
plarini;  in  a  lino  of  separate  articles. 


Items  whioh  have  nothing  in  common, 
but  that  they  are  movable  units,  may 
be  ranged,  that  is,  placed  in  a  row. 
They  bear  some  character  in  which 
they  stand  related  to  one  another 
when  they  are  arranged,  which  may 
or  may  not  be  in  a  line.  Practical 
convenience,  seemliness,  or  order  for 
its  own  sake  is  the  object  in  arranging, 
Articles  of  furniture  in  a  room  are 
arranged  wlien  they  are  relatively 
placed  according  to  their  form,  colour, 
use,  and  the  like.  In  a  procession 
tlie  persons  are  ranged  when  the  line 
is  formed  ;  arranged  when  the  order 
of  precedence  and  accompaniment  is 
fixed.  We  range  books  in  order  to 
arrange  a  library.  To  range  is  to  put 
in  place  ;  to  arrange  is  to  put  in  right 
pliice.  To  range  is  a  physical  and, 
as  it  were,  mechanical  art.  To  ar- 
range needs  thought,  taste,  know- 
ledge. When  we  range  we  are  bound 
to  a  certain  course.  When  we  ar- 
range we  are  at  liberty  to  choose  our 
principle  or  mode  of  arrangement,  as 
efficiency,  availableness, scientific  pre- 
cision, or  pleasurable  efl'ect,  or  any 
other  such  cause. 

"  In  vain  you  attempt  to  regulate  your 
expense  if  into  your  amusements  or  youj 
society  disorder  has  crept.  You  have  ad- 
mitted a  principle  of  confusion  which  wilJ 
defeat  all  your  plans,  and  perplex  anu 
entangle  what  you  sought  to  arrange." — 
Blaik.  ^ 

We  Accommodate  (Lat.  accommo- 
dare)  when  we  make  one  thing  supply 
what  the  other  requires.  Both  persons 
and  things  are  subjects  of  accommo- 
dation. When  we  accommodate  our- 
selves to  circumstances,  we  aim  at 
producing  a  conformity  between  our 
wishes  and  actions,  and  the  limits 
imposed  upon  us  by  them.  In  this 
case  some  sacrifice  of  ourselves  is  im- 
plied. We  contract  our  desires  to  the 
measure  of  their  possible  fulfilment. 
If  we  accommodate  a  friend  with 
lodgings  or  a  loan,  we  put  him  into 
such  a  position  that  his  wants  in  each 
respect  are  commensurate  with  his 
means  of  meeting  them.  When  we 
accommodate  differences  we  bring 
persons  into  such  harmony  that  the 
demands  of  neither  are  in  excess  of 
what  the  other  is  ready  to  meet. 
When  we  accommodate  an  event  to  h 


SYNONYMS 


[admirable] 


prophecy,  it  is  by  so  representing  the 
event,  or  so  stretching  or  narrowing 
the  terms  of  the  prophecy,  that  the 
same  space  of  meaning  shall  be 
covered  by  both  as  accoraant  and  co- 
incident expressions. 

"  It  is  not  the  endeavour  of  Moses  or 
the  prophets  to  discover  any  mathematical 
or  philosophical  subtleties,  but  rather  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  vulgar  capa- 
cities."— Bp.  Wilkins. 

CoMPUOMisE  (Lat.  compromittcre) 
is  in  its  rudimental  meaning  a  joint  or 
mutual  promise,  and,  in  particular,  a 
promise  to  refer  a  matter  to  the  deci- 
sion of  an  arbiter.  Then,  singularly 
enough,  the  subject  of  this  arrange- 
ment dropping  out,  the  arrangement 
alone  survived ;  and,  the  idea  of  arbi- 
tration being  abandoned,  the  term 
came  to  mean  almost  the  opposite  to 
its  original  idea,  namely,  that  of 
mutual  concession  without  any  extra- 
neous decision  ;  an  adjustment  of  the 
matter  between  the  parties  themselves 
in  a  spirit  of  conciliation  or  policy ; 
for  it  would  often  happen  that  cases 
destined  for  an  arbiter  were  never 
carried  so  far,  but  privately  arranged. 
In  the  phrase, "  The  person  is  compro- 
mised, the  idea  of  obligation  or  en- 
gagement is  uppermost ;  that  is  to  say, 
he  has  done  something  which  places 
him  in  a  certain  position  or  has  impli- 
cated him  in  a  responsibility,  though 
he  may  not  have  seen  and  intended 
the  full  consequences  of  his  act.  In 
the  other  phrase,"The  matter  was  com- 
promised," the  idea  of  the  private 
arrangement  is  uppermost ;  that  is  to 
say,  it  was  determined  by  mutual 
concession,  and  not  carried  to  law. 
At  present  the  spirit  of  compromise  is 
that  of  forestalling  judicial  or  authori- 
tative decision  by  timely  concessions, 
a  giving  and  taking  on  both  sides. 
Compromise  is  the  resort  of  persons 
with  whom  policy  is  a  stronger  motive 
than  principle,  or  with  those  who, 
being  desirous  of  truth  and  justice, 
will  secure  to  themselves  or  their 
cause  as  much  of  them  as  circum- 
stanses  will  permit,  rather  than  run 
the  risk  of  losing  them  by  too 
rigorously  insisting  upon  their  own 
views  and  claims.  In  proportion  as 
men  are  inclined  to  believe  that  exact 


forms  are  either  irrelevant  to  truth  or 
obstructive  to  it,  they  will  advocate 
compromise ;  in  proportion  as  they 
regard  them  as  essential  to  its  conser- 
vation they  will  regard  compromise 
in  the  light  of  moral  cowardice  and 
unfaithfulness. 

**An  abhorrence  of  concession  and  com- 
promise is  a  never- failing  characteristic  of 
religious  factions." — Hallam. 

ADMIRABLE.  Excellent.  Ex- 
quisite. 

Of  these  terms  the  first  relates  to  an 
impression  produced  upon  our  mind, 
the  two  others  to  the  character  in- 
herent in  objects.  That  is  Admirable 
(Lat.  admirdbilis)  which  is  literally 
worthy  of  admiration.  And  admira- 
tion is  a  state  of  mind  produced  by 
the  involuntary  appreciation  of  what 
is  excellent  in  nature,  in  art,  or  in  the 
sentiments  and  actions  of  mankind. 
Hence  the  measure  of  the  Admihable 
is  the  faculty  of  the  mind  for  discern- 
ing and  appreciating  such  excellence. 
Admiration  is  wonder  or  surprise 
mingled  with  approbation,  and  ac- 
companied by  pleasing  emotions. 
That  is  Excellent  which  surpasses 
(hat.excelltre,  to  surpass)  other  things 
of  the  same  kind  in  good,  desirable, 
or  estimable  qualities.  Superiority 
in  an  object  which  is  purely  material, 
as  the  fine  growth  of  a  tree,  or  the 
special  costliness  of  a  gem,  is  not  ex- 
cellence. The  excellent  always  bears 
reference  either  to  what  is  morally 
good,  or  materially  serviceable  or 
desirable  in  connexion  with  the  re- 
quirements of  men.  An  excellent 
person  is  morally  virtuous  and  esti- 
mable. An  excellent  house  could  no* 
mean  one  of  architectural  beauty,  bul 
one  well  built  for  purposes  of  habita- 
tion. The  excellent  is  in  moral  things 
an  object  of  praise,  and  in  material 
things  an  object  of  advantage.  That 
which  is  Exquisite  (Lat.  exqmrhr€f 
part,  exquisllus,  to  seek  ont)  exhibits  ex- 
cellence of  a  peculiar,  rare,  choice,  or 
delicate  kind.  It  requires  refinement 
of  taste  and  a  delicate  sensibility  to 
appreciate  it.  The  excellent  may  be 
on  any  scale.  The  exquisite  has  never 
the  attribute  of  size,  though  it  may 
characterize  objects  of  size.  It  is  a 
term  more  artistic  than  moral,  and 


[admittance]         discriminated. 

Joes  not  belong  to  character  or  acts, 
yet  is  not  inapplicable  to  the  moral 
nature,  sensibility,  and  sentiments. 
It  may  imply  a  bigh  degree  of  excel- 
lence in  art,  out  belongs  also  to  Avhat 
is  not  matter  of  art,  as  "  exquisite 
torture,"  that  is,  rarely,  peculiarly, 
and,  as  it  were,  retinedly  intense.  It 
has  a  more  superlative  force  than 
either  admirable  or  excellent.  It  is 
the  product  of  a  combination  of 
mental  power  and  delicacy. 


63 


ADMISSIBLE.     Pkr.missibi.e. 

These  stand  related  as  argument  to 
act.  That  which  is  Admissible  fLat. 
admitttre,  part,  admissiis,  to  admit) 
may  be  conceded  as  true,  just,  fair, 
convenient,  probable.  That  which  is 
Permissible  (Lat.  permitttre^  part. 
permissnx,  to  permit)  may  be  conceded 
as  a  thing  which  may  be  done.  A 
supposition,  for  instance,  is  admis- 
sible, a  proceeding  permissible. 

ADMIT.     Receive. 

When  employed  in  regard  to  per- 
sons the  difference  in  usage  between 
these  words  seems  to  be  that  the 
former  does  not  imply  what  the  latter 
does — a  peculiar  relation  to  self  as  the 
result  of  the  process.  To  Admit  (Lat. 
admitttre)  is  to  open  an  entrance  to 
another.  To  Receive  (Lat.  rMpcre) 
is  so  to  open  it  as  to  brin^  him  into 
some  close  relation  to  one  s  self.  I 
admit  a  person  into  a  public  building. 
1  receive  him  into  my  own  house. 
Hence  receive  implies  a  stronger 
exercise  of  the  will  than  admit.  I 
admit  him  into  my  house  to  whom  1 
do  not  refuse  entrance.  I  receive  him 
whom  I  cause  to  feel  welcome.  Both 
Admit  and  Receive  are  applicable  to 
merely  physical  objects  and  processes. 
Vet  the  same  analogy  is  preserved  in 
that  case.  Admit  only  involves  the 
absence  of  exclusion,  Receive  an 
adaptation  between  the  two  objects. 
This  difference  is  exemplified  in  the 
following  sentence  of  Locke  : — 

"  There  are  some  ideas  which  have  ad- 
mittance only  through  one  sense,  which  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  receive  them." 

ADMIT,     Allow.     Grant. 
These  terras  are  here  compared  only 
in  regard  to  matters  of  speculation  and 


argument.  In  that  sense  Gravt  (O. 
Fr.  gruanter,  creanter,  to  assure)  is  re- 
lative to  the  person  of  another.  It 
expresses  such  a  concession  as  benefits 
or  strengthens  the  position  of  him  to 
whom  it  is  made.  To  A  dm  it  is  abstract, 
and  belono^s  to  the  propriety,  truth,  or 
justice  of  what  is  conceded.  The 
concession  is  the  result  of  the  force  of 
argument  which  renders  it  impossible 
to  deny,  or  of  a  previous  knowledge 
or  conviction  which  one  feels  must, 
in  justice,  be  carried  to  the  account  of 
the  opposite  party.  To  Allow  (Fr. 
I  alloiier,  Lat.  ad,  to,laudare,  to  praise)  is 
negative,  while  admit  is  positive.  1 
admit  what  I  cannot  deny.  I  allow 
what  ought  in  fairness  to  be  granted. 
Logical  necessity  compels  me  to  ad- 
mit. Argumentative  honesty  requires 
that  I  should  allow.  Admit  denotes 
what  is  due  to  the  case.  Allow 
what  is  due  to  him  who  argues,  as  a 
claim. 

"  Even  a  real  miracle  cannot  be  admitted 
as  such,  or  carry  any  conviction  to  those 
who  are  not  assured  that  the  event  is  con- 
tradictory to  the  course  of  nature." — 
Farmer. 

"  The  min'd  spendthrift   now  no  longer 

proud, 
Claim'd  kindred  there,  and  had  his  claims 
alloic'd."  Goldsmith. 

There  is  more  freedom  and  voluntari- 
ness in  Grant  than  in  either  Allow  or 
Admit  ;  so  that  the  term  sometimes 
refers  to  such  concession  as  an  ante- 
cedent to  all  argument  whatever,  as  in 
the  following : — 

"  I  take  it  at  the  same  time  for  granted 
that  the  immortality  ofthe  soul  is  sufficiently 
established  by  other  arguments."— Steele. 

ADMITTANCE.     Admission. 

Admittance  belongs  more  simply 
to  the  mere  act  of  allowing  to  enter. 
Admission  in  a  moral  sense  to  the  re- 
ception with  some  sort  of  sanction. 
Hence  admittance  is  purely  local,  as 
admittance  into  a  building.  Admis- 
sion rather  bears  the  meaning  of  a 
right  of  admittance,  or  the  power  of 
demanding  an  entrance.  It  is  the 
right  of  admission  which  procures  the 
admittance.  The  admission  of  the 
truth  of  a  charge  ;  the  admittance  of 
light  into  an  apartment.  Admission 
is  more  ic  the  admitter,  admittance  in 


64 


the  admitted,  lliere  is  admission 
when  persons  are  willing  to  admit. 
There  is  admittance  when  the  way  is 
left  open. 

"  Of  the  foolish  virgins  who  watched 
not,  neither  had  trimmed  theu"  lamps,  but 
were  too  late  to  buy  oil  when  the  bride- 
groom came,  'tis  observed  that  they  found 
no  more  place  of  admittance  than  if  they 
had  been  slothful  stiil."— Clarke, 

"  Our  Bishops  are  made  in  form  and 
order  as  they  have  been  evei',  by  free 
election  of  the  Chapter,  by  consecration  of 
the  Archbishop  and  other  three  Bishops, 
and  by  the  admission  of  the  Prince." — 
Bishop  Jewel. 

ADMONISH.  Advise.  Caution. 
Warn. 

Admonish  (Lat.admbHtre)  respects 
the  moral  conduct,  and  is  the  act  of 
a  superior.  The  personal  expression 
of  authoritative  advice  constitutes 
admonition.  It  has  two  aspects, 
looking  to  the  past  and  the  future. 
It  bears  reference  to  something  done 
or  probably  done,  thus  in  force  re- 
sembling censure,  and  to  something 
also  likely  to  be  done  in  the  future, 
from  which  the  person  admonished  is 
sought  to  be  kept,  thus  approaching 
to  warning.  Admonition  notes  the 
past  with  disapproval,  and  at  the 
same  time  represents  the  ill  conse- 
quences of  any  repetition  of  the 
offence.  It  serves  to  put  persons  on 
their  guard  against  wrong  conduct, 
and  is  therefore  most  called  for  in 
those  who  are  most  prone  to  trans- 
gress. It  cautions  against  error  only 
m  cases  where  en-or  is  a  moral  fault, 
vs  where  it  occurs  through  negligence, 
indifference,  inattentiveness,  and  the 
like.  It  involves  reason  and  remon- 
strance on  the  act,  and  authoritative 
declaration  of  its  ordinary  conse- 
quences. "  Admonitio,"says  Cicero, 
"est  quasi  lenior  objurgatio."  Ad- 
monition is  a  kind  of  mild  reproof. 
Coming  from  superiors  in  age  or  posi- 
tion, and  having  prevention  for  its 
object,  it  often  implies  that  the  ad- 
monisher  himself  will  visit  more 
severely  in  the  way  of  punishment  a 
repetition  of  the  offence.  Resting  in 
the  power  of  such  superior  it  will  be 
Bubj  ect  to  his  discretion  in  its  exercise, 
and  he  will  admonish  a  favourite,  or 
one  in  whose  character  he  feels  conli- 


SYNONYMS  [admonish] 

dence,  where  perhaps  he  would  have 
visited  another  with  punishment.  It  is 
of  course  possible  that  the  superiority 
implied  in  the  right  to  admonish 
should  be  rather  assumed  than  real. 
A  belief  or  possibly  knowledge  of 
their  own  moral  or  intellectual  supe- 
riority will  lead  some  persons  to  take 
up  the  altitude  of  admonition  toward 
others. 

"It  has  long  been  charged  by  one  part 
of  mankind  upon  the  other,  that  they  will 
not  take  advice,  that  counsel  and  instruc- 
tion are  generally  thrown  away,  and  that 
in  defiance  both  of  admonition  and  example 
all  claim  the  right  to  choose  their  own 
measures,  and  to  regulate  their  own  lives.'' 
—Adveriturer. 

Ad V isE  ( Fr.  aviser,  avis,  opinion)  has 
reference  solely  to  the  future  except 
in  the  sense,  not  here  considered,  of 
formal  notifications.  It  is  positive 
in  its  effect,  as  Admonish  is  negative. 
A  dvice  prompts  as  admonition  deters. 
We  advise  per^sors  as  to  their  future 
conduct  by  giving  rules  and  directions, 
and  imparting  informations©  far  as  it 
may  be  needed,  as  we  possess  it,  or  it 
bears  upon  the  matter  in  hand.  As 
admonition  is  for  the  unruly,  so  ad- 
vice is  for  the  inexperienced.  For 
further  observations  see  A  dvice. 

"  The  person  who  pretends  to  advise 
does  in  that  particular  exercise  a  superio- 
rity over  us,  and  can  have  no  other  reason 
for  it,  but  that  in  company.or  with  himself, 
he  thinks  us  defective  either  in  our  conduct 
or  our  understanding.  For  these  reasons 
there  is  nothing  so  difficult  us  the  art  of 
making  advice  agreeable." — Spectator. 

Warn  (A.S.  warnian,  to  beware,  tc 
warn),  bears  simply  upon  the  hurtful 
as  a  possible  event  of  tlie  future,  and 
like  Advice,  and  unlike  Admonish, 
has  no  reference  to  the  past.  It  deals 
with  the  moral  only  so  far  as  it  is 
pnident,  and  with  the  immoral  so  far 
as  it  is  dangerous,  that  is,  not  as  having 
a  certain  character,  but  as  followed  by 
certain  consequences. 

Caution  (Lat.  cautionem,  wariness) 
and  Warning  are  closely  allied,  but 
there  are  differences,  lioth  respect 
the  personal  interest  or  safety  of 
others,butWARN  is  a  more  determinate 
word  than  Caution.  We  might  cau- 
tion another  against  probable  incon- 
venience aiising  frcm  a  certain  8te|k 


[adoke] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


65 


We  should  warn  him  against  certain 
evil  accruing  from  it.  In  caution  we 
draw  the  attention  of  another  mainly 
to  his  own  conduct,  which  we  desire 
him  to  be  careful  in  regulating ;  in 
warning,  to  certain  evils  external  to 
himself  which  we  desire  that  he 
should  avoid.  Warning  implies  a 
far  greater  amount  of  positive  know- 
ledge in  the  speaker  than  caution.  I 
warn  another  as  absolutely  knowing 
the  consecjuences  of  action,  whereas  1 
may  caution  him  for  the  very  reason 
that  I  do  not  know  them  ;  and  indeed, 
generally  speaking,  the  ground  of 
warning  is  certainty,  the  ground  of 
caution  is  uncertainty.  Caution  re- 
lates to  conduct,  warn  to  the  circum- 
stances or  issues  of  conduct.  We  warn 
a  man  against  approaching  danger. 
We  caution  him  against  running  into 
it.  We  are  cautioned  against  speak- 
ing rashly,  we  are  warned  of  the  con- 
sequences. Admonitions  come  only 
fi-om  persons,  for  personal  considera- 
tions give  them  their  weight;  but 
events  may  serve  as  cautions  and 
warnings.  In  the  former  case  they 
make  us  circumspect,  in  the  latter 
observant. 

"  Cautioning  us  to  take  heed  lest  we  be 
overcharged  with  surfeiting  and  druukou- 
ness." — TiLLOTSox. 

"  As  two  broad  beacons  set  in  open  fields 
Send  forth  their  flames  far  off  to  every 

shi«e. 
And  warning  give  that  enemies  conspire. 
With  fire  and  sword  the  region  to  invade 
So  flamed  his  eyne  with  rage  and  rancorous 
ire."  .  Spe.nser. 

ADOPT.       EjJ  BRACE. 

These  terms  are  employed  to  express 
the  identification  of  ourselves  with 
opinions,  or  forms  of  truth  not  hitherto 
professed  by  us.  They  difl'er  in  the 
feelings,  and  so,  to  some  extent,  in 
the  motives  leading  to  Kuch  action. 
We  A  ooPT  ( Lat.  Udoptare,  to  take  for 
one's  belf)  views,  opinions,  a  form  of 

f)ersuasion,  a  mode  of  action,  and  the 
ike,  from  necessity  or  fitness,  or  as 
believing  them  to  be  true,  or  right,  or 
convenient.  We  Embrace  them 
(0.  Fr.  embracer)  with  eagerness,  a 
stronger  exercise  of  the  will,  and  a 
more  complete  sympathy.  That 
which  we  adopt  we  are  prepared  to 
defend    and     make     use     of.      That 


which  we  embrace  satisfies  our  needs 
and  meets  our  mental  requu-ements. 
The  term  adopt  belongs  more  to  the 
outside  of  things,  embrace  more  to 
their  inner  qualities.  I  may  adopt 
the  statement  of  another,  and  make  it 
my  own,  as  effectively  or  conveniently 
expressing  my  own  meaning.  I  em- 
brace his  opinions  when  I  have  be- 
come persuaded  of  their  tmth  and  am 
glad  to  have  found  them.  European 
travellers  in  the  East  often  adopt  the 
dress  of  the  Mussulman  without  em- 
bracing his  faith. 

ADORE,    Reverence.    Revere. 
Venerate.     Worsuip. 

Auore  (Lat.  (idordre)  is  primarily 
the  act  of  worship  which  consistB  in 
adili'essing  prayer.  It  im})lies  there- 
fore a  belief  in  the  continued  existence 
and  superhuman  attributes  of  the  ob- 
ject adored.  It  is  by  virtue  of  them 
that  it  is  worshipped,  or  constituted 
an  object  of  prayer.  It  is  by  an  ex- 
aggerated metaphor  that  the  term  ia 
employed  to  designate  the  warmest 
devotion  to  other  persons.  It  involves 
a  higher  and  more  purely  intellectual 
estimate  of  its  object  than  worship, 
which  is  also  more  purely  external.  So 
the  lowest  forms  of  religion  consist  in 
the  worship  of  material  objects,  while 
the  highest  consist  in  the  sincere  and 
intelligent  adoration  of  the  one  su- 
preme God.  It  IS  the  conception  of 
power  which  leads  to  \vorship,of  purity 
also  which  leads  to  adoration.  We  adore 
God  forllis  perfections.  We  sometimes 
adore  the  creature  in  spite  of  its  im- 
perfections. We  adore  when  we  pay 
the  tribute  of  admiration  as  to  a  Being 
of  a  divine  or  superhuman  character. 
The  term  sometimes  denotes  no  more 
than  the  fervent  attachment  of  an  in- 
ferior, as  good  princes  are  said  to  be 
adored  by  their  subjects.  Adoration 
I  of  God,  then,  is  first,  simply  ])rayer ; 
I  then  the  recognition  of  those  attri- 
I  butes  which  are  the  ground  of  prayer, 
I  and  the  feelings  consequent  on  that 
recognition.  It  is  the  rendering  to 
'  Him  the  homage  of  reason  which, 
however,  so  natui-ally  expresses  itself 
in  outward  homage  that  the  teim  is 
sometimes  employed  to  expi-esa  this 
dii'ectly. 


66 


"  Rejoicing  hut  with  awe 
lu  adoration  at  his  feet  1  fell 
Submiss."  Milton. 


As  Adoration  is  primarily  mental 
and  secondarily  external,  so  Worship 
(Eng.  north,  uorthship)  is  primarily 
external  and  secondarily  mental . 
Adoration  may  be  genuine  without 
worship,  but  worship  without  adora- 
tion would  be  hypocrisy.  The  radical 
idea  of  worship  is  that  of  placing  on  a 
higher  level  than  one's  self  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  honour,  the  associa- 
tion being  close  betweenexaltation  and 
virtue,  as  in  the  word  excellent,  which 
means  first,  raised  in  position,  then 
exceeding  in  goodness.  To  worship 
is  to  regard  as  eminently  good  or 
great.  It  has  gone  through  many  de- 
grees of  meaning,  from  that  of  paying 
respect,  as  in  the  title  of  mayors  of 
boroughs,  or  the  phrase  "  with  my 
body  I  thee  worship,"  to  that  of  ren- 
dering divine  honours,  or  venerating 
with  religious  rites.  It  is  natural  to 
apply  to  the  gods  or  God  terms  ex- 
pressive of  social  or  political  exalta- 
tion. To  adore  is  a  mental  or  spiritual 
act ;  to  worship  is  partly  made  up  of 
physical  acts.  Details  of  a  ceremonial, 
as  for  instance  the  burning  of  incense, 
may  be  so  many  parts  in  a  complex 
act  of  worship.  Hence  it  would  fol- 
low that  worship  is  the  wider  or  gene- 
ric term,  and  that  adoration  is  a  kind 
of  worship.  The  prevailing  feeling 
in  adoration  is  our  own  inferiority 
and  unworthiness,  which  would  lead 
us  to  prostrate  ourselves  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  being  morally  superior  to 
ourselves.  The  prevaihng  feeling  in 
worship  is  the  power  and  superiority 
of  the  object  worshipped.  In  wor- 
shipping we  pay  ihoinage  to  the 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God. 
^n  adoring  we  express  our  own  weak- 
ness and  dependence  upon  Him. 

"  If  the  worship  of  God  be  a  duty  of  re- 
li^on,  public  worship  is  a  necessary  in- 
stitution, forasmuch  as  without  it  the 
greater  part  of  mankind  would  exercise  no 
religious  worship  at  all." — Palky. 

Between  Revere  (Lat.  rtvcviri) 
and  Reverence  (Lat.  rcvtrentia) 
there  is  the  difference  betAveen  a  sen- 
timent entei-tained  and  a  sentiment 
manifested.     To  rrviMCTice  is  to  show 


SI  ANONYMS  •  [adorn] 

in  deportment  that  which  is  due  to 
inherent  sanctity  of  character,  whether 
divine  or  human.  Revere  is  more  in- 
timate to  the  feelings,  and  may  refer 
to  what  is  preserved  as  sacred  in  the 
mind,  independently  of  any  external 
signs  of  respect,  as  to  revere  the 
memory  of  a  deceased  friend.  It  is 
possible  to  reverence,  though  we  could 
never  be  said  to  revere,  places  and 
objects  for  the  sake  of  those  persons 
to  whom  they  have  belonged,  or  those 
persons,  things,  or  uses  with  which 
they  are  closely  associated  in  our 
minds. 

"  The  Jews  made  him  an  object  of  terror 
more  than  of  awe  and  reverence,  and  their 
religion  was  a  system  of  the  rankest  super- 
stition ;  for  nothing  can  be  more  true  than 
what  St.  Austin  quotes  somewhex'e  from 
Varro,  that  they  who  are  religious  revere, 
and  the  superstitious  fear, God." — BoLlNO- 
BROKE. 

BetweenREVERExcE  and  Venerate 
( Lat.  vtncran)  there  seems  this  main 
difference,  that  the  object  of  venera- 
tion is  not  so  far  removed  from  our- 
selves as  the  object  of  reverence  ;  that 
there  is  more  of  worship  in  reverence,as 
of  the  name  of  God,  and  more  of  esteem 
in  veneration,  as  of  the  good  and 
aged.  Associations  of  antiquity  lead 
to  veneration,  associations  of  religion 
and  piety  to  reverence.  Veneration 
is  a  profound  respect;  reverence  is 
a  respectful  fear  which  inspires  a 
feeling  of  restraint. 

"  Veneration  is  a  higher  degree  of  respect 
in  which  the  mind  seems  to  be  more  for- 
cibly struck  with  wisdom  connected  with 
the  sterner  virtues.  Hence  we  speak  of 
characters  which  are  more  venerable  than 
amiable."— CoQAjy^. 

ADORN.  Decorate.  Embellish. 
Garnish.    Ornament. 

Of  these  Adorn  (Lat.  Udomare) 
expresses  the  accession  of  beauty  in 
its  highest  and  truest  character.  The 
process  is  one  of  the  best  taste  and 
value.  It  is  an  advance  upon  deco- 
ration. A  house  just  built  must  be 
Decorated  (Lat. dec^rare,to<iecorate). 
This  is  done  by  the  paperer,  the  plas- 
terer, the  gilder.  After  this  is  done 
it  may  be  magnificently  adorned  with 
costly  and  massive  furniture,  with  mar- 
bles, paintings,  and  works  of  art  gene- 
rally.    It  may  be  employed  of  thingra 


[adroit] 

purely  moral,  as  oi'a  character  adorned 
by  many  virtues.  When  a  thing  is 
adorned  it  is  as  if  the  adorning  affected 
the  whole  object  and  enhanced  its  en- 
tire nature,  not  adventitiously  but  in- 
trinsically. A  certain  degree  of  worth, 
beauty,  dignity,  or  value  must  belong 
to  that  which  is  to  be  adorned.  On 
the  other  lumd  Dkcoratk  never  rises 
above  the  adventitious  introduction  of 
what  is  materially  ornamental.  When 
decoration  has  no  character  of  natural 
grace,  but  is  purely  artificial  with 
the  purpose  of  atti-acting  attention, 
it  becomes  Embellishment;  which 
is  a  tei-m  of  so  little  moral  dignity 
that  it  is  not  employed,  as  Adorn  and 
Decorate  may  be,  of  the  human  per- 
son ;  only  inanimate  objects  are  em- 
bellished. The  high-born  beauty  is 
adorned  with  costly  gems.  The  nistic 
beauty  decorates  herself  with  wild 
flowers.  The  ti-adesman  embellishes 
Lis  shop-front.  Embellishment  is 
more  vivid  than  decoration  when  it 
is  purely  material.  The  purpose  of 
decoration  may  be  little  more  than  to 
avoid  over-plainne-s.  The  purpose 
of  embellishment  is  to  draw  observa- 
tion to  itself.  Yet  embellishment  may 
be  othenvise  than  material.  A  narra- 
tive may  be  embellished  by  clever  and 
striking  anecdotes,  while  it  is  adorned 
with  passages  of  eloquence. 

WeEMB  ELLisn  by  modifying  a  thing 
in  its  constituent  parts,  and  by  so  inter- 
spersing the  ornamental,thatthe  oiTiate 
cnaracter  of  certain  portions,  sections, 
or  features  shall  affect  the  impression 
derived  from  the  whole.  We  adorn 
by  superadding  uniforai  beauty  ;  we 
decorate  by  introducing  unifonn  or- 
namentation ;  we  embellish  by  orna- 
mental touches. 

Garnish  is  the  Fr.  garnir,  which 
is  connected  with  the  English  warn. 
The  French  original  has  the  double 
sense  of  fortification  and  decoration. 
It  is  first  to  provide  with  what  is  ne- 
cessary for  binding  together  or  sus- 
taining, and  then  to  do  this  hand- 
somely. This  idea  survives  in  the 
English  word,  so  that  to  Garnish  is 
to  surround  with  ornament,  not  to 
affix  ornamentation.  That  which  is 
garni^ned  is  ornamentally  set  up.  A 
flat  wall  is  decorated  or  embellished  ; 


DISCRIMINATED. 


67 


a  dish,  a  cliamber,  a  may-pole,  is 
garnished,  set  up  and  beset  with  de- 
corative sun'oundings.  The  etymo- 
logical force  is  exactly  preserved  in 
the  following  : — 

"  The  gorgeous  citjgamish'd  like  a  Bride, 
Where  Christ  for  ^ouse  expected   is    to 

passe. 
With  walls  of  jasper  compass'don  each  side 
Hath   streets  all    paved   with   gold   more 
bright  than  glasse."        Shirley. 

The  noun  Ornament  (Lat.  omd- 
mentum)  is  also  used  as  a  verb.  This 
fact  denotes  its  meaning.  To  orna- 
ment is  to  affix  one  or  more  orna- 
ments. An  ornament  is  a  specific 
decoration — in  itself  a  distinct  design 
and  work  of  art.  The  front  of  a  Greek 
temple  was  ornamented,  among  other 
things,  with  triglyphs.  Modern  vases 
are  sometimes  ornamented  with  Etxus- 
can  patterns.  Ornament,  as  compared 
"with  decoration,  is  a  separate  adjunct. 
The  frame  of  a  picture  or  a  mirror  is 
decorated  with  gilding  and  orna- 
mented by  mouldings  and  patterns. 
We  decorate  surfaces  and  ornament 
certain  points  or  portions  of  it.  We 
ornament  permanently  ;  it  is  possible 
to  decorate  only  temporarily.  The 
ornamentation  of  a  building  belongs 
to  its  architecture.  Its  decoration 
may  indicate  a  festive  season.  In 
decoration  we  beautify  the  whole,  in 
ornamentation  we  illusti-ate  parts.  A 
fine  window  with  rich  traceiy  and 
well-stained  glass  of  correct  design, 
greatly  ornainents  a  church.  ]3y  too 
free  a  use  of  gdding,  colour,  or  flowers, 
it  is  quite  possible  to  over-decorate  a 
churcn. 
"  At  church  with   meek    and   unaffected 

grace. 
His  looks  adorned  the  venerable  place." 
Goldsmith. 

"  I  have  Deen  told  by  them  that  have 
seen  both  that  our  Church  did  then  ex- 
ceed  the  Romish  in  ceremonies  and  decora- 
<4ons."— MAR^'KL. 

"  Milton,  though  he  fetched  this  beauti- 
ful circumstance  from  the  Iliad  and  ^Jieid, 
does  not  only  insert  it  as  a  poetica.\e>nOellish- 
rtient,  like  the  authors  above  mentioned, 
but  makes  an  artful  use  of  it  for  the  carry- 
ing on  of  his  imhle." —Spectator. 

ADROIT.    Expert.    Dexterous. 

Adroit  (Fr.  adroit,  a  and  droity 
straight)  is  literally  the  faculty  of 
going  straight  to  an  object.   It  is  used 


68 


SYNONYMS  [aDVANTAGEJ 


of  other  matters  than  those  of  physical 
manipulation,  as  an  adroit  answer.  It 
implies  an  unfixedness  of  subject- 
matter.  So,  for  example,  we  may  not 
say  adroit  upon  a  musical  instrument. 
It  implies  a  clever  versatility,  and  so 
may  be  negative  in  its  character.  We 
-nay  elude  or  parry  sis  well  as  thrust 
adroitly.  Adroitness  is  the  product 
of  natural  quickness  and  experience 
or  practice.  An  adroit  act  compasses 
its  end  with  rapidity  and  effectiveness, 
whether  in  speech  or  action.  Its 
movement  is  quick,  sudden,  tellinrr. 

Dexterous  (Lat.  dextcra, or  dextva, 
the  right  hand)  nearly  resembles 
Adroit,  so  that  in  some  cases  the  same 
act  might  be  designated  by  either  term; 
but  Adroit  refers  to  the  thing  done, 
Dext  erous  to  the  mode,  means,  or  im- 
plement of  doing  it.  An  adroit  stroke ; 
dexterous  management.  The  adroit 
use  of  the  bow  would  consist  in  cle- 
verly hitting  the  mark  on  one  occasion. 
Its  dexterous  use  would  mean  the 
same  thing  done  habitually.  We  may 
say,  ''Throughout  the  whole  course 
he  managed  his  horses  dexterously, 
and  turned  one  dangerous  corner  most 
adroitly."  I n  moral  matters  dexterity 
is  a  terai  of  unreserved  approbation. 
Not  so  adroitness.  The  dexterous 
man  manages  skilfully,  the  adroit  man 
ingeniously  and  elusively.  A  dex- 
terous man  holds  his  course  through 
difficulties,  an  adroit  man  finds  a  way 
of  escape  from  them.  Even  the  dex- 
terous examiner  finds  difficulty  in 
dealing  with  an  adroit  witness. 

Expert  (  Lat.  expertus,  part,  ofexpc- 
r'lri,  to  try)  is  a  word  implying  trained 
dexterity.  Expertness  is  determined 
by  some  art  or  system  of  rules.  It  is  the 
result  of  practice,  that  is,  of  often  doing 
the  same  thing,  until  at  last  it  comes  to 
be  done  with  a  calculable  regularity, 
so  that  the  effect  becomes  less  intense, 
and  the  end  more  certain  and  eflfec- 
tive. 

"There  were  no  marks  of  expertness  in 
the  trick  played  by  the  woman  of  Endor 
upcjii  the  perturbed  mind  of  Saul."—  CoGAN. 

'•  They  smooth  the  plank  very  expe- 
ditiously and  dexterously  with  their  adzes, 
and  can  take  off  a  thin  coat  from  a  whole 
plank  without  missing  a  stroke." — Cook's 
Voyages. 

"  M«y  taere  not  be  a  great  deal  in  the 


ingenious  versatile,  in  the  skill  and  adroit- 
ness of  the  artist,  acquired  as  yours  has 
been  by  repeated  acts  and  continual  prac- 
tice."— Bishop  Horne. 

ADVANTAGE.  Benefit.  Boon. 
Profit.     Tmerest. 

These  terms  are  synonyms  in  so 
far  as  they  denote  something  by  which 
a  person  is  bettered — that  is,  they 
are  all  relative  forms  of  good.  But 
the  good  is  regarded  from  different 
points  of  view.  An  Advantage  (Fr. 
avantage,avant,fo)-ward;  Lat.a6,  ante) 
is  that  which  puts  a  man  forward — 
that  is,  places  him  in  a  better  state  as 
regards  society  or  his  position  in  it, 
or  some  office  or  work  which  he  has 
to  do,  as  the  advantages  of  a  good 
education.  It  respects  external  cir- 
cumstances of  profit,  honour,  or  con- 
venience, and  turns  upon  the  wishes 
and  wants  of  life.  An  advantage  is 
not  a  final  form  of  good,  but  rather 
something  which  puts  us  in  the  way 
of  acquiring  further  good.  The  ad- 
vantageous is  not  only  desirable  but 
promotive  and  helpful. 

"  Whatever  advantages  I  obtain  by  my 
own  free  endeavours  and  right  use  of  those 
faculties  and  powers  I  have,  I  look  upon 
them  to  be  as  much  the  effects  of  God's 
providence  and  government  as  if  they  were 
given  me  immediately  by  Him  without  my 
acting." — WooiASTON. 

Benefit  (Lat.  ht"iitfdcere,sn'^.bmc- 
factum,  to  do  good)  is  anything  which 
makes  the  condition  of  the  person 
who  receives  it  happier  or  more  pro- 
sperous. It  may  be  conferred  upon 
us  by  another,  or  it  may  come  to  us 
as  the  result  of  a  process  directed  to 
the  purpose.  Some  benefits  are  con- 
ferred, others  are  reaped.  A  rich 
man  may  heap  benefits  upon  a  poor 
man.  Ihe  man  of  sedentary  habits 
takes  a  walk  for  the  benefit  of  his 
healtli.  Benefits  are  commonly  mat- 
ters of  the  body  or  the  estate.  The 
advance  of  mechanical  science  re- 
dounds to  the  benefit  of  the  human 
race. 

"  He  now  found  that  such  friends  as 
benefits  had  gathered  round  him  were  little 
estimable.  He  now  found  that  a  man> 
own  heart  must  be  ever  given  to  gain  that 
of  another."— Goldsmith, 

Profit  (Lat.  prbftcere,  to  go  far- 
ward,   to  be   useful)    is   so   far   like 


[adventurous]       DISCRIMI>.'ATED 


69 


tinl  addition  to  tlie  sum  of  our  well- 
being,  but  it  comes  to  us  in  a  peculiar 
way.  Jt  is  ^ain  arising  out  of  a 
thing — the  balance  of  benefit  after 
something  expended,  vrhether  in 
action,  m  labour,  or  in  money.  It  is 
in  its  fullest  sense  the  excess  of  acqui- 
sition over  expenditure  in  any  way  in 
which  those  words  may  be  applied. 
Advantages  may  come  to  us  adventi- 
tiously; benefits  may  be  conferred 
upon  us,  but  profit  is  always  the 
product  of  our  own  doings. 

"  The  revenue  derived  from  labour  is 
called  wages ;  that  derived  from  stock  by 
the  pei"sou  who  manages  or  employs  it  is 
called  -profit:'— kn AM  Smith. 

A  Boon  (Dan.  and  Sw.  hon,  a  peti- 
tion ;  see  Skeat's  Eti/m.  Diet.)  is  a 
specific  benefit,  a  private  and  per- 
sonal good^  a  gift  peculiarly  accept- 
able, meeting  m  a  peculiar  way  the 
circumstances  or  wants  of  the  indi- 
vidual. It  has  a  relative,  rather  than 
an  absolute  and  universal  value. 
What  is  a  great  boon  to  one  man  it 
might  not  be  worth  another's  while 
to  accept. 

"  If  you  mean  to  please  any  people  you 
must  give  them  the  boon  which  they  ask; 
not  what 


ou  may  think  better  for  them, 


out  of  a  kind  totally  different."— Burke. 

Interest  (Lat.  iuttrest,  it  concerns) 
expresses  both  the  fact  and  the  feel- 
ing of  concern.  It  is  in  the  former 
sense  that  we  have  to  deal  with  it 
here.  The  interest  of  a  person  or  a 
community  is  the  sum  total  of  what 
concerns  them  ;  the  aggregate  of  their 
well-being ;  all  that  it  hehoves  them 
to  possess  in  regard  to  happiness  and 
prosperity.  It  is  not  a  form  of  good, 
but  any  and  all  good,  as  it  relates  to 
them  specifically. 

"  Divisions  hinder  the  common  interest 
and  public  good."— Sir  W.  Temple. 

ADVENT.     Arrival. 

Both  these  terms  are  employed  to 
signify  the  coming  of  objects  in  space 
and  of  events  in  time.  But  Advent 
{Lat.  advhure,  part,  adventus)  signifies 
no  more  than  a  coming  to. 

Arrival  (Fr.  arriver,  for  which  see 
Bn.ACHET)  implies  progressive  move- 


ment, a  course  and  a  speciiic  destina- 
tion .  Advent  is  abstract,  arrival  is  spe- 
cific. Advent  regards  our  anticipation 
of  the  thing  that  comes,  which  is  ac- 
cordingly fulfilled  by  its  coming.  Arri- 
val regards  the  movement  of  the  thing 
that  comes,  which  is  accordingly  ter- 
minated when  a  given  point  is  reached. 

ADVENTURE.     Enterprise. 

Both  are  marked  occurrences  or 
transactions  of  which  the  issue  is  de- 
termined by  chance,  but  the  Adven- 
ture (^Fr.aventnrc,  h.J^at.  advent fira) 
befals  us,  and  the  Eni  ERrnisE  is 
sought.  We  undertake  enterprises, 
and  meet  with  adventures.  An  en- 
terprise {Yr.  entreprendre,  part,  eritre- 
pris,  to  undertake)  is  a  bold,  hazard- 
ous undertaking.  An  adventure  is 
something  befalling  us  of  an  unusual, 
perhaps  romantic  character.  The 
best  adventure  is  that  which  ends  in 
the  safety  of  the  ])arty  after  strange 
incidents  and  a  complication  of  perils. 
The  best  enterprise  is  that  which  ends 
in  the  success  of  the  part}^  after  a  com- 

flication  of  dangers  and  difficulties, 
t  was  an  indomitable  spirit  of  enter- 
prise which  led  the  Spanish  dis- 
coverers of  the  new  world.  The  lives 
of  Columbus,Cortes,  and  Pizarro  were 
full  of  adventures. 

ADVENTUROUS.  Enterpris- 
ing.    V  e  ntu  r  esom  e  . 

The  first  of  these,  the  Adven- 
turous (Fr.  aventnre,  an  enterprise; 
L.  Lat.  adventura),  is  one  who  is  pri- 
marily led  by  a  spirit  of  boldness,  and 
either  courts,  or  at  least  disregards 
danger.  The  Enterprising  (Fr.cn- 
treprise,undertakingyenterprise)  is  pri- 
marily led  by  the  desire  of  achieving 
a  bold  scheme  or  undertaking  in  itself 
profitable  or  good.  The  enterprising 
combines  calculation  with  boldness 
to  a  gi-eater  extent  than  the  adven- 
turous, vvhose  character  is  liable  to 
degenerate  iuto  the  rosh  or  foolhardy. 
The  enterprising  is  not  deterred  by 
peril,  the  adventurous  loves  it  for  its 
own  sake.  Yet  adventurous  is  a  lof- 
tier term  than  Venturesome.  The 
former  expresses  the  character,  the 
latter  the  spirit  or  act  of  the  moment. 
There  is  a  chivalrous  element  in  the 
adventurous.  The  venturesome  thing 


70 


is  orlinary,  but  attended  with  risk. 
An  adventurous  course,  a  venturesome 
act.  Columbus  was  adventurous.  lie 
who  would  trust  his  weight  upon  thin 
ice  is  venturesome. 

"I  thence 
Invoke  thy  aid  to  mine  adventurous  song. 
That  with  no  middle  flight  intends  to  soar 
Above  th'  Ionian  Mount,  while  it  pursues 
Things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or  rhyme." 
Milton. 

"  Through  hardy  enterprise 
Many  great  regions  are  discovered." 

Spenser. 
'•  It  must  ever  redound  unto  the  honour 
of  his  memory,  that  bold  and  venturesome 
net  of  his  in  so  bravely  tasting  oif  the  long- 
usurped  power  of  the  Pope  in  these  realms." 
— Strtpe. 

ADVi:RSE.  Contrary.  Oppo- 
site. Inimical.  Hostile.  Repug- 
nant.    Averse. 

Adverse  (Lat.  adversiis,  turned 
towards,  hostile),  belongs  both  to  ex- 
ternal circumstances  or  influences, 
and  to  the  sentiments  or  acts  of  men. 
That  whicli  is  adverse  acts  to  the 
hindrance  or  disadvantage  of  another. 
It  is  commonly  employed  of  that 
which  tends  to  thwart  our  plans  or 
movements  by  an  opposing  force  or 
influence,  either  actively  resisting,  or, 
more  commonly,  negatively  impeding 
and  obstructing.  Adverse  circum- 
stances retard  and  make  more  difficult 
the  progress  of  our  purposes  and 
schemes.  Adverse  winds  exercise  a 
counteractive  force  on  the  movements 
of  the  ship.  Opposition  of  sentiment 
makes  others  adverse  to  our  designs. 

"  Happy  were  it  for  us  all  if  we  bore 
prosperity  as  well  and  wisely  as  we  endure 
our  adverse  fortune." — Southev. 

Contrary  (Lat.  cojitrdrius,  contra, 
against)  does  not  imply  the  specific 
relation  involved  in  adverse,  but  is  a 
more  abstract  term.  A  thing  is  ad- 
verse in  the  way  in  which  it  operates, 
contrary  in  its  own  nature.  The  ad- 
verse is  tlie  contrary  in  operation. 
Things  ai'e  contrary  which  have  very 
great  unlikeness  to  each  other  in  cha- 
racter and  attributes.  They  are  Op- 
posite (Lat.  opponcre,  part,  oppos^tus, 
to  set  over  against)  when  they  have 
this  unlikeness  in  tlie  ^eatest  pos- 
sible degree.    There  is  in  opposite  a 


SYNONYMS  [adverse] 


geometrical  exactitude  which  does 
not  belong  to  contrary.  Things  may 
be  more  or  less  contrary,  but  not  more 
or  less  opposite.  The  cont^-ary  has 
wide  differences,  the  opposite  has 
nothing  in  common.  The  contrary 
negatives  tlie  majority  of  the  attri- 
butes ;  the  0])posite  negatives  them 
all.  Contrary  is  to  quality  what  op- 
posite is  to  position.  Opposition  is 
complete  and  measured  contrariety. 
So  virtue  is  contrary  to  vice  and  op- 
posite to  vice — contrary  in  its  total 
unlikeness  in  character,  manifesta- 
tions, motives,  and  practical  effects; 
o])j)Osite  in  that  its  definition  might 
consist  in  affirming  all  that  is  denied 
and  denying  all  that  is  affirmed  of 
virtue.  Contrary  is  a  moral  and  me- 
taphysical, as  opposite  is  a  mathema- 
tical term.  The  opposite  side  of  the 
street  would  be  the  north  side,  if  the 
speaker  were  on  the  south  ;  the  con- 
trary side  would  be  the  opposite  to 
that  about  which  some  idea  had  been 
entertained  or  some  statement  made. 
Opi)Osite  is  static  in  its  character, 
contrary  is  dynamic.  Contrary  things 
are  sure  to  come  into  some  collision 
with  each  other  ;  opposite  things  are 
simply  utterly  removed. 

"  Many  of  them  (the  bones  of  the  human 
body)  conspire  to  one  and  the  same  action, 
and  all  this  contrarily  to  the  laws  of  specific 
gi-avity." — Ray. 

"  Novels  by  which  the  reader  is  misled 
into  another  sort  of  pleasure  opposite  to 
that  designed  in  an  epic  poem." — Dryden. 

The  remaining  synonyms  all  ex- 
press adverseness,  contrariety,  or  op- 
fosition  in  human  feeling  or  action. 
NiMiCAL(Lat.  mtmlciis)  and  Hostile 
(Lat.  hostilis)  are  very  similar,  but 
Inimical  is  not  so  strong  a  term  as 
Hostile,  rather  implying  the  posses- 
sion of  such  feelings  or  qualities  as 
would  naturally  lead  to  oj)position  or 
a  refusal  to  aid ;  while  Hostile  denotes 
a  more  positive,  open,  and  energetic 
display  of  such  opposition.  The  ad- 
verse tends  to  thwart,  the  inimical  to 
discourage,  the  hostile  to  defeat  and 
destroy. 

"  We  are  at  war  with  a  system  which  by 
its  essence  is  inimicai  to  ail  other  govern- 
ments."—BuEKK. 

Repugna  NT  (  Lat.  repugnare^  to  fight 


[adviceJ 


DISCRIMINATED 


71 


against)  is  now  almost  exclusively 
applied  to  things,  not  persons.  It  de- 
notes that  which  either  excites  a 
feeling  of  dislike  in  a  person,  or  is 
essentially  discordant  with  something 
else,  and  so  both  contradicts  its  cha- 
racter and  is  inconsistent  with  its 
working.  That  is  repugnant  which 
possesses  an  incompatible  character 
or  attributes — a  contrariety  in  matters 
of  mind,  feeling,  emotion,  passion, 
spirit,  principle,  purpose,  character. 
An  act  may  be  consistent  with  the  letter 
of  a  law  but  repugnant  to  its  spirit. 

"  liepugnant  to  the  principles  of  human 
natiire," — Stillingfleet. 

Like  Inimical  and  HosTiLE,but  un- 
like repugnant.  Averse  (Lat.  auecsas, 
alienated,  part.of  ai'fr<t/e,<o  turnauay) 
is  applicable  only  to  beings  of  con- 
sciousness and  will,  and  that  in  refer- 
ence to  their  inclination  and  tastes.  We 
are  adverse  to  what  we  disapprove, 
averse  to  what  we  dislike;  though  it 
may  often  happen  that  the  two  states 
of  mind  may  coexist  towards  the  same 
object.  One  may  be  adverse  to  cruelty 
as  feeling  bound  to  oppose  it,  averse  to 
it  as  feeling  an  abhorrence  of  it.  We 
are  averse  to  what  is  opposed  to  our 
reason  and  to  what  is  uncongenial  to 
our  tastes ;  to  entering  upon  such 
courses  or  taking  such  steps  as  we 
may  feel  to  be  on  any  account  objec- 
tionable; as  well  as  to  acts,  conduct,  or 
employments  which  are  foreign  to  our 
nature. 

"■  What  female  heart  can  gold  despise? 
What  cat's  averse  to  fish  ?"         Gray. 

ADVERSITY.     Misery. 

Adversity  (Eat,  adversitdtem)  is 
an  untoward  condition  of  circum- 
stances in  regard  to  individuals. 

Misery  (Lat.  mHseria')  is  a  pitiable 
condition  of  persons  in  regard  to 
happiness.  Misery  is  great  unhappi- 
ness,  which  may  spring  from  pain 
of  body  or  mind,  destitution,  disap- 
pointment, bereavement,  desertion, 
and  other  such  causes.  Adversity  is 
the  failure  of  the  good,  the  desirable, 
or  the  successful  in  life. 

ADVERTISE.     Publish. 

To    Publish — literally,    to    make 


public  (Lat.  piibllcare) — is  the  more 
general,  for  we  may  publish  by  simply 
speaking  openly  on  a  subject,  or  a 
general  mass  of  information  may  be 
published  in  a  book. 

To  Advertise  (Fr.  avertir,  Lat.  ad- 
verttre)  is  to  turn  the  attention  of  per- 
sons or  of  the  public  to  some  specific 
fact  of  presumed  interest ;  and  is  not 
taken  to  include  oral  but  only  written 
or  printed  forms  of  notice,  when  the 
noun  Advertisement  is  employed. 
This  follows  naturally  from  the  fact 
that  such  modes  of  specific  publication 
are  the  most  effective,  and  therefore 
common.  We  publish  a  thing  when  we 
simply  give  it  circulation,  notoriety, 
and  authenticity ;  we  publish  what  we 
conceive  to  be  matter  of  general  in- 
terest under  a  wish  that  something 
known  to  us  shall  not  be  unknown  to 
the  world  :  we  adopt  such  means  as 
are  calculated  best  to  make  it  widely 
known.  That  which  is  published  is 
of  the  nature  of  a  fact,  an  event,  or  a 
circumstance.  The  term  is  not  ex- 
pressive of  either  praise  or  blame, 
rhe  occurrences  of  the  day  are  pub- 
lished in  newspapers  to  the  general 
convenience.  A  treacherous  friend 
will  publish  a  fact  which  was  confided 
to  his  keeping.  That  which  we  pub- 
lish is  new,  that  which  we  advertise 
may  be  not  absolutely  new  in  itself. 
To  advertise  is  to  draw  the  attention 
of  others  to  what  it  is  essential  that 
they  should  know,  or  which  it  con- 
cerns them  not  to  neglect. 

"  The  great  skill  in  an  advertiser  is 
chiefly  seen  in  the  style  that  he  makes  use 
of.  He  is  to  mention  the  universal  esteem 
or  general  reputation  of  things  that  were 
never  heard  of." — Tatler. 

"  Everj-  freeman  has  an  undoubted  right 
to  lay  what  sentiments  he  pleases  before  the 
public.  To  forbid  this  is  to  destroy  the 
freedom  of  the  press ;  but  if  he  publislies 
what  is  improper,  mischievous,  or  illegal, 
he  must  take  the  consequence  of  his  own 
temerity."— Blackstoxe. 

ADVICE.     Counsel. 

Both  Advice  (^Yr.  avis,  opinion ;  a 
vis,  i.e.  ad  visum,  according  to  what  ha-i 
seemed  right)  and  Counsel  (Fr.  con- 
seil,  Lat.  consilium)  are  given  for  the 
practical  direction  of  conduct.  Advice 
IS  given  by  one  who  is,  or  affects  to  be, 


72 


SYiXONYMS 


possessed  of  superior  knowledge. 
Hence  advisers  are  often  official  or 
professional,  as  being  conversant  with 
some  particular  branch  of  knowledge 
or  dejjartment  of  affairs,  as  a  legal 
or  medical  adviser.  Advice  concerns 
the  result  rather  ti)an  the  means  by 
which  it  is  arrived  at.  If  we  have 
gr^-at  confidence  in  the  opinion  of 
another,  Ave  are  content  to  take  his 
advice  and  act  upon  it  without  in- 
C]uiring  into  the  grounds  of  it,  which 
in  many  cases  we  might  not  be  com- 
petent to  understand. 

Counsel  is  given  by  those  who 
are  or  affect  to  be  of  superior  wis- 
dom and  experience  in  the  general 
affairs  of  life.  The  trained  man  is 
qualified  to  give  advice,  the  sage 
or  wise  man  to  give  counsel.  Coun- 
sel commonly  enters  more  into  the 
reason  of  things  and  the  grounds  of 
preference  for  one  course  of  conduct 
rather  than  another.  Advice  is  less 
reciprocal  than  counsel.  Advice  is 
simply  given  from  one  to  another,  and 
^ometimes  gratuitously  and  without 
being  welcome.  Counsel  is  asked  for 
as  being  felt  to  be  needed.  By  the 
very  force  of  the  term  it  is  a  collective 
or  conjoint  act.  Many  may  take 
counsel  together,  and  it  has  happened 
in  many  such  cases  that  the  advice  of 
one  has  determined  the  rest.  Counsel 
is  good  or  evil ;  advice  is  sound  or 
unsound.  Advice  should  be  prompt 
and  confidential,  counsel  kind  and 
sincere,  modest,  and  without  affec- 
tation of  superiority.  Advice  is  au- 
thoritative, counsel  sympathetic. 
Advice  is  used  also  in  the  sense  of 
formal  notification,  with  which  we  are 
no  farther  concerned  here  than  as  it 
shows  that  the  element  of  information 
predominates  over  that  of  deliberation, 
which  attaches  to  counsel. 

"  We  may  give  advice,  but  we  cannot 
give  conduct."— Franklin. 

('J'he  saying  is  one  of  Rochefou- 
cauld's.) 

The  following  is  an  apt  definition  of 
counsel  : — 

"  Counsel  is  where  a  man  saith  Do,  or  do 
not  this,  and  deducetli  his  reasons  from  the 
benefit  that  arriveth  by  it  to  him  to  whom 
he  saith  it." — HoBBJiS. 


[advisedly] 

DiajliKRATKLY. 


ADVISEDLY 

PuitPOSELV. 

He  who  acts  Advisidi.v  (see  Ad- 
visr)  does  so  with  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  circumstances  and  consequences 
of  his  conduct.  He  who  acts  De- 
lib  kh  ATELv  {dclibtrare,  de  and  I'lbrdre, 
to  weigh )  takes  time  to  weigh  the 
matter.  He  who  acts  Puhposkly  (see 
Puhpose)  has  set  it  before  him  by  a 
distinct  intention.  The  first  cannot 
plead  that  he  erred  through  ignorance, 
nor  the  second  that  he  was  hurried, 
nor  the  last  that  his  deed  was  acci- 
dental. 

AFFABLE.     Courteous.      Con- 

DESCENDIN'G.    .  ACCESSIBLE. 

Affable  (Lat.  affdbiUs),  is  literally 
easy  of  address.  By  usage,  a  superior 
in  whom  no  pride  makes  him  difficult 
of  access,  who  is  naturally  disinclined 
to  shut  himself  up  in  his  own  dignity, 
is  said  to  be  affable.  To  be  afiable  is 
to  be  easy  without  familiarity,  and  to 
be  gracious  without  the  air  of  con- 
descension. 

The  demeanour  of  the  affable 
flows  from  his  nature,  as  that  of  he 
Courteous  (literally, him  who  has  the 
manners  of  courts)  springs  from  tr  in- 
ing  and  good  breeding.  Affabilit;  is 
in  superiors.  Courtesy  may  be 'be- 
tween equals,  yet  it  involves  some  de- 
gree of  social  rank  common  to  the 
parties.  Being  more  external  to  the 
person  than  Affable, and  of  the  nature 
of  something  won  rather  than  inherent, 
Courteous  admits  of  a  more  objective 
use  than  affable.  An  afiable  disposi- 
tion ;  a  courteous  reception.  Cour- 
teous expresses  no  more  than  the 
gi-acefully  respectful,  afl["able  implies 
an  insinuation  of  good-will.  One 
might  be  punctiliously'  courteous,  yet 
by  no  means  affable.  Indeed,  a 
studied  courtesy  is  sometimes  substi- 
tuted for  affability  in  the  case  of  those 
who  wish  to  keep  others  at  a  distance. 
Courtesy,  however,  extends  to  acts, 
while  affability  is  confined  to  manner. 
Affability  makes  people  agreeable, 
courtesy  makes  them  obliging. 

Condescending  (  La.t. condesceiidtre, 
to  come  down)  is  a  term  which  denotes 
no  more  than  such  a  stooping  to  the 


[affect] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


73 


condition  of"  inferiors  as  is  compatible 
with  either  humility  or  pride.  There 
is  a  moral  and  practical  condescensioL 
rthich  is  in  the  highest  degree  vir- 
tuous and  graceful,  as  when  the  strong 
condescend  to  the  weak,  the  wise  to 
the  ignorant,  the  bold  to  the  timid,  the 
upright  and  self-controlled  to  the  de- 
fects and  infirmities  of  others ;  and 
there  is  a  formal  and  ceremonious 
condescension  which  is  compatible 
with  a  great  amount  of  pride,  carry- 
ing with  it  an  assumption  of  the 
elevated  or  meritorious,  and  is  in 
short  an  arrogant  politeness. 

Accessible  (Lat.  accessibtlis),  as 
at  present  employed,  denotes  a  kind  of 
official  virtue,  a  readiness  to  communi- 
cate where  communication  is  desired, 
especially  on  matters  of  business  and 
with  persons  high  in  office. 

"  This  led  him  (Charles)  to  a  grave  re- 
served deportment  in  which  he  forgot  the 
civilities  and  the  affability  that  the  nation 
naturally  loved,  to  which  Jhey  had  been 
long  accustomed." — BuRNliT. 

"  We  cannot  omit  to  observe  this  courtly, 
shall  I  call  it,  or  good  quality  in  him ,  that  he 
was  courteous  and  did  seem  to  study  to 
oblige."— Strype. 

"  Spain's  mighty  monarch 
In  gracious  clemency  does  condescend 
Ou  these  conditions  to  become  your  friend." 
Dryden. 

AFFAIR.     Business.     Concern. 

There  is  a  loose  c-Dnversational  use 
of  these  words  in  which  it  may  be  well 
to  distinguish  them,  though  the  two 
latter  are  not  dignified  enouo;h  for  any 
high  literary  connexion.  \Ve  speak 
of  an  Affair  (O.  Fr.  afaire,  i.e.  a 
/aire),  when  we  refer  to  something 
which  has  happened  without  caring 
to  be  specific  about  it,  but  allude  to  it 
in  a  liglit  and  superficial  manner.  An 
affair  is  any  fact  which  personally 
affects,  whether  as  an  occurrence,  a 
duty  or  obligation,  a  transaction  or  em- 
ployment; and  in  the  plural,  Affairs, 
the  aggregate  of  such  things  as  they 
interest,  affect,  or  devolve  upon,indi' 
viduals  or  communities.  According 
to  the  character  so  attaching  to  the 
idea  is  the  epithet  qualifying  it.  Af- 
fairs are  trivial  or  serious,  onerous  or 
light,  political,  pecuniary,  domestic. 


I  personal,  simple  or  complicated,  ma- 
nageable or  mysterious,  and  the  like. 

As  an  affair  is  that  which  interests, 
so  a  Business  (A.  S.  bysig,  busy) 
is  that  which  occupies  or  employs. 
An  affair  is  external,  but  aflfects  per- 
sons. 

Business  and  Concern  (Fr.  con- 
cerner,  Lat.  concenicre,  to  mix  together) 
are  personal.  A  business  demands 
the  time  or  engages  the  attention — a 
concern  excites  the  regard  and  touches 
the  welfare.  A  business  is  easy  or 
difficult,  slight  or  troublesome,  tedious 
or  quickly  despatched,  and  the  like. 
A  concern  is  public  or  private,  and 
can  hardly  be  otherwise  than  grave 
unless  we  unduly  magnify  trifles ;  and 
maj  be  serious  and  even  momentous. 
Affairs  are  said  to  be  administered, 
business  transacted,  concerns  ma- 
naged. Men  are  bound  to  do  their 
business  lawfully  and  honestly,  yet 
not  to  allow  the  aflfairs  of  this  world 
to  supplant  the  concerns  of  the  next. 

"  An  affair  which  had  no  manner  of  re- 
lation to  money."— Steele. 

"We  may  indeed  say  that  our  part  does 
not  suit  us,  and  that  we  could  perform  an- 
other better;  but  this,  says  Epictetus,  is 
not  oar  business." — AnmsoN. 

"  Concerns  where  truth  and  honour  are 
engaged." — Steele. 

AFFECT.  Concern.  Influence. 
Move.     Touch. 

That  Affects  us  (Lat.  affectdre^  to 
draw  to  oneself)  which  produces  a 
specific  alteration  of  our  condition 
whether  in  body  or  mind.  Inanimate 
as  well  as  animate  substances  are  af- 
fected by  what  produces  a  different 
physical  state.  Our  frames  are  af- 
fected by  cold  and  heat  as  our  minds 
are  afiected  by  joy  and  sorrow,  or  our 
circumstances  by  prosperous  and  ad- 
verse events.  Variations  of  tempera- 
ture affect  the  thermometer. 

"  Incorporal  it  cannot  be,  because  it 
(light)  sometime  affecteth  the  sight  of  the 
eye  with  offence." — Raleigh. 

Concern  (see  above)  is  applied 
only  to  matters  of  human  interest. 
That  concerns  us  which  has  atendency 
to  affect  our  condition  for  better  or 
for  worse  ;  and  conversely  we  are  said 
to  be  concerned  when  we  experience 
the  anxiety  or  eager  interest  wliich 


74 


SYNONYMS 


[affectJ 


thing's  having  that  tendency  are  calcu- 
lated to  excite  whether  on  our  own  ac- 
count or  that  of  others.  Tliat  which 
affects  us  is  of  the  nature  of  fact ;  that 
which  concerns  us  is  of  the  nature  of 
probability,  except  when  concern  is 
used  in  the  sense  of  sympathetic  inte- 
rest. 

To  Influence  (Fr.  influence,  Lat. 
injiiientia)  is  to  affect  in  a  particular 
mode,  that  is,  by  a  gentle  penetrative 
or  insinuating  power.  So  we  use  the 
term  of  such  forces  as  being  effective 
are  also  occult;  e.g.  magnetic  in- 
fluence, planetary  influence.  In  re- 
gard to  intelligent  beings,  influence 
extends  beyond  states  to  motives. 
"  He  was  little  affected  by  the  argu- 
ment," would  mean  that  his  state  of 
mind,  his  opinions,  or  his  feelings, 
underwent  little  or  no  change.  "  He 
was  little  influenced  by  it,  "would  mean 
that  his  acts  or  resolutions  were  little 
likely  to  be  altered  in  consequence. 
*'  Hfc  was  much  concerned  at  what  he 
heard,"  would  mean  that  his  feelings 
were  wrought  upon  and  his  interest 
enlisted.  That  which  affects  usually 
acts  in  a  direct  and  uniform  manner, 
that  which  influences  in  a  manner 
more  indirect  and  uncertain. 

"  The  fall  of  a  cottage  by  the  accidents  of 
time  and  weather  is  almost  unheeded,  while 
the  ruin  of  a  tower  which  a  neighbourhood 
hath  gaaed  at  for  ages  with  admiration 
strikes  all  observers  with  concern" — 
Bishop  Hurd. 

"  It  shows  the  anxiety  of.  the  great  men 
who  influenced  the  conduct  of  affairs  at 
that  great  event  to  make  the  revolution  a 
parent  of  settlement  and  not  a  nursery  of 
future  revolutions." — BuRKK. 

As  a  moral  term,  Move  (Lat.  m6 
v'tre)  preserves  the  analogy  of  its  phy- 
sical applications.  The  idea  of  the 
verb  Move  is,  first,  that  of  change  of 
place  brought  about  in  the  constituent 
elements  of  a  body  or  in  the  whole  of 
it.  In  that  sense  movement  is  op- 
posed to  quiescence  or  rest.  But  se- 
condly, as  any  movement  which  is  not 
vibration  only  removes  from  one  spot 
and  places  on  another,  in  that  way 
movement  involves  the  idea  of  aban- 
donment and  of  approximation — a 
cnange  of  place  as  well  as  mere  un- 
rest. Hence  in  its  moi-al  meaning,  to 
move  has  a  twofold  sense;   first,  to 


agitate,  disturb,  or  produce  emotion, 
and  secondly  to  persuade  or  prompt  to 
action.  To  move  is  to  bring  out  of  a 
state  of  indifference  or  of  inaction. 

To  Touch  (Fr.  toucher)  bears  to 
Move  the  same  analogy  in  its  moral 
as  in  its  physical  use.  VVhen  we  touch 
we  produce  an  impression,  and  awaken 
in  sentient  creatures  a  sensibility; 
when  we  move  we  produce  an  agi- 
tation. We  are  touched  first  and 
moved  afterwards.  A  stern  judge  may 
be  touched  by  what  he  sees  or  hears 
without  being  moved  from  his  purpose 
or  decision.  One  is  touched  with 
the  tenderer  sentiments,  moved  with 
the  stronger  emotions  ;  touched  with 
pity,  sympathy,  compassion,  regret ; 
moved  with  anger,  indignation, 
hatred,  revenge,  or  with  the  same 
tilings  as  those  by  which  we  are 
touched,  but  in  a  stronger  degree. 
"Touched  with  pity,  he  was  moved 
even  to  tears." 

"  And  in  effect  there  is  a  strange 
movingness  ;  and  if  the  epithet  be  not  too 
bold,  a  kind  of  heavenly  magic  to  be  found 
in  some  passages  of  the  Scripture." — BoYLK. 

"  The  last  fable  shows  how  touching/]/  the 
poet  argues  in  love  affairs." — Addison, 
Ovid's  Metam. 

AFFECT.     Assume.     Pretend. 

These  w'ords  are  here  taken  as  ex- 
pressing the  idea  in  common  of  taking 
to  one's  self  and  exhibiting  as  one's 
own  that  which  in  some  way  or  de- 
gree is  not  so.  The  terms  might  in 
some  cases  be  used  interchangeably, 
as  to  affect,  assume,  or  pretend  sur- 
prise ;  but  the  ideas  expressed  by  the 
words  would  be  different. 

Assume  (Lat.  assumcre)  is  the  sim- 
plest term.  It  is  to  take  to  one's  self 
something,  by  way  of  appropriating  it 
or  wearing  it  as  if  it  fitted  and  belonged 
to  us.  In  this  way  material  articles 
m  ay  be  assumed  if  they  carry  w  ith  them 
any  significance  as  a  badge  or  cogni 
zance.  VV  hen  something  morally  cha 
racteristic  is  assumed,  it  is  implied  that 
the  assumption  does  not  sit  naturally 
upon  us;  as,  when  a  man  assumes  an 
air  of  indifference,  either  the  feeling  is 
not  quite  real,  or  the  exhibition  of  it 
is  forced  and  exaggerated.  In  such 
cases  we  assume  with  the  view  of 
making  an  impression  upon  others. 


[affectionate]    discriminated. 


1% 


"  Nothing  has  been  more  common  in  all 
ages  than  to  see  faction  and  ambition  as- 
suming the  mark  of  religion." — Bishop 
PORTEUS. 

To  Affect  (see  above)  denotes  a 
torced,  studied,  and  sustained  as- 
sumption of  something-  which  is  more 
than  an  external  thing,  such  as  may 
be  simply  assumed ;  but  some  quality, 
feeling,  taste,  preference,  knowledge, 
desire,  love,  habit,  custom,  mode, 
style,  or  demeanour.  We  affect  with 
the  view  not  only,  as  in  assumption,  of 
impressing  others,  but  of  misleading 
them  as  to  our  inner  mind  or  state  of 
feeling.  We  assume  arrogantly,  we  af- 
fect hypocritically  ;  we  assume  in  or- 
der to  gain  an  advantage  over  others, 
we  affect  in  order  to  conciliate  them. 
It  is  commonly  pride  which  leads  us 
to  assume,  and  deference  to  affect. 

"  Few  know  thy  value  and  few  taste  thy 

sweets. 
Though  many  boast  thy  favours,  and  nffect 
To  understand  and  choose  thee  for  their 

own."  CowPER. 

Pretend  (Lat.  praiendere)  is  lite- 
rally to  hold  out  to  observation.  It  is 
less  demonstrative  than  Assuw  e,  and 
moreunrealthan  Affect.  One  assumes 
what  is  not  natural,  and  affects  what 
is  not  genuine ;  but  one  pretends  that 
which,  though  in  itself  false,  is  put 
forwai-d  as  true.  It  aims  at  deception 
and  at  some  profit  from  the  fraud,  and 
this  not  in  demeanour  only,  but  spe- 
cific words.  Yet  tliere  is  anotlier 
force  of  tlie  word  which  comes  out  in 
the  form  of  the  noun  -pretensmiy  and 
which  is  by  no  means  the  same  as 
pretence,  in  this  sense  to  pretend 
to  a  thing  is  to  aspire  to  it.  We 
might  say  of  a  man  that  he  has  con- 
siderable pretensions  to  learning, 
without  at  all  menning  that  they  were 
deceptive  or  groundless.  In  this  way 
pretension  is  the  putting  forth  of  a 
claim  or  the  assertion  of  a  right,  and 
pi'etend  supposes  a  justice  that  ought 
to  be  rendered.  Pretension  thus  be- 
comes a  synonym  with  aspiration. 
One  aspires  to  what  one  desires  to  ob- 
tain as  a  lofty  acquisition ;  one  pretends 
in  cases  where  the  hope  seems  justified 
by  one's  estimate  of  one's  own  worthi- 
ness. One  aspires  in  secret,  one  pre- 
tends -openly.     If  we  miss  the  first  we 


grieve,  if  the  second  we  are  humiliated. 
In  the  following  quotation  the  twofold 
aspect  of  pretend  is  involved : — 

"  It  is  the  shallow,  unimproved  intellects 
tliat  are  the  confident  -pretenders  to  cer- 
tainty, as  if.  contrary  to  the  adage,  science 
had  no  friend  but  ignorance." — Glanvill. 

AFFECTIONATE.  Kind.  Foxo. 

Affectionate  (  Lat.affectiunemJ'eel- 
ing,  of  mind  or  body)  is  literally  the 
quality  of  being,  or  the  tendency  to  be 
moved  towards  an  object  with  tender- 
ness and  good-will.  It  regards  in  parti- 
cular some  endearing  relationship ;  as 
we  say,  an  affectionate  father,  husband, 
wife,  son,  daughter,  friend.  Affection  is 
a  natural,  instinctive  feeling.  It  has 
not  the  reasoning  attachment  of  friend- 
ship, nor  the  ardour  of  love,  but  is 
(juite  compatible  with  the  first,  and 
may  grow  into  the  second.  It  is  kept 
alive  bv  habitual  converse,  and  is  apt 
to  be  altogether  lost  under  separation. 
It  may  be  felt  towai'd  the  lower  ani- 
mals, and  reciprocated  by  them. 

Kindness  (literally,  a  feeling  of  kin 
or  kijid)  belongs  rather  to  natural 
temperament  than  specific  association. 
It  is  possible  to  be  kind  to  strangers, 
and  to  persons  generally.  The  epi- 
thet kind  qualifies  actions ;  affection- 
ate only  feelings  and  dispositions. 
Affection  is  measured  by  feeling, 
kindness  by  treatment.  Kindness  is 
often  a  duty  or  a  virtue  where  affec- 
tion would  be  quite  out  of  place,  aa 
from  a  master  to  a  servant. 

Fond  (properly,  part,  of  old  verb, 
fonnen,iohefoolish,t(nlote)ret&insmnch 
of  its  etymological  character.  It  ex- 
presses the  weak,  self-indulgent  side  of 
affection.  If  this  is  carried  to  the  extent 
of  over-indulgence,  the  object  has  too 
much  power  or  influence,  and  fondness 
becomes  servitude,  whether  to  inani- 
mate things  or  animate ;  for  fond  is  em- 
ployed, unlike  the  others,  of  immaterial 
objects,  and  especially  of  occupations, 
pursuits,  pleasures.  So  characteristic 
IS  weakness  of  the  tendency  of  fond- 
ness, that  in  some  connexions  the 
term  fond  is  used  as  simply  equivalent 
to  foolish,  as  a  fond,  that  is,  unfounded 
imagination — one  in  which  inclination 
to  believe  has  taken  the  place  of 
truth.  So  in  Articles  of  Religion,xxii.» 
"  a  fond  thing,  vainly  invented." 


76 


Co. 


AFFINITY.  Relationshii- 
SANGUiNiTv.     Kindred. 

Of  these,  the  first  stands  to  the 
second  as  species  to  genus.  Rei-a- 
rioNsniP  (Lat.  rcldlibnem,  reference) 
expresses  in  the  hroadest  way  the 
union  of  two  things  in  a  third,  wliich 
is  the  foundation  of  the  relationship, 
or  as  it  was  called  by  the  schoolmen, 
"  fundamentum  relationis." 

"Thus  in  the  relation  of  gi-eater  and  less 
between  two  magnitudes,  the  fundamentum 
relationis  is  the  fact,  that  one  of  the  two 
naagnitudes  could,  under  certain  conditions, 
ne  included  in  without  entirely  filling  the 
space  occupied  by  the  other  magnitude.  In 
the  relation  of  master  and  servant,  the 
fundamentum  relationis  is  the  fact  that 
the  one  has  undertaken,  or  is  compelled  to 
perform  certain  services  for  the  benefit 
and  at  the  bidding  of  the  other.  Examples 
might  be  indefinitely  multiplied,  but  it  is 
already  obvious  that  whenever  two  things 
are  said  to  be  related,  there  is  some  fact 
or  series  of  facts  into  which  they  both  enter ; 
and  that  whenever  any  two  things  are  in- 
volved in  some  one  fact  or  series  of  facts, 
we  may  ascribe  to  these  two  things  a  mu- 
tual relation  grounded  on  the  fact.  Even 
if  they  have  nothing  in  common  but  what 
is  common  to  all  things,  that  they  are 
members  of  the  universe,  we  call  that  a 
relation,  and  denominate  them  fellow-crea- 
tures, fellow-beings,  or  fellow-denizens  of 
the  universe.  But  in  proportion  as  the  fact 
into  which  the  two  objects  enter  as  parts 
is  of  a  more  sj)ecial  and  peculiar,  or  of  a 
more  complicated  nature,  so  also  is  the  re- 
lation grounded  upon  it.  And  there  are 
as  many  conceivable  relations  as  there  are 
conceivable  kinds  of  fact  in  which  two 
things  can  be  jointly  concerned." — J.  S. 
Mill. 

Affinity  (Lat.  ajfmitdiem)  is  a 
Kind  of  relationship,  namely  that 
which  consists  in  closeness  of  ngree- 
ment,  conformity,  or  connexion,  the 
result  of  natural  and  inherent  homo- 
geneousness,  or  similarity.  In  human 
and  social  affairs,  Affinity  is  relation- 
ship by  marriage,  in  contradistinction 
to  Consanguinity  (Lat.  consanguvn- 
taterri)  or  relation  by  blood.  There 
is  an  affinity  between  sounds  when 
they  are  like  in  character,  or  are  of 
the  same  pitch,  or  enter  into  the  same 
chord.  So  colours  and  languages  have 
their  affinities  when  they  have  certain 
elements  in  common.  In  chemistry, 
affinity  is  that  attraction  between  he- 
terogeneous particles  or  bodies  which 
forms   compounds.     In   natural   his- 


SYNONYMS  [AFFINITTJ 

tory,  affinity  is  a  relationship  depend- 
ing on  similarity  of  structure  consti- 
tuting speci<'S  or  groups.  There  is 
an  affinity  between  the  husband  and 
wife,  in  consequence  of  the  marriage 
tie.  It  is  well  if  there  be  also  an 
affinity  of  sentiment  and  taste 

"  Some  have  thought  the  Cameleon'» 
name  not  unsuitable  unto  its  nature.  The 
nomination  in  Greek  is  a  little  Lion,  not  so 
much  for  the  resemblance  of  shape,  as 
affinity  of  condition."  —  Brown's  Vulgar 
Errors. 

"  The  most  universal  public  relation  by 
which  men  are  collected  together  is  that 
of  government,  namely,  as  governors  and 
governed,  or  in  other  words,  as  magistrates 
and  people." — Blackstone. 

"Am  I  not  consanguiyieous ?  Am  I  not 
of  her  blood?"— Shakespeare. 

Kindred  (A.  S.  cyn,  kin)  is  re- 
garded by  Blackstone  as  virtually 
identical  with  consanguinity,  when 
he  says : — 

"  Consanguinity  or  kindred  is  defined  by 
the  writers  on  these  subjects  to  be '  vincnlum 
personarum  ab  eodem  stirpite  descenden- 
tium,'  the  connexion  or  relation  of  persons 
descended  from  the  same  stock  or  common 
ancestor." 

As  the  adjective  kind  expresses  the 
sort  of  feeling  which  is  prompted  by 
nature  among  those  who  belong  to 
the  same  species,  so  the  adjective 
kindred  expresses  that  harmony  of 
association  which  belongs  to  things 
of  a  common  descent — (A.  S.  cj/;i, 
offspring,  and  -rkden,  state  or  con- 
dition) sympathetic,  congenial,  kin- 
dred spirits.  The  philanthropist, 
through  fellow-feeling,  claims  man- 
kind as  his  kindred.  Some  words  have 
an  etjinological  affinity,  others  a 
kindred  signification. 

AFFIX.     Attach.     Apply. 

Affix  (Lat.  aff'lgtre,  part,  affixus) 
is  used  in  a  purely  external  anil  phy- 
sical sense,  as  to  affix  a  placard  to  a 
wall ;  and  metaphorically,  as  to  affix  a 
stigma  to  a  person.  The  notion  is 
that  of  arbitrarily  placing  one  thing 
upon  another  without  any  amalgama- 
tion or  unity  of  the  two.  The  object 
of  affixing  is,  that  one  thing  may  be 
durably  and  conspicuously  placed 
upon  another.  We  commonly  affix 
to  a  surface,  which  serves  as  a  sup- 
port and  ground  of  the  thing  affixeil. 


[affliction]         discriminated. 

A  utle  is  affixed  to  a  book,  a  seal  to 
a  document,  a  name  to  an  idea.  In 
matters  of  moral  and  mental  associa- 
tion that  which  is  affixed  and  that  to 
which  it  is  affixed  have  some  perma- 
nent connexion  with  each  other.  In 
merely  physical  processes  this  may 
or  may  not  be  the  case.  The  seal 
which  is  affixed  to  the  parchment 
goes  with  the  document  to  give  it 
authenticity.  The  bill  affixed  to  a 
door  might  have  answered  its  purpose 
equally  had  it  been  affixed  to  a  gate- 
post. 

"  We  see  two  sorts  of  white  bntterflies 
festening  their  eggs  to  cabbage-leaves,  be- 
cause they  are  fit  aliment  for  the  caterpil- 
lai-8  that  come  of  them.  Whereas  should 
they  ajfix  them  to  the  leaves  of  a  plant 
improper  for  their  food,  such  caterpillars 
must  needs  be  lost." — Ray. 

Attach  (Fr.  attacker)  is  to  connect 
tilings  that  ought,  or  are  intended  to 
go  together.  One  attaches  a  thing 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  it  from 
separating  itself,  or  becoming  sepa- 
rated, or  of  changing  its  place  be- 
yond certain  narrow  limits.  Morally 
we  are  attached  by  interest  and  by 
aftection.  In  such  cases,  attachment 
is  a  bond  from  which  we  do  not 
desire  to  be  freed.  Physically,  we 
attach  by  means  of  some  substance 
or  article,  such  as  a  hook,  a  nail,  a 
string.  Physically,  that  whicli  is  af- 
fixed rests  with  the  otlier  body  if 
stationary,  or  moves  bodily  with  it  if 
it  be  in  motion.  But  tlie  thing  that 
is  attached  may  have  some  freedom  of 
motion,  while  that  to  which  it  is  at- 
tached may  be  fixed.  Attach  in- 
volves connexion,  but  not  necessarily 
contact,  as  in  affix.  In  regard  to  the 
employment  of  words  and  ideas,  to 
affix  is  a  primary,  to  attach  a  secondary 
process.  If  I  say  I  attach  a  certain 
meaning  to  a  word,  or  great  import- 
ance to  an  announcement,  I  do  not 
establish,  but  only  recognize  that 
meaning  or  importance  as  already 
existing.  I  believe  1  am  right  in  at- 
tributing it.  It  could  only  be  the 
force  of  custom,  or  of  authority,  that 
would  affix  a  definite  meaning  to  a 
word. 

"  There  is  no  man  but  is  more  attacked 
to  one  particular  set  or  scheme  of  opinions 
iJi  philosophy,  politics,  or  religion  than  he 


IS  to  another.  I  mean  if  he  hatli  employed 
his  thoughts  at  all  about  them.  The  ques- 
tion, then,  we  should  examine  is,  how  came 
we  by  those  attachments?" — Masox. 

Apply  (Lat.  applicare,  to  join  on) 
is  to  cause  one  thing  to  touch  another 
at  many,  or  all  points  of  contact.  We 
applj-^  the  hand  to  the  mouth,  a 
plaster  to  a  sore.  It  is  a  purposed 
and  sustained  contact.  In  mental  or 
moral  things,  there  is  an  idea  of  con- 
gruity  and  permanent  relationship  in- 
volved in  applying.  It  is  to  fix  closely, 
to  devote  specifically,  to  atti-ibute 
pointedly,  to  connect  appropriately, 
to  direct  personally. 

"  He  that  applied  the  words  of  any  lan- 
guage to  ideas  different  to  those  to  which 
the  common  use  of  that  country  applies 
them,  however  his  own  understanding  may 
be  filled  \rith  truth  and  light,  will  not  by 
such  words  be  able  to  convey  much  of  it 
to  others  without  defining  his  terms."— 
Locke. 

AFFLICTION.  Distress.  Trou- 
BLK.     Grief.     Sorrow. 

Afi  i.icTioN  (La.t.  ajlictibnem)  is  a 
deep  and  grievous  malady  of  mind 
or  body,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
retributive — that  is,  the  consequence 
of  blamable  conduct  or  life.  So  it  is 
commonly  said  that  man  inflicts  and 
God  afflicts.  The  term  affliction  is 
employed  to  express  both  the  state 
of  mind  and  the  event  whicli  pro- 
duced it.  The  cause  of  affliction  may 
be  momentary  or  lasting,  but  the  af- 
fliction itself  is  permanent  as  well  as 
sore.  The  sudden  loss  of  a  friend 
may  produce  the  affliction  of  a  life- 
time. The  infliction  of  pain  may  of 
course  take  place  upon  any  sentient 
being,  but  affliction  implies  that  powei 
of  reflecting  upon  the  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  trouble  which  is  posses.sed 
only  by  reasoning  creatures.  It  is  a 
passive  state  of  prostration,  sad,  si- 
lent, and  sustained.  It  comes  from 
the  loss  of  friends,  health,  property ; 
and  from  great  deprivations,  as  of  the 
senses  or  the  limbs. 
"  I  do  remember  now;  henceforth  I'll  bear 
AJJtiction  till  it  do  cry  out  itself 
Enough,  enough,  and  die." 

Shakespeare. 

Distress  (Lat. districtionem,  punisli- 
mem)  may  be  from  a  physical  or  a 
mental  cause.  It  is  in  itself  more 
menial  than  physical.     Distress  does 


/8 


not  imply  the  acutest  degrees  of 
bodily  suffering,  and  indeed  is  inap- 
plicable to  them.  It  may  be  entirely 
independent  of  physical  pain.  It  is 
a  painful  interference  with  the  mind's 
calmness  and  activity,  a  combined 
feeling  of  suffering  and  helplessness. 
The  crew  of  a  ship  in  distress  may  be 
in  physical  suffering  from  want  of 
food  and  the  like;  but  it  is  not  pain 
that  is  primarily  expressed  by  the 
term,  but  privation,  anxiety,  fatigue, 
exposure,  and  helplessness.  He  who 
is  in  distress  is  distracted  in  mind  and 
uneasy,  not  knowing  whither  to  turn 
or  how  to  procure  relief.  It  involves 
a  troubled  perplexity  of  feelings. 

"Of  all  the  distressful  calamities  to 
which  man's  life  is  subject,  sickness  is  the 
most  afflictive."— WarbuktOiV. 

Trouble  (Fr.  troubler,  to  disturb)  is, 
as  its  name  expresses,  a  disturbance  of 
mind,  but  it  is  lighter  than  affliction 
and  distress.  Troubles  ruffle  the  smooth 
current  of  life  and  prevent  the  usual 
attention  to  duties.  Trouble  is  op- 
posed to  peace.  It  is  a  lighter  dis- 
tress. A  distress  is  alleviated  by 
being  borne  patiently,  a  trouble  may 
often  be  got  rid  of  by  energy  and 
effort. 

"Our  people  greatly  rejoiced  of  their 
great  good  hap  to  have  escaped  so  many 
hard  eve,nts,  troubles,  and  miseries  as  they 
did  in  that  voyage,  and  had  great  cause 
therefore  to  praise  the  Almighty  who  had 
go  mercifully  preserved  and  delivered 
them."— HacKLUYT. 

Grief  (Lat.  grtivc,  neut.  a  heavy 
thing)  and  Sorrow  (A.  S.  sorg,  sorh) 
are  very  nearly  alike,  but  Grief  is  the 
more  active  and  demonstrative  of  the 
two.  It  expresses  a  poignant  state  of 
mental  trouble,  while  sorrow  is  more 
still  and  reflexive  and  is  commonly 
tinged  with  regret.  It  contemplates 
things  as  they  might  have  been,  and 
deplores  the  fact  of  their  occurrence. 
Being  more  reflexive  thar  sorrow,  it  is 
often  found  mingled  with  compassion 
for  others,  and  with  remorse  on  our 
own  account.  Grief  is  caused  by  bit- 
ter calamities  and  misfortunes  which 
come  to  us  from  outside.  Sorrow 
may  be  the  consequence  of  our  own 
acts.  Sorrow  in  the  last  degree  is 
profound;  grief  is  violent.  Sorrow 
mourns;    grief    cries    aloud.      The 


SYNONYMS  [afford] 

adjective  sorry  has  a  much  lighter 
force  than  grieved.  "1  am  grieved 
that  this  should  have  occurred,"  is  at 
least  an  earnest  statement.  "I  am 
sorry  for  it "  might  be  said  very  lightly, 
as  a  formal  or  even  an  ironical  apo- 
logy. Affliction  is  sharp  and  deep, 
and  being  prolonged  affects  the  course 
and  character  of  life.  Distress  is 
distracting,  embarrassing,  severe. 
Trouble  is  depressing  and  burden- 
some; sorrow,  deep  and  brooding. 
On  the  other  hand  affliction  is  allayed 
by  time  and  habit.  Troubles  pass  away, 
grief  subsides,  sorrow  is  soothed 
and  cheered,  distress  is  mitigated. 
"  Sorrow  is  humble  and  dissolves  in  tears^ 
Make  not  your  Hecuba  with  fury  rage. 
And  show  a  ranting  grief  upon  the  stage. ' 
Dryden,  Art  of  Poetry. 

AFFORD.  Yield.  Produce. 
Bear. 

The  tree  yields  fruit,  themineyields 
metal,  the  sea  yields  fish.  (A.  S. 
geldan,  to  pay,  and  so  to  yield,  as,  the 
earth  yields  produce.)  That  which  a 
thing  yields  is  that  which  it  sur- 
renders by  virtue  of  its  nature  and 
properties.  So  the  tree  yields  shade 
tis  well  as  fruit.  A  contented  life 
yields  happiness — that  is,  happiness 
comes  out  of  it  in  the  regular  and 
natural  course  of  things.  It  is  com- 
monly implied  that  the  thing  yielded 
has  some  value,  and  in  many  cases 
the  yield  is  in  return  for  something 
expended  in  the  form,  for  instance, 
of  money  or  labour.  Ground  better 
tilled  will  yield  the  better  crop. 
Money  at  interest  will  yield  six  or 
seven  per  cent.  The  idea  in  Yield  of 
giving  up  in  answer  to  the  seeking  of 
another,  appears  in  the  following : — 
"  There  he  tormenteth  her  most  tembly. 
And  day  and  night  afflicts  with  mortal  pain. 
Because  to  yield  him  love  she  doth  deny. 
Once  to  me  yold  not  to  be  yold  agahi." 
Spenser. 

But  Yield  is  more  absolute  than 
Afford,  which  is  more  relative.  The 
tree  yields  fruit  though  none  should 
gather  it. 

To  Afford  (0.  Eng.  aforthen , 
A.  S.  ge-forthian,  lo  further)  is  to 
yield  in  some  direction  for  some  end 
or  to  some  person.  ''The  sea  yields 
fish  "  means  that  fish  naturally  live 
in  it,  and  so  maj'   be  got  out  of  it 


[after] 


by  the  efforts  of  maa  to  procure  them, 
as  valuable  and  in  return  for  his  labour. 
"  The  sea  affords  fish,"  means  that  fish 
represents  one  of  man's  natural  wants, 
and  that  the  sea  may  be  made  to 
supply  them.  That  which  is  yielded 
is  a  product  or  result ;  that  which 
is  afforded  is  the  supply  of  a  demand. 

"  The  quiet  lanes  of  Surrey,  leading  to 
no  great  mart  or  rendezvous,  afford  calmer 
retreats  on  every  side  than  can  easily  be 
found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  so  great  a 
town."— Gilpin. 

To  Phoduce  (Lat.  prodncere,  to 
bring  forward  or  fortJi)  is  to  operate 
as  a  cause  bringing-  a  thing  into 
existence  as  an  effect.  So  the  sea 
does  not  produce  fish  as  the  vine 
produces  grapes  or  drunkenness  pro- 
duces misery.  It  might  be  admis- 
sible to  say  that  the  mine  produces 
minerals,  but  it  would  be  much  better 
to  say  that  it  yielded  or  afforded  tliem, 
for  it  is  the  forces  of  nature  which 
really  ])roduce  them,  while  they  are 
yielded  to  man's  efforts  at  procuring 
them,  and  afforded  for  their  various 
uses.  'J'he  spreading  tree  does  not 
produce  shade.  This  is  produced  by 
the  interception  of  the  sun's  rays. 
But  it  affords  sliade  generally  and 
specifically,  yields  a  cool  place  of  re- 
pose to  the  tired  labourer  lying  be- 
neath its  branches.  That  which  is 
afforded  or  yielded,  be  the  process 
slow  or  rapid,  is  either  part  of  the 
substance  of  the  original  or  in  close 
natural  connexion  with  it.  That 
which  is  produced  may  have  no  natu- 
ral connexion  with  that  which  pro- 
duces it  beyond  that  of  cause  and 
effect.  Hence  produce  is  often  em- 
ployed of  cases  in  which  a  consider- 
able interval  of  time  or  intermediate 
causation  may  intervene  between  the 
origin  and  the  result.  Things  are 
yielded  and  afforded  to  our  efforts 
and  desires.  They  may  be  produced 
against  our  wishes  and  in  spite  of  all 
our  efforts  to  prevent  them,  as  a  spark 
in  a  magazine  may  produce  an  explo- 
sion and  a  concussion  by  which  lives 
are  lost.  It  is  as  true  that  vice  pro- 
duces misery  as  that  virtue  produces 
happiness.  The  character  of  the 
thing  produced  is  as  various  as  the 
character   of  the  causes  or  uniform 


DISCRIMINATED. 


79 


antecedent  operations  pretsding  it. 
Like  or  different  causes  will  produce 
like  or  different  effects.  To  produce 
a  thing  artificially  is  only  to  employ 
those  natural  agents  with  the  proper- 
ties of  which  experience  has  made  us 
conversant.  To  set  in  motion  a  train 
of  antecedents  is  to  produce.  Hence 
to  produce  is  a  synonym  not  only 
with  afford  and  yield,  but  also  with 


"  White  colour  can  in  no  manner  be  ex- 
plained exclusively  by  the  laws  of  the  pro- 
duction of  red  colour.  In  any  attempt  to 
explain  it,  we  cannot  but  introduce  as  one 
element  of  the  explanation  the  proposition 
that  some  antecedent  or  ot  her  produces  the 
sensation  of  white." — J.  S.  Mill. 

Bkau  (A.  S.  beran)  is  used,  as  al- 
most all  Saxon  words  are,  in  the 
simplest  and  most  familiar,  which  is 
commonly  the  most  purely  physical 
reference ;  and  is  the  plainest  synonym 
of  produce.  It  belongs  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  processes  of  natural 
generation,  as  the  mother  bears  chil- 
dren, the  tree  bears  fruit.  Less  direct 
bearings  are  expressed  by  produce. 
The  plant  bears  seeds  and  the 
seeds  produce  flowers.  The  fountain 
affords  or  yields,  but  does  not  bear 
nor  produce ;  but  may  be  said  to  dis- 
charge water.  Beau  conveys  the 
idea  of  forming  within  itself.  Yield  of 
giving  from  itself.  Afford  of  giving  to 
another.  Produce  of  forming  through 
another  thing. 

"  Here  dwelt  the  man  divine  whom  Samos 
bore."  Drydex. 

AFTER.     Behind. 

After  (A.  S.  ctfter,  a  comparative 
form)  respects  an  order  to  which  two 
things  belong  in  common :  one  man 
comes  after  another  in  rank  or  in  a 
procession.  It  belongs  to  the  ideas 
of  precedence  or  antecedence,  and 
subsequence  in  time  or  space. 

B ehind(  A.  S.6e//i«du/i)  respects  the 
position  in  space  of  two  things  with- 
out any  idea  of  consecutiveness.  The 
letter  O  comes  after  the  letter  D  in 
the  alphabet.  Behind  is  only  used 
of  physical  relationship,  except  to 
express  inferiority  in  excellence  and 
in  the  questionable  phrase  "behind 
time."  After  is  opposed  to  before  in 
the  sense    of   earlier   or    nrecedpnt. 


80 


behind  to  before  m  the  sense  of  in 
front  of.  Aftek  has  a  motl/e.  force. 
Behind  has  not. 

"Aha!  Che  Fox,  and  after  him  chev  ran." 
Chaucer. 
"  In  the  journey  of  life  some  are  left 
behind  because  they  are  natui-ally  feeble 
and  slow,  some  because  they  miss  the  way, 
and  many  because  they  leave  it  by  choice, 
and  instead  of  pressing  onward  with  a 
steady  pace,  delight  themselves  with  mo- 
mentary deviation,  turn  aside  to  pluck 
every  flower,  and  repose  in  every  shade." — 
Rarablcr. 

AGGRESSOR.     Assailant. 

The  latter  is  a  stronger  term  than 
the  former.  The  Aggressoh  (Lat. 
aggreiiSdrem,  aggrtdior^  I  assail)  is 
simply  the  person  who  begins  the 
qimrrel.  This  may  be  by  a  strong 
act  of  provocation  yet  short  of  attack. 

The  Assailant  (Fr.  assuiilaiit,  part, 
of  asAfli. 7 ir)  commits  the  first  overt  act 
of  violence. 

"  Self-preservation  requires  all  men  not 
only  barely  to  defend  themselves  against 
aggressors,  but  many  times  ali^o  to  pro- 
secute such  and  only  such  as  are  wicked  and 
dangerous." — W'ooLASTON. 

*'  An  assailant  of  the  Church." — Macau- 
lay. 

AGITATION,  Trepidation. 
Tremor.     Emotion. 

Of  these  Tremor  (which  is  a  Latin 
word  trtmor,  a  shaking,  from  trtmtre,  to 
tremble)  is  a  term  of  purely  physical 
meaning,  though  the  state  may  have 
been  induced  by  a  mental  cause  of  ex- 
citement. Alarm,  fear,  anxiety,  eager- 
ness, or  what  is  familiarly  termed  nerv- 
ousness, may  produce  tremor  in  per- 
sons ;  or  in  material  substances  it  may 
be  the  result  of  concussion  or  any 
agitating  force.  The  whole  frame  may 
be  in  tremor  or  some  part  of  it  only, 
as  there  may  be  a  tremor  of  the  voice. 

"  Then  the  earthquakes  mentioned  by 
Josephus  shook  the  whole  land  of  Judea  ; 
and  the  disaster  at  Nicomedia,  as  Marcel- 
linus  informs  us,  was  occasioned  by  a  tremor 
which  went  over  Macedonia." — Warbur- 
TON. 

Trepidation  (Lat.  trq)idatio7ietn) 
represents  the  moral  aspect  of  that 
which  is  physicftlly  represented  by 
tremor.  It  is  not  applicable  like 
tremor  to  j)arts,  but  only  to  the  whole 
person.  The  Latin  trtpiddre  meant 
to  tremble  or  be  agitated  from  some   \ 


SY^'ONYMS  [aggressor] 

mental  cause  which  might  be  hurry 
or  fear.  Tlie  former  English  use  of 
trepidation  was  co-extensive  with  this 
Latin  use,  but  the  meaning  of  bustle 
Las  vanished,  and  that  ot  agitation 
t:cm  terror  alone  survives. 

"  The  irresolute  repugnance  of  some,  the 
hypocritical  submission  of  others,  the  fere- 
cious  insolence  of  Cromwell,  the  rugged 
brutality  of  Harrison,  and  the  general 
trepidation  of  fear  and  wickedness,  would,  if 
some  proper  disposition  could  be  contrived, 
make  a  picture  of  unexampled  variety  and 
irresistible  instruction." — Idler. 

Agitation  (Lat.  agitdtionem)  is 
that  disturbance  of  mind  which  shows 
itself  in  a  perturbation  of  demeanour. 
Yet  agitation  enforces  the  manner  as 
trepidation  weakens  it.  When  used 
physically,  agitation  is  the  excess  of 
tremor.  The  light  air  causes  a  tremor 
of  tlie  woods.  The  storm  agitates  the 
Sti-a.  Trepidation  of  manner  is  the  re- 
sult of  one  feeling,  agitation  may  be 
the  result  of  many  conflicting  feelings. 
It  is  the  inquietude  and  restlessness 
of  the  soul.  It  may  come  of  external 
occurrences  or  internal  movements, 
as  of  grief,  hope,  desire,  disappoint- 
ment, or  any  passion. 

"  We  all  must  have  observed  that  a 
speaker  agitated  with  passion,  or  an  actor 
who  is  indeed  strictly  an  imitator,  are  per- 
petually changing  the  tone  and  pitch  of 
their  voice  as  the  sense  of  their  words 
varies."— Sir  W,  Jones. 

AGREE.  Accord.  Coincide 
Concur. 

Of  these  the  most  comprehensive 
is  Agree  (  Fr.  agrter,  i.e.  from  ugre; 
Lat.  griitnni,  agreeable).  The  word 
expresses  aiw  and  every  sort  of  con- 
gruity  of  relationship.  For  instance, 
all  harmony  in  taste,  fact,  form,  state- 
ment, feeling,  appearance,  motive, 
purpose,  or  properties,  may  be  ex- 
pressed by  the  word  agreement.  All 
statements  are  reduced  to  the  two 
forms  of  affirmative  and  negative  pro- 
positions, and  no  more  comprehensive 
term  can  be  found  for  them  tlian  to 
say  that  they  express  the  agreement 
or  disagreement  of  ideas.  So  that  the 
remainder  of  these  synonyms  may  be 
regarded  as  expressing  some  character 
or  mode  of  agreement. 

"  When  we  possess  ourselves  with  the 
utmost  security  of  the  demonstratic^  tittt 


[agreeable]  discriminated. 


81 


tliB  three  angles  of  a  triangle  are  eqnal  to 
tv\o  right  ones,  what  do  we  more  but  per- 
ceive that  equality  to  two  right  ones  does 
necessarily  agree,  and  is  inseparable  from 
the  three  triangles." — Locke. 

Accord  (Fr.  accorder,  Lat.  ac- 
corddie)  may  have  been  influenced  by 
the  idea  of  the  Lntin  chorda,  a  cord, 
in  addition  to  its  genuine  derivation  ; 
and  so  is  sometimes  used  in  the  simple 
sense  of  musical  harmony.  As  a 
synonym  with  the  aboA'e,  it  denotes  a 
general  agreement,  such  as  may  be 
determined  by  taste  and  observation 
rather  than  by  scientific  exactitude. 
Things  are  not  so  much  demonstrated 
as  felt  to  accord.  Two  equal  triangles 
would  be  said  to  agree  but  not  to 
accord,  except  in  some  non-mathema- 
tical way,  as,  if  they  were  j)ut  in  as 
evidence.  Accordance  is  an  undefined 
agreement  in  general  character  and 
spirit,  and  in  the  impression  produced. 
Opinions  agree  ;  feelings,  sentiments, 
narratives,  descriptions*  statements, 
impressions,  accord  ;  a  resemblance 
wliich,  without  being  exact,  ig  con- 
siderable, would  be  sufficient  to  con- 
stitute accordance.  Things  agree  in 
their  own  nature,  they  accord  by 
virtue  of  similar  impressions  which 
they  make  upon  us,  or  a  common  re- 
lationship which  they  suggest  to  our 
minds.  Accordance  in  things  ex- 
cludes that  which  is  discrepant,  and 
in  persons  that  which  is  dissentient. 

"  My  heart  accordeth  with  my  tongue." 
ShAKI'^PEARE. 

Coincide  (Lat.  eoincidtre,  to  fall  in 
together)is  an  analogous  term.  Things 
which  coincide  fall  in  together,  as  it 
vreTf,  geometrically,  as  if  covering 
tlie  same  space.  This  may  be  mere 
matter  of  accident,  and,  indeed,  the 
idea  of  chance  is  expressed  in  the 
noun  coincidence  if  it  be  used  without 
qualification.  Persons  do  not  coincide, 
though  their  wishes  or  plans  may.  Co- 
incidence may  be  of  time  as  well  as 
space,  as  one  eventor  date  in  a  particu- 
lar history  may  coincide  with  another. 
As  feeling  verifies  accordance,  so  ob- 
servation verifies  coincidence.  As 
things  agree  in  nature  and  accord  in 
character,  so  they  coincide  in  time 
and  space,  c^'acidence  by  itself  in- 


volving no   unity   oi   community  of 

nature. 

"  If  a  rational  being  as  such  is  under  an 
obligation  to  obey  reason,  and  this  obedi- 
ence or  practice  of  reason  coincides  with 
the  observations  of  truth,  these  things 
jilainly  follow." — WooLASTON. 

CoNcvn  (Lat.  concurrere,  to  run  tO' 
gether)  is  a])plied  as  coincide  is  not, 
directly  to  persons  as  well  as  things. 
Concurrence  is  a  meeting  too;ether 
or,  as  it  were,  confluence  of  forces, 
causes,  motives,  influences,  senti- 
ments or  opinions,  wills.  Things 
that  agree  are  something  in  common, 
things  that  concur  do  something  in 
common,  things  that  coincide  may 
have  nothing  in  common  (beyond 
their  coincidence).  Concurrence  in 
things  is  confluence  of  causation  and 
eventuality.  Concurrence  in  persons 
is  coincidence  of  will  or  opinion 
voluntarily  expressed,  as  when  a 
judge  says  that  he  concurs  in  the 
judgment  of  liis  brother  judge.  It 
then  denotes  union  of  judgment  from 
an  independent  quarter.  Judgments, 
statements,  testimony,  are  concurrent 
as  moving  parallel  to  and  falling  in 
with  something  else  (for  such  is  the 
twofold  idea  of  concurrence,  viz., 
parallelism  and  coincidence)  and  so 
tending  to  support  the  same  point. 

"  The  Egyptians,  as  we  are  assured  by 
the  concurreiit  testimony  of  antiquity,  were 
among  the  fii-st  who  taught  the  soul  sur- 
vived the  hody  and  was  immortal," — War- 

BURTjBTN. 

AGREEABLE.  Pleasant. 
Pleasing.     Congenial. 

All  these  terms  are  predicable  both 
of  persons  and  things.  Agreeable 
is  not  so  strong  a  term  as  Pleasant 
(  Fr.  plaisant).  The  agreeable  is  con- 
genial to  us,  the  pleasant,  as  the  word 
denotes,  executes  pleasure.  In  short, 
the  pleasant  is  a  more  active  degree  of 
the  agreeable,  and  like  it  is  applicable 
to  tilings  both  moral  and  physical. 

Pleasing  diflfers  from  pleasant  in 
not  applying  to  matters  purely  phy- 
sical. A  fruit  of  pleasant,  not  of 
pleasing,  taste.  So  we  apply  pleasant 
to  things  in  their  abstract  character 
and  relations— a  pleasing  thought,  a 
pleasing  variety,  contrast,  succession, 
aspect,  uniformity,  altornation,  and  so 
G 


82 


SYNONYMS  [AGREEMENT 


JbTth.  Again,  pleasant  belongs  rather 
to  the  effect  specifically  produced, 
pleasing,  to  the  power  of  producing 
It.  A  pleasant  manner  is  one  which 
we  fina  agreeable,  a  pleasing  manner 
one  which  people  in  general  would 
be  likely  to  think  so.  ^\'here  they  aie 
applied  to  the  same  object,  Pleasing 
is  more  vivid  than  Pleasant,  but  less 
extended.  The  manners,  the  counte- 
nance, make  persons  pleasing ;  the 
mind,  disposition,  humour,  conversa- 
tion, make  them  pleasant.  Wit,  hu- 
mour, geniality,  and  cheerfulness  of 
nature,  make  men  agreeable ;  com- 
plaisance and  the  absence  of  affecta- 
tion make  women  agreeable.  Locali- 
ties are  ])leasant  as  gratefully  affecting 
the  senses.  Prospects  are  pleasing 
as  forming  combinations  such  as 
artists  would  enjoy.  G enerally  speak- 
ing, that  which  gratifies  the  senses  is 
pleasant ;  that  which  satisfies  the 
mind,  taste,  judgment,  or  imagination, 
is  pleasing.  Moreover,  pleasing  is 
active,  pleasant  has  an  almost  passive 
sense.  That  is  pleasing  which  imparts 
[ileasure.  That  is  pleasant  which 
comports  with  pleasure,  or  in  which 
pleasure  may  be  found.  A  pleasant 
book  is  such  before  it  is  opened  or 
read  ;  those  who  read  it  will  find 
pleasing  narratives  and  descriptions. 
The  Congenial  (Lat.  con-, together^ 
ehiiiUis,  genial, pleasant)  is  that  which 
is  agreeable,  pleasant,  or  pleasing, 
from  its  natural  suitableness  to  in- 
dividual taste,  habit,  temperament, 
or  even  the  passing  mood  of  the 
hour. 

"  If  congeniality  of  tastes  could  have 
made  a  marriage  happy,  that  union  should 
have  been  thrice  blessed." — Motley. 

"  There  is  great  pleasure  in  being  inno- 
cent because  that  prevents  guilt  and 
trouble.     It  is  plensaiit  to  be  virtuous  and 

food,  because  that  is  to  excel  many  others, 
t  is  pleasant  to  grow  better,  because  that 
is  to  excel  ourselves.  Nay,  it  is  pleasant 
even  to  mortify  and  subdue  our  lusts,  be- 
cause that  is  victory.  It  is  pleasant  to 
command  our  appetites  and  passions,  and  to 
keep  them  in  due  order  within  the  bounds 
of  reason  and  religion,  because  this  is  a  kind 
of  empire.  This  is  to  govern." — TiLLOTSOX. 
*'  Pym's  speech  was  esteemed  full  of 
vreight,  reason,  and  pleasingnes8,  and  so 
atiiectionate  it  was  that  it  gained  pity  and 
remorse  in  the  generality."  —  Wood, 
At 


AGREEMENT.  Contract.  Co 
VENANT.     Compact.     Bargain. 

Agreement  (see  Agree) expresses 
in  the  broadest  manner  the  consent  of 
individuals  or  parties,  formally  or  in 
formally  expressed  by  word  or  writ- 
ing.    To  agi-ee  is  to  come  to  terms. 

"And  thus  the  covenant  that  ye  made 
with  death  shall  be  disannulled,  and  your 
agreement  that  ye  made  with  hell  shall  not 
stand."— i?i6/e,  1539, 

A  Contract  (Lat.  ace.  masc.  con- 
tractum,  an  agreement,  cuiitract)  is  a 
binding  agreement  between  indi- 
viduals, formally  written  and  exe- 
cuted. To  contract  is  to  reduce  terms 
to  writing. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  see  the  long  scrolls 
in  which  every  contract  is  included,  with  all 
their  appendages  of  seals  and  attestations, 
without  wondering  at  the  depravity  of 
those  beings  who  must  be  restrained  from 
violation  of  promise  by  such  formal  and 
public  evidences." — Johnson. 

The  Covenant  (O.  Fr.  convenant, 
and  covenant;  from  convenir,  to  agree)  is 
a  contract  or  item  of  a  contract  signed, 
sealed,  and  delivered.  In  technical 
usage  the  verb  contract  has  reference 
to  a  complex  transaction  ;  covenant  to 
a  single  act.  For  example,  1  contract 
to  build  a  house  of  such  a  character, 
according  to  such  plans,  within  such 
a  time,  for  such  a  sum.  I  covenant 
that  I  will  pay  a  sum  of  money  before 
a  certain  time. 

"  A  covenant  to  do  any  action  at  a  certain 
time  or  place  is  then  dissolved  by  the  cove- 
nantor when  that  time  cometh,  cither  by 
the  performance  or  by  the  violation." — 
HoBBS. 

A  Compact  (Lat.  compHcisci,  pa.ri 
compactus,  to  make  a  compact),  unliko 
contract  and  covenant,  may  be  among 
many  persons  or  parties,  while  con- 
tract and  covenant  are  between  two. 
It  may  be  entirely  informal,  and  is 
generally  grounded  on  the  word 
passed,  as  when  an  association  enter? 
into  a  compact  to  preserve  secrecy. 

"  Wedlock  is  described  as  the  mdissoluble 
compact."— Mac  AVl^r. 

Compact  belongs  not  to  ordinary 
social  aoreements,  for  the  security  ot 
which  the  law  makes  provision. 

B  A  nc AiN  ( Fr.  barguigner,  to  haggU , 
L.  Lat.  barcaniare ;  Liitre)  is  confined 
to  trade,  or  at  least  to  matters  of  giving 


Lair] 


and  taking.  '1  he  bargain  is  so  far 
informal  or  not  legally  binding,  but 
only  binding  in  honour.  The  process 
and  the  result  of  debating  the  terms 
of  transfer  are  both  called  bargains. 
When  the  terms  of  a  bargain  are  de- 
finitely settled,  the  parties  come  to  an 
agreement;  but  it  is  often  found  neces- 
sary to  keep  persons  to  enter  into  a 
conti'act,  and  to  go  through  the  com- 
plete process  of  a  covenant. 

"  It  is  adjusted,  however,  not  by  any 
accurate  measure,  but  by  the  higgling  hikI 
bargaining  of  the  market, according  to  that 
sort  of  rough  equality  which,  though  not 
exact,  IS  sufficient  for  carrying  on  the  busi- 
nes3."— Adam  Smith. 

AIM.  Object.  End.  View. 
Scope. 

The  Aim  (0.  Fr.  uesmer;  Lat.  cest'l- 
mare,  to  estimate,  appraise)  is  the  im- 
mediate, the  End  (A.  S.  ende)  the 
ultimate  object. 

View  (Fr.  vue)  denotes  a  definite 
though  wide  purpose,  and,  inasmuch 
as  it  signifies  such  contemplation  as 
has  speculation  for  its  purpose,  bears 
the  meaning  of  general  opinion  or 
judgment ;  especially  in  the  plural. 

Scope  (Gr.  crxoTrc'f,  an  aim)  is  wider 
still, and  stands  to  speculative  purpose 
as  view  to  speculative  opinion.  It  com- 
bines the  idea  of  range  with  that  of 
aim.  Some  persons  aim  at  amassing  a 
fortune  as  a  step  to  rank;  with  others 
wealth  is  itself  the  end.  The  aim  is 
the  object  viewed  in  connexion  with 
the  person  seeEtMg  to  attain  it.  The 
speaker  or  writer  will  sometimes  eli- 
minate superfluous  matter  as  not 
falling  within  the  scope  of  his  treatise 
or  remarks.  The  fi-amer  of  a  legal 
document  on  behalf  of  a  client  in  en- 
deavouring to  give  technical  validity 
and  precision  to  his  wishes  will  natu- 
rally ask  whether  in  that  shape  the 
document  meets  his  views.  Our  views 
are  often  better  felt  than  expressed  or 
analyzed,  so  that  it  is  quite  possible 
to  entertain  imperfect  and  vague 
views.  The  aim  and  the  object  are 
clearly  recognized.  The  end  is  the 
most  fixed :  it  is  the  point  that  one 
desires  to  reach.  One  follows  the 
routes  which  one  believes  to  lead  to  it, 
and  makes  efforts  to  arrive  at  it.  The 
view  ia  less  distinct.     It  is  that  which 


DISCRIMINATED. 


83 


one  wishes  to  compass,  and  takes  the 
most  suitable  measures  to  carry  out. 

The  OiiJtCT  (Lat.  objecldre,  to  throw 
against,  oppose)  is  the  more  definite.  It 
is  that  winch  we  desire  to  attain,  and 
adopt  the  requisite  means  for  securing. 
A  good  prince  has  no  other  object  in 
his  government  than  to  make  the 
country  a  flourishing  one  in  arts, 
sciences,  justice,  and  material  wealth. 
He  has  the  happiness  of  the  people  in 
view.  One  proposes  an  end  ;  one  holds 
views;  one  aims  at  an  object.  Reason 
would  forbid  us  to  have  unattainable 
ends,  chimerical  views,  or  worthless 
objects.  If  I  have  just  views  and 
honest  aims,  I  propose  to  in^^self  an 
object  which  will  conduct  me  to  the 
end  of  my  exertions. 
"Vain  hopes,  vain  aims,  inordinate  de- 
sires." Milton. 

*'  It  ought  not  to  be  the  leading  object  of 
anyone  to  become  an  eminent  metaphy- 
sician, mathematician,  or  poet,  but  to 
render  himself  happy  as  an  individual."— 
Stewart. 

"The  chief  e7ui  or  happiness  of  a  thing." 
— Bp.  WiLKIXS. 

"  Not  present  good  or  ill,  the  joy  or  curse. 
But  fiiture  views  of  better  or  of  worse." 
Pope. 

"  The  main  scope  and  design  of  all  divine 
revelation  hath  been  the  gradual  discovery 
of  this  great  mystery  of  the  mediation."— 
Scott. 

AIR.  Manner.  Mien.  De- 
meanour.    Bearing. 

Air  (Lat.  acr,  which,  like  sph'^tus, 
came  to  mean  disposition)  is  in  this 
connexion  taken  to  denote  the  general 
unanalj'zed  impression  produced  by  a 
person.  Anything  which  by  its  ap- 
pearance suggests  certain  moral  or 
mental  associations,  may  be  said  to 
have  an  air.  A  certain  expression  in 
words,  for  instance,  may  wear  a  le^al 
or  logical  air,  that  is,  it  seems  as  if  it 
would  be,  so  to  speak,  at  home  in  law 
or  logic.  Personally,  the  air  per- 
vades the  whole  individual,  ana  is 
suggestive  of  his  associations,  or  his 
condition  of  mind.  He  has  the  air  of 
a  gentleman  or  a  common  person ;  a 
confident  or  a  bashful  air.  It  is  in- 
dependent of  movement,  or  at  least 
may  be  expressed  in  the  slightest 
movements,  and  strikes  an  observant 
person  at  the  first  glance.     It  is  the 


84 


manifestation  of  habitual  character. 
It  enters  into  all  he  does,  and  is  the 
spirit  or  way  m  which  he  does  it. 
In  those  thing?  of  which  it  can  be 
predicated,  it  is  the  character  which 
comprises  all  other  peculiarities  in 
detail.  When  all  has  been  described 
in  an  apartment,  for  instance,  it  re- 
mains to  be  said  whether  it  has  an 
air  of  comfort  or  discomfort,  poverty 
or  wealth,  a  cheerful  or  a  gloomy  air. 
In  persons  tlie  air  is  so  naturally  theirs 
as  to  seem  to  liave  been  born  with 
them.  It  is  the  composite  result  and 
effect  of  all  that  the  person  is  in  body 
and  mind — counteniuice,  figure,  bear- 
ing, action,  disposition,  feeling. 

Mien  (Fr.  mine)  is  of"  somewhat 
variable  usage.  It  is  spoken  some- 
time!* of  the  countenance,  sometimes 
of  the  figure,  even  including  the 
dress ;  and  sometimes  of  these  as  ex- 
pressive of  a  state  of  mind,  as,  a  de- 
jected mien.  It  represents  the  state 
of  the  person  at  the  time,  and  is  sus- 
ceptible of  alteration  ;  while  Air  is  in- 
separable. A  change  of  circumstances 
may  change  the  whole  mien  of  a  man, 
but  nobility  will  wear  a  certain  air 
even  in  rags. 

"It  is  certain  that  married  persons  who 
are  possessed  with  a  mutual  esteem,  not 
only  catch  the  air  and  way  of  talk  from 
one  another,  but  fall  into  the  same  traces 
of  thinking  and  liking." — Spectator. 

The  term  Mikn  is  used  by  Boyle  in 
the  sense  of  expression  of  the  eyes: — 

"  I  observed  in  her  eyes  a  mien,  a  viva- 
city and  sprightliness," 

And  by  Gray  in  the  sense  of  attitude 
and  gesture : — 

"  With  thundering  voice  and  threatening 
mien."  Hyvm  to  Adversity. 

The  Manner  (¥r.  maniere)  is  the 
regulation  of  the  movements  in  social 
intercourse.  In  its  naiTowest  sense  it 
is  synonymous  with  mode  or  way  of 
doing,  and  in  that  sense  is  considered 
elsewhere.  The  meaning  under  con- 
sideration is  more  fully  expressed  by 
the  plural,  manners.  In  this  sense 
manner  is  the  expression  of  that  feel- 
ing which  is  requisite  to  the  very  exis- 
tence of  polite  society — the  outward 
token  of  self-restraint  and  considera- 
tion of  others  which  civilized  inter- 
course demands,  and  without  whicb  it 


SYNONYMS  [air] 

could  not  be  conducted.  Good  man- 
ners are  an  insinuation  of  good-will. 
Bad  manners  imply  it«  absence  or 
its  oj)posite.  They*^are  influenced  by 
training  and  education.  The  man- 
ner of  another  may  be  imitated  by 
clever  mimicry.  The  mien  is  less 
easily  imitated,  and  might  require 
appliances  of  art  in  costume,  &c.  The 
air  is  not  to  be  imitated  at  all.  It  is 
the  unconscious  outcome  of  the  na- 
tui-e.  Manner  is  graceful  or  ungrace- 
ful ;  manners  polite  or  rude. 

"  The  hoy  is  well  fashioned,  and  will 
easily  fall  into  a  graceful  manner," — 
Steele. 

IMannfrs  has  a  yet  wider  meaning 
when  employed  of  society  or  communi- 
ties. The  manners  of  a  person  ought  to 
conform  to  the  rules  and  customs  of 
good  society.  The  manners  of  a 
people  ouglit  to  conform  to  rules  of 
right  morals.  Burke  must  have  been 
speaking  of  manners  in  the  widest 
sense,  as  personal  and  public,  when  he. 
said : — 

"  Manners  are  what  vex  or  soothe,  cor- 
rupt or  purify,  exalt  or  debase,  barbarize 
or  refine  as  by  a  constant,  steady,  uniform, 
inevitable  operation,  like  that  of  the  aii-  we 
breathe  in." 

Compare  the  Lat.  mores. 

Demeanour  (O.  Yr.dimener,  to  con- 
duct or  manage)  is  a  more  pointed  and 
specific  term.  It  is  the  manner  as 
specifically  influenced  by  the  disposi- 
tion and  feelings  of  the  occasion. 
One  gives  one's  self  an  air,  one  affects 
a  manner,  one  wears  a  mien,  one  exhi- 
bits a  demeanour.  It  is  that  sus- 
tained bearing  which  persons  assume 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  as  fit 
and  appropriate,  or  called  for — as  in 
the  case  of  the  demeanour  of  a  judge 
on  the  bench,  of  a  victor  to  his  cap- 
tive, of  a  friend  to  a  friend,  or  an 
enemy.  Slight  changes  of  feeling 
may  affect  the  m-anner.  A  change  of 
mind  or  opinion  in  regard  to  one 
with  whom  one  had  associated  fa- 
miliarly will  alter  one's  whole  de- 
meanour towards  him.  A  manner 
has  to  be  studied,  a  demeanour  regu- 
lated. A  good  air  impresses ;  a 
good  manner,  or  good  manners,  en- 
gage. An  unpleasing  impression 
produced  by  a  lofty  air  may  be  after- 
wards dissipated  by  a  good  manner. 


[alarm] 

In  the  plural,  airs  is  always  used  dis- 
paragingly, as  equivalent  to  petty 
affectations  and  assumptions.  Plan- 
ners which  sit  well  enough  when 
they  are  easy,  become  ridiculous  when 
they  betray  effort  at  affecting  them. 
Manners  are  the  test  by  which  society 
judges  and  prefers.  It  has  been 
said  that  a  disagreeable  manner  will 
seem  to  make  even  virtue,  talent,  and 
good  conduct  intolerable. 

"  Their  demeaning  of  themselves  when 
they  were  come  to  the  highest  or  thrown 
down  to  the  lowest  degree  of  state." — 
North,  Plutarch. 

Bearing  (A.  S.  heran,  to  bear  or 
carry)  is  a  simpler  word  than  the 
French  air,  manner,  and  demeanour. 
The  bearing  is  commonly  taken  to 
mean  the  carriage  of  the  person  in 
regard  to  circumstances,  as  the  de- 
meanour is  in  regard  to  other  persons. 
The  monarch  on  his  way  to  the  scaffold 
has  shown  a  composed  and  royal 
bearing,  though  he  may  have  pre- 
served almost  entire  silence.  The 
bearing  is  the  looking  of  the  character, 
and  the  sustaining  of  the  part.  It  is  the 
manner  under  circumstances  which 
put  it  to  the  test. 

"High  of  iei^n^rc."— WiCLIF. 

AIR.     Atmosphere. 

These  terms  both  express  that  fluid 
which  we  breathe,  and  wliich  sur- 
ro^inds  our  earth.  Thej'  differ  in  the 
aspects  under  which  they  are  viewed. 
The  Air  (Lat.  atr)  is  the  popular  and 
conversational  term.  The  Atmo- 
sphere (a.Ty.6;,  vapoury  and  cr<pn7^a,  a 
sphere)  is  the  more  scientific.  The  air 
IS  that  which  we  breathe,  which  fans 
our  cheeks,  in  svhich  the  birds  fly  about. 
It  is  keen  or  mild,  clear  or  thick. 
The  atmosphere  is  the  same  thing,  as 
it  surrounds  our  planet.  It  is  com- 
pressible, ponderable,  and  the  like, 
has  a  certain  density,  and  is  analyz- 
able  into  oxygen  and  nitrogen  gases. 

ALARM.  Terror.  Fear.  Fright. 
Consternation.  Trepidation.  Awe. 
Dread.     Panic.     Apprehension. 

Alarm  (It.  a//'  ar.nc,  a  cry,  "to 
trms!" )  retains  the  characteristic 
suddenness  expressed  by  the  words 
from  which  it  is  derived.  It  is 
first,  the  summons  to  self-defence 
consequent  on  a  common  danger;  then 


DISCRIMIJSATED. 


8d 


any  sound  or  other  indication  which 
may  have  such  effect  of  warning; 
and  finally  the  feeling  consequent 
upon  such  a  signal.  The  character- 
istic of  alarm  is  suddenness,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  some  phenomenon  which 
is  indicative  of  danger.  This  may  be 
for  others  or  for  ourselves,  or  for  both 
together.  Alarm  by  no  means  im- 
plies an  overwhelming  or  incapacitat- 
ing fear.  It  may  even  arouse  to  self- 
defence.  The  distinct  suggestion  of 
an  indistinct  danger  belongs  to  alarm. 
In  the  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire  we  com- 
prehend clearly  the  character  of  the 
danger  without  as  yet  knowing  the 
extent  of  it. 

"  All  men  think  all  men  mortal  bnt  them- 
selves. 
Themselves  when  some  alarming  shock  oi 

fate 
Strikes  through  their  wonnded  hearts  the 
sudden  dread."  YoUNQ. 

Terror  (Lat.  terrorem)  is  an  over- 
powering and  confusing  sense  of  dan- 
ger. It  tends,  not  like  alarm,  to  arm, 
but  to  disarm  us,  and  put  us  to  hazard- 
ous flight.  Under  the  influence  of 
terror  we  fly  from  we  know  not  what, 
to  we  know  not  where.  Yet  the  ob- 
ject which  excites  terror  may  be  dis- 
tinct enough.  It  is  an  agitation 
which  is  the  direct  influence  and 
effect  produced  by  the  exciting  cause 
of  the  terror,  which,  if  excessive,  in- 
capacitates us;  if  short  of  this,  prompts 
us  to  escape.  Things  slight  but 
suggestive  may  cause  alarm.  Mag- 
nitude and  power  belong  to  tilings 
that  excite  terror.  It  may  be  rea- 
sonable,  but  it  is  not  sug^sted  oi 
governed  by  reason.  Robinson 
Crusoe  was  alarmed  when  he  saw  the 
footprint  on  the  sand.  The  sudden 
thunderclap  inspires  terror.  One  is 
struck  or  filled  with  alarm,  seized 
with  terror.  Alarm  rouses  us,  terror 
makes  us  tremble.  A  man  of  great 
strength  and  savage  disposition  would, 
but  ibr  the  protection  of  the  laws, 
be  the  terror  of  his  neighbourhood. 
"  Through  the  stern  throat  of  terror 
breaching  war."  Drattox. 

Fea  R  (  A .  S.y>r,  a  sudden  danger)  is 
the  generic  term  which  coniprises 
the  rest.  It  is  the  natural  fooling 
produced  by  the  instinct  of  self-pr* 


86 


servMtion,  at  the  actual  nearness  or 
supposed  nearness  of  the  dangerous, 
or,  iu  a  milder  way,  the  odious.  In 
one  sense  fear  is  a  passion.  In  an- 
other it  is  an  intellectual  state,  and 
the  latter  is  again  actual  or  hypo- 
thetical. Hence  there  may  be  said  to 
be  three  kinds  of  fear,  of  which  the 
following  would  be  examples.  1.  The 
fear  of  a  savage  beast.  2.  The 
fear  of  the  cold.  3.  The  fear  of  the 
consequences  of  exposure  to  cold. 
The  first  is  produced  immediately  by 
an  impression  upon  the  senses.  The 
second  is  the  result  of  association. 
The  third  of  reasoning  by  anticipa- 
tion. Thus  the  feeling  of  fear  is 
commensurate  with,  and  runs  parallel 
to,  man's  intellectual  faculty  ot  appre- 
hending   the     presence    of    danger. 


superadding  to  the  animal  instincts 

of  aj       ' 
his  own. 


a  power  of  apprehension  peculiarly 


"Fear  is  a  painful  sensation  produced 
by  the  immediate  apprehension  of  some 
impendiHg  evil."— CoGAN. 

When  the  nearness  of  danger  is 
rather  specuhitive  than  manifest,  it 
gives  rise  to  the  feeling  of  Appukh  en- 
sign (Lat.  apprehevsionem,  a  gi-asping 
with  the  mind),  the  third  land  of  fear 
illustrated  above.  It  is  the  intellec- 
tual consciousness  of  possible  danger, 
and  is  therefore  the  lowest  or  least 
energetic  form  of  fear.  Indeed,  the 
idea  of  fear  at  all  is  only  incidental  to 
the  term,  though  usage  has  made  it 
the  most  promment.  As  we  appre- 
liend  coming  pleasure  as  well  as 
coming  pain,  the  term  apprehension 
might,  consistently  with  its  etymology, 
have  expressed  hope  as  well  as  fear  ; 
hut  custom,  which  is  the  arbiter 
of  speech,  the  norma  loquendiy  has 
decreed  it  otherwise.  We  may  fear 
persons ;  we  apprehend  only  occur- 
rences, whether  actions  or  events,  or 
the  results  of  either. 
•'The  pain  of  death  is  most  an  apprehen- 
sion." Shakespeare. 

Fright  (A.S.fyrhtnJright)  is  the 
sudden  confusion  of  the  senses  by  an 
external  appearance,  which  produces 
in  an  instant  an  unreflecting  fear. 
It  is  an  instantaneous  and  excessive 
perturbation.  It  paralyzes  and  takes 
complete  possession  of  the  mind.     It 


SYNONYMS  [alertness] 

makes  people  stand  aghast.  It  showfi 
itself  in  the  rigid  posture  of  the  body, 
and  the  dazed  stare  of  the  countenance. 
"  When  lo  I  the  doors  buret  open  in  a  tmse, 
And  at  their  banquet  terrified  the  miee. 
They  start,  they  tremble  in  a  deaMy  friy hi. 
And  round  the  room  precipitate  their 
flight."  Francis,  Horace. 

Consternation  (Lat.  constemati- 
onem)  is  that  state  of  powerlessnoss 
which  is  the  combined  result  of  tenor 
and  amazement,  the  latter,  however, 
predominating.  It  seizes  the  mind, 
benumbs  the  reasoning  powers,  and  is 
a  kind  of  intellectual  fright,  and  may 
be  produced  by  what  we  learn  as 
well  as  by  what  we  see  or  hear.  For 
further  remarks,  see  the  article 
Surprise. 

Panic  (jlavtuov  iatfxa,  panic  Jear, 
any  sudden  unaccountable  terror  being 
ascribed  to  Pan,  from  his  having 
been  supposed  to  have  struck  terror 
into  the  Persians  at  the  battle  of 
Marathon)  is  commonly  taken  to  de- 
note that  sort  of  fear  which  is  at  once 
sudden,  indefinite,  and  contagious 
among  a  multitude,  though  sometimes 
used  also  in  reference  to  an  indivi- 
dual in  the  sense  of  a  wild  and  unac- 
countable fear.  A  panic  is  a  fantas- 
tic fear — a  fright  without  any  external 
cause  accounting  for  it. 

"  Consternation :  This  species  of  fear  is 
a  strong  foreboding  of  tremendous  evils, 
which  are  likely  to  follow  misfortunes  which 
have  already  taken  place."— CoG AN. 

"  But  the  serpent  said  unto  Adam,  Tush  1 
this  is  but  a  panick  fear  in  yon,  Adam.  Yon 
shiill  not  so  surely  die  as  yon  conceit." — 
H.  More. 

••  The  first  author  of  it  (the  general  shout) 
was  Pan,  Bacchus'  lieutenant-general,  in 
his  Indian  Expedition,  where  being  encom- 
passed in  a  valley  with  an  array  of  enemies 
far  superior  to  them  in  number,  he  advised 
the  god  to  order  his  men  in  the  night  to 
give  a  geneiul  shout,  which  so  surprised 
the  cpposite  army  that  they  immediately 
llci  (i-om  their  camp ;  whence  it  came  to 
pass  that  all  sudden  feais  impressed  upon 
men's  spirits  without  any  just  reason,  were 
called  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  panick 
terrors." — Potter's  Greece,  * 

ALERTNESS.  Alacrity.  Agi- 
lity. Activity.  Briskness.  Nimble- 

NESS. 

Ai.KHTNKss  (It.  aW  erta,  on  the 
watch)  and  Alacrity  (Lat.  itlacrt- 
tatem)    very    nearly   resemble    each 


[all] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


87 


other.  Alertness  comes  of  natural  or 
constitutional  promptitude.  He  is 
alert  who  is  eagerly  vigilant,  whose 
interest  in  his  position  and  circum- 
stances is  such  as  to  render  him  alive 
to  the  possibility  of  occurrences  that 
may  affect  them.  Alacrity  comes 
rather  from  the  impulse  of  the  will 
set  upon  a  particular  movement. 
This  may  be  on  one's  own  behalf  or 
another's.  So  one  not  remarkable  for 
alertness  might  show  alacrity  in  com- 
plying with  the  request  of  another. 

"  The  mountain  torrents  on  every  side 
rnshed  down  the  hills  in  notes  of  various 
cadence  as  their  quantities  of  water,  the 
declivities  of  their  fall,  their  distances,  or 
the  intermission  of  the  blast  brought  the 
sound  fuller  or  fainter  to  the  ear,  which 
organ  became  now  more  alert." — Gilpin's 
Tour. 

The  ideas  of  alacrity  are  humor- 
ously contradicted  in  the  following : — 

"The  rogues  slighted  me  into  the  river 
with  as  little  remorse  as  they  would  have 
drowned  a  blind  bitch's  puppies  fifteen  in 
the  litter;  and  you  may  know  by  my  size 
that  I  have  a  kind  of  alticrity  of  sinking." — 
Shakespeare. 

Agility  (^Lat.  HgiCitdtem)  denotes 
physical  activity,  as  in  the  monkey, 
the  runner,  the  acrobat,  or  the  gym- 
nast. It  is  the  product  of  corporeal 
vigour  and  lightness  of  frame.  It  in- 
volves flexibility  of  the  body  and 
limbs. 

Nimble  (A.  S.  nemaly  nimany  to 
catchy  seize)  has,  contrary  to  the  usual 
order,  been  transferred  from  the  men- 
tal to  the  bodily  capacities.  It  meant 
quick  of  apprehension,  then  handy, 
adroit.  It  is  now  confined  to  the 
agile  use  of  the  feet  in  particular. 

"  He  that  before  wholly  attended  upon 
his  body  to  make  it  excel  in  strength  or 
agility,  that  he  might  contend  victoriously 
in  the  Olympic  games,  then  made  it  his 
business  to  improve  and  advance  his  soul 
in  knowledge  and  virtue." — Bates,  Im- 
mortality of  the  Soul. 

"  Ovid  ranged  over  Parnassus  with  great 
nimbleness  and  agility." — Addison. 

Activity  (Lat.  actwitatem),ha.ring 
a  derivation  in  common  with  agility, 
is  applied  to  both  body  and  mind, 
and  denotes  such  a  general  combina- 
tion of  life  and  movement  as  readily 
meets  the  practical  business  of  life. 
The  active  man  has  in  the  physical 


sense  a  tendency  to  the  use  of  his 
body  from  inherent  life  and  strength 
and  a  dislike  of  sedentariness ;  in  the 
moral  sense  a  love  of  employment 
and  a  dislike  of  remaining  unem- 
ployed. Alertness  and  alacrity  are 
shown  on  specific  occasions,  though 
they  belong  to  certain  characters ;  but 
agility  and  activity  are  {)ermanenl 
qualities. 

"Man  is  an  active  creature.  lie  can 
not  be  long  idle." — Hales. 

Briskness  (Welsh,  brysg,  quick, 
nimble)  is  that  liveliness  of  mind 
which  shows  itself  in  quickness  of 
manner  and  movement;  a  constitu- 
tional alertness  shown  in  the  minor 
requirements  of  life,  and  in  matters 
of  recreation  no  less  than  in  matters 
of  duty.  Briskness  is  the  outcome  of 
vivacity,  as  alertness  of  vigilance, 
activity  of  ardour,  and  alacrity  of 
willingness. 

"  Brisk  toil  alternating  with  ready  ease." 
Wordsworth 

ALL.     Whole.     Every.     Each. 

These  are  not  so  much  synonyms 
as  words  employed  in  kindred  ways 
on  which  it  may  be  well  to  remark. 

All(A.  S.«a/)iscollective.  Every 
(i.e.  ever-each;  A.  S.  tifre,  ever;  (tie, 
each)  is  distributive  and  collective. 
Each  (A.  S,  u:lc)  is  distributive  and 
individual.  All  regards  a  body  in 
its  numerical  totality,  whole  in  its 
quantitative  totality.  "  All  men  "  is 
equivalent  to  the  whole  human  race. 
Every  implies  first  a  class,  and  then 
the  separate  members  of  it  dealt  with 
exhaustively.  Each  implies  first  a 
class  and  then  the  separate  members 
dealt  with  one  by  one. 

Each  denotesthings  taken  severally, 
Every  describes  them  taken  singly. 
Besides  these  distinctions,  Each  re- 
lates   to    two   or  more  individuals, 
Every  always  to  more  than  two. 
"  Whose  serious  muse  inspires  him  to  ex- 
plain 
That  all  we  think  and  all  we  act  is  vam." 
Prior. 

'•  Every  thing  is  endowed  with  such  a 
natural  principle  whereby  it  is  necessarily 
inclined  to  promote  its  own  preservation 
and  well-being."— WiLKlNS,  Natural  Re- 
ligion. 

"  Let's  each  one  send  unto  his  wife. 
And  he  whose  wife  is  most  obedient 


88 


SYNONYMS  [allegiance] 


To  come  at  once  when  he  doth  send  for  her 
Shall  win  the  wager  which  we  wifl  propose." 
Shakespkare. 
"  Upon  this  question,  what  supported  or 
kept  np  this  chain,  would  it  be  a  sufficient 
answer  to  say  that  the  iirst  or  lowest  link 
hung  upon  a  second  or  that  next  above  it ; 
the  second,  or  rather  the  first  and  second 
together,  upon  the  third  ;  and  so  on  ad  infi- 
nitum! for  what  holds  up  the  whole?" — 
WOOLASTOX. 

But  All,  like  Whole  and  unlike 
EvKiiY  and  Each,  is  used  of  quantita- 
tive totality.  It  is,  however,  only  of 
mental  subjects  that  it  is  so  used.  In 
that  case,  as  whole  is  the  sura  of  the 
parts,  so  all  is  the  sum  of  the  species. 
*'  All  hope  is  lost,"  means  hope  of 
every  kind.  "  The  whole  idea  is  false," 
would  mean  that  no  portion  of  it  was 
true. 

ALLEGIANCE.  Loyalty. 
Allegiance  (older  form,  aiie- 
geaunce;  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.  :  a-,  i.e. 
Lat.  ad,  to,  and  0.  Fr.  ligance,  homage  ) 
is  the  recognition  of  a  binding  le- 
lationship  toward  a  superior,  and  so 
a  principle  of  action;  while  Loyalty 
(Fr.  loyal)  is  a  personal  sentiment 
of  attachment  to  an  individual  ruler 
(Fr.  loi,  law).  Allegiance  has  been 
extended  to  apply  to  parties,  prin- 
ciples, systems,  and  causes.  It  is 
evident,  however,  that  personal  re- 
lationship is  involved  in  these.  Al- 
legiance might  be  to  any  government, 
as,  e.g.  to  a  republican  form  of  it. 
Loyalty  is  even  applicable  to  relation- 
ships of  minor  superiority,  as,  e.g.  to 
leadership  of  a  party,  or  even  of  friend 
to  friend.  It  can-ies  with  it  in  that 
case  the  ideas  of  pure,  frank,  and 
generous  deference,  consent,  and  sup- 
port rendered  at  once,  without  com- 
pulsion and  without  effort.  Allegiance 
conveys  the  idea  of  formally  professed 
or  sworn  obedience.  A  wife  bears 
loyalty,  though  not  allegiance,  to  her 
husband,  on  account  of  her  equality 
with  him. 
"Hear  me,  recreant,  on  thine  allegiance 

hear  me."  Shakespeare. 

"  Unhappy  both,  but  loj/al  in  their  loves." 
Dryden. 

ALLIANCE.  League.  Confede- 
racy. Association.  Paiunershu'. 
Combination. 

These  terms  express  in  conunon  the 
idea  of  union  and  communion  ainont>- 


Sersons.      They  vary  in  implying  a 
ilferent   character   and   purpose  for 
such  unions. 

Alliance  (Fr.  alliance;  allier,  te 
ally  ;  Lat.  alUgare,  to  bind  to)  is  lite- 
rally the  state  of  being  bound.  It  is 
applicable  to  individuals,  families, 
states,  and  communities  or  parties. 
Alliances  are  voluntarily  sought.  Al- 
liance between  persons  is  for  fi-iend- 
ship,  mutual  protection,  or  assistance. 
It  is  in  this  case  presumed  to  be  hon- 
ourable. When  between  families,  it 
involves  union  by  marriage,  and  the 
consideration  or  influenceof  the  houses 
so  allied.  When  between  States,  it 
is  for  purposes  offensive  or  defensive, 
or  both  ;  when  between  parties  or 
communities,  it  is  dictated  by  policy, 
as  an  alliance  between  Church  and 
State. 
"  Adrastus   soon    with  gods  averse    shal? 

join 
In  due  alliance  with  the  Theban  line." 
Poi'E. 
League  (Fr.  ligue)  is  from  the 
snme  root  (Lat.  Itgare,  to  bind).  It 
attaches  men  to  some  common  cause 
or  principle ;  and,  as  leagues  are 
generally  self-constituted  by  the  in- 
ferior or  weaker  for  protection  against 
the  superior  or  stronger,  their  mode  oi 
constitution  and  action  is  iiregular. 
Hence  there  is  often  attached  to 
league  the  idea  of  self-interest  in  pre- 
dominance. Identity  of  interest  will 
even  bind  together  persons  who  would 
never  otherwise  have  associated,  in  an 
almost  unnatural  league. 

"  And  let  there  lie 
'Twixt  us  and  them  no  league,  no  amity.'' 
Denham. 
A  Confederacy  (Lat.  confxde- 
ratus,  bound  together  by  a  covenant)  is 
a  fomial  and  covenanted  compact.  As 
we  naturally  mistrust  secrecy  in 
others,  we  give  to  confederacy  be- 
tween nations  an  honourable  mean- 
ing, but  confederacy  among  indi- 
viduals is  a  synonym  with  conspu-acy. 
A  confederacy  politically  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  union  of  several  inde- 
pendent leagues.  For  its  relation  to 
individuals,  see  Caiial.  The  league 
is  less  compreliensive  and  less  ])er- 
manent  than  tlie  confederacy.  The 
States  of  the  American  union  are  in 
permanent  coTiteJeracy.      'I  he  Cove- 


[alliance] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


89 


nautevs  in  Scotland  were  to  Calvinism 
what  the  League  in  France  was  to 
Catholicism. 

"  The  Grecian  Couimonwealth,  while 
they  maintuiaed  their  liberty,  were  the 
most  heroic  co'>federacy  that  ever  existed, 
they  were  the  politest,  tiie  bravest,  and  the 
wisest  of  men."— Harris,  Hermes. 

Association  (Lat.  ass'6cidre,  to  asso- 
eiate^  verb  act.)  is  in  its  full  etymolo- 
gical application  tlie  most  comprehen- 
sive ot"  all,  inasmuch  as  all  involve 
the  idea  of  association.  But  in  common 
usage  an  association  is  something  of 
a  lighter  and  less  lasting  character 
than  the  others.  It  is  often  such  an 
union  as  is  kept  alive  merely  by  the 
spirit  of  union  brought  to  bear  upon 
a  temporary  object.  It  will  be  more 
or  less  permanent,  according  to  the 
end  which  it  proposes.  Some  asso- 
ciations quickly  achieve  their  end, 
and  are  at  once  dissolved.  Some  are 
for  the  purpose  of  common  work  and 
continuous  employment,  as  an  asso- 
ciation for  investigating  the  geology, 
botany,  or  archaeology  of  a  district. 
In  some  cases  the  association,  recog- 
nizing a  permanent  end,  assumes  an 
organization,  and  calls  itself  a  society. 

"  In  my  yesterday's  paper  I  proposed 
that  the  honest  men  of  all  parties  should 
enter  into  a  kind  of  nssociatiun  for  the  de- 
fence of  one  another," — Addison. 

Partnership  is  that  association  of 
two  or  more  persons  which  is  based 
on  a  community  of  personal  interests, 
and  which  must  be  secured  by  more 
or  less  formal  sanctions.  In  this 
sense  man  and  wife  enter  into  part- 
nership. When  extended  beyond 
this  it  relates  to  matters  of  gain  and 
profit  in  commercial  dealing.  It  in- 
volves the  joint  employment  of  money, 
goods,  labour,  skill,  or  any  one  or 
more  of  these,  with  a  view  to  a  com- 
munication of  proceeds. 

"  In  this  partnership  a.\]  men  have  equal 
rights,  bat  not  to  equal  things.  He  that  has 
but  five  shillings  in  the  partnership  has  as 
good  a  right  to  it  as  he  that  has  five  hun- 
dred pounds  has  to  his  larger  proportion." — 
Burke. 

Combination,  in  its  fullest  sense, 
belongs  to  inanimate  things,  as  forces, 
circumstances,  substances,  ideas. 
Combination  is  a  species  of  oon- 
aexiou.  (.  Lat.  comb\nare,  con-  ana  6i/ii, 


a  pair).  A.8  applied  to  persons,  it 
tends,  like  leagiie,  to  an  unfavourable 
or  unlawful  sense.  It  is  the  associa- 
tion of  many  persons  in  private  for 
the  purpose  of  some  object  desired  ir. 
common.  For  the  exact  idea  of  com- 
bination generally,  see  Connect.  Aa 
lawful  purposes  can  in  well-regulated 
communities  be  commonly  compassed 
by  ordinary  means,  combination  con- 
veys the  idea  of  conspii'acy  or  union 
against  some  existing  power  not  al- 
together peaceful  or  honourable.  The 
term,  however,  admits  being  so  quali- 
fied as  to  neutralize  this  force.  A 
union  for  a  good  purpose,  as  in  the 
cause  of  humanity  and  science,  is  not 
spoken  of  in  an  unqualified  manner 
as  a  combination,  though  persons  may 
combine  in  it. 

"  A  solemn  combination  shall  be  made 
Of  our  dear  souls."        SHAKESPEARE. 

Alliances,  leagues,  and  confedera- 
cies admit  of  every  degree  of  formal- 
ity and  solemnity  in  their  sanctions. 
The  bonds  of  relationship  and  ol 
friendship,  the  advantages  of  superior 
knowledge  and  experience,  and  the 
assurance  of  assistance  in  time  of  need 
are  the  ordinary  motives  to  alliances. 
The  object  of  a  league  is  ordinarily 
the  reduction  of  a  common  enemy,  or 
a  defence  against  his  attacks.  It  is 
an  union  of  force  and  design  to  carry 
out  a  particular  scheme  or  enterprise 
in  the  hope  of  reaping  the  fruit  of 
it  as  against  another.  A  confederacy 
is  an  union  based  on  mutual  interest 
and  support.  League  and  confederacy 
are  employed  only  of  persons  and 
powersi,  alliance  also  of  things,  as  the 
alliance  of  the  principles  of  the  world 
with  those  of  the  Gospel,  or  of  the 
eftbrts  of  art  with  those  of  nature. 
Alliances  are  for  the  gr<^at,  the  power- 
ful, and  the  healthy  ;  confederations 
for  those  under  trouble,  or  oppression, 
or  weakness  by  their  littleness: 
leagues  for  the  designing  and  ma- 
licious. An  alliance  is  sought  for  the 
sake  of  satisfaction ;  confederation 
for  action,  league  for  victory,  success, 
or  gain ;  association  for  entertain- 
ment and  useful  occupation.  The  life 
of  alliance  is  harmony  ;  of  confedera- 
tion, concert ;  of  league,  self-interest ; 
of  association,  a  common  spirit ;  of  com- 


90 


unites.  The  association  brings  to- 
gether. The  confederation  consti- 
tutes. The  combination  co-ordinates. 
The  partnership  yokes.  The  league 
binds.  Friendship  will  form  an  al- 
liance ;  patriotism  a  confederation  ; 
sympathy  an  association  ;  policy  a 
partnership ;  discontent  a  league. 
The  wise  ally  themselves.  The  pru- 
dent confederate  themselves.  The 
congenial  associate  themselves.  The 
oppressed  league  themselves. 

ALLOT.  Appoint.  Destine.  Ap- 
portion.    Assign. 

To  Allot  (Fr.  allotir,  an  old  law 
tei-m  :  Littr  e)  is  to  give  as  a  lot.  We 
may  allot  to  one  or  to  many.  To  Ap- 
i^oiiTiON  is  to  allot  according  to  pro- 
portion (Lot,  portionem^  a  portion).  Al- 
lotment determines  the  thing  itself, 
apportionment  determines  the  quan- 
tity of  it.  Allotment  is  used  only  of 
things,  not  of  persons,  except  where 
the  personality  is  taken  no  account  of, 
as  to  allot  certain  b-oops  to  a  district. 
Allotment  is  more  arbitrary  than  ap- 
portionment, for  allotment  may  be  of 
different  things,  while  apportionment 
is  of  different  assignments  from  the 
same  stock.  It  has  pleased  Divine 
Providence  not  only  to  apportion 
wealth  unequally  to  the  rich,  but  to 
allot  riches  to  some  and  poverty  to 
others.  Apportionment  is  regulated 
by  a  principle  of  distribution,  allot- 
ment by  the  will  of  him  who  allots. 

To  Appoint  (L.  hat.appunctare,  to 
arrange,  settle)  is  to  assign  a  particu- 
lar thing  in  a  particular  way  for  a 
particular  purpose.  The  orio;in  and 
force  of  the  word,  however,  is  to  be 
traced,  not  to  the  Latin,  but  to  the 
French.  The  French  "  point "  was 
used  in  the  sense  of  condition,  ar- 
rangement, turn,  plight,  case.  Hence 
the  L.  Lat.  appunctdre,  to  determine  or 
arrange  a  controversy.  Hence  our  own 
expression  that  a  remark  is  to  the 
point,  and  that  an  establishment  is 
well-appointed.  To  appoint  is  spe- 
cifically to  arrange,  to  select,  and  ap- 
ply to  a  purpose  in  hand.  Both  per- 
sons and  things  are  appointed,  but  in 
either  case  it  is  in  reference  to  some 
Durpose,  work,  or  end.  I  allot  from 
6  sense  of  fitness;   I  appoint  as  part 


SYNONTMS  [allot] 

of  an  arrangemeui.  To  allot  is  in 
some  sense  to  give  ;  to  appoint  is  to 
fix  only.  Hence  there  are  many  cases 
in  which  they  would  not  be  jointly 
employable.  If  I  say  I  appoint  a 
time  for  meeting,  I  mean  I  select  and 
assign  it  towards  the  purposes  of  tlie 
transaction.  If  I  say  I  allot  it,  I  mean 
that  I  take  it  as  a  portion  of  the  time 
nt  my  disposal,  and  give  it  to  the 
business  in  hand.  If  I  say  that  I  ap- 
portion it,  1  mean  that  I  give  it  feeling 
that  I  give  as  much  as  I  ought.  We 
should  allot  judiciously,  apportion 
fairly,  appoint  precisely. 

"  As  no  man  can  excel  in  everything,  we 
must  consider  wliat  part  is  allotted  to  us  to 
act  in  the  station  in  wliich  Providence  hath 
placed  us,  and  to  keep  to  that." — Mason. 
"  Man  hath  his  daily  work  of  body  or  mind 
Appointed,  which  declares  his  dignity. 
And  the  regard  of  heaven  on  all  his  ways. 
While  other  animals  inactive  range. 
And  of  their  doings  God  takes  no  account," 
MiLTOlf. 

"  God  having  placed  us  in  our  station,  he 
having  apportioned    to    us    our   task." — 

Barrow. 

As  all  the  other  of  these  synonyms 
beai-  upon  the  immediate  present,  so 
Destine  (Lat.  destindre)  upon  the 
future.  The  act  of  destining  is  as  it 
were  an  act  in  abeyance,  and  takes 
full  effect  in  the  future,  and  is  at  pre- 
sent in  reseiwation.  A  person  has  a 
task  allotted  to  him  on  which  he  is 
supposed  at  once  to  enter,  or  he  is 
appointed  to  an  office  the  obligations 
of  which  he  incurs  immediately;  but 
he  may  be  destined  to  the  office  before 
the  appointment  is  made.  Moreover, 
destination  is  not  alwaj'-s  relative.  It 
may  be  absolute — that  is,  things  may 
be  destined  simply  to  be  or  occur. 

"  Mark  well  the  place  where  first  she  lays 

her  down. 
There  measure  out  thy  walls  and  build  thy 

town ; 
And  from  thy  guide  Boeotia  call  the  land 
In  which  the  destined  walls  and  town  shall 

stand."  Addison,  Ovid. 

ALLOW.  Permit.  Suffer.  Tole- 

RATE. 

It  ought  to  be  observed  that  there  are 
in  Allow  two  distinct  forces,  the  mean* 
injr.  viz.,  of  to  permit  and  to  afford. 

I'o  Phrmif  (Lat.  peifniitcre)  la 
used  rather  in  a  passive,  while  Allov 


[allude] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


yi 


has  a  more  active  sense.  If  I  allow 
him  I  give  him  at  least  some  degree 
of  sanction,  however  small ;  if  I  per- 
mit, I  only  do  not  prevent  him. 

Suffer  (Lat.  sn^'erre)  is  more  pas- 
sive still,  and  may  be  entirely  against 
the  inclination.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
jiay  be  purely  negative,  as  the  indo- 
lent master  suffers  his  pupils  to  be 
idle.  There  are  in  allow,  permit, 
suffer,  and  tolerate,  degrees  as  regards 
the  will.  I  allow  what  I  myself  sanc- 
tion or  will.  I  permit  what  another 
wills.  I  suffer  that  about  which  I  am 
content  to  have  no  will.  I  Tolerate 
(Lat.  idler  are)  that  which  is  against 
my  will. 

••  Without  the  King's  will  or  the  State's 
allowance."  Shakespeare, 

"  If  by  the  author  of  sin  is  meant  the 
permitter,  or  not  a  hinderer  of  sin,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  disposer  of  the  state  of 
events  in  such  a  manner  for  wise,  holy,  and 
most  excellent  ends  and  purposes,  that  sin, 
if  it  be  permitted,  or  not  hindered,  will 
most  certainly  and  infallibly  follow — I  say 
if  this  be  all  that  is  meant  by  being  the 
author  of  sin,  I  do  not  deny  that  God  is  the 
author  of  sin,  though  I  dislike  and  reject 
the  phrase  as  that  which  by  use  and  custom 
is  apt  to  carry  another  sense  ;  it  is  no  re- 
proach for  the  Most  High  to  be  then  the 
author  of  sin." — Edwards,  Freedom  of  the 
WiU. 

It  should,  however,  be  observed 
that  in  matters  not  of  tlie  will  of  in- 
dividuals only,  but  of  formal  or  public 
sanction.  Permit  is  a  stronger  term 
than  Allow.  In  this  connexion  th'e 
case  is  reversed.  If  the  law  pennit  me 
to  do  something,  it  sanctions  my  doing 
it ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  allow  of 
my  doing  it  fi*om  the  case  not  having 
been  contemplated  and  provided  for 
by  law.  One  tolerates  a  thing  when, 
having  the  power  to  prevent  it,  one 
does  not  exercise  the  power.  One 
suffers  it  when  one  does  not  oppose, 
either  feigning  ignorance,  or  not 
ha\«ig  power  to  prevent.  Allow 
supposes  the  thing  allowed  to  be  good. 
Permit,  that  it  may  be  good  or  bad. 
Tolfrate  and  Suffer,  that  it  is  bad  or 
beheved  to  be  so. 

••  I  snfiTer  him  to  enter  and  possess. ' 

MiLTOX. 

••  Alleging  that  if  God  ruled  the  woi  Id 
CO  much  wickedness  and  impiety  would  not 
h«  ioierated  therein."— Barrow. 


ALLOW.        GnA>r.        Besiow. 

Afford. 

The  leading  idea  in  A  llow  is  pro- 
portionateness,  or  measured  giving ;  in 
Grant,  favour,  or  willing  giving;  in 
Bestow — a  compound  form  of  stow — 
substantial  benefit,  or  solid  giving; 
and  in  Afford,  personal  sparing  or 
relative  giving.  A  father  allows  his 
son  a  certain  sum  yearly  ;  kings  grant 
pensions ;  gifts  and  honours  are  some- 
times bestowed  upon  the  unworthy; 
relief  is  afforded  to  the  poor  or  the 
sick.  We  allow  what  is  claimed  or 
expected,  we  grant  what  is  asked,  we 
bestow  what  is  valued,  and  afford 
what  is  needed. 

"  If  it  (my  offence)  be  weighed 
By   itself,    with    aggravations    not     sur- 
charged. 
Or  else  with  just  alloivance  counterpoised, 
I  may,  if  possible,  thy  pardon  find." 

Milton. 

"This  mutual  convenience  introduced 
commei'cial  traffic,  and  the  reciprocal  trans 
fer  of  property  by  sale,  grant,  or  convey 
ance." — Blackstone. 

"Almighty  GoJ,  though  He  really  doth 
aud  raiinot  otherwise  do,  yet  will  not  seenc 
to  bestow  his  favonrs  altogether  gratis,  bu* 
to  expect  some  competent  retui'n,  some 
small  use  and  income  from  them." — 
Barrow. 
"  Great  Dryden  next,  whose  tuneful  Muse 

affords 
The    sweetest   numbers   and    the    fittest 
words."  Addison. 

ALLUDE.     Refer.     Advert. 

These  words  are  often  used  indis- 
criminately, but  they  are  by  no  meaois 
identical  in  meaning. 

To  Allude  (Lat.  alludere)  is  indi- 
rect. Refer  (Lat.  referre)  is  positive 
and  direct.  If  I  quote  an  author,  for 
instance,  not  by  name  but  by  de- 
scription, subject,  period,  or  style 
of  writing,  I  allude  to  him ;  but  if  I 
attribute  something  to  anotlier,  speci- 
fically and  plainly,  1  do  not  allude  but 
refer  to  him.  Allusion  is  often  so  vague 
that  confusion  arises  from  ignorance  of 
the  person  or  period  alluded  to.  The 
fault  of  reference  is  not  obscurity,  but 
inexactness.  A  wrong  reference — an 
obscure  allusion. 

Advert  (Lat.  adverlere,  to  turn  to) 
has  in  it  a  character  of  casualty,  almost 
of  abruptness,  as  if  in  adverting,  one 
suddenly  turned  aside  to  take  notice 


92 


of  something  in  connexion  with  the 
main  matter  in  hand,  but  with  no  in- 
tention of  dwelling  upon  it.  The  noun 
Advertence  is  equivalent  to  cou- 
8cious  observation. 

"  The  people  of  the  country  alluding  to 
its  foam  (Buttermere  Lake)  call  it  Sour 
Milk  Force."— Gilpin's  Tour. 

"But  to  do  good  is  not  only  our  greatest 
duty,  but  our  greatest  interest  and  advan- 
tage, which  is  that  that  Solomon  chiefiy 
refers  to  in  the  text."— Sharp, 
"  Now  to  the  universal  whole  advert. 
Our  earth  regard  as  of  that  whole  a  part." 
Blackmore. 

ALMOST.     Nearly. 

Nearly  is  more  strictly  applied  to 
matters  of  quantity,  time,  space,  and 
fact ;  Almost  to  matters  of  progres- 
sion, degree,  or  force.  So  if  we  said, 
"  He  is  nearly  tej  years  of  age,"  we 
should  mean  that  his  age  was  sepa- 
rated from  ten  by  a  small  interval. 
Almost  ten  would  mean  that  in  a  little 
he  would  reach  or  have  reached  it.  It 
may  be  observed  that  while  Nearly 
is  used  grammatically  with  a  negative. 
Almost  is  never  so  preceded.  That 
which  is  begun  and  approaches  its 
completion  is  almost  done  ;  that  which 
is  on  the  point  ofbeing  begun, is  nearly 
begun.  A  man  almost  killed  has  suf- 
fered a  severe  injury,  a  man  nearly 
killed  has  escaped. 

ALSO.    Too.    Likewise.    Besides. 

Too  is  a  sligliter  and  more  familiar 
word  than  A  i.so,  which  is  more  formal. 
Also  means,  as  well  as.  Likewise,  in 
a  similar  manner.  Too,in  addition.  Be- 
sides denotes  parallel  addition.  Also 
cannot  be  usetl  for  Likewise  if  there 
be  only  a  similarity  of  position  gram- 
matically,  and  no  community  of  nature. 
So  "lie  is  a  prince  and  also  a  musi- 
cian" may  be  said,  because  it  is  only 
a  logical  or  grammatical  unity  that  is 
expressed,  the  same  person  being  a 
subject  of  two  propositions.  *'  He  is  a 
prince  and  likewise  a  musician,"  we 
could  not  say,  by  reason  of  the  ab- 
sence of  any  community  of  charac- 
ter between  the  things  expressed  by 
the  terms.  Grammatically,  Too  cannot 
begin  a  sentence,  while  Also  can. 

AIWAYS.    Continually. 

One  does  Always  that  which  one 
does  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions  ; 
one  does  Continually  that  which  one 


8TNONY3IS  [aLMOST] 

does  without  intermission  or  interrup- 
tion. One  is  bound  always  to  prefer 
duty  to  pleasure.  It  is  inapossible  to 
be  continually  at  work.  One  is  also 
bound  always  to  speak,  when  in  com- 
pany, with  a  certain  consideration  of 
others ;  this  of  itself  will  prevent  us 
from  speaking  continually.  As  Con- 
tinually belongs  to  prolongation  of 
time,  so  Always  belongs  to  recurrence 
of  occasion. 

AMBASSADOR.  Envoy.  Pleni- 
potentiary.    Deputy.     Minister. 

Ambassador  (Ft.  ambassadef  an  em- 
bassy) is  a  minister  of  the  highest 
rank  resident  in  a  foreign  country 
even  in  times  of  peace,  and  keeps  up 
by  the  style  of  his  living  the  dignity 
of  the  country  which  he  represent! ; 
while  an  Envoy  (  Fr.  eiivoi,  a  sending) 
is  commonly  not  permanently  resi- 
dent, but  sent  on  a  particular  occasion. 
The  term  applies  especially  to  the 
ministers  ofmonarchs.  Minister  (Lat. 
minister,  an  attendant  on  a  monarch) 
being  the  general  term  for  foreign 
political  representatives. 

"  Since  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  repre- 
sentatives have  been  usually  divided  into 
three  classes :  ambassadors,  envoys,  and 
charges  des  affaires,  the  last  of  these  com- 
municating not  between  the  heads,  but 
between  the  foreign  departments  of  Go- 
vernments. Ambassadors  are  sent  by  Great 
Britain  to  Russia,  Austria,  the  German 
Empire,  Italy,  France,  and  Turkey ;  our 
other  ministers  abroad  are  termed  envoys, 
or  ministers  plenipotentiary." — Brandk 
AND  Cox,  Diet,  of  Lit.,  Science,  aiid  Art. 

The  envoy,  like  the  ambassador,  ex- 
ercises his  functions  in  a  sumptuous 
manner.  The  Plenipotentiary,  as 
his  name  implies  (Lat.  plcnus,  full  , 
potentia,  authority)  is  one  vested  with 
full  powers  to  treat  with  a  foreign  go- 
vernment, especially  when  its  rela- 
tions are  precarious.  Personal  influ- 
ence, diplomatic  talent,  and  loyalty, 
are  needed  in  the  plenipotentiary. 

The  Deputy  {Ft.  depute,  Lat. dipii- 
tare,  to  decide)  has  much  less  power, 
beingsentuponaspecificmissionwhich 
he  is  bound  to  execute  with  dignity, 
strictness,  and  despatch.  Ambassa- 
dors and  envoys  speak  and  treat  in 
the  name  of  their  sovereigns,  but  the 
first  are  invested  with  a  representative 
duality;   the  second  are   authorised 


[amend] 


ministers,  but  not  representative  mem- 
bers in  tlie  full  sense  of  the  term. 
No  such  higli  rank  and  power  is  ever 
eajqyed  by  "deputies  who  appear  and 
speak  in  behalf  of  some  subordinate 
section  of  the  community,  or  some 
private  body.  The  title  of  minister 
comprises  the  functions  of  ambassador 
and  envoy  ;  that  of  deputy  assimilates 
itself  to  those  of  an  agent.  Mi\g- 
nificence  of  living  and  personal 
dignity  belong  characteristically  to 
the  ambassador.  Cleverness  in  nego- 
tiation constitutes  the  merit  of  an 
envoy.  Natural  talent  and  aptitude 
for  business  are  desired  in  a  deputy. 
Deputies  may  be  sent  to  sovereigns, 
though  they  are  not  sent  by  them. 
The  title  plenipotentiary  commonly 
accompanies  that  of  ambassador-ex- 
traordinary, 

"The  commerce  of  the  Turkish  Company 
(Irst  occasioned  the  establishment  of  an 
ordinary  ambassador  at  Constantinople." — 
Adam  Smith. 

"  As  when  some  faithful  envoy,  who  at  large 
Receives  commission  for  a  weighty  charge. 
Chides  his  neglect,  recalling  to  his  thought 
Some  valued  purpose 'midst  his  zeal  forgot. 
And  ere  he  sees  his  lord  with  eager  care 
Rends  every  power  the  omission  to  repair," 
HoOK,  Ch-lando  Furioso. 

"The  British  Henipotentiaries  were  di- 
rected  to  give  the  same  assurances  to  the 
Dutch  ministers  at  Utrecht,  and  withal  to 
let  them  know  that  the  Queen  was  deter- 
mined by  their  late  conduct  to  make  peace, 
cither  with  or  without,  but  would  much 
rather  choose  the  former." — Swift, 

"When  I  was  at  Assamea  some  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  several  different 
cities  complained  to  me  of  the  excessive 
appointments  that  were  decreed  to  their 
deputies." — Melmoth,  Cicero. 

AM151GU0US.     Equivocal. 

Ambiguous  (Lat,  ambtguus)  quali- 
fies such  a  form  of  expression  as  leaves 
the  sense  doubtful. 

Equivocal  (Lat,  (cquivocus)  is  the 
character  which  belongs  to  a  term  as 
having  more  than  one  meaning.  So 
ambiguous  is  negative ;  equivocal  is 

Jositive.  In  an  ambiguous  sentence 
do  not  see  the  grammatical  sense. 
In  an  equivocal  sentence  there  is  more 
than  one  sense,  each  plain  enough, 
but  1  do  not  know  which  to  take. 
Ambiguitjr  obscures  the  expression; 
equivocation  conceals  the  intention 
ot  the  speaker.  The  former  is  far  less 
often  the   result  of  design  than  the 


DISCRIMINATED. 


93 


latter,  which  is  a  synonym  with  pre- 
varication. In  deliberate  equivoca- 
tion, it  is  intended  that  the  hearer 
should  take  what  is  said  in  a  sense 
favourable  to  the  speaker ;  and  this  is 
made  possible  by  the  use  of  variable 
or  elastic  terms.  Equivocation  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  intentional  ;  but  confused, 
or  inadequate  ideas,  or  a  style  want- 
ing in  lucidity,  will  often  lead  to  am- 
biguity. Primarily,  Equivocal  is  an 
epithet  of  terms,  Ambiguity,  of  ex- 
pressions or  sentences.  When  asaying 
is  equally  intelligible  in  two  distinct 
senses,  it  is  equivocal.  The  relative 
"  who  "  as  referring  to  more  than  one 
possible  antecedent  is  a  fruitful  source 
of  the  equivocal.  "The  son  of  John 
Jones  who  committed  the  theft," 
leaves  it  equivocal  whether  the  father 
or  the  son  was  the  thief.  Puns  are 
another — 

"  Tout  ce  qm  porte  plume 
Est  cree  pour  voler." 
may  either  express  flight  as  an  attri- 
bute of  winged  animals,  or  thie  vishness 
as  an  attribute  of  attorneys.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  however,  that  it  will  fre- 
quently happen  that  the  same  expres- 
sion may  be  characterized  either  as 
ambiguous  or  as  equivocal .  The  equi- 
vocal is  always  ambiguous,  though 
the  ambiguous  may  owe  its  ambiguity 
to  otlier  causes  than  the  multiform 
meaning  of  terms.  He  who  wishes 
to  be  ambiguous  will  resort  to  equivo- 
cation as  one  way  of  concealing  his 
meaning,  and  a  more  available  way 
than  the  construction  of  involved 
sentences, 

"  Taking  advantage  of  a  sentence  or 
word  that  might  be  amfei^ows  or  doubtful." 
— SiK  T.  Elyot. 

♦'  The  equivocal  title  of  the '  Apostolical  * 
given  to  the  Roman  creed."— Wateklaitd. 

AMEND.  Correct.  Reform. 
Emend.     Rectify. 

Of  these  Amend  and  Emend  are 

really  the  same  word,  emenddre  in 
Latin  becoming  the  Fr.  amender.  The 
root  is  Lat.  menda,  a  fault.  In  usage, 
Amend  means  positively  to  better, 
Emend,  negatively  to  remove  faults. 
Emend  is  more  commonly  used  of 
literary  matters,  amend  of  moral,  and 
of  I"  reductions  of  the  understandinf;,  as 
a  law  or  an  arrangement. 


94 


"Graunt  me,  Lord,  grace  oi  amendement." 
Piers  Ploughman. 

To  Correct  (Lat.  con-lgtrCy  part. 
correctus)  is  to  bring  to  a  conformity 
with  rule,  moral,  artificial,  or  scien- 
tific, by  removing-  faults  ;  and,  by  an 
extension  of  meaning,  punishing  them. 
In  the  latter  case  the  correction  is,  un- 
happily, no  guarantee  for  the  amend- 
ment. To  Reform  (Lsit.  rtformare)  is 
to  correct  or  amend  by  a  continuous 
process  and  with  permanent  effect. 
In  reference  to  })ersous  it  has  the  sense 
of  to  reclaim  from  wrongness  of  life ; 
and  to  institutions,  from  inherent  cor- 
ruption, deterioration,  or  disorganiza- 
tion. Correction  redresses  errors  and 
omissions  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
back  to  an  order  or  to  a  standard. 
Amendment  is  brought  about  in  that 
which  to  some  extent  has  been  well 
done.  Reform  denotes  the  state  of  a 
tljing  re-established  in  its  right  order 
or  condition.  Correction  is  more  in 
detail.  Amendment  and  Reform  more 
general,  extensive.  A  correction  of 
faults  will  constitute  an  amendment 
of  character,  which,  if  completely 
sustained,  will  result  in  an  entire  re- 
form. Reform  is  predicated  of  such 
tilings  as  wear  a  character  and  pursue 
a  course  of  conduct — that  is,  are  asso- 
ciated with  the  individual  natures  or 
collective  proceedings  of  men. 

"  Under  what  manner,  therefoi-e,  should 
I  now  submit  this  book  to  be  corrected  and 
amended  of  them  which  can  suffer  nothing 
to  be  well  ?  "— Tynbal. 

••  The  practical  definition  of  what  the 
popular  branch  of  our  legislature  was  at 
this  day  he  took  to  be  precisely  this :  an 
assembly  freely  elected,  between  whom  and 
the  mass  of  the  people  there  was  the  closest 
union  and  the  most  perfect  sympathy.  Such 
a  House  of  Commons  it  was  the  purpose  of 
the  Constitution  originally  to  erect,and  such 
a  House  of  Commons  it  was  the  wish  of 
every  Iteformer  now  to  establish." — Pitt, 
Speech  on  Parliamentary  Keform. 

"  I  hardly  left  a  single  line  in  it  without 
giving  it  what  I  thought  an  emendation." 
—Mason. 

To  Rectify  (Lat.  recttjlcare)  refers 
to  something  done,  and  denotes  the 
adjusting  of  what  is  wrong  without 
reference  to  any  continuity  of  habit. 
We  rectify  things  only,  and  wrong 
things.  It  belongs  to  intellectual  as 
well  as  moral  subject-matter;  as  e.g. 
to  rectify  the  errors  or  exaggeration* 


SYNONYMS  [amazement] 

of  a  statement;  but  it  has  also  as  cor- 
rect a  bearing  ou  cases  of  purely 
physical  adjustment.  Between  con-ect 
and  rectify  there  is  a  great  likeness. 
But  we  rectify  when  we  make  things 
right,  we  correct  when  we  make  them 
exact  or  true.  We  correct  by  adjust- 
ing to  an  external  test,  we  rectify  by 
putting  into  normal  condition.  1  rec- 
tify a  timepiece  when  1  set  it  in  good 
order  for  going  ;  I  correct  it  when  I 
make  it  indicate  the  true  time. 


AMAZEMENT.  Wonder.  Be- 
wilderment. 

Amazement  is  connected  by  Wedge- 
wood  with  the  Italian  smagare,  to  dis- 
courage^  dispirit ;  Fr.  s'esmaier,  to  be 
sad,  thoughtful.,  astonished.  Skeat, 
Etym.  Diet,  considers  Amaze,  for- 
merly amase,  to  be  the  A.  S.  intensive 
prefix  d-,  compounded  with  maze; 
and  thus —  tocon/oHj'd  utterly.  Amaze- 
ment is  a  combination  of  Wonder 
(A.  S.  wundrian)  and  a  feeling  akin 
to  dismay — a  blank,  open-mouthed 
astonishment,  affecting  the  senses 
and  the  reasoning  faculties.  Won- 
der is  more  calm  and  rational.  Won- 
der increases  with  the  exercise  of 
reason  and  contemplation,  amazement 
oppresses  the  reason.  In  wonder  the 
mind  may  be  active  and  the  tongue 
eloquent ;  in  amazement  one  is  mute 
and  overborne. 

Bewi lderment  is  literally  the  wild- 
ness  of  perplexity.  When  it  is  mixed 
with  wonder  it  is  the  strongest  form  of 
amazement;  but  it  may  haveno  wonder 
in  it,  in  which  case  it  is  the  result  of  ex- 
treme perplexity.  A  man  is  bewildered 
by  the  presentation  before  his  mind  of 
many  aifierent  objects,  having  equal 
claim  to  choice  or  preference  in  judg- 
ment or  in  action,  by  which  he  is  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  perplexed  inaction. 

AMBUSH.     Ambuscade. 

These  words  are  both  derivatives 
from  the  Low  Lat.  boscus,a  huih,wood, — 
literally,  a  personal  concealment  in  a 
wood  or  trees.  Of  old  the  word  was 
Ambush  ;  Ambuscade  is  more  recent. 
The  latter  is,  however,  seldom  used 
but  as  a  strategic  terra,  and  is  also 
used  of  the  persons  in  ambush.  1 1  eiice 
ambuscade  is  associated  with  the  legi- 
timate   operations   of  war;    a-nbu.sb 


[ample] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


with  a  cowardly  attack  upon  enemies 
or  objects  of  ill  design.  The  wild 
beast  lies  in  ambush,  tlie  commander 
plans  an  ambuscade. 

AMIABLE.       ESTIMABLK. 

These  adjectives  follow  tlie  distinc- 
tion of  the  verbs  from  which  they  are 
derived.  Love  is  produced  by  the 
exhibition  of  such  moral  qualities  as 
are  attractive,  esteem  hy  such  as  are 
deserving  oi' regard.  The  Estisiable 
(Lat.  (Bsttmdbtlis)  person  is  higher 
than  the  Amiable  (Lat.  UmabtUs), 
though  not  so  interesting  to  ourselves. 
The  latter  character  is  contemplated 
with  affection  and  pleasure,  thefonner 
with  affection  and  respect.  The  ami- 
able disposition  is  often  weak,  capable 
of  pleasing,  and  desirous  to  please, 
yet,  by  this  very  thing,  liable  to  act 
unthoughtfully,  inconsiderately,  un- 
justly. The  estimable  disposition  may 
be  better  relied  on.  It  is  tempered  by 
right  feeling,  and  not  only  kindly  or 
comjdiant  feeling.  He  wlio  is  merely 
amiable  is  wanting  in  independence 
of  character,  and  so,  being  willing  to 
please  all,  will  often  disappoint  and 
dissatisfy  many.  He  who  is  estimable 
exercises  justice  in  small  things,  and 
would  avoid  all  cause  of  offence,  not 
by  seeking  merely  to  please  all,  but 
to  give  all  their  due. 

AMICABLE.     FuiENDLv. 

These  words  are  etymologicalr_y 
equivalent,  the  Latin  07nicws  being  the 
English yr/end  (A.  S.  J'reoud).  But 
Amicable  is  the  more  formal  word  of 
the  two,  and  so  indicates  less  warmth 
of  feeling  personally.  Friendly  is 
positive  in  its  force,  while  Amicable 
often  means  no  more  than  the  absence 
of  quarrel.  And  so  it  often  refers  to 
the  externals  of  conduct  or  to  a  con- 
ventional friendship,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  amicable  adjustment  of  disputes. 
We  are  bound  in  Christian  duty  to  live 
amicably  with  all,  but  it  would  be, 
perhaps,  impossible  to  feel  friendly 
towards  all  in  equal  degree.  Friendly 
means  with  the  feelings  of  friends ; 
Amicable,  after  the  manner  of  friends. 
Wher.  persons  are  friendly,  their  inter- 
course will  be  amicable. 

"  Even  those  that  break  the  peace  canuot 
but  praise  it,  how  much  more  should  they 
bid  for  it  that  are  true  friends  to  it  and  to 


95 


-Bp. 


that   amicableness  that  attends  it ! ' 
Taylor. 

"  There  are  several  texts  in  the  New 
Testament  which  interpret  the  love  of  our 
neighbours  to  mean  universal  benevolence 
or  friendliness  towards  the  whole  kind,  as 
opportunities  may  offer." —Watkrland. 

AMPLE.     Spacious.    Capacioi'S. 

These  words  convey  in  common  the 
idea  of  extentor  largeness.  But  Ample 
(cat.  amplus)  is  always  relative  to 
some  standard  of  want  or  need.  Ample 
is  fully  enough,  as  scanty  is  barely 
enough.  Anything  which  is  moie 
than  sufficient  is  ample,  whether  in 
quantity,  number,  space,  or  amount 
in  anyway.  It  applies, unlike  the  other 
two,  not  only  to  fixed,  but  also  to  vari- 
able amounts,  or  to  things  that  can  be 
narrowed  or  extended ;  an  ample  robe 
has  been  made  of  full  measure. 

"  How  may  I 
Adore  Thee,  Author  of  this  Universe, 
And  all  this  good  to  roan, for  whose  well-being 
So  amply  and  with  hands  so  Mberal 
Thou  hast  provided  1 "  Milton 

Spacious  expresses  what  is  of  super- 
ficial largeness  in  reference  to  human 
habitation,  movement,  or  occupation. 
A  spacious  garden  gives  plenty  of 
space  for  recreation.  An  ample  garden 
is  fully  sufficient  for  this  and  all  other 
purposes  of  a  garden,  as  to  the  supply, 
for  instance,  of  fruit  and  flowers. 

Capacious  (Lat.  cdpacem)  is  largo 
in  external  measurement.  In  the 
ample,  one  has  satisfaction,  in  tlie  spa- 
cious freedom,  in  the  capacious  roomi- 
ness and  stowage.  Ample  is  equally 
applicable  to  things  moral  and  physi- 
cal—  ample  powers,  ample  ground. 
Spacious  is  applicable  only  to  physical 
extent,  except  by  metaphor;  while 
Capacious  belongs  in  its  primary 
sense  to  the  material,  and  in  the  secon- 
dary to  the  intellectual.  That  is  ampW 
which  exceeds  requirement.  That  tft 
spacious  which  givesnoideaof  circum- 
scription. That  is  capacious  which  is 
not  easily  overfilled,  nor  checks  the 
process  of  depositing  or  storing. 

"  In  that  spacious  place  ships  of  the 
greatest  burden  may  ride  afloat." — Dam- 
PIER's  Voyages. 

"No  figure  is  so  eapacious  as  this  (the 
sphere),and  consequently  whose  parts  are  so 
well  compacted  and  united,  and  lie  so  near 
o:ie  to  aiui^er  for  mutual  strenfljth."— li*  y 


96 


AMUSEMENT.  Diversion.  En- 
rtRiJiiNMENT.  Sport.  Recreation. 
Pastime. 

A.MUSEMENT  (  Fr.  amuscry  to  amuse) 
is  employed  to  express  both  the  thing 
that  amuses  and  the  state  of  being 
amused.  An  amusement  is  an  employ- 
ment or  occupation  which  gives  ease 
to  the  mind  whether  purposely  sought 
or  not.  It  is  continuous  action  suffi- 
ciently interesting  to  prevent  a  sense 
of  labour  and  of  time,  and  may  or  may 
not  have  a  special  object  beyond  itself. 
It  is  a  lull  of  the  mind,  and  a  release 
from  mental  efforts  and  serious  re- 
flexions without  beinga  merely  passive 
state.  Amusement  implies  something 
to  which  the  attention  is  given  con- 
tinuously, and  on  which  itmuses.  The 
mere  absence  of  ennui  without  the 
positive  sensation  of  pleasure  is  suffi- 
cient to  constitute  amusement,  yet 
there  must  be  a  lightness  of  occupation 
tending  to  the  side  of  mirth,  though 
not  necessarily  exciting  it,  and  cer- 
tainly not  exciting  the  contrary. 
Hence  it  is  in  one  sense  a  synonym 
with  beguile. 

"  High  aboA-e  onr  heads  at  the  summit  of 
the  chff  sat  a  group  of  mountaineer  children 
amusing  themselves  with  pushing  stones 
from  the  top  and  watching  as  they  plunged 
into  the  lake."— Gilpin's  Tour. 

Diversion  (Lat. dzt;ersione/n.,  a  turn- 
ing aside)  is  an  amusement  viewed 
relatively  to  the  more  serious  business 
of  life,  from  which  it  is  a  deviation. 
As  we  are  amused  by  having  our 
attention  turned  to  a  thing,  so  we  are 
diverted  behaving  our  attention  turned 
from  it.  Hence  diversion  is  more 
Btrongly  counteractive  than  amuse- 
ment, and  implies  a  higher  degree  of 
excitement — such,  for  in  stance,  as  may- 
amount  to  positive  merriment.  Di- 
version is  a  livelier  term  than  amuse- 
ment. When  one  is  amused,  the  time 
passes  unmarked ;  when  one  is  diverted 
It  passes  marked  only  by  lively  and 
agreeable  sensations.  We  are  amused 
by  a  tale,  diverted  by  a  comedy.  One 
does  not  say  that  the  tragedy  diverts, 
because  it  is  too  serious ;  nor  amuses, 
because  it  is  too  earnest.  He  must  be 
wellnigh  weary  of  life  whom  nothing 
can  amuse ;  he  must  be  deep  in  melan- 
Jialy  wliom  nothing  can  divert.   One 


SYNONYMS  [amusement] 

may  amuse  one's  self,  one  is  diverte<] 
by  other  things  or  persons.  One  may, 
therefore,  be  amused  in  solitude ;  one 
is  diverted  only  in  company.  It  is  not 
well  to  give  way  to  a  fondness  for 
diversions,  for  it  is  likely  to  create  an 
incapacity  for  quiet  amusements,  as 
draughts  too  strong  destroy  the  relish 
for  those  which  are  weaker,  and  ex- 
citing pleasures  make  common  plea- 
sures tame.  Calm,  sedentary,  and 
sometimes,  unhappily,frivolous,thing6 
amuse.  It  requires  something  more 
animated  to  divert. 

"  They  must  act  as  their  equals  act,  they 
must,  like  others,  dress,  keep  a  table,  an 
equipage,  and  resort  to  public  diversiotis.  It 
is  necessary  according  to  their  ideas." — 
Knox,  Essays. 

Entertainment  is  a  term  which 
has  assumed  with  ourselves  a  lighter 
character  than  belongs  to  its  French 
original.  In  Fr.  entretien  means 
more  sustained  conversation.  The 
proceedings  of  a  debating  society  are 
more  closely  allied  than  anything  else 
to  tlie  original  idea  of  entertainment. 
Yet  the  entertainment  with  us  has  so 
much  in  common  with  this  that  the 
idea  is  that  of  social  amusement  of  a 
more  or  less  refined  character,  as  a 
play,  a  descriptive  lecture,  a  musical 
performance,  and  the  like.  The  in- 
tellect and  the  taste  are  sought  to  be 
enlisted  in  entertainment,  and  those 
are  the  most  entertaining  books  which 
appeal  to  such  capacities  of  amusement 
as  belong  to  the  refined  and  educated. 
Common  people  prefer  diversions,  and 
are  incapable  of  appreciating  enter- 
tainments. 
"  But  the  kmd  hosts  their  entertainment 

grace 
With  hearty  welcome  and  an  open  face ; 
In  all  they  did  you  might  discern  with  ease 
A  willing  mind  and  a  desire  to  please." 
Dryden. 

Sport  (0.  Fr.  se  desporter,  to  amuse 
oneself)  represents  a  species  of  bodily 
recreation  peculiarly  adapted  to  tlie 
young  and  agile,  and  taking  place  for 
the  most  part  in  the  open  air.  A  game 
may  or  may  not  be  sedentary,  sport 
never  is.  But  sport  belongs  to  conver- 
sation as  well  as  action,  and  sport  in 
that  case  means  playful  talk  without 
serious  meaning — irony,  banter,  jest, 


[ai^alysis] 


and  the  like,  are  in  that  sense  sport. 
A  sport  may  be  defined  to  be  a  diversion 
of  the  field  such  as  fowling,  hunting, 
fishing'.  It  differs  from  game  in  the 
further  particular  that  besides  being 
capable  of  being  carried  on  in  soli- 
tude, it  is  not  governed  by  rules  of 
conformity. 

Game,  again,  is  used  of  mental  re- 
creation, as  a  game  of  chess. 

"  In  areas  varied  with  mosaic  art. 

Some  whirl  the  disk,  and  some  the  javelin 

dart ; 
Aside,  sequestered  from  the  vast  resort 
Antinous  sate  spectator  of  the  sport." 

Pope. 

Recreation  (Lat.  recredre,  to  re- 
new) is,  like  diversion,  counteractive, 
but  not  necessarily  so  energetic,  and 
comprises  all  degrees  of  relaxation, 
from  the  most  active  to  the  least  active 
of  amusements.  Still  some  amount 
of  action  is  involved,  otherwise,  it 
would  be  repose.  It  belongs  espe- 
cially to  the  studiojs,  the  industrious, 
and  those  who  are  engaged  in  the 
responsible  duties  of  office.  To  such 
recreation  is  a  relief  from  past  labours 
and  a  preparation  for  resuming  them, 
[t  may  be  an  amusement,  a  diversion, 
an  entertainment,  or  a  sport,  and  it  is 
commonly  sought  and  taken  with  a 
view  to  its  restorative  effects. 

The  Pasi  I.MK  is,  as  its  name  denotes, 
a  means  of  pleasantly  passing  the 
lime.  It  is  tlie  active  amusement 
which  beguiles  the  leisure  hour  wliich 
otherwise  might  hang  tediously.  It 
is  a  liappy  relief  to  the  industrious  to 
find  recreation:  it  is  better  that  for 
the  indolent  there  should  be  found  a 
pastime  than  that  he  should  be  left  to 
his  own  idleness. 

*'  So  that  of  necessity  they  must  either 
apply  their  accustomed  labours,  or  else  re- 
create themselves  with  honest  and  laudable 
pastimes."— 'Mork'S  Utopia. 

ANALOGY.     Resemblance. 

Analogy  (Gr.  avaX'-yia.)  is  often 
used  familiarly  as  if  it  meant  no  more 
than  moral  similarity  or  resemblance. 
It  is  true  that  the  words  analogy  and 
likeness  might  often  be  used  inter- 
changeably, bnt  analogy  is  not  simple 
likeness.  Analogy  is  a  resemblance 
of  relationships.  It  expresses  a  fixed 
f^iiantity.     Resemblance  may  exist  in 


DISCRIMINATED. 


97 


any  degpree ;  the  resemblance  of  the 
whole  being  striking  to  our  sense  and 
observation  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  points  in  detail  which  are 
similar.  If  two  trees  are  very  much 
alike  in  lieight,  growth,  sliape  of 
leaves,  and  general  colour,  tliere  is 
no  analogy,  but  a  resemblance  between 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
an  analogy  between  the  branchps  ard 
a  man's  arms,  so  that  we  sometimes 
speak  of  an  arm  of  a  tree  ;  for  the  re- 
lation of  the  branch  to  the  trunk  of 
the  tree  is  like  that  of  tlie  arms  of  a 
man  to  the  human  body.  If  I  argue 
that  because  the  seed  dies  in  the  earth 
before  it  springs  up  anew,  therefore 
it  is  probable  that  the  human  body 
will  rise  again  after  death  ;  this  is  as 
to  the  idea  only  a  resemblance ;  as  to 
the  argument,  an  analogy;  the  prin- 
ciple bein^  some  community  in  the 
ground  of  the  likeness ;  as,  for  instance, 
that  as  the  same  God  is  tlie  Author  of 
a  natural  and  of  a  spiritual  world,  He 
may  be  expected  to  act  in  regard  to 
each  upon  similar  or  common  laws. 

"  The  schoolmen  tell  us  there  is  an  arwi- 
logy  between  intellect  and  sight,  for  as  much 
as  mtellect  is  to  the  mind  what  sight  is  to 
the  body,  and  that  he  who  governs  the 
state  is  analogous  to  him  who  steers  a  ship. 
Hence  a  prince  is  analogically  styled  a  pilot, 
being  to  the  state  what  a  pilot  is  in  the  ves- 
sel."—Bishop  Bekkelev. 

"  To  do  good  is  to  become  most  like 
God.  It  is  that  which  of  all  other  qualities 
gives  us  the  resemblance  of  His  Natura  and 
perfection."— Sharp. 

.  ANALYSIS.  Resolution.  Re- 
duction. 

Analysis  (avaXwo-jf)  is  from  Gr. 
avaXvuv,  the  equivalent  of  the  Lat. 
rcsoLvere,  to  resolve.  But  though  in 
meaning  identical,  they  differ  some- 
what in  application.  Analysis  is  a 
chemical  and  metaphysical  term.  We 
analyze  a  substance  into  its  comj)onent 
parts,  or  a  complex  notion  into  its 
constituent  ideas,  or  a  sentence  inUi 
its  parts  of  speech.  Resolution  means 
the"  same  thing,  but  is  also  applicable 
to  other  processes  than  those  which 
belong  to  human  intelligence  and 
skill.  The  action  of  the  elements 
may  resolve  a  substance  into  its  com- 
ponent parts,  but  it  does  not  analyze 
it.     Resolution  expresses  the  fact  or 


98 


process,  analysis  tlie  scientific  inten- 
tion as  well.  Resolution  may  be  ac- 
cidental, analysis  is  conducted  with 
the  purpose  of  cognition.  Reductio-v 
(Lat.  rtductionem,  a  brbiging  back)  i*. 
like  resolution  as  being  the  result 
either  of  intelligence  or  of  mechanical 
operation ;  but  it  means  a  different 
thing.  As  to  resolve  is  to  loose  or 
separate,  so  to  reduce  is  to  bring  back. 
A  thing  resolved  is  taken  to  pieces, 
a  thing  reduced  is  taken  to  another 
form  usually  inferior,  weaker  or  more 
elementary.  After  resolution  there 
are  many  parts  or  particles,  differing 
among  themselves.  After  reduction 
there  is  one  substance  altered  in  form 
or  condition  or  aspect.  Men  may  be 
reduced  to  tribes,  animals  or  vege- 
tables to  classes,  many  rules  to  one 
comprehensive  rule,  a  number  from 
one  denomination  to  another  without 
altering  its  value,  shillings  to  pence, 
stone  to  powder,  a  metal  from  other 
substances  with  which  it  is  combined. 
On  the  other  hand  the  atmosphere  is 
resolved  into  oxygen  and  nitrogen 
gases,  or  the  idea  of  amazement  into 
wonder  and  bewilderment,  or  the 
commandments  of  the  decalogue  into 
the  duty  towards  God  and  that  towards 
our  neighbour.  If  we  were  to  use 
the  term  reduced,  in  this  last  case  we 
should  mean  that  the  nximber  ten  was 
reduced  to  the  number  two,  or  ten 
commandments  to  two  commandments, 
which  is  no  analysis  or  resolution  of 
the  subject  matter.  Analysis  searches, 
resolution  decomposes,  reduction- 
alters  in  form. 

ANIMAL.     Brute.     Beast. 

Animal  (Lat.  Hiiimal)  comprehends 
every  creature  endowed  with  that  life 
which  is  superior  to  the  merely  vege- 
tative life  of  plants,  and  therefore  in- 
cludes man.  It  is  sometimes,  how- 
ever, made  to  express  distinctively 
Dther  animals  than  man.  In  that  case 
we  have  to  suppose  a  further  distinc- 
tion drawn  between  the  rational  and 
the  irrational  animal  life. 

"Animate bodies  are  either  such  ns  are 
indued  with  a  vegetative  soul  as  plants, 
>r  a  sensitive  soul  as  the  bodies  of  animals, 
oirds,  beasts,  fishes,  or  insects,  or  a  rational 
joul  as  the  body  of  man  and  the  vehicles  of 
*ngels  if  any  such  there  be." — Ray,  on 
Creation 


SYNONYMS  [animal] 

Brute  (Lat.  brhtns,  irrational)  and 
Bkast  (Lat.  ftes/m)  stand  related  each 
in  its  own  way  to  man.  Brute  is  the 
animal  regarded  in  reference  to  the 
absence  of  that  intelligence  which 
man  possesses,  Beast  (except  where 
the  word  is  used  in  the  sense  of  cattle) 
ic.  reference  to  that  savage  nature  of 
which  man  is  or  ought  to  be  devoid. 
The  indolent,  senseless,  and  violent 
brute  ;  the  cruel,  savage,  vile  or  filthy 
beast.  Hence  while  the  term  animal 
is  applicable  to  insects,  neither  brute 
nor  beast  is  so,  being  insusceptible  of 
moral  comparison  with  man.  In  ap- 
plying the  terms  figuratively  to  the  cha- 
racter and  disposition  of  men,  Animal 
denotes  one  who  follows  the  instincts 
and  propensities  of  his  lower  nature 
to  the  neglect  of  moral  restraints  and 
intellectual  sympathies;  Beast  one 
who  grovels  in  sensuality,  Brute 
one  whose  nature  seems  deadened  to 
fine  feeling. 

""We  cannot  teach  brute  animals  to  nse 
their  eyes  in  any  other  way  than  that  in 
which  nature  hath  taught  them." — Reid. 

"  Inspiring  dumb 
And  helpless  victims  with  a  sense  so  keen 
Of  injury,  with  such  knowledge  of  their 

strength, 
And  such  sagacity  to  take  revenge. 
That  oft  the  beast  has  seemed  to  judge  the 

man."  COWPKR 

ANIMATE.     Inspire. 

To  Animate  (Lat.  dnimare)  is  lite- 
rally to  put  life  or  soul  into  a  thing. 
To  Inspire  (Lat.  inspirdre,  to  breathe 
iiito)  is  to  impart  an  influence  to  the 
nature  of  another  as  if  by  a  breath. 
The  difference  lies  in  what  is  supposed 
to  be  communicated.  The  lower  in- 
fluence is  expressed  by  the  word  ani- 
mate, so  that  the  term  is  applied  to 
the  mere  imparting  of  life,  or  the  ap- 
pearance of  life.  The  soul  animates 
the  body,  the  marble  of  the  sculptor 
appears  animated.  The  higher,  more 
spiritual,  or  finer  faculties  and  feelings 
are  said  to  be  imparted  by  inspiration, 
as  to  be  inspired  with  a  sublime  cou- 
rage or  devotion.  Animation  quickens 
the  physical  and  inferior,  inspiration 
the  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  im- 
pulses, as  of  human  nature.  So  Ani- 
mate lends  itself  the  more  easily  to 
express  evil  influences ;  as  to  be  ani- 
mated by  a  spirit  of  revenge.    That 


[announce] 

which  animates  incites  to  action  al- 
ready begun,  accelerates  it,  and  post- 
pones th'e  conclusion  of  it,  giving 
energy,  fire,  and  warmth.  lie  has  to 
be  animated  who  is  wanting  on  the 
score  of  spirit,  who  is  cold  and  indif- 
ferent in  action,  who  requires  to  be 
drawn  out  of  apathy,  who  is  to  be 
quickened  out  ot  sluggishness,  having 
a  weak  will  or  little  earnestness.  He 
who  is  animated  by  hope  of  a  reward 
uses  all  his  faculties  more  briskly. 
[le  who  is  inspired  with  a  love  of 
glory  will  be  so  enthusiastic  as  to 
have  little  regard  for  anything  but  the 
distinction  which  is  the  object  of  his 
endeavours. 

"  Wherever  we  are  formed  by  Nature  to 
any  active  purpose,  the  passion  which  ani- 
rnates  us  to  it  is  attended  with  delight,  or 
a  pleasure  of  some  kind." — BuRKE. 

ANIMATION.  Life.  Vivacity. 
Spirit. 

Ankmatign  (see  Animate)  and  Life 
(  A.  S.  lif)  are  employed  alike  to  ex- 
press the  appearance  of  one  actuated 
by  the  lively  impulses  of  nature.  Life 
is  used  both  for  the  possession  of  the 
functions  oforganic  life  and  the  exhibi- 
tion of  them  in  a  demonstrative  degree. 
Vivacity  (Lat.  v'wdc^itdtem)  differs 
from  animation  in  expressing  itself 
rather  by  the  manner,  speech,  and 
movements,  while  animation  may  be 
confined  to  the  countenance.  Si-irit 
(Lat.  splritum)  stands  to  action  as 
vivacity  stands  to  movement,  and  ani- 
mation to  aspect.  It  is  that  vivacity 
which  sustains  itself  in  ditliculty  or 
danger,  and  is  accompanied  by  self- 
assertion  when  needed.  Animation 
is  in  the  soul,  vivacity  in  the  tempera- 
ment, spirit  in  the  heart.  Animation 
is  subjective,  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
life  is  objective.  A  picture  has  life 
when  it  presents  the  external  character 
of  natural  truth.  Life  in  this  sense 
exhibits  the  facts  of  life,  as  animation 
the  feelings  of  life.  Animation  is  ap- 
jKirent  in  the  person,  life  is  tlirown 
into  the  thing.  An  exuberance  of 
dninual  life  and  spirits  will  produce 
vivacity,  which  for  a  time  may  be  en- 
livening, but  afterwards  becomes  op- 
pressive. Animation  is  gentle,  spiri- 
tual, intellectual ;  vivacity  is  animal. 
A  man  without  vivacity  will  be  a  dull 


DISCRIMINATED. 


99 


companion.  He  who  speaks  or  de- 
claims without  animation,  probably 
lacks  interest  in  the  subject  or  the  oc- 
casion. He  who  is  known  to  be  want- 
ing in  spirit,  will  let  slij)  tiie  oppor- 
tunities of  the  enterprizing  and  be  a 
prey  to  the  selfish  and  the  aggressor. 

"  Heroes,  in  animated  marble,  frown. 

And  legislators  seem  to  think  in  stone." 
POPB. 

"  They  have  no  notion  of  life  and  fire  in 
fancy  and  words." — Felton. 

"  Their  attitudes,  their  vivacity,  their 
leaps  out  of  the  water,  their  frolics  in  it, 
which  I  have  noted  a  thousand  times  with 
equal  attention  and  amusement,  all  conduce 
to  show  their  excess  of  syiirits,  and  are  sim- 
ply the  effects  of  that  excess." — Paley. 

"  With  all  the  warmth  of  a  zealot  in  the 
cause  of  virtue,  he  (Juvenal)  pours  his  msi- 
jestic  verse,  and  amid  the  most  spirited  in- 
vective and  the  finest  morality,  emits  many 
a  luminous  irrarliation  of  poetry  beautifully 
descriptive." — Knox,  Essays. 

ANNOUNCE.  Proclaim.  Pub- 
lish.    Declare. 

'I'hings  which  are  of  the  nature  of 
intelligence  are  Announced  (Lat. 
amiuncidre,  to  announce,  proclaim). 
Facts  which  are  tidings,  as  well  as  per- 
sons, are  announced.  Announcement 
often  bears  reference  to  something  by 
no  means  new,  but  already  expected. 
It  implies  some  degi-ee  of  formality. 
An  invited  guest  is  announced.  A 
marriage  is  announced  in  the  news- 
papers. Announcement  may  be  to 
many,  to  few,  or  to  one.  It  com- 
monly refers  to  things  just  coming  or 
!  just  come.  The  approach  of  royalty  is 
I  sometimes  announced  by  a  salvo  of 
I  artilleiy.  Announcement  may  be  in 
words,  or  by  signal  without  words. 

*'Her  (Queen  Elizabeth's)  arrival  was 
announced  through  the  countiy  by  a  peal 
of  cannon  from  the  ramparts,  and  a  display 
of  fire-works  at  night." — Gilpin's  Tour. 

PuocLAiM  (Lat.  prbcldmare)  applies 
only  to  what  is  or  may  become  matter 
of  public  interest,  and  is  made  in  the 
hearing  or  cognizance  of  many.  We 
say  in  the  cognizance,  because  procla- 
mation may  be  of  writing ;  as,  tidings, 
opinions,  the  movements  of  gi-eat  men 
or  their  edicts.  As  Announce  is  in  its 
character  official,  or  personal,  so  Pro- 
claim is  authoritative.  A  monarch 
proclaims,  a  child  might  announce. 
As  Announce  may  refer  to  what  is  te 


100 


SYNONYMS  [annoy] 


take  place  after  an  interval  of  time,  as  j 
an  intended  departure  may  be  an- 
nounced, so  Pnoci.AiM  and  Publish 
( Lat.  pubiicdre)  usually  refer  to  tilings 
present.  In  such  phrases  as  to  pro- 
claim or  publish  an  intention  the  sub- 
ject is  in  fact  present.  There  is  a  close 
alliance  between  Publish  and  Pro- 
CLAiM,  but  Publish  may  belong  to  any 
means  for  putting  a  matter  in  the 
possession  oi  the  public.  We  proclaim 
our  own  acts  or  intentions,  we  pub- 
lish what  interests  or  concerns  others 
to  kflow.  We  announce  in  order  to 
apprize,  as  we  Declare  (Lat.  dicla- 
rare)  to  remove  obscurity,  secrecy,  or 
doubt.  We  publish  that  all  may 
know.  We  proclaim  that  thej  may 
know  whose  business  or  duty  it  is  to 
know.  We  announce  that  they  may 
know  who  are  interested  in  hearing. 
When  we  declare  we  do  not  desire  so 
much  a  wide  publicity  for  what  we 
say,  as  a  distinct  understanding.  It  is 
spoken  out  clearly  and  unreservedly, 
because  we  wish  it  to  be  well  known, 
understood,  and  believed.  A  lover 
declares  his  i)assion.  A  suitor  his  in- 
tentions. A  criminal  his  accomplices. 
Proclamation  is  authoritative,  but 
short-lived,  publication. 

"  Now  had  the  Great  P>-oclaimer  with  a 

voice 
More  awfnl   than   the  sountl  of  trumpet 

cried 
Repentance,  and  Heaven's  kingdom  nigh 

at  hand 
To  all  baptized."  Milton. 

"  For  the  instruction,  therefore,  of  all 
BortB  of  men  to  eternal  life,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  sacred  and  saving  truth  of  God  be 
openly  published  unto  them,  which  open 
publication  of  heavenly  mysteries  is  by  an 
excellency  termed  preaching."— HoOKER. 

"  But  the  attorney  answered  them  that 
he  is  not  the  Declarer  of  his  intentions  ;  he 
must  be  judged  by  the  book,  by  his  words, 
above  all  by  the  effect."— 6Yafe  Trials. 

ANNOY.  Molest.  Tease.  Ag- 
grieve.    Persecute. 

Annoy  is  from  the  O.  Fr.  anoier,  the 
modern  Fr.  ennyer  (Lat.  in  odio  esse, 
to  be  an  object  of  dislike).  Molest 
(Lat.  m'6lestare).  Tease  (A.  S.  tccsan, 
to  pluck,  to  tease).  That  which  offends 
annoys  by  its  presence.  Annoyance 
is  the  action  of  the  hateful  or  offensive, 
POt  of  the  positively  painful.    To  be 


subjected  to  what  we  dislike  is  the 
etymological  force  of  annoyance.  It 
may  be  mental  or  physical,  a  re- 
petition of  discordant  sounds,  a 
glare  of  light,  the  misconduct  of 
a  friend.  As  annoyance  depends 
upon  our  own  feelings  or  circum- 
stances, more  than  in  the  inherent 
nature  of  things,  it  will  often  happen 
that  what  may  be  an  annoyance  to 
us  is  not  so  to  others,  or  to  our- 
selves at  some  other  time.  Inapti- 
tude of  times  and  seasons,  disregard 
of  measure  and  propriety  in  things 
may  lead  to  annoyance.  We  may 
even  be  annoyed  with  ourselves. 
Molest  is  physical,  and  comes  only 
from  without.  It  denotes  an  active 
though  temporary  trouble.  That 
which  annoys  us  is  distasteful.  That 
which  molests  us  is  oppressive,  bur- 
densome ;  it  disturbs  the  order  of  our 
being  and  action.  It  is  like  the  per- 
petual sense  of  a  foreign  body  brought 
into  contact  with  us.  It  is  difficult  to 
bear.  We  may  sometimes  reason  our- 
selves out  of  annoyance,  but  molesta- 
tion is  too  obtrusive  to  be  so  disposed  of. 
The  sense  of  molestation  is  otten  pro- 
duced by  the  repetition  of  causes  of  an- 
noyance. One  is  molested  by  insults, 
by  begging  applications,  by  the  visits 
of  a  fly  or  a  wasp.  We  are  not  mo- 
lested by  facts  or  circumstances  in 
themselves,  or  by  what  we  hear  or  is 
reported  to  us;  but  by  that  which  galls, 
fetigues,  or  haunts  us  by  unwelcome 
repetition.  We  feel  especially  molested 
in  some  course  which  is  interrupted, 
or  some  state  disturbed,  or  some  occu- 
pation obti'uded  upon;  as  sleep  may 
be  molested  by  unpleasant  dreams,  oi 
study  by  distracting  noises. 
"Savewhere  from  yonder  ivy-mantled  towe* 

The  moping  owl  doth  to  the  moon  com 
plain 
Of   such    as    wandering    near  her  secre 
bower 

Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign," 

Gray. 

W^e  are  teased  by  unpleasant  ti-ifles 
which  by  their  recun-ence  cause  iiri- 
tation  of  mind.  Teasing  is  a  lighter 
foi-m  of  molesting.  We  are  molested 
by  the  importunities  of  men,  teased  by 
those  of  children. 

"  Bat  as  a  whelp  starts  up  with  fear 

When  a  bee's  hamming  in  his  ear ; 


[answer] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


m 


With  upper  lip  elate  he  grins 
As  round  the  little  teazer  spins." 

Fejctox. 

Aggrieve  (nearly  the  same  as  ag- 
gnivate,  Lat.  aggvKvttre,  to  biirdeiiy 
ainiou)  Jjoints  to  an  uneasy  sense  of 
injurious  treatment.  He  is  aggrieved 
who  is  wounded  in  his  pride,  his 
liberty,  his  sense  of  fairness;  as  by 
insult,  oppression,  extortion.  We  are 
aggrieved  when  we  are  not  dealt  with 
as  we  think  we  ought  to  he.  Annoy- 
ance aggrieves  when  we  reflect  upon 
it  as  personal,  uncalled-for,  or  incon- 
siderate, 'i'he  aggrieved  person  con- 
siders that  he  has  cause  to  complain 
that  he  has  not  been  taken  into  due 
account,  or  that  he  has  been  the  ob- 
ject of  wrong. 

"  Aggrieved  by  oppression  and  extor- 
tion."—Macaulay. 

To  Persecute  (Lat.  perscqui,  part. 
persccntus)  is  persistently  to  ag- 
grieve, to  follow  up  with  injury  or 
annoyance,  to  afilict  on  purpose,  and 
through  dislike  or  hatred,  to  punish 
by  harassing  inflictions.  One  may 
fancy  one's  self  aggrieved  by  mis- 
understanding the  motives  and  con- 
duct of  another,  but  there  can  be  no 
mistake  about  persecution,  which  is 
always  intentional  on  the  part  of  the 
persecutor.  Persecution  is  such  in- 
tormal  punishment  as  individuals  take 
upon  themselves  to  administer.  Hav- 
ing no  legal  or  public  sanction  it  can- 
not inflict  as  it  desires  the  penalty  of 
displeasure  in  full.  It  is  therefore 
induced  to  fall  back  upon  such  instal- 
ments of  it  as  opportunities  allow,  or 
as  can  be  inflicted  with  impunity  to  the 
persecuted.  Persecution  attests  the 
weakness  of  the  person  or  the  cause 
which  has  recourse  to  it.  It  proves 
an  inability  to  conciliate  or  to  con- 
vince, and  often  when  the  immediate 
cause  has  passed  away,  it  is  the  resort 
of  petty  vindictiveness  and  retributive 
malice. 

"  Persecution  produces  no  sincere  con- 
viction, nor  any  real  change  of  opinion ; 
rm  the  contrary,  it  vitiates  the  public 
roorals  by  di-iving  men  to  prevarication, 
iud  lotnmouly  ends  in  a  general  though 
secret  infidelity  by  imposing,  under  the 
a&me  of  revealed  religion,  systems  of  doc- 
trine which  men  cannot  believe,  and  dare 
uot  exaniiue  ;  finally,  it  disgraces  the  cha- 


racter, and  wounds  the  reputation  of  Chr'^ 
tianity  itself  by  making  it  the  author  of  op- 
pression, cruelty,  and  bloodshed."— Paley. 

AxXOMALOUS.     Irregular. 

That  is  Irregular  (Lat.  in,  7iot, 
and  rigula,  a  rule)  which  is  a  devia- 
tion fi-om  the  common  rule.  That  13 
Anomalous  (Gr.  avrw^uaXo?,  a.-,not,  and 
ojotftXo?,  even)  which  is  out  of  the  com- 
mon run  of  things.  That  which  is 
in-egular  is  an  exception  to  rule,  that 
which  is  anomalous  is  not  reducible 
to  rule.  That  which  is  ii'regular  is  a 
depaiture  from  a  course  or  process, 
that  which  is  anomalous  stands  alone, 
being  unlike  the  tenour  of  one's  obser- 
vation or  experience.  Hence  a  soli- 
tary or  rare  exception  to  a  rule  becomes 
an  anomaly, 

ANSWER.  Reply.  Rejoinder. 
Response. 

The  general  idea  common  to  these 
terms  is  that  of  words  given  in  required 
return  for  words.  An  Answer  (A.  S. 
ayidswarian,  or'ig.  to  sivear  in  opposition 
to,  to  respond)  is  given  as  being  speci- 
fically demanded.  So  an  answer  fol- 
lows a  question  as  the  supply  upon 
the  demand ;  and  in  a  debate  an  an- 
swer to  a  speech  meets  certain  points, 
according  to  preconcerted  understand- 
ing and  arrangement.  To  the  answer 
in  the  latter  case  the  term  Reply  (Fr. 
repliqner,  Lat.  rep[icare,  to  fold  back, 
to  make  a  reply)  would  be  applicable. 
A  reply  is  a  formal  answer  to  an  ar- 
gumentative assertion  which  is  far 
ihore  than  a  question  or  interrogation. 
It  commonly  implies  a  statement  to 
the  contrary  of  that  to  which  it  replies. 
An  answer  may  be  simply  commensu- 
rate with  the  tenns  of  an  interroga- 
tion. A  reply  goes  beyond  them,  and 
does  not  necessarily  suppose  interro- 
gation at  all.  An  answer  is  asked, 
a  reply  may  be  volunteered  without 
being  asked,  and  to  the  surprise  of 
the  speaker.  So  we  may  reply  to  a 
remonstrance,  a  reprimand,  or  objur- 
gation. A  reply  is  an  answer  offered 
or  demanded  or  expected,  or  the  con- 
trary, and  extending  beyond  mere 
affinnation  or  negation. 

"  When  a  man  asks  me  a  question,!  have 
it  in  my  power  to  answer  or  be  silent,  to 
answer  softly  or  roughly  in  terms  of  re- 
spect, or  m  terms  of  contempt." — BeatI'LB. 


nn: 


STNONYMS  [antic 


"  The  plaintiff  may  plead  again,  and 
reply  to  the  defendant's  plea.  The  plaintiff 
in  his  replication  may  totally  reverse  the 
plea."— Blacksxone. 

Rejoinder  expresses  not, as  Reply 
does,  a  formal  and  lengthened  coun- 
ter-statement, but  one  -within  a  sliort 
compass  and  of  a  pointed  character. 
It  follows  upon  a  i-emark  directly  or 
indirectly  personal,  and  is  dictated  by 
a  desire  to  give  the  speaker  something 
as  good  as  he  brings,  to  place  him 
upon  the  same  level  as  that  to  which 
he  would  reduce  the  other.  The  term 
bears  the  technical  meaning  of  a  re- 
ply upon  a  reply. 

"Rejoinder  to  the  churl  the  king  disdained. 
But  shook  his  head  and  rising  wrath  re- 
strained." Pope. 

Response  CLat.rlspotisum)  is  some- 
times only  a  more  learned  word  for 
Answeu.  But  it  has  also  a  character  of 
its  own  in  which  it  differs  from  Re- 
joiNDEK  in  being  not  an  antagonistic 
but  an  accordant  answer.  It  extends 
beyond  words  to  acts  and  feelings, 
which  are  in  accordance  with  those  of 
another.  The  responses  of  a  liturgy 
are  framed  in  harmonious  correspon- 
dence, tlie  prayers  of  the  people 
echoing  back  as  it  were  the  sentiments 
of  the  priest  in  prayer.  An  intelli- 
gent and  feeling  remark  will  often 
find  a  response  in  tlie  heart  or  mind 
of  another. 

"  Tertnllian  takes  notice  that  the  re- 
sponses in  Baptism  were  then  somewhat 
larger  than  the  model  laid  down  by  Christ, 
meaning  than  the  form  of  Baptism,  and  h*e 
refers  the  enlargement  of  the  respojises  to 
immemorial  custom  or  ti-adition." — W  atek- 
XAND. 

ANTIC.     Gesticulation. 

An  Antic  (Fi".  antique,  Lat.  aiit'i- 
quxis,  ancient)  is  literally  an  antic  juated 
grotesque  movement  of  the  w  hole  body 
or  such  a  posture  of  it.  Gesticula- 
tion (^hiit.  gesticaUtiibnem)  is  a  move- 
ment of  the  whole  body  or  limbs, 
whetlier  accompanied  by  speech  or 
not,  of  which  the  purpose  is  to  ex- 
press some  meaning,  to  indicate  some 
sentiment,  or  to  signify  some  direction 
to  another.  Ihe  gesticulation  has  its 
characteristic  in  illustrating  or  enforc- 
ing a  meaning  ;  the  antic  is  often  the 
most  striking  when  it  is  meaningless, 
gratuitous,  or  insubordinate.     A  for- 


mal and  demonstrative  act,  of  which 
the  value  or  significance  bears  no  pro- 
portion to  the  main  action  or  purpose, 
is  called  in  the  language  of  critical 
satire,  an  antic.  Gesticulations  at  the 
point  when  they  are  excessive,  so  that 
the  manner  outstrips  the  matter,  be- 
come antics.  Gesticulations  may  be 
connected  with  the  most  tragical  or 
the  most  ludicrous  subjects;  antics 
are  never  serious,  though  they  may 
be  farcically  solemn. 

APARTMENT.     Room.     Cham- 

beu. 

Apartment  (Fr.  a  part,  i.e.  Lat. 
ad  partem,  apart)  meant  originally, 
not  a  chamber,  but  a  portion  of  a 
house,  a  suite  of  rooms  set  aside  for  a 
pai-ticular  purpose ;  as  it  were  a  com- 
partment of  a  house;  it  came  sub- 
sequently to  be  apj)lied  to  a  single 
chamber.  Chamber  (Fr.  chambre^ 
Lat.  cdnii'u  )  is  a  vaulted  space,  a  place 
with  an  arched  roof.  Room  is  the 
A.  S.  rum,  space,  in  the  sense  in  which 
we  say  "  there  is  room  enough : " 
hence,  space  set  apart  in  a  house,  and 
enclosed  in  walls.  Hence  the  charac- 
teristic idea  of  apartments  is  variety 
of  chamber  compactness,  that  of 
room,  accommodation.  Apartments 
should  be  elegant  and  sufficiently 
numerous.  A  room  spacious,  com* 
modious,  well  proportioned.  A  cham- 
ber neat,  snug,  private. 

APOCRYPHAL.  Supposititious. 

That  which  is  Apocuypual  (Gr. 
amv.fv<ipoz,  hidden)  is  negatively  un- 
authenticated  or  unproved.  Thatwhich 
is  Supposititious  (Lat.  stijrp^siticius, 
substituted)  is  positively  false  or  forged, 
'ihere  may  be  in  the  apocryphal  much 
tliat  is  venerable,  but  the  mind  tu- 
rally  recoils  from  that  which  is  put 
forth  under  false  pretences.  The 
Church  of  Rome  retains  in  the  Canon 
of  Scripture  certain  books  which,  hy 
the  Protestants,  are  regarded  as  apo 
cryphal.  A  slight  increase  of  evidence 
in  its  favour  might  convert  the  sup- 
posititious into  the  apocryphal.  On 
the  contrary,  tlie  story  of  William 
Tell,  once  generally  believed,  must 
now,  for  want  of  evidence,  be  ad- 
mitted to  be  at  least  apocryphal. 


[apology] 


DISCRIMINATJSD. 


;1(>3 


It  may  be  observed  that  the  term 
apocryphal  is  restricted  to  matters  of 
statement,  and  especially  literary  pro- 
ductions supported  by  dubious  evi- 
dence, while  supposition  is  extended 
generally  to  wlmt  is  put  forward  as 
true,  being  counterfeit ;  as  a  sup- 
posititious child. 

APOLOGY.  Defence.  Justifi- 
cation.    Excuse.     Plea. 

An  Apology  (Gr.  aTTokoyUc)  had 
originally  the  simple  meaning  of  de- 
fence, as  Bishop  Jewel's  "Apology 
for  the  Church  of  England."  As  such 
it  vs'ears  a  literary  air.  In  such  cases 
it  supposes  the  charge  of  imperfection, 
but  not  necessarily  the  recognition  of 
it.  As  at  present  employed,  the  word 
means  something  said  by  way  of 
amends,  and  so  becomes  practically 
the  contrary  to  a  defence,  and  an  ad- 
mission of  some  wrong  or  impropriety- 
said  or  done,  or  some  omission  of  wh  ich 
the  speaker  acknowledges  himself 
guilty.  It  is  dictated  by  a  eense  of 
social  j  ustice  or  of  deference.  He  who 
apologises  defends  himself  by  acknow- 
ledging himself  in  the  wrong. 

••  For  in  the  Book  that  is  called  mine 
apology  it  is  not  required  by  the  nature  of 
that  name  that  it  be  any  answer  or  defence 
for  mine  own  self  at  all ;  but  it  suf- 
ficeth  that  it  be  of  mine  own  making  an 
answer  or  defence  for  some  other." — Sir 
T.  More. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Defence  (Lat. 
dcfendhey  to  dej'ind)  and  Justifica- 
tion (hsLt.  jusCi/icationem),  although 
the  same  as  Apology  in  one  of  its 
senses,  are  its  opposite  in  another; 
namely,  in  the  fact  that  they  do  not  al- 
together admit  wrong  committed.  Yet 
justification  is  a  stronger  term  than 
defence.  The  apology  in  the  case  of 
an  accused  personishis  defence,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  complete,  while  his 
justification  is  a  proof  of  more  than 
innocence,  namely,  that  he  did  right 
in  what  he  did.  Justification  is  the 
object  of  apology,  and  apology  the 
effort  at  justification.  Like  defence, 
apology  presu})poses  charge  or  attack, 
whilejustification  may  be  volunteered. 
We  apolo";ise  to  another  or  to  others. 
We  justify  or  defend  what  we  our- 
»elve8  have  done,  and  sometimes  what 


we  advance  as  a  claim.  We  defend 
ourselves  by  either  admitting  or  deny- 
ing that  we  have  so  acted  as  alleged. 
Wejustif}- ourselves  by  first  conceding 
the  fact,  and  then  defending  the  rights 
of  it.  Where  the  defence  admits  the 
allegation,  it  does  not  extend  beyond 
a  palliation  of  the  charge,  or  a  demon- 
stration of  its  allowableness.  It  is 
possible  that  a  justification  may  go  no 
farther.  On  the  other  haud,'it  may 
prove  jiositively  a  high  degree  of  truth 
and  right.  Defence  is  a  more  formal 
word  than  justification.  It  may  be 
against  proceedings  in  courts  of  law, 
or  in  answer  to  some  public  challenge. 
Nor  is  it  confined  to  acts,  but  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  vindication  of  opinions. 
Justification  is  lees  formal.  It  is  of 
acts  and  conduct,  and  is  made  in  the 
}>resence  of  any  with  whom  we  may 
wish  to  set  ourselves  right.  The 
grounds  of  justification  are  indefinite, 
and  would  depend,  for  their  force,  on 
the  character  and  views  of  those  before 
whom  the  justification  was  made.  A 
technical  defence  may  be  successful, 
yet  fall  short  of  a  moral  justifica- 
tion. 

Excuse  (Lat.  excusare,  to  free  from 
blame)  is  a  weaker  term  than  defence 
and  justification,  and  is  applicable  to 
matters  of  less  gravity.  Serious  of- 
fences may  be  defended  or  even  justi- 
fied; in  which  case  the  argument  would 
go  to  show  that  they  were  only  appa- 
rent, not  real  offences :  but  they  are 
never  excused.  An  excuse  admits 
the  fact  charged  or  the  thing  done, 
but  endeavours  to  show  that  it  ought 
to  be  leniently  dealt  with,  on  the 
ground  of  extenuating  circumstances, 
and  is  often  the  line  adopted  by  plea- 
ders when  justification  seems  impossi- 
ble. It  is  then  tantamount  to  a  weak 
defence.  An  excuse  may  be  against 
an  obligation  as  well  as  a  charge,  as 
when  an  invitation  is  met  with  an  ex- 
cuse. In  such  cases  excuse  refers  not 
to  something  done,  but  omitted  to  be 
done.  It  depends  for  its  validity  less 
on  its  intrinsic  force,  than  on  the  dis- 
position of  those  to  whom  it  is  made. 
It  commonly  carries  an  unfavourable 
reflexion,  and  a  good  excuse  is  most 
probably  only  apt,  clever,  and  inge- 
nious.   The  person  who  employs  tho 


^liW:  •':.;'•■■;  ;  'synonyms 

excuse,  is  said  to  excuse  himself,  while 
he  who  accepts  the  excuse,  is  also  said 
to  excuse  him. 

"  And  there  are  few  actions  so  ill,  unless 
they  are  of  a  very  deep  and  black  tincture 
indeed,  but  will  admit  of  some  extenur-tion 
at  least  from  these  common  topics  of  human 
frailty,  guch  as  are  ignorance  or  inadver- 
tency, passion  or  surprise,  company  or  solici- 
tation, with  many  other  such  things  which 
may  go  a  great  way  towards  an  excusing  of 
the  agent,  though  they  cannot  absolutely 
lustify  the  action." — SoUTH. 

A  Plea  (¥r.plai(},'Lat.pllicttnm,  ati 
ordinance)  is  a  specific  point  of  self- 
defence.  It  is  as  it  were  an  item  in 
the  general  sense  of  a  defence,  so  that 
we  may  put  in  successively  one  plea, 
and  then  another.  Technically  speak- 
ing, the  allegation  of  the  plaintiff  is 
answered  by  the  plea  of  the  defendant. 
An  apology  is  satisfactory  or  unsatis- 
factory, a  defence  is  successful  or  un- 
successful, justification  is  complete  or 
partial,  an  excuse  valid  or  invalid,  a 
plea  strong  or  weak. 

"  Defence  in  its  true  legal  sense  signifies 
not  a  justification,  protection,  or  guard, 
which  is  now  its  pojjular  signification,  but 
merely  an  opposing  or  denial  (ft-om  the 
French  verb  defeitdre)  of  the  truth  or  vali- 
dity of  the  complaint." — Blacksxone. 

"They  towards  the  throne  supreme 
Accountable  made  haste  to  make  appear 
With  righteous  plea  their  utmost  vigilance 
And  easily  approved."  Milton. 

APPARATUS.    Parapheunalia. 

These  stand  related  as  the  useful  to 
tne  ornamental.  Appahatus  (Lat. 
'jppltrdre,  to  adjust)  is  the  aggregate  of 
implements  of  art,  or  ])hysical  organs 
necessary  to  form  some  ]>roduction  or 
promote  some  natural  function.  Para- 
pij  ERNALiA  is  a  L.L.adjective,  the  sub- 
stantive bo7ia,  i.e.  gooi'h,  being  under- 
stood. The  paraphernalia  were  such 
goods  as  a  wife  possessed  beyond  her 
dowry,  and  were  her  own  propei'ty 
independently  of  her  husband  :  Trapd, 
beyoudy  and  <pi^\t},  doner.  As  this  kind 
of  property  would  naturally  consist 
mainly  in  personal  ornaments  and 
apj)arel,  the  word  came  to  signify  an 
aggregate  of  furniture  or  implements 
subservient  to  some  ornamental  pur- 
pose ;  such  as  robes,  hangings,  mov- 
able decorations,  costlv  mensils. 


[apparatus] 


APPARENT.  Visible.  Clear- 
Distinct.  Manifest.  Plain.  Ob- 
vious. Evident.  Conspicuous.  Pal 
PAiu.E.    Perceptihle.    Tangible. 

A ppa a  ent  ( Lat.  appdrcre,  to  appear) 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  either  clear, 
visible,  as  opposed  to  concealed  ot 
dubious;  or,  secondly,  seeming  a/; 
opposed  to  real ;  or,  thirdly,  seeming 
in  the  sense  of  probable,  an<l  so  oppo- 
site to  certain.  It  is  in  the  first  of 
these  senses  that  it  is  a  synonym  with 
the  above.  That  is  apparent  which 
the  bodily  eye  sees  or  the  understand- 
ing perceives.  The  word  says  nothing 
of  any  ])roperties  of  the  thing  which  it 
qualifies,  but  only  states  the  fact.  It 
serves  to  qualify  properties  of  things 
visible.  Thus  the  star  is  visible.  Its 
briglituess  is  apparent,  'i'his  would 
mean  a  very  different  thing  from  say- 
ing, the  object  is  apparently  grey, 
in  reference  to  a  colour  about  which, 
whether  from  distance,  want  of  light, 
or  some  such  cause,  we  were  in  doubt. 

"  When  there  is  no  apparent  cause  in  the 
sky,  t  he  water  will  sometimes  appear  dappled 
with  large  spots  of  shade." — Gilpin's  Tour. 

Visible  (Lat.  vmhXlis)  expresses 
what  can  be  seen  physically  by  the 
sense  of  sight.  It  admits  of  every 
degree,  from  the  barely  discernible 
to  the  conspicuous.  'Ihat  is  visible 
which  is  not  invisible.  Unlike  appa- 
rent, visible  expresses  the  property 
by  which  the  thing  is  capable  of  being 
seen.  That  is  apparent  to  me  which 
is,  by  its  own  nature  and  properties, 
visible. 

"ATaker  of  Heaven  and  i^arth,  and  of 
all  things  visible  and  invisible." — Nicenf 
Creed. 

The  CoNsi'icrous  (Lat.  consplcuii.s) 
is  the  prominently  visible.  The  cause 
of  this  prominence  is  indefinite ;  one 
object  being  consj)icuous  by  its  size, 
another  by  its  colour,  another  by  its 
elevation.  That  is  cons])icuous  which 
makes  itself  seen.  A  man  may  }»o 
conspicuous  by  being  unlike  others, 
or  eccentric.  The  term,  as  applied  to 
])er8ons  externally, is  either  favourable 
or  the  contrary.  Persons  may  be  un- 
enviably  conspicuous  by  reason  of 
awkwardness  of  manner,  or  conceit, 
or  extravB'iance,  outlandislixiess,   or 


[apparent  J 

ovcr-briglit  colouring  in  dress.  It  is 
by  analogy  that  conspicuous  is  em- 
ployed to  express  moral  distinction, 
as  by  Macaulay : — 

"A  man  who  holds  a  conspiaious  place 
in  the  political,  ecclesiastical,  or  literary 
history  of  England." 

Clear  (Lat.  clams)  expresses  pri- 
marily that  on  which  the  light  shines 
with  unobstructed  brightness.  The 
clear  object  stands  out  against  the  sky 
and  in  form  well  defined. 

That  is  Distinct  (Lat.  distiugutre, 
part,  distinctus,  to  distinguish)  which 
iS  clear  in  its  parts  and  clearly  sepa- 
rated from  other  objects.  The  oppo- 
site to  clear  is  dim  or  obscure,  the 
opposite  to  distinct  is  confused.  It  is 
possible  to  see  an  object  as  in  a  fog 
clearly  witliout  seeing  it  distinctly. 
It  is  clearly  visible,  inasmuch  us  we 
can  have  no  doubt  of  its  bein^  there, 
and  understand  it  to  be  what  it  is.  It 
is  indistinctly^  visible,  inasmuch  as  the 
parts  which  constitute  it  are  not  fully 
distinguishable.  At  some  distance 
out  to  sea,  I  see  clearly  a  boat.  I 
take  my  telescope,  and  then  observe 
distinctly  that  there  are  four  persons 
in  it.  Clearness  is  absolute  distinct- 
ness, as  distinctness  is  relative  clear- 
ness. The  terms  belong  to  sound  as 
well  as  sight.  A  well-toned  bell  has 
a  clear  sound.  In  a  distant  peal  I 
bear  the  tones  most  distinctl)^ .  A  clear 
truth  is  well  comprehended,  a  distinct 
truth  is  held  independently. 

"  Things  that  move  so  swift  as  not  to 
affect  the  senses  distinctly  with  several  dis- 
tinguishable distances  of  their  motion,  and 
so  cause  not  any  train  of  ideas  in  the  mind, 
are  not  also  perceived  to  move." — Locke. 

Manifest  (Lat.  raaiitfestus)  ex- 
presses that  which  is  very  plainly  and 
palpably  apparent.  I'he  Latin  maui- 
festiis  had  the  peculiar  sense  of  clearly 
convicted.  Dryden  used  the  term  in 
one  of  its  classic  senses  when  he 
say*  •— . 

"  Your  eyes  beheld 
The  traitor  vianifcst." 

And  again : — 

"  Calistho  there  stood  manifest  oi  shame.'' 

That  is  manifest  which  is  brought 
to  light  out  of  comj)arative  darkness, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


105 


and  exhibits  itself  without  conceal' 
ment.  A  man  taken  off  his  guard 
will  often  manifest  his  true  character, 
though  he  may  habitually  conceal  or 
keep  it  in  check.  A  manifest  liar 
stands  convicted.  A  manifest  contra- 
diction needs  no  criticism,  but  by  its 
own  inherent  force  makes  itself  ap- 
parent. It  is  a  tei-m  of  mental  and 
moral  rather  than  of  purely  physical 
application.  Not  material  objects, 
but  their  properties  or  facts  connected 
with  them,  as  statements  and  tniths, 
are  said  to  be  manifest. 

Plain  (Lat.  planus)  belongs  to 
matters  both  of  the  senses  and  the 
intellect.  We  see,  hear,  smell,  taste, 
feel,  speak  plainly.  As  that  is  clear 
which  is  lucid  in  itself,  so  that  is 
plain  of  which  ordinary  faculties  can 
take  cognizance.  The  plain  path  lies 
open  to  the  view,  level  and  mapped 
out  under  the  eve.  A  plain  course 
is  distinct,  intelligible,  unobstructed. 
A  thing  may  be  stated  so  cleaily 
as  to  be  plain  to  the  meanest  un- 
derstanding. 

"  Why,  'tis  a  plain  case." 

Shakespkark. 

Obvious  (Lat.  obvins,  coming  or  go- 
xng  to  meet)  retains  the  force  of  its 
et}nnology.  That  is  obvious  which 
we  cannot  help  understanding,  which 
it  is  impossible  to  overlook,  which 
carries  its  own  meaning  on  the  face  oi 
it.  Its  plainness  supersedes  all  ex- 
planation or  comment.  An  obvious 
remark  is  a  truism,  for  by  its  nature 
it  is  as  clear  to  others  as  it  is  to  ooe'e 
self.  The  literal  meaning  is  set  forth 
in  the  following  : — 

"  The  hero's  bones  with  careful  view 

select ; 
Apart  and  easy  to  be  known  they  lie 
Amidst  the  heap,  and  odvious  to  the  eye." 
Pope. 

Evident  ( Lat.  Ividentem)  denotes 
what  is  easily  recognizable  as  a  fact 
or  truth.  That  is  evident  which  is 
plainly  seen.  N\'hat  is  clearly  proved 
is  evident,  what  proves  itself  is  ob- 
vious. Some  eftbrt  of  mind  is  needed 
to  discern  what  is  evident,  none  to 
take  in  what  is  obvious.  The  axioms 
of  mathematics  are  obvious.     TiutL* 


106 


SYNONYMS 


[appearance] 


deduced  from  them  are  evident.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  whole  is  greater  than 
a  part.  It  is  evident  that  moral  truth 
must  be  morally  acce])ted,  for  it  is  in- 
capable of  demonstration.  The  appa- 
rent is  opposed  to  the  indistinguish- 
able, the  clear  to  the  obscure,  the 
visible  to  the  invisible,  the  manifest 
to  the  disguised,  concealed,  or  sup- 
pressed ;  u^e  pbin  to  the  unintelligi- 
ble or  doubtful,  the  obvious  to  tlie 
recondite  or  abstiuse,  the  evidsnt  to 
the  questionable,  the  conspicuous  to 
the  inconspicuous  or  minute. 

"  No  idea,  therefore,  can  be  nndistiu- 
guishable  from  another  from  which  it  ought 
to  be  different,  unless  you  would  have  it 
different  from  itself ;  for  from  all  other  it  is 
evidently  different."— Locke. 

APPEARANCE.    Aspixt. 

Appearance  (Lat.  appdrcre,  to  ap- 
pear) is  used  for  the  fact,  the  charac- 
ter, and  the  semblance  or  seeming  na- 
ture, of  appearing.  It  is  in  the  two 
latter  points  that  it  is  a  synonym  with  j 
aspect.  The  appearance  of  a  thing  is  | 
total.  Its  aspect  is  partial.  The  as-  } 
pect,  in  short,  is  a  part  of  the  appear-  | 
ance.  The  fonnation  of  the  word 
(Lat.  asp'ictre,  part,  aspectas,  to  behold) 
shows  tins.  The  human  appearance 
is  the  human  figure,  with  the  acci- 
dents of  dress  and  others,  the  human 
aspect  is  the  human  face.  The  whole 
of  any  subject  or  object,  Vi^ith  the  pro- 
perties and  substance  of  it,  is  its  ap- 
pearance. Its  aspect  is  some  one 
characteristic  side  or  face  of  it,  which 
it  presents  to  us  as  a  point  of  view. 
The  aspect  carries  with  it  an  expres- 
siveness which  does  not  belong  to  its 
mere  appearance.  The  appearance 
wears  a  character,  the  aspect  wears  a 
meaning.  The  heavens  have  a  clear 
or  cloudy  appenrance,  a  serene  or 
stonny  aspect.  The  appearance  is  a 
conclusion  in  itself,  the  aspect  sug- 
gests further  conclusions.  In  the  moral 
as  in  the  natural  world  wo  cannot  see 
an  object  in  its  entirety,  but  can  only 
in  series  connote  those  difterent  aspects 
which  make  up  our  conception  of  the 
thing. 

"  Tydides  stood,  in  aspect  lion-like 
And  telrible,  in  strength  as  forest  boars." 
CowPER,  Iliad. 


APPEASE.  Ai,la\  Alleviate. 
Relieve.  Pacify.  Mitioate.  Soothe. 
Assuage.     Calsi. 

Appease  (O.  Fr.  apaisier,  O.  Fr.  a 
pais,  to  peace)  is  literally  to  bring  to  a 
state  of  peace.  It  is  to  reduce  a  state 
of  violence,  tumult,  disturbance,  ex- 
citement by  luring  back  to  peace  ;  that 
is,  to  the  common  and  proper  order 
and  haraiony  which  belongs  to  things, 
and  out  of  which  they  have  been  car- 
ried so  as  to  be  in  a  state  of  internal 
commotion.  Although  not  inapplic- 
able to  physical  elements  and  influ- 
ences. Appease  seems  to  suit  moral 
cases  far  better.  The  storm  calms ; 
wrath  or  the  cravings  of  men  and 
beasts  are  appeased.  In  order  to 
appease  it  commonly  happens  that 
something  has  to  be  paid,  because 
when  moral  beings  need  to  be  ap- 
peased, they  are  in  some  condition  of 
violent  satisfaction,  or  demand. 

"  We,  like  unskilful  or  unruly  patients, 
fondly  imagine  that  the  only  way  to  appea.fe 
our  desires  is  to  grant  them  the  objects  they 
so  passionately  tend  to." — Boyle. 

Pacify  (Lat.  pacij'tcare)  has  ety- 
mologically  the  same  sense  as  Ap- 
pease, but  is  employed  of  lesser  dis- 
turbances of  mind,  and  of  mind  only. 
Pacify  belongs  to  the  feelings  of  men, 
and  not  in  any  way  to  the  force  of 
things.  While  violent  anger  or  eager 
appetites  are  appeased,  importunity, 
discontent,  peevishness,  restlessness, 
or  petty  tumults  are  pacified. 

"  Not  one  diverting  syllable  now  at  a 
pinch  topacify  our  mishap."—  L'ESTRANGE. 

Calm  (Fr.  calme)  is  positive  and 
direct,  as  appease  is  indirect.  To  ap- 
pease is  to  put  an  end  to  violent  mo- 
tion. To  calm  is  to  produce  great 
tranquillity.  We  have  seen  that  the 
commotion  which  needs  appeasing  is 
of  a  special  kind.  Other  kinds  may  be 
calmed.  As  anger,  for  instance,  is  ap- 
peased, so  fear,  or  anxiety,  or  uneasi- 
ness is  calmed.  He  who  is  under  vexa- 
tion, disappointment,  or  despair,needs 
to  be  calmed.  He  is  to  be  appeased 
who  wields  his  passions.  He  is  to  be 
calmed  also  who  is  overmastered  by 
them.  The  strong  therefore  need  to 
be  appeased,  and  tlie  weak  calmed. 
Just  and  full  satisfaction  appeases, 
soothing   words   and  assurances   are 


[appease] 


often  needed  to  calm.  In  the  cases  to 
which  they  are  both  applicable,  to  ap- 
pease involres  a  more  permanent  set- 
tlement than  to  calm.  Clever  ti-eat- 
ment  may  sometimes  calm,  but  satis- 
faction of  mind  is  involved  in  being; 
appeased.  He  who  is  calmed  is  for 
the  time  set  at  rest.  He  who  is  ap- 
peased has  no  more  cause  of  desire  or 
discontent. 

"  The  affairs  of  Turkey  -were  then  in 
great  disorder.  The  Grand  Seignior  died 
soon  after,  and  his  successor  in  that  Empire 
gave  his  subject*  such  hopes  of  peace  that 
they  were  calmed  for  the  present." — 
BUKXET. 

The  tei-m  Relieve  (Lat.  rclevdre) 
is  employed  in  all  cases  where  a  pres- 
sure of  a  burden  exists,  or  may  be 
imagined.  Pain  or  grief  is  said  to  be 
relieved  Avhen  it  is  either  partially  or 
entirely  removed.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  duties,  cares,  responsibilities, 
anxieties.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
which  is  Alleviated  (Lat.  alU-vare, 
to  lighten)  is  only  partially  removed. 
A  pain  is  alleviated  by  bein^  made 
less.  Commonly  speaking,  the  per- 
son is  relieved  when  the  burden  is 
alleviated.  Things  which  affect  our 
feelings  are  alleviated.  Those  which 
affect  our  condition  or  circumstances 
may  be  said  to  be  relieved.  The 
object  of  giving  relief  to  the  poor  is 
the  alleviation  of  tlie  pressure  of 
poverty. 

"  The  inferior  ranks  of  people  no  longer 
looked  upon  that  order  as  he  had  done 
before,  as  the  comforters  of  their  distress 
and  the  relievers  of  their  indigence." — 
Adam  Smith. 

"  The  calamity  of  the  want  of  the  sense 
of  hearing  is  much  alleviated;  compsira- 
tively  speaking,  it  is  removed  by  giving  the 
use  of  letters  ;ind  of  speech,  by  which  they, 
the  deaf,  are  admitted  to  the  jileasure  of 
social  conversation." — HoRSLEY. 

Mitigate  (Lat.  m'ltlgare,  to  soften) 
stands  to  the  severe,  as  relieve  and 
alleviate  to  the  oppressive.  Things 
are  mitigated  which  affect  us  hardly, 
harshly,  painfully  ;  as  anger,  penalty, 
pain,  evil,  hatred  ;  and  even  physical 
influences,  as  cold,  or  the  taste  of 
sharpness.  It  is,  like  Alleviate,  ex- 
pressive of  a  diminishing  not  a  re- 
moving influence.  Cruelty  or  acidity 
mitigated  remains  cruel  and  acid.  It 
(K  used  only  of  things  or  the  qualities 


DISCRIMINATED. 


107 


of  persons,  not  of  pei-sons  themselves. 
Severity  in  action,  suffering,  or  treat- 
ment, is  susceptible  of  mitigation. 
Time,  though  it  may  never  remove, 
is  sure  to  mitigate  an  affliction.  It  is 
part  of  wise  legislation  to  mitigate 
over-rigorous  laws. 

"  All  it  can  do  is  to  devise  how  that  which 
must  be  endured  may  be  mitigated."— 
Hooker. 

Assuage  (O.  Fr.  assuager,  Prov. 
assjiaviar,  Lat.  sudvis,  sweet :  Skeat, 
Etym.  Diet.)  is  to  soften  down.  It  is 
very  like  Mitigate,  but  is  more  posi- 
tive and  active.  When  pain  is  miti- 
gated, it  is  less  severe  than  before, 
when  it  is  assuaged  we  have  a  feeling 
of  relief  and  ease.  It  is  to  pain  and 
grief,  that  is,  to  mental  and  bodily  suf- 
fering, tliat  Assuage  is  ordinarily 
applied.  But  it  is  applicable  to  any 
strong  emotion,  passion,  or  appetite 
which  is  fierce  or  violent  in  its  cha- 
racter, as  ardour,  anger,  hunger. 

"  But  to  assuage 
Th'  impatient  fervour  which  it  first  con- 
ceives 
Within    its    reeking    bosom,    threatening 

death 
To  hisyouag  hopes  requires  discreet  delay." 
CoWPEB. 

AiLAY  (Fr.  alltger^  Lat.  aUixidre) 
is  employed  in  reference  rot  so  much 
to  the  violent  or  the  painful,  as  to  that 
which  excites,  disturbs,  and  makes 
unea.sy.  If  pain  is  assuaged,  irrita- 
tion is  allayed.  Harassing  tliirst, 
eager  curiosity,  feverish  restlessness, 
pain  which  is  more  irksome  or  severe^ 
sorrow  which  belongs  more  to  regret 
than  to  remorse,  are  allayed. 

Soothe  (A. S.^e5of/iifl7i,rosoot/ie)  be- 
longs both  to  persons  and  to  what  they 
suffer,  while  Allay  is  applicable  only 
to  the  suftering.  It  indicates  its  reduc- 
tion, and  that  often  only  temporary, 
rather  than  its  removal.  It  denotes,per- 
haps,  more  strongly  than  Assuage,  a 
feeling  of  comparative  comfort  in  him 
whose  suffering  is  softened.  The 
angry  man  soothed  is  not  only  no 
longer  angry,  but  in  a  softened  state 
of  mind.  Ihe  pain  that  is  soothed  is 
almost  converted  into  pleasure. 

"Gentle  stroking  \nth  a  smooth  hand 
allays  violent  pains  and  cramps,  and  re- 
laxes the  suffering  parts  from  their  uj* 
natural  tension." — BUUKB. 


108 


"Sacred  history  ha»  acquainted  ns  with 
the  power  of  music  over  the  passions,  and 
there  is  little  doubt  but  the  verse  as  well 
as  the  lyre  of  Darid  was  able  to  soothe 
the  troubled  spirits  to  repose."— Knox, 
Estays. 

APPLAUSE.     Praise. 

Altliough  these  words  are  applic- 
able both  to  persons  and  things,  yet 
Applause  (Lat.  appiaudere,  part,  ap- 
plamns)  is  better  suited  to  things, 
such  as  actions,  discourses,  or  per- 
formances. And  Praise  (cf.  Fr. 
priser,  to  prize,  Lat.  pretiare)  to  per- 
sons. One  applauds  in  public,  and 
at  the  moment  when  the  action 
is  done,  or  the  speech  pronounced. 
One  praises  at  all  times,  on  all 
accounts,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, the  absent  and  the  present, 
for  what  they  do,  or  are,  or 
have  become.  Applause  is  the  lively 
expression  of  our  satisfaction  at  the 
exhibition  of  excellence  in  persons, 
and  may  be  even  by  gesture  or  signi- 
ficant actions,  as.  clapping  the  hands. 
Praise  is  supposed  to  be  based  upon 
judgment,  and  to  be  the  expression 
of  discernment.  It  is  manifested  in 
words  exclusively.  Almost  any  ap- 
plause is  flattering.  But  we  put 
praises  "to  the  test,  and  require  that 
they  should  be  delicate  and  sincere. 
Slight  applause  is  so  far  grateful. 
Slight  praise  is  often  indirect  con- 
demnation. From  formal  and  flippant 
praises  we  naturally  recoil;  the  fbrnuT 
may  be  hollow  ceremony,  the  latter 
may  be  only  irony. 

APPLICATION.  Attention. 

Study. 

'I'hese  terms  express  different  degrees 
of  attention  which  the  mind  gives  to 
\lie  subjects  with  which  it  is  occupied. 
Application  is  serious  and  sustained 
attention.  It  is  needful  for  knowing 
tlie  Jt/7i()/e  of  a  subject.  Meditation 
(Lat.  mtdtiai'wnem)  is  a  reflecting  at- 
tention given  in  detail,  which  is  need- 
ful for  knowing  thoroughly.  Study 
(Lat.  stadia,  pi.  studies)  is  a  sti-ong 
and  laborious  attention  needful  for 
resolving  complex  subjects,  or  over- 
coming difficulties.  Application  im- 
plies the  will  and  desire  of  knowledge. 
Meditation    implies  sympathy    with 


SYNONYMS  [applause] 

the  Bubject^  and  a  desire  to  become 
familiar  with  it  in  all  its  aspects. 
Study  implies  difficulty  or  im])ortance 
in  the  subject-matter,  a  firm  resolution 
to  master  it,  not  to  be  deterred  by  its 
difficulties,  nor  repelled  by  its  hard- 
ness. Soundness  of  mind  for  appli- 
cation, penetration  of  mind  for  medi- 
tation, f».nd  strength  and  breadth  of 
mind  for  study. 

Atteniign  (Lat.  attenti'onem)  ig  a 
condition  of  mind;  its  ordinary  atti- 
tude, so  to  speak,  in  study.  It  may 
be  casual.  We  often  give  attention 
without  being  employed  in  study. 
We  shall  not  understand  the  most 
ordinary  observation  addressed  to  us 
witliout  some  degree  of  attention. 
Attention  is  no  more  than  the  giving 
of  the  mind  to  a  subject  to  the  dis- 
regard of  other  subjects.  Applica- 
tion (Lat. appticdtionem  Hnimi,  Oic.)  is 
a  wider  term  than  attention,  and  is 
not  only  a  state  of  mind,  but  a  power. 
A  pplication  involves  attention.  Hav- 
ing application,  I  am  able  to  give  at- 
tention. Application  is  the  faculty  of 
sustained  attention.  Many  persons 
are  capable  of  attention  (in  short,  to 
some  extent  every  thinking  being  is 
so),  who  have  not  application.  Their 
attention,  therefore,  is  irregular  and 
inadequate.  Study  should  be  syste- 
matic ;  its  subjects  rightly  appor- 
tioned as  to  arrangement  and  the 
time  to  be  devoted  to  it.  It  will 
vary  in  character  according  to  tlie 
subject  of  it,  which  may  be  any  de- 
partment of  human  knowledge.  Study 
should  be  systematic,  application  di- 
ligent, attention  close.  Habits  of  study 
are  formed  in  these  earlier  stages  by 
converting  the  attention  of  the  young 
into  application  by  indirect  methods, 
such  as  by  making  the  subjects  of 
learning  attractive,  or  by  the  adven- 
titious enhancement  of  them  by  prizes 
for  competition. 

"  That  very  philosophy  which  had  been 
adopted  to  invent  and  explain  articles  of 
faith  was  now  studied  only  to  interest  us 
in  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  and 
to  assist  us  in  developing  its  faculties, 
and  regulating  its  operations." — Warbur- 
■I'OX. 

"  They  say  the  tongues  of  dying  men 
Enforce  attention  like  deep  harmony.' 
Suakespkakk, 


AFP  raise] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


109 


"  Had  his  application  been  equal  to  his 
talents,  his  progress  might  have  been 
greater." — Jay. 

ATPOSITE.    Relkvant. 

'I'lipse  terms  have  an  exclusive  refer- 
ence to  the  suitableness  or  propriety 
of  statements  in  relation  to  some  main 
case  or  argument.  Relevant  is  tlie 
Fr.  relevant,  the  participle  of  re- 
lever,  probably  in  the  sense  of  hold- 
ing in  feudal  tenure.  Apposite  is  Lat. 
pfirticiple  app'6situs,  placed  in  juxta- 
position. Hence  Apposite  expresses 
a  quality,  Relevant  a  force.  A  re- 
mark is  apposite  which  harmonizes 
with  the  case  under  consideration. 
A  n  observation  is  relevant  which  hel  ps 
tlie  main  question  to  a  decision.  That, 
iiowever,  which  is  done  directly  by 
that  which  is  relevant,  may  be  done 
indirectly  by  that  which  is  apposite. 
The  apposite  elucidates,  the  relevant 
promotes  discussion.  The  apposite  is 
a  proposition  ;  the  relevant  either  an 
argument,  or  something  which  links 
itself  on  to  argument.  Apposite  re- 
marks are  commonly  made  in  general 
conversation  by  persons  not  taking  a 
main  part  in  the  discussion,  but 
throwing  in  pertinent  sayings  as  lis- 
teners. The  relevant  owes  its  force 
solely  to  its  argumentative  appro- 
priateness ;  tlie  apposite  is  also  timely, 
and  often  tells  with  peculiar  effect 
upon  the  conjuncture  at  which  it  is 
introduced. 

APPRAISE.  AppnECiATE.  Esti- 
mate.    Esteem.     Value.     Prize. 

Appraise  and  Appreciate  are  dif- 
ferent forms  of  the  same  word,  Lat.  ap- 
pritiare,  of  which  the  Lat.  prctium, 
price,  is  the  root.  Tlie  English  praise 
has  the  same  origin,  meaning  literally, 
to  set  a  price  or  value.  Material  goods 
are  appraised  for  the  purpose  of  as- 
certaining their  market  value.  Things 
are  appreciated  at  their  moral  value ; 
as  character,  conduct,  acts,  persons. 
Appreciate  looks,  on  the  favourable 
side  of  things.  We  appreciate  not  a 
man's  faults,  but  his  merits.  This 
idea  of  favourable  regard  appears  yet 
more  strongly  in  the  adjective  appre- 
ciative. An  appreciative  audience  is 
one  which  appreciates  the  excellences 
of  the  exhibition. 

Estimate  (Lat.  (vstimdre)  is  an  act 


of  judgnient.  Esteem  (from  the  same 
origin)  is  an  act  of  valuisg  or  prizing 
with  moral  approbation.  Nice  cal- 
culation is  necessary  to  estimate,  nice 
feeling  also  to  appreciate.  An  union 
of  sound  judgment  with  refined  sen- 
sibility enables  persons  to  appreciate. 
That  which  has  to  be  estimated  is  open 
to  view,  that  which  has  to  be  appre- 
ciated must  often  be  sought  out  first. 
Appreciation  notes  things  not  only  at 
their  moral  worth,  but  according  to 
their  individual  and  peculiar  excel- 
lence. Women  have  a  truer  apprecia- 
tion, that  is,  a  more  delicate  percep- 
tion of  character,  than  most  men.  He 
who  can  appreciate  perceives  the 
niceties  and  specialities  of  a  case. 
He  does  not  overlook  what  is  worthy 
of  regard.  He  sees  the  importance 
of  what,  to  people  in  general,  are  un- 
important differences.  I  estimate  a 
thing  when  I  determine  its  present  or 
future  value  or  importance.  This  is 
sometimes  done  in  a  rough  way,  and 
only  approximately.  I  appreciate  it 
when  I  see  characteristics  of  it  in  de- 
tail. I  esteem  another  when  I  esti- 
mate his  character  as  worthy  of  re- 
gard. Esteem  is  akin  to  affection. 
To  Value  a  thing  (Fr.  Lat.  value, 
subst.,  from  valoir,  to  be  worth)  is  to 
affix  the  idea  of  worth,  great  or  small, 
real  or  fictitious,  pecuniary  or  moral. 
Prize  (Fr.  prix,  price)  and  Esteem 
denote  mental  action,  the  former  being 
commonly  employed  of  external,  the 
latter  of  moral  things,  or  of  external 
things  for  the  sake  of  something  be- 
yond themselves.  I  value  a  book 
highly  or  cheaply.  1  prize  it  for  its 
intrinsic  worth  or  for  the  sake  of  the 
person  who  gave  it  to  me.  I  do  not 
esteem  it  at  all,  though  I  may  esteem 
the  author  or  the  donor  of  it.  The 
state  of  mind  involved  in  prizing  any- 
thing is  one  of  the  highest  regard ; 
tbe  thoughts  are  concentrated  on  the 
object;  it  is  treasured  with  a  strong 
personal  feeling.  It  is  jealously 
guarded,  and  the  possession  of  it  con- 
fers a  happiness  on  the  possessor, 
which  he  is  fain  to  think  peculiar  to 
himself.  He  thinks  himself  more  for- 
tunate than  others  who  have  it  not. 
The  value  we  set  upon  that  which  we 
prize  may  be  more  than  iust. 


no 


"  No,  deal"  a*  freedom  is,  and  in  my  heart's 
Just  estimation  prized  above  all  price; 
I  had  much  rather  be  myself  the  slave 
And  wear  the  bonds  than  fasten  them  on 
him,"  COWPKH. 

Value,  like  Apprkciatf.  and  Es- 
iKKM,  takes  the  favourable  side.  It 
commonly  moans  to  set  a  high  value; 
ns  to  ap])!-eciate  is  not  only  to  affix  a 
})rice  or  value,  but  its  just  and  due 
amount.  'I'his  favourable  leaning 
does  not  belong-  to  Appraise  or  Esri- 
MATK.  How  often  are  the  good  es- 
teemed !  It  would  seem  strange  that 
it  should  not  be  so — they  do  not  pro- 
voke the  ill  feelings  of  human  nature 
— they  are  inoftensive  and  kind.  Yet 
how  seldom  are  they  appreciated  for 
those  hidden  values  and  self-denials, 
into  which  the  world  little  cares  to 
inijui2-e ! 

"  The  statute  therefore  granted  this  writ, 
by  which  the  defendants' goods  and  chattels 
are  not  t^old  but  only  irppraised,  and  all  of 
them  except  oxen,  and  beasts  of  the 
jilongh,  are  delivered  to  the  plaintifi"  at 
such  reasonable  appraisement  and  price, 
in  part  satisfaction  of  the  debt." — Black- 
STONTJ. 

The  strict  etyTnological  use  of  ap- 
preciate appears  in  the  following  : — 

•'  A  sin,  a  vice,  a  crime,  are  the  objects  of 
theolo^,  ethics,  jurisprudence.  Whenerer 
Iheir  judgments  agree  they  corroborate 
each  other  ;  but  as  often  as  they  differ,  a 
prudent  legislator  appreciates  the  guilt 
and  punishment  according  to  the  measure 
of  social  injury." — GiBBON. 

In  contrast  with  this,  Bishop  Hall 
uses  the  term  as  follows  :  He  says  that 
the  golden  vials  of  incense  of  the 
ajigels  in  the  apocalypse  represent 
"  both  their  acceptable  thanksgivings 
and  their  general  appreciatio/i  of  peace 
and  \velf:ire  to  the  church  of  God 
upon  earth." 
"Their  wisdom   which   to  present  power 

consents 
Live  dogs  before  dead  horses  estimates." 
Daniel. 

"  Erteem  is  the  value  which  we  place 
npon  some  degree  of  worth.  It  is  higher 
than  simple  approbation,  which  is  a  decision 
of  judgment.  Esteemis  the  commencement 
of  affection."— CoGAN. 
"  Authors  like  coins  grow  dear  as  they  grow 

old. 
It  is  the  rust  we  value,  not  the  gold." 

Pope. 

APPREHEND.  Comprehend. 
Understand.  Conoeivf.   Perceive. 


SYNONYMS  [apprehend] 

To  Apprehend  (Lat.  apprthendere) 
is,  literally,  to  lay  hold  of  hy  the  mind 
after  the  analogy  of  grasping  with 
the  hand.  It  is  the  simplesi  act  of 
the  understanding,  the  recognition  of 
a  fact.  Apprehension  in  this  sense 
(¥r.  apprehension,  as  a  synonym  with 
fear)  expresses  no  process  or  result 
of  animate  knowledge,  profound  in- 
sight, or  mature  judgment^  but  such 
a  view  or  belief  as  we  are  inclined  to 
entertain  upon  the  ground  of  ordinary 
indications,  and  our  present  state  and 
stock  of  infonnaf ion.  I  may  apprehend 
a  thing  as  true  or  false,  probable  or 
improbable,  desirable  or  undesirable. 
Apprehension  is  a  low  and  limited 
understanding  of  a  thing.  Where  the 
nature  of  the  thing  is  plain  or  common, 
apprehension  answers  the  purpose  of 
understanding  it.  The  axioms  of  ma- 
thematics are  intuitively,  or  at  least 
naturally  and  easily,  apprehended. 
In  the  following  we  have  such  a  use 
of  Apprehend  as  to  illustrate  the  two- 
fold meaning  of  understanding  and 
fear.  When  the  fact  apprehended  ie 
future,  probable  and  unwelcome  ap- 
prehension combines  the  ideas  of  n,-- 
cognition  and  dread. 

"  It  was  once  proposed  to  discriminate  the 
slaves  by  a  particular  habit,  but  it  was 
justly  apprehe7ided  that  there  might  be 
some  danger  in  acquainting  them  with 
their  own  numbers." — Gibbon. 

Comprehend  (Lat.  compr^hendhe,  te 
clasp)  is  an  advance  upon  apprehend. 
It  is  very  like  Understand.  To  un- 
derstand is  to  have  the  free  use  of 
one's  reasoning  powers  in  recognizing 
the  nature,  properties,  relation,  use, 
or  meaning  of  things.  We  under- 
stand matters  of  ordinary  discourse 
and  the  practical  business  of  life.  To 
comprehend  is  to  embrace  a  thing  in 
all  its  compass  and  extent.  I  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  a  word.  I  com- 
prehend the  action  of  a  machine.  I 
understand  a  thing  when  I  can  ex- 
plain it,  and  show  its  relation  to  other 
things.  I  apprehend  a  thing  when  it 
is  brought  into  direct  relation  to  my 
own  mind.  I  comprehend  it  when  I 
know  all  about  it.  Accordingly 
Understand  marks  more  commonly  a 
conformity  of  ideas  with  terms  em- 
ployed. Comprehend  with  the  nature 


[aPPKOPRIATE]  inSCRIMlNATED. 


Ill 


of  tlie  thing-  propounded,  and  Con- 
ceive (Lat.  coiicipcre)  with  the  order 
and  purpose  of  sometliing  presented  to 
the  mind.  Oneunderstandslanguag-es, 
compreliendssciences,  conceives  possi- 
bilities, and  apprehends  facts.  Con- 
ceive sometimes  belongs  to  the  enter- 
tainment of  an  idea,  and  sometimes 
of  a  judgment  or  belief.  In  either 
case  one  conceives  with  more  than 
the  use  of  the  undei-standing,  and 
with  n  combination  of  understanding 
and  imagination.  I  fill  up  the  void 
in  the  actual  by  importing  ideas  of 
the  possible.  I  suppose  causes,  rea- 
sons, objects  or  purposes,  by  supply- 
ing which  1  seek  to  give  an  account 
of  the  thing  to  myself.  I  apprehend, 
understand,  and  comprehend  things 
present.  1  conceive  things  future 
and  unrealized.  I  conceive  a  plan, 
purpose,  design.  The  courtier  un- 
derstands the  ways  of  the  court. 
The  mathematician  comprehends  his 
problem.  The  man  of  business  ap- 
prehends that  there  will  be  a  rise  or 
fall  of  prices,  and  conceives  that  it 
must  be  owing  to  such  a  cause.  The 
architect  conceives  the  plan  of  a 
building. 

*'  It  was  amongst  the  ruins  of  the 
Capitol  that  I  first  coiiceivcd  the  idea  of  a 
work  which  has  amnsed  and  exercised  near 
twenty  years  of  my  life." — Gibbon. 

"And  how  much  soever  any  truth  may 
seem  above  our  wider  st  a  tiding  and  compre- 
hension, yet  if  they  come  attested  by  His 
divine  infallible  authority,wehaveiii£iuitely 
more  ground  to  be  persuaded  of  them  than 
we  are  of  any  thing  thaf  we  ourselves  may 
seem  to  comprehend  or  understand." — 
Bkveeidge. 

Perceive  (Lat.  ,iercipere)  has  a 
two-fold  meaning.  We  perceive  ex- 
ternal objects,  when  the  mind  becomes 
aware  of  tneii-  presence  by  the  senses, 
and  also  perceive  ti-uths,  when  the 
mind  hag  been  led,  whether  by 
reasoning  or  otherwise,  to  take  cog- 
nizance of  them.  It  is  difficult  to 
understand  what  is  enigmatical,  to 
comprehend  what  is  abstract,  to  con- 
ceive what  is  confused,  to  perceive 
what  is  indistinct,  to  apprehend 
what  is  unlikely  iii  reason  or  m 
fact. 

"Jupiter  made  all  things,  and  all  thmgs 
whatsoever  exist  are  the  works  of  Jupiter; 
rivers,  and  earth,  and  sea,  and  heaven,  and 


what  are  between  them,  and  gods  and 
men,  and  all  animals,  whatsoever  is  per- 
ceivable either  by  sense  or  by  the  mind."— 
Cud  WORTH. 

APPROACH.     Approximate. 

These  verbs  (Lat.  appr'^piare  and 
approiiware)  are  both  formed  origi- 
nally from  the  Lat.  pr)!)pt,  near,  proxt- 
mus,  nearest.  They  differ  in  the 
degree  of  nearness  expressed.  When 
two  things  approach,  tlie  interval  be- 
tween them  is  materially  lessened. 
But  they  may  be  said  to  approximate 
if  the  interval  is  in  any  degree 
lessened,  though  it  may  after  all  be 
very  great.  An  approximate  calcula- 
tion is  sometimes  professedly  inexact, 
and  only  the  best  that  can  be  made. 
Approximate  has  a  more  abstract  ap- 
plication than  approach.  Approach 
implies  a  diminution  of  distance,  or  o 
what  may  be  conceived  as  analogous 
to  distance.  Approximation  may 
mean  the  diminution  of  difference,  as 
in  character  or  properties.  The 
character  of  the  lowest  savage  ap- 
pro/ imates  to  that  of  the  brute.  In 
this  sense  approximation  is  simila- 
rity. 

"  Let  matter  be  divided  mto  thp  snbtilest 
parts  imaginable,  and  these  be  moved  as 
swiftly  as  you  will,  it  is  but  a  senseless  and 
stnpid  being  still,  and  makes  no  nearer 
approach  to  sense,  perception,  or  vital 
energy  than  it  had  before." — Ray,  On 
Creation. 

"  The  largest  capacity  and  the  most 
noble  dispositions  are  but  an  approximation 
to  the  proper  standard  and  true  symmetry 
of  human  nature." — J.  Taylor. 

APPROBATION.     Approval. 

Approbation  (Lat.  approhationem) 
is  the  sentiment  of  which  Approval 
is  the  expression.  We  entertain 
approbation  and  express  approval. 
It  is  possible  to  feel  in  our  hearts  ap- 
probation of  conduct  in  others,  which 
we  may  not  have  the  moral  courage  to 
sanction  by  open  and  unreserved  ap- 
proval. 

APPROPRIATE.     Suitable. 

Appropriate  (Lat.  appropridre,  to 
make  one's  own)  is  to  Suitable  (Fr. 
suite,  a  following)  as  the  subjective  to 
the  objective,  the  appropriate  being 
the  suitable  in  conception,  and  never 
employed  of  physical  or  mechanical 
adaptation.  Suitable  is,  therefore,  the 
wider  term  and  simpler.    That  is  suit- 


112 


SYNONYMS  [ArPROPltlAl  e] 


able  which  is  in  any  w  ay  adapted  to  a 
thing.  That  is  appropriate  which  ac- 
cords with  the  conceptions  formed  of  it. 
Suitable  belongs  rather  to  the  purpose 
and  use  of  things.  Appropriate  to 
their  manner  and  character.  Suitable 
is  It  practical  term.  Appropriate  is  a 
term  of  taste.  Suitable  may  be  be- 
tween two  physical  or  two  moral 
terms  ;  appropriate  implies,  at  least, 
one  moral.  Again,  appropriate  is  a 
more  specific,  suitable  a  more  general 
term.  That  is  appropriate  which  pecu- 
liarly fits  or  suits  the  general  character, 
or  some  property  or  peculiarity  of  a 
thing.  1  hat  is  suitable  which  is  not 
unsuitable ;  the  one  is  an  apt,  the  other 
a  permissible,  accompaniment. 

"  In  its  strict  and  appropriate  meaning, 
especially  as  applied  to  our  Saviour's  para- 
bles, it  (parable)  signifies  a  short  narrative 
of  some  event  or  fact,  real  or  fictitious,  in 
which  a  continued  comparison  is  carried  on 
between  sensible  and  spiritual  objects,  and 
under  this  similitude  some  important  doc- 
trine, moral  or  religious,  is  conveyed  and 
enforced."— Bishop  Porteus. 

"  Raphael,  amidst  his  tenderness  and 
friendship  for  man,  shows  slich  a  dignity  and 
condescension  in  all  his  speech  and  beha- 
viour as  are  suitable  to  a  superior  nature." 
—Addison. 

APPROPRIATE.  Usurp.  Aruo- 
GATK.     Assume. 

The  idea  common  to  these  words  is 
that  of  making  or  pretending  a  right. 
Of  these,  the  widest  in  signification 
and  most  varied  in  force  is  the  last. 
To  AssuMK  (Lat.  assumh-e')  is  to  take 
to  one's  self.  This  may  be  done  with 
or  without  right,  and  in  any  degree 
from  the  most  teraporai-y  to  the  most 
permanent  assumption.  We  assume 
truth,  probability,  riglit,  that  is,  we 
conceive  them  as  proved  or  granted ; 
in  which  sense  the  word  is  considered 
elsewhere.  We  do  not  assume  physical 
objects  simply  as  such,  unless  they 
have  some  force  or  significance  be- 
yond themselves.  I  take,  not  assume, 
my  hat;  but  if  1  placed  in  it  a  feather 
as  a  badge  of  leadership  or  party,  1 
should  be  said  to  assume  it.  It  is  in 
connexion  with  this  sense  of  taking, 
in  order  to  wear,  that  assume  so  often 
bears  the  meaning  of  taking  with  pre- 
tence, or  falsely  assuming. 

"  Assume  a  virtue  if  you  have  it  not." 
Shakkspeark. 


Assume  and  Appuopriaie  indicate 
less  demonstrative  action  than  Usurp 
(  Lat.  iisiirpdre,  to  make  use  oJ\  and, 
afterwards,  to  usurp)  and  Arrogate 
(Lat.  arrogdre,  lo  adopt,  to  claim  un- 
fairly). I  appropriate  a  thing  when  I 
make  it  peculiarly  mine;  and  as  this 
may  be  to  the  exclusion  of  others  hav- 
ing an  equal  or  better  right  to  it,  the 
word  is  tinged  with  an  idea  of  injus- 
tice. The  radical  idea  of  appropriate 
is  to  make  property  to  belong,  to  set 
apart,  for  a  peculiar  relation,  use,  or 
possession,  either  in  regard  to  one's 
self  or  in  regard  to  some  other.  In 
this  point  it  difiers  from  the  rest,  which 
are  a])plicable  only  to  one's  self. 
Right  and  wrong  are  blended  in  arro- 
gate. To  arrogate  is  to  assume  as 
one's  right  in  a  haughty  manner; 
to  usurp  is  to  take  to  one's  self  that 
which  is  in  the  use  or  enjoyment  not 
properly  one's  own.  The  term  be- 
longs to  power,  titles,  rights,  posses- 
sions, authority,  privileges,  and  the 
like.  In  their  most  unfavourable 
senses,  appropriation  is  without  right, 
usurpation  is  against  right,  arrogation 
claims  right,  and  assumption  ignores 
right.  Ihe  selfish  and  unfair  appro- 
priate, the  audacious  and  intrusive 
usurj),  the  vain  an'ogate,  the  cool, 
determined,  and  insolent,  assume. 

"  Pompey,  Crassus,  and  Cssar,  had  found 
the  sweets  of  arbitrary  power,  and  each 
being  a  check  to  the  others'  growth,  struck 
up  a  false  friendship  among  themselves.and 
divided  the  government  betwixt  them, 
which  none  ol  them  was  able  to  assume 
alone."— Dryden. 

"  But  these  (glebe  tithes,  &c.)  are  some- 
times appropriated,  that  is,  the  benefice  is 
perpetually  annexed  to  some  spiritual  cor- 
poration."— BliACKSTONE. 

"  The  half  lettered  are  forward,  andarro- 
gate  to  themselves  what  a  modest,  studious 
man  dares  not,  though  he  knows  more." — 

WOOIASTOX. 

"  An  usurper  can  never  have  right  on  z 
side."— Locke. 

APT.     Ready.     Prompt. 

These  terms  all  denote  the  posses- 
sion of  mental  activity,  with,  however, 
some  shades  of  difference.  The  Apt 
man  (Lat.  aptus.  Jit)  is  he  who  can 
with  comparative  ease  qualify  himself 
for  the  exercise  of  some  function  of 
body   or  mind.     Aptness  is  specific 


[arduous] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


113 


capacity  rapidly  developed.  A  man 
may  be  apt  to  learn  or  apt  to  teach. 
Inits  wider  sense  Apt  means  naturally 
fitted,  as  having  a  tendency  to  produce 
an  effect  or  even  to  be  affected;  hence 
inclined,  liable. 

Ready  (A.  S.  ra'd)  expresses  both 
a  passive  condition  of  tilings,  and  an 
active  quality  of  persons.  The  ready 
is  he  who  can  meet  tlie  requirements 
of  a  particular  case  without  much 
forecasting,  who  from  the  armoury  of 
his  OAvn  resources  can  draAv  at  short 
notice  what  is  wanted  for  immediate 
use  on  an  occasion.  The  apt  man  is 
go  by  natural  power  and  fitness.  The 
ready  man  by  natural  quickness  and 
versatility  of  mind.  The  former  in 
time  learns  much,  the  latter  in  a  mo- 
ment speaks  or  acts  effectively. 

Promptitude  (L.  Lat.  prompliludo) 
is  an  attribute  of  persons  exclu- 
sively. The  prompt  man  is  ready 
for  practical  purposes  and  matters  of 
business,  as  tJie  ready  man  is  j)rompt 
for  purposes  less  grave  or  exigent,  as 
in  reply  or  rejoinder.  The  prompt 
man  is  so  by  virtue  of  an  energetic 
will.  The  ready  man  has  cleverness, 
the  prompt  man  decision.  He  sees 
the  necessity  of  immediate  action,  and 
loses  nothing  by  delay.  He  who  is 
not  ready  is  slow,  he  who  is  not 
prompt  is  dilatory.  The  ready  man 
meets  a  difficulty,  the  prompt  man  an 
obligation. 

"  Apt  to  teach."— Eng.  Bible. 

"  Heady  in  devising  expedients."  —  Ma- 

CAULAY. 

"  To  the  stern  sanction  of  the  offended  sky 

My  prQMpt  obedience  bows."  Popk. 

APTrrUDE.     Fitness. 

Fitness  is  not  confined  to  any  kind 
of  subject  in  particular,  being  equally 
moral  and  material  in  its  application. 
Aptitude  expresses  the  active  fitness 
of  moral  beings  and  character,  while 
Fitness  is  only  passive.  In  material 
subjects,  fitness  is  a  quality  or  condi- 
tion, aptitude  a  latent  force.  Oil  has 
naturally  an  aptitude  to  burn,  and 
men  have  an  aptitude  to  acquii-e 
habits,  good  or  evil.  Aptitude  im- 
plies a  particular  purpose,  action,  or 
effect,  inherent  in  the  subject,  Fitness 


a  mere  external  suitability,  congruity, 
or  commensurateness.  Fitness  be- 
longs to  objects,  aptitude  to  the  i  uali- 
ties  of  objects. 

ARBOUR.     Bower. 

The  Arbour,  a  corruption  of  the 
word  harbour,  has  come  to  designate 
the  bower,  or  rustic  shelter  which  was 
a  conspicuous  feature  of  it. 

Bower  is  the  A.  S.  bur,  a  chamber, 
with  wliich  in  Old  English  it  was 
simply  equivalent;  the  lady's  bower 
being  the  lady's  chamber.  Arbour 
became  confounded  with  the  Latin 
arbor,  and  thus  probably  has  come  to 
meana  thick-set  retreat  ofovershadow- 
ing  foliage;  and  the  bower  from  being 
the  private  chamber  within  the  house 
became  the  leafy  recess  or  refuge  be- 
yond it.  In  their  modern  application, 
tlie  words  seem  to  differ  very  slightly. 
But  Arbour  has  the  more  artificial 
sound.  As  an  arbour  is  an  artificial 
bower,  so  a  bower  is  often  a  natural 
arbour.  The  woods  furnish,  by  the 
natural  interlacing  of  their  boughs  in 
many  places,  such  retreats  as  would  be 
called  bowers  rather  than  arbours. 

ARCHIVES.     Records. 

Strictly  speaking,  and  according  to 
tlieir  etymology,  the  latter  are  docu- 
ments, and  the  former  places  in  which 
tliose  documents  are  preserved.  It 
may  be  said  generally  that  any  authen- 
tic memorial  of  facts  or  proceedings  is 
a  Record  (  Lat. rccorddri, torememoer). 
The  Greek  apx^'^oy  meant  the  court  of  a 
magistrate,  being  the  repository  of 
public  acts. 

Archives  is  never  used  but  in  the 
sense  of  documents  connected  with 
the  past  history  and  transactions  of 
the  state.  Records  with  greater  lati- 
tude is  employed  of  any  kind  of  occur- 
rences, as  of  social  proceedings  or 
local  history 

ARDUOUS.  Difficult.  Hard. 
Hard  (A.  S.  heard)  expresses  in  a 
blunter  and  more  general  way  what 
Difficult  (Lat.  diffXctlis)  and  Ar- 
duous (Lat.  arduus}  express  in  a 
more  particular  and  refined  way.  Any 
1    tough  business  of  the  mind  or  the  hanS 


114 


fttNONYMS 


[argument] 


may  be  called  hard.  It  is  simply  a 
strong  analogous  term.  That  is  hard 
vfhich  seems  to  resist  our  efforts  and 
tax  our  strength.  Difficulty  is  a  kind 
of  hardness,  namely,  that  which  re- 
quires some  mental  a])titude  besides 
mere  work  and  perseverance  to  over- 
come. The  making  of  roads  is  not 
difficult  work.  It  is  simply  hard  work. 
But  it  is  difficult  for  the  engineer  when 
the  country  does  not  furnish  the  re- 
quisite material,  and  he  has  to  substi- 
tute some  other  material  which,  per- 
liaps,  has  to  be  brought  from  adistance, 
while  the  means  of  transit  and  trans- 
port are  not  at  hand.  Hardness  is 
simple.  Difficulty  is  complex.  Ardu- 
ous denotes  that  which  requires  the 
sustained  exertion  of  mind  or  body. 
It  calls  not  only  for  an  ingenious  mind, 
and  a  patient,  persevering  spirit,  but 
for  some  loftiness  of  aim.  It  will  pro- 
bably be  made  up  of  many  hai'dnesses 
and  many  difficulties  which  have  to  be 
successively  encountered,  endured, 
and  overcome  befoi-e  the  end,  which, 
from  the  first,  was  seen  at  a  distance, 
shall  have  been  attained.  1  n  hardness 
there  is  no  disproportion  between  the 
means  and  the  end,  the  faculties  and 
the  work.     The  opposite  is  rather  im- 

tdied  in  the  term.  To  accomplish  a 
lard  task  needs  time,  patience,  and 
perseverance.  In  difficulty,  such  a 
disproportion  does  exist,  and  it  has  to 
be  supplied  out  of  the  mental  resources 
of  the  agent.  And  after  all,  the  diffi- 
culty may  be  insuperable.  A  difficult 
operation  in  surgery  does  not  involve 
great  bodily  effort,  but  is  constituted 
by  the  delicacy  of  the  matter  operated 
upon,  and  the  need  of  constant  care 
to  avoid  the  serious  consequences  of 
slight  deviations  or  of  casual  ignorance 
or  oversight.  In  things  which  are 
srduous,  the  difficult}'  comes  rather 
from  within,  the  danger  of  a  lack  of 
energy  or  effort.  An  arduous  under- 
taking is  commonly  a  demand  rather 
upon  a  man's  moral  strength  than 
upon  his  sagacity  or  skill.  An  arduous 
undertaking  is  naturally  such  to  all. 
On  the  other  hand,  that  which  is  hard 
or  difficult  to  one,  may  be  quite  easy 
to  another. 

"  Have  you  been  evil  spoken  of,  and  your 
haracter  injured  when  you  knew  yourself 


innocent?  this  is  hard  to  bear  as  worldly 
principles."-  Qilpin's  Sermons. 

"Was  ever  anything  difficult  or  glorious 
achieved  by  a  sodden  cast  of  a  thought  \  " — 
South. 

"  Hear  how  learn'd  Greece  her  useful  rule.« 

indites, 
When  to  repress   and  when   indulge    our 

flights. 
High  on  Parnassus'  top  her  sons  she  show'd, 
And  pointed  out  those  arduous  paths  they 

trod."  Pope. 

ARGUMENT.     CoNTitovKRsv. 

AnGUxAiicNT  (Lat.  urgumentum)  is 
that  which  argues,  or  is  brought  for- 
ward in  arguing.  An  argument  may 
be  complex,  elaborate,  replete  with 
varied  reasoning,  but  it  is  single,  uni- 
form. CoNTUovKRSY  (Lsit.  CO  lit  lover- 
sia)  is  antagonistic  argument,  and  in 
an  extended  sense  the  sum  of  the 
arguments  on  both  sides  of  a  question. 
A  preacher  may  have  well  sustained 
the  argument  of  his  discourse,  but  he 
must  never  flatter  himself  that  it  will 
not  be  made  matter  of  controversy 
among  his  hearers. 

ARISTOCRACY.     Nobility. 

The  AuisTOCRACY,  in  the  ancient 
sense  of  the  term,  was  a  governing 
body  of  the  chief  or  best  men,  ipia-To- 
kpeiria — apiarog,  best,  and  xpaTftV,  to  rule. 
So  Ben  Jonson — 

"  If  the  Senate 
Right  not  our  quest  in  this,  I  will  protest 

them 
No  aristoa-acy. " 

Hence  it  has  come  to  signify  among 
ourselves  the  upper  classes,  especially 
those  who  are  raised  above  trades  and 
professions.  The  Nobility  (Lat. 
n'obitttatem)  consists  of  those  who  hold 
patents  of  peerage,  and  in  a  widei 
sense,  their  families.  Hence  it  follows 
that  though  the  nobility  belong  to  the 
aristocracy  of  the  country,  there  will 
be  a  large  portion  of  the  aristocracy 
who  are  not  personally  ennobled  nor 
belong  by  birth  to  noble  families,  a<« 
the  landed  aristocracy.  By  an  exten- 
sion of  the  term  we  apply  it  to  some 
who  have  no  pretensions  to  the  claim 
of  patented  nobility.  There  is  an 
aristocracy  of  talent  and  of  wealth, 
but  those  who  are  in  this  sense  en 
nobled,  depend  for  their  titles  ou  the 
conflicting  sentiments  of  mankind. 


[ARROGANCE] 


ARMISTICE.     Truce. 

These  terms  are  coincident  in  their 
general  meaninc^  of  a  temporary  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  between  parties 
contending  in  battle.  The  Tuuce 
(Old  Eng.  treu-es,  A.  S.  tryics-iau,  to 
pledge' one's  faith)  is  the  less  formal  of 
the  two,  so  that  it  has  found  its  way 
into  common  metaphorical  language, 
as  Armiptick  {hdii.  urmistitium  ;  Lat. 
arinuj  arms,  and  sisttre,  to  stop)  has  not. 
So  the  word  Thucf.  is  often  employed 
to  express  a  cessation,  temporary  or 
otlierwise,  of  what  is  vexatiously  an- 
tagonistic ;  as  in  noisy  arguments,  or 
the  intermission  of  tedious  or  painful 
action  of  any  kind.  The  consent  of 
commanders,  or  according  to  the  laws 
of  honourable  warfare,  tlie  mere  ex- 
hibition under  certain  circumstances 
of  a  flag,  may^bring  about  a  truce  for 
some  particular  purpose,  such  as  a 
consultation  between  the  rival  gene- 
rals, or  an  opportunity  for  burying 
the  bodies  of  the  slain.  An  armistice 
is  more  formal  and  prolonged,  and  is 
regulated  by  articles  and  conditions ; 
as,  for  instance,  that  on  the  cession  of 
a  small  territory,  a  besieged  town 
shall  be  permitted  to  revictual  its 
garrison. 

ARMS.     Weapons. 

Arms  (Lat.  arma)  seems  to  be  used 
both  in  a  general  and  a  specific  sense. 
In  the  general  sense  it  means  all  that 
a  man  carries  when  armed,  that  is,  of 
oiTensive  and  defensive.  In  this  gene- 
ral sense  it  is  distinguished  from 
Weapon  (A.  S.  uirpcH),  which  always 
means  an  im})lenient  of  active  or  of- 
fensive warfare.  But  usage  has  in- 
troduced another  distinction.  Weapon 
is  employed  of  such  implements  as 
are  extemporaneously  assumed,  or  of 
sucli  things  as  are  converted  into  im- 
plements of  defence,  while  arms  is 
used  of  those  which  are  uniformly 
made  and  recognized  as  such.  Ac- 
cording as  it  is  regarded  with  fixed 
character,  a  thing  may  be  called  an 
arm  or  a  weapon.  The  sword  is  one 
of  the  soldier  a  arms,  and  a  necessary 
weapon  it  is,  I'Le  tongue  may  be 
used  as  a  poisoned  weapon.  A  spade 
is  in  itselfan  implement  of  husbandry. 
li  may  be  a  formidable  weapon  in  the 


DISCRIMINATED. 


115 


hands  of  an  angry  rustic.  Awms,  un- 
like Weapon,  is  a  rhetoric al term, and 
stands  for  the  deeds  and  exploits  of 
war. 

"  Arms  and  the  man  I  sing." 

Drydexs  i^irgil. 
"  He  lays  down 
His  arms,  but  not  his  wills." 

Milton, 
"  Woman's  weapons,  water-di-ops." 

SlIAKKSPEARE. 

ARRIVE.     Come. 

To  Come  (A.  S.  cuman)  is  vague, 
and  independent  of  time,  manner,  or 
circumstances.  ToARRivE(Fr.ur?jfer) 
denotes  an  anticipated  or  appointed 
coming.  It  is  used  of  tilings,  persons, 
events,  and  time,  or  points  of  time. 
Things  come  by  chance  or  nature. 
They  arrive  by  order  or  arrangement. 
Tlie  train  comes  when  it  approaches. 
It  arrives  at  a  certain  place  and  hour. 

"  In  the  Epistles  ofS.  Paul,  9.  Peter,  and 
S.  James,  we  find  frequent  mention  of  the 
comitig  of  our  Lord  in  terms  which,  like 
those  of  the  text,  may  at  first  seem  to  imply 
an  expectation  in  those  writers  of  His  speedy 
arrit'a/."— Harlky. 

ARROGANCE.  Presumption. 
Self-Conceit.  Pride.  Vanity. 
Haughtiness. 

Arrogance  (Lat.  arr(1»a?;fiam)  is  ex- 
actly what  the  word  is  formed  to  ex- 
press, a  habit  of  arrogating  to  one's  self 
deference,  or,  as  it  has  been  defined, 
"exclusive  self-deference."  It  is  the 
extreme  of  self-assertion.  Go  where 
he  will,  tlie  arrogant  man  carries  his 
claims  with  him,  claims  of  superi- 
ority as  in  social  position,  tlie  expres- 
sion of  opinion,  or  what  not.  It  is 
often  a  partial  fault  of  character,  and 
persons  are  found  arrogant  on  some 
matters  who  are  not  so  on  others. 
Superiority  or  claim  of  some  kind  mubt 
exist  as  the  foundation  of  arrogance. 
It  is  the  fault  of  the  great,  not  of  the 
little.  To  demand  as  a  right,  though 
the  claim  be  just,  in  cases  where  it 
would  have  been  conceded,  and  where 
tlie  demand  therefore  was  superfluous, 
is  still  arrogance.  Arrogance  is  a 
mode  of  action  or  behaviour  resulting 
from  a  condition  of  mind.  Arrogance 
is  not  only  not  self-conceit,  but  may 
be  in  opposition  to  it.  A  man  in  ex- 
pressing  an  opinion   may  be  so  {^lT 


116 


from  believing  that  he  is  in  the  right 
that  he  may  feel  himselfin  the  wrong, 
jet  arrogance  will  expect  that  he 
should  be  yielded  to. 

"  Arrogance  is  always  offensive,  because 
in  demairding  mere  thiin  its  due — for  this 
meaning  appears  in  the  etymology  of  the 
word—  it  manifests  a  petulant  and  injurious 
disposition  that  disdains  to  be  controlled  by 
good  breeding  or  any  other  restraint.'' — 
i3EATTIE. 

Arrogance  is  more  overbearing  than 
Si-i.F-CoNCKiT, which  is  merely  the  en- 
tertaniing  ot'an  overweening  opinion  of 
one's  self,  and  may  be  far  less  obtru- 
sive than  the  former.  1 1  is  commonly 
more  ridiculous  and  less  troublesome. 
Like  arrogance,  it  maybe  confined  to 
particular  matters,  and  these  may  be 
jjersonal  trivialities.  He  may  greatly 
over-rate  himself  on  one  point,  and 
under-estimate  himselfin  others.  Self- 
conceit  is  the  fault  of  persons  who 
have  had  little  training,  or  have  re- 
ceived it  apart  from  others.  Contact, 
and  even  collision  of  minds  in  varied 
intercourse  with  others,  as  in  the  poli- 
tical world  or  at  a  public  school,  is  it* 
best  corrective. 

"Nothing  so  haughty  and  assuming  as 
ignorant-e  where  self-conceit  bids  it  set  up 
for  infallible." — South. 

From  these  Pride  (A.  S.;jrt/f)  differs 
in  being,  so  to  speak,  more  true.  The 
arrogant,  but  more  especially  the  self- 
conceited,  are  in  intellectual  error. 
Self-conceit  blinds  a  man  into  mistak- 
ing ignorance  for  knowledge.  Pride 
lies  only  in  falsity  of  degree,  or  excess. 
It  is  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the 
value  of  something  which  really  be- 
longs to  us  or  exists  in  us,  and  by 
consequence  involves  a  disposition  to 
disdain  others,  converting  superiors 
into  equals,  and  equals  into  inferiors. 
A  proud  man  over-rates  wliat  he  pos- 
sesses, a  conceited  man  imagines  him- 
self to  possess  what  is  not  his.  A 
man  wlio  is  proud  of  rank,  wealth,  or 
abilities,  really  possesses  these  advan- 
tages, but  sets  a  wrong  or  dispropor- 
tionate estimate  upon  them ;  in  such  a 
way,  for  instance,  as  to  overlook  the 
claims  of  virtue. 

"  Pride  is  that  exalted  idea  of  our  state, 
pialifications,  orattainment9,which'iXceeds 
ihe  boundaries  of  joitice  and  induces  us  to 
ovi*   -'own    upon  inppoBed  inferiors   with 


SYNONYMS  [arrogance] 


some   degree    of  nnmej-it«d  contempt."— 

COGAX. 

ilAUcnrrNESs  seems  often  constitu- 
tional, 'ihe  haughty  person  breathes 
a  superior  atmosphere  to  other  people, 
or  imigines  it.  (Fr.  hant^  high.) 
It  proceeds  from  pride,  of  which  it 
is  to  a  great  degi-ee  the  externa! 
manifestation,  showing  itaelf  in  the 
manners  and  deportment. 

"  As  many  more  can  discover  that  a  man 
is  richer  than  that  he  is  wiser  than  them- 
selves, superiority  of  understanding  is  not 
so  readily  acknowledged  as  that  of  fortune, 
nor  is  that  Aau^rAfmess  which  the  conscious- 
ness of  gi-eat  abilities  incites,  borne  with 
the  same  submission  as  the  tyranny  of 
aftluence."— Johnson. 

Vanity  may  exist  with  pride  or  self- 
conceit,  but  is  not  implied  by  either. 
It  is  literally  emptiness  (Lat.  vamta- 
tern );  thence  it  came  to  mean  something 
unreal,  hollow,  bad.  At  length,  as 
applied  to  personal  character,  it  de- 
noted an  excessive  desire  of  applause, 
approbation,  or  admiration  for  quali- 
ties we  possess  as  well  as  those  we  pos- 
sess not.  It  differs  from  pride  in  having 
to  do  with  matters  more  closely  con- 
nected with  one's  self  personally. 
One  is  not,  generally  speaking,  vain, 
for  instance,  of  titles  and  estates,  but 
proud.  The  subjects  of  vanity  are 
good  looks,  talent,  ])ersonal  influence, 
smaller  successes,  and  the  like.  The 
vain  person  cares  more  to  be  admired 
than  ap])roved.  The  proud  man  is 
content  with  his  own  judgment  of 
himself.  The  vain  man  is  always 
looking  at  himself  through  the  medium 
of  other  people's  ideas,  being  greedy 
of  admiration  he  seeks  to  occupy  their 
thoughts.  Pride  is  above  this,  and  so 
in  some  respects  is  seen  to  be  almost 
the  opposite  of  vanity.  The  proud 
man  is  by  his  very  pride  above  all 
care  to  be  false.  The  vain  man  will 
accept  compliments  to  an  excellence 
which  he  does  not  possess.  The 
proud  man  is  best  corrected  by  setting 
before  him  his  own  shortcomings,  or 
those  of  the  things  on  which  he  prides 
himself.  The  greatest  mortification 
to  a  vain  man  is  to  take  no  notice  of 
his  claim  to  admiration.  If  pride  ii 
hateful,  vanity  is  contemptible. 
Presumption  (ha.t.pt(ji:6u.'»utiofiem ) 


[artful] 

is  osppcially  a  fault  of  the  little.  It 
is  self-flattery  in  mattt'is  of  social  pre- 
c.'deuce.  It  is  so  far  unlike  pride 
that  pride  possesses  but  over-esti- 
mates.; }»resumption  possesses  not, 
but  claims  to  possess,  and  that  over 
the  heads  of  others.  The  presumptu- 
ous man  strives  to  be  on  a  level  with 
those  above  him,  and  shows  hig  cha- 
racter in  obtrusivenessofconduct;  or 
he  arraigns  the  acts  and  opinions  of 
those  who  are  far  better  able  to  judge 
and  act  than  himself.  Presumption 
is  a  determined  form  of  self-conceit. 
Pride  makes  us  esteem  ourselves. 
Vanity  makes  us  desire  to  be  esteemed 
by  others.  Presumption  flatters  us 
with  a  vain  idea  of  superiority,  privi- 
lege, or  power.  It  thmks  more  of  the 
chances  of  adventure  than  of  the  con- 
clusions of  experience.  It  is  hazard- 
ous in  its  own  favour.  Presumption 
may  manifest  itself  in  many  ways,  and 
in  cases  in  which  other  persons  are  or 
are  not  concerned.  It  is  presumption 
to  take  precedence  of  one  who  is  of 
higher  social  rank.  1 1  is  presumption 
to  come  before  a  critical  audience  with 
an  unprepared  address.  In  many  cases 
the  best  cure  for  presumption  is  to  take 
the  presumptuous  man  at  his  word. 

"  Vanity  is  that  species  of  pride  which, 
while  it  presnmes  upon  a  degree  of  superi- 
ority in  some  particular  articles,  fondly 
courts  the  applause  of  every  one  within  its 
space  of  action,  seeking  every  occasion  to 
display  some  talent,  or  some  supposed  ex- 
cellency."— CoGAN. 

"And  ^irnngh  presumption  of  his  matchless 

migdt. 
All    other   powers   and  knighthood  he  did 

scorn."  Spenser. 

ARTFUL.  Cunning.  Deceit- 
Fu;..  Designing.  Chaftv.  Sly. 
Wily.     Subtle. 

AuTFUL  is,  as  the  term  literally  ex- 
presses,/u//  of  art,  in  the  sense  of  con- 
trivance. But  it  is  tinged  with  an 
unfavourable  complexion.  The  artful 
character  exercises  for  his  own  pur- 
poses mecns  which  baffle  the  interpre- 
tation, or  escape  the  observation  of 
others.  Artfulness  is  trained  cunning. 
The  artful  person  will  often  gain  an 
end  which  he  does  not  appear  to  be 
aiming  at,  and  by  the  very  fact  that 
he  does  not.     He  exerU  his  ingenuity 


DISCRIMINATED. 


117 


in  misleading.  He  is  fruitful  in  ex- 
pedients for  producing  falee  impres- 
sions. He  is  most  artful  when  he 
seems  most  natural,  and  designs  with 
an  undesigning  air.  He  is  observant, 
and  measures  the  capacities  of  others 
for  the  purpose  of  playing  them  false. 
He  can  both  make  a  trap  and  set  it. 

"  Artful  in  si)eech,  in  action,  and  in  mind." 
Pope. 

Cunning  (A.  S.  cunnari,  to  know) 
is  the  same  faculty  of  acting  with  con- 
cealment and  disguise,  as  applied  to 
the  lowest  orders  of  wants  or  designs. 
It  is  the  more  simple  and  animal  as- 
pect of  artfulness.  Yet  this  is  a  recent 
force  of  the  word.  Cunning  is  lite- 
rally knowing,  and  has  the  same  un- 
favourable sense  as  knowing.  Yet 
the  Bible  speaks  o(  ^' cuniimg  artifi- 
cers." "If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusa- 
lem, let  my  right  hand  forget  her 
cunning,"  that  is,  skill.  It  expresses 
now  the  characteristic  quality  of  the 
fox.  AuTFUL  is  po.iitive  and  active, 
Cunning  may  be  in  reserve  and  con- 
cealment, only  being  connected  with 
the  instincts  of  self-maintenance  and 
self-preservation. 

'*  The  fox  in  deeper  cunning  versed. 
The  beauties  of  her  mind  rehearsed." 
MuiK,  Fables. 

Deceitful  (Lat.  dect/je/e,  part,  d't- 
I  ceptus,  to  deceive)  denotes amore  settled 
purpose  of  leading  others  astray.  In 
the  artful  and  cunning  deceit  may  be 
only  a  means  to  an  end.  The  artful 
fencer,  or  the  cunning  animal  which 
doubles  upon  the  scent  of  the  hounds 
is  not  deceitful.  The  deceitful  is 
ready,  if  necessary,  to  falsify  truth 
and  honour  to  gain  his  end.  1 1  is  only 
the  intellect  of  a  man  that  can  be  in  the 
full  sense  of  the  term,  deceitful.  It  is 
a  term  of  the  moral  disposition  rather 
than  the  mental  nature.  Artful  and 
cunning  both  imply  some  degree  ol 
natural  aptitude ;  but  a  person  may  be 
in  character  deceitful,  tliat  is,  he  may 
have  the  impulse  to  deceive  without 
the  faculty.  For  further  remarks,  see 
Deceive. 

"  But  sin,  by  that  deceitfulness  which  th 
Apostle  speaks  of  in  the  text,  hides  its  dc 
formed  appearances  from  the  eyes  of  foolish 
men,   and   sets  before  them  nothing  bnl 


118 


SYNONYMS 


>lARTICLE] 


pleasures  and  profit,  joy  and  vanity,  pre- 
sent security  and  very  distant,  very  uncer- 
tain, verj'  remote  fears." — SoUTil. 

Designixg  (O.  Fr.  designer) denotes 
artful  conduct  exercised  with  a  speci  fie 
purpose  of  effecting  desired  objects, 
sometimes  to  the  extent  of  injuring  or 
misleading  others.  Indeed,  the  injury 
of  another  may  constitute  the  design. 
Bat  the  character  of  the  designing 
flows  from  a  mental  habit  of  forestall- 
ing the  future.  The  designing  man  is 
always  laying  plans  for  the  sake  of 
remote  consequences.  He  is  artful  for 
the  sake  of  ulterior  results.  lie  is 
trying  to  turn  others  to  account.  For 
further  remarks,  see  Design.  It  may 
be  observed  that  Designing,  in  the 
sense  of  artful,  is  of  recent  use  in  Eng- 
nsh  literature,  though  "  designement" 
had  a  tendency  to  mean  a  crafty  or  evil 
design.  So  at  present  we  are  more 
likely  to  speak  of  a  design  against 
a  man,  than  a  design  for  his  benefit. 

"  This  designment  appears  both  iniquitous 
and  absurd."— Wars URTON. 

Crafty  (A.  S.  craft,  artifice,  skii) 
has,  from  the  idea  of  skill,  dropped 
into  that  of  cunning.  Craft  is  the 
cunning  of  practice.  It  is  a  way  of 
acting.  It  designs  and  conceals.  It 
misleads  and  eludes.  Crafty  belongs 
to  the  development  of  human  charac- 
ter. The  child  may  be  cunning.  The 
old  man  is  crafty.  Craft  is  wisdom 
perverted  and  debased.  Its  policy  is 
crooked.  The  crafty  man  has  a  talent 
for  dexterous  deception  in  matters  of 
life  and  business. 

"  To  prudence,  if  you  add  the  use  of  un- 
just or  dishonest  means  such  as  usually  are 
prompted  to  men  by  fear  or  want,  you  have 
that  crooked  wisdom  which  is  called  craft, 
which  is  a  sign  of  pusillanimity." — HouBS. 

Sly  {Get.  schlmi,  sly,  skilful ;  com- 
pare A.  S.  ildw,  idle,  lazy  ?)  expresses 
the  character  of  the  artfully  cunning. 
The  sly  is  more  observant  and  vigilant 
than  active  or  designing.  The  sly 
person  observes  furtively,  and  has  a 
tendency  to  act  in  the  same  way. 
Underhanded  observation  and  practice 
mark  the  sly  man. 

"  The  eye  of  Leonora  ig  slyly  watchful 
while  it  looks  negligent." 

There  is  often  very  little  design  in 


slyness,  and  persons  seem  to  act  tlyljr 
from  disposition  vvlien  they  might  have 
acted  openly  with  equal  advantage  to 
themselves.  They  will  be  sly  from  a 
mere  dread  of  publicity  and  demon- 
strativeness.  Animals  that  have  been 
ill-treated  become  sly. 
"  They  tempt-ed  me  to  attack  your  high 

ness, 
And  then  with  wonted  wile  and  slyness 
They  left  me  in  the  lurch."  Swift. 

Wily  is  literally  heingfull  of  wile, 
which  is  the  same  as  guile.  Wilinesa 
shows  itself  in  matters  of  self-interest 
and  self-preservation.  A  wily  adver- 
sary quietly  waits  his  opportunity  of 
wounding,  and  can  make  opportunities 
for  himself.  He  is  artful  in  attack, 
defence,  and  escape.  He  employs 
stratagem  in  dealing  with  others.  A 
wile  is  a  low  stratagem  or  insidious 
artifice. 

"  Implore  his  aid,  for  Proteus  only  knows 
The  secret  cause  and  cure  of  all  thy  woes ; 
But  first  the  Jvily  wizard  must  be  caught. 
For    naccnstrained    he   nothing   tells  for 
naught."  Drydek. 

Subtle  (Lat.  sublilis,  perhaps  sub^ 
under,  and  tila,  a  web,  bein^  woven 
fine).  It  is  in  itself  a  term  of  neither 
praise  nor  blame,  which  depends  upon 
the  use  to  which  the  quality  which  it 
expresses  is  put.  The  subtle  mind 
analyzes  motives,  sees  minute  aiffe- 
rences.  In  its  full  sense,  it  is  applic- 
able to  nothing  lower  than  the  human 
understanding.  The  subtleintellect  can 
follow  out  a  subject  into  its  compli- 
cated relations  without  becoming  per- 
plexed by  its  intricacies,  or  misled  by 
Its  casual  resemblances  to  tliat  which 
may  be  alien  to  it.  Subtlety  has  the 
ciuality  of  mental  fineness,  sensibility, 
delicacy.  Yet  subtlety  of  thought  is 
not  the  same  thing  as  delicacy  of 
thought,  for  delicacy  touches  the  truth 
only,  subtlety  may  empty  itself  m 
creating  fallacies.  A  subtle  adversary 
is  formidable,  because  he  will  dissect 
either  truth  or  falsehood  as  far  as  i« 
may  suit  his  purpose. 

Spenser  uses  tlie  term  in  what  haj» 
been  thought  to  be  its  etymological 
meaning  when  he  says. — 
"  More  subtle  web  Arachne  cannot  spin," 

ARTICLE.      CoN-nnioN.      Teum 

These  terms  agree  in  their  relatiot 


[artificial] 


to  matters  of  agreement  or  compact 
between  persons.  Article  and  condi- 
tion are  used  in  both  the  singular  and 
plural  numbers.  Term  in  this  sense 
only  in  the  plural. 

The  Article  (Lat.  articydus,  a  joint, 
s  clause,  or  word)  is  no  more  than  a  dis- 
tinct portion  into  which  the  main  sub- 
stance of  a  document  or  literary  work 
is  divided.  It  is  of  general  applica- 
tion, as  the  Thirty-nine  articles  of  re- 
ligion, the  articles  of  the  Creed,  of  a 
contract,  of  regulation,  of  War,  of  a 
periodical,  and  the  like.  It  is,  in  this 
connexion,  a  documentary  division 
varying  in  nature  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  document. 

Terms  (Fr.  terme,  Lat.  terminus) 
are  declarations  or  promises  which, 
wlien  assented  to  or  accepted,  settle 
the  contract  and  bind  the  parties. 

A  Condition  (Lat.  conditionem)  is 
a  clause  in  the  same,  which  has  for  its 
object  thesuspension,  defeat,  or  modifi- 
cation of  the  main  obligation.  Terms 
imply  a  more  or  less  complex  trans- 
action. A  condition  may  belong  to 
one  of  the  simplest  nature.  Terms 
imply  a  degree  of  equality  between 
contracting  parties.  A  condition  may 
be  imposed  by  a  superior,  as  in  grant- 
ing a  privilege  or  a  permission. 
Terms  and  conditions  will,  in  some 
cases,  amount  to  the  same  things 
viewed  in  different  ways.  So  far  as 
it  is  a  matter  of  mutual  agreement, 
that  is  a  term,  which,  when  regardea 
as  essential  to  the  holding  good  of  the 
compact,  becomes  a  condition.  The 
terms  of  an  agreement  are  its  sub- 
stance, the  conditions  are  its  sanction. 
Hence  in  a  particular  case  the  terms 
may  be  liberal,  and  the  conditions 
stringent  and  even  severe.  Terms 
are  arranged  equitably  or  submitted 
to  from  necessity.  Conditions  emanate 
from  some  controlling  or  modifying 
power. 

ARTIFICIAL.  Fictitious. 
Factitk  as.  Conventional,  Nomi- 
nal. 

Artificial  (Lat.  artificialis)  and 
Fictitious  ( La,t.  ficttcius)  are  nearly 
allied.  As  Artful  means  done  with 
hrt,  as  opposed  to  simplicity, so  Arti- 


DISCRIMINATE1>. 


119 


Fici  A  l  means  done  by  art  as  opposed  to 
nature.  That  is  artificial  which  is 
the  production  of  imitative  art.  The 
fictitious  is  the  creation  of  what  has 
no  natural  existence.  An  artificial 
tale  of  distress,  for  instance,  would  be 
one  of  which  the  circumstances  wtdl 
imitated  what  was  natural  or  probable. 
A  fictitious  tale  would  be  one  of  which 
the  incidents  had  no  existence  but  in 
the  deceitful  ingenuity  of  the  narra- 
tor. In  the  idea  of  the  artificial  there 
are  two  elements:  1.  that  of  art  as 
distinguished  from  nature,  and  2.  that 
of  art  as  distinguished  from  simplicity. 
Dryden  uses  it  in  the  former  sense, 
when  he  says: — 

"  In  the  unity  of  Time  you  find  them  so 
scrupulous  that  it  yet  remains  a  dispute 
among  their  poets  whether  the  artijicia. 
day  of  twelve  houra  more  or  less  be  not 
meant  by  Aristotle  rather  than  the  natural 
one  of  twenty-four." 

In  the  second  by  Tillotson  : 

"  These,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  hopes 
of  hypocrites,  which  Job  elegantly  com- 
pares to  the  spider's  web,  tinely  and  arti- 
ficiitlly  wrought,  but  miserably  thin  and 
weak." 

The  term  Conventional  (Lat.  con- 
ventionalis)  expresses  first,  that  which 
is  agi'eed  upon  among  men  as  members 
of  a  community  or  of  society,  and 
then  having  no  existence  but  in  such 
agreement.  A  conventionalism  grows 
out  of  custom,  and  is  sanctioned  by 
usage.  Where  it  has  no  existence  be- 
yond this,  a  conventionalism  is  a  social 
fiction.  Conventional  morality,  for 
instance,  is  not  truth  or  right,  but 
such  a  degree  or  sort  of  it  as  may  by 
society  be  tacitly  agreed  upon  as  suf- 
ficient to  meet  its  demancls.  As  the 
artificial  is  op])Osed  to  the  natural,  and 
the  fictitious  to  the  real,  so  the  con- 
ventional is  opposed  to  the  natural 
and  genuine.  'I'he  conventional  is 
artificial,  so  far  as  it  is  the  product  of 
an  artificial  state  of  existence ;  it  is 
fictitious,  so  far  as  it  is  made  on  pur- 
pose ;  but  it  may  possibly  be  neither 
against  truth  nor  right,  and  only  re- 
present a  form  commonly  in  vogue. 
Almost  all  professions  may  be  said  to 
have  conventional  language,  that  is, 
forms  and  terms  appropriated  to  them 
and  distinctively  employed  by  them. 


120 


The  Nomina  i,(Lnt,7(omyHfl/;.s,»onieH, 
nbmlnts,  a  name)  is  that  which  exists 
in  name  only.  The  nominal  is  com- 
monly the  creation  of  artificial  neces- 
sity. It  meets  a  requirement  where 
that  requirement  does  not  exact  more 
than  a  formal  supply.  It  is  the  sub- 
stitution of  an  insubstantial  for  a  sub- 
stantial fulfilment. 

The  Factitious  (  Lat. /aciifc/Hs)  is  the 
elaborately  artificial  in  tilings  of  a 
moral,  social,  or  material  kind.  A  fac- 
titious demand  is  one  which  has  been 
artificL-illy  created  by  pains  and  effort 
bestowed  to  produce  it.  That  is  fac- 
titious which  is  made  up.  The  term 
points  more  to  the  labour,  and  less  to 
the  skill,  which  produces  the  artificial. 

"  The  conventional  language  appropriated 
to  monarchs," — Motley. 

"  He  passed  eighteen  months  in  nominal 
attendance  on  lectures," — MaCAUIAY. 

"  He  aequii-es  a  factitious  propensity ;  he 
forms  an  incorrigible  habit  of  desultory 
reading." — Dk  Quincey, 

ARTIST.  Artizan.  Artificeii. 
Mfxiianic.     Mechanician. 

All  these  bear  reference  to  Art 
(Lat.  arlem).  The  man  who  applies 
the  resources  of  art  to  constructive 
manufacture  isanARTipicER.  The  term 
has  been,  in  a  great  measure,  super- 
seded, or  its  meaning  divided  among 
the  rest.  It  survives,  as  a  rhetorical 
term,  the  "  great  Artificer  of  the  Uni- 
verse; "  and,  as  a  technical  term,  of  a 
military  character.  A  soldier-mecha- 
nic is  called  an  artificer. 

"  Another  lean  unwashed  artificer 

Cuts  off  his  tale,  and  talks  of  Arthur's 
death."  Shakespeare. 

There  seems  to  be  little  difference 
between  the  Artist  and  the  Artizan 
as  regards  their  professions,  beyond 
the  dignity  of  their  employments.  He 
who  exercises  any  fine  art  well  is 
called  an  artist.  He  who  exercises 
any  mechanical  art  well  is  called  an 
artizan.  It  is  in  the  superior  skill  of  his 
labour  that  the  artizan  differs  from  the 
Mechanic  (Gr.  fxr,x.^m>i6i,  inventive), 
the  mechanic  being  one  who  employs 
instruments  other  than  agricultural 
in  his  work.  A  gunmaker  would  be 
an  artizan,  a  shoemaker  a  mechanic. 
The  artist  may  be  unprofessional,  or 
%o  amateur  artist.    The  professor  or 


SYNONYMS  [artist] 

student  of  the  princii)los  of  mechanics^ 
as  distinguished  from  the  workman! 
is  called  a  Mechanician. 

"  Art  can  never  give  the  rules  that  make 
an  art.  This  is,  I  believe,  the  reason  why 
artists  in  general  and  poets  principally  have 

been  confined   in   so    narrow  a  circle." 

Burke. 

"  If  workmen  become  scarce,  the  manu- 
facturer gives  higher  wages,  but  at  first  re- 
quires an  increase  of  labour;  and  this  is 
willingly  submitted  to  by  the  artizan,  wha 
can  no\y  eat  and  drink  better  to  compensate 
his  additional  toil  and  fatigue." — HuMg. 

"An  art  quite  lost  with  our  mechanics,  a 
work  not  to  be  made  out,  but  like  the  walls 
of  Thejes  and  such  an  artificer  as  Am- 
phion,"— Brown's  Vulgar  Errors. 

"  The  commonwealth  of  learning  would 
lose  too  many  observations  and  experiments, 
and  the  history  of  nature  v/ould  make  too 
slow  a  progress,  if  it  were  presumed  that 
none  but  geometers  and  medianicians 
should  employ  themselves  about  writing 
any  part  of  that  history,"— BoYLE. 

ASCEND.  Mount.  Arise.  Rise. 
Climb.    Scale. 

Ascend  (Lat.  asce» Jcre)and  Mount 
(Fr.  monter)  are  employed  as  both 
transitive  and  intransitive  verbs,  while 
Rise  and  Arise  (A.  S.  risan,  drisan, 
to  arise)  are  used  only  as  intransitives. 
It  is  in  the  intransitive  sense  that  the 
two  former  are  synonyms  with  the 
latter.  The  simplest  of"  all  is  Rise,  of 
which  the  rest  may  be  considered  as 
modifications.  To  rise  is  iirelative,  to 
arise  is  relative  to  something  out  of 
which  the  thing  arises.  To  arise  is 
also  definite  and  limited,  to  rise  is  in- 
definite and  progressive.  A  person 
arises  from  his  bed,  and  the  final 
point  of  rising  is  gained  when  he 
stands  upright.  A  bird,  or  a  balloon 
rises  in  the  air,  that  is,  goes  tiigher 
and  higher  indefinitely.  Rise,  like 
Arise,  is  used  in  a  figurative  as  well 
well  as  a  physical  sense.  It  then  ex- 
presses a  gradual  increase  or  enhance- 
ment, as  arise  expresses  effectuation 
and  result. 

"  It  is  not  their  nommal  price  only,  but 
their  real  price  which  rises  in  the  progress 
of  improvement.  The  rise  of  their  nominal 
price  is  the  effect,  not  of  any  degradation  of 
the  valne  of  silver,  but  of  the  rise  in  their 
real  price,"— Adam  Smith. 
"  No  grateful  dews  descend  from  eveuiug 

skies. 
Nor    morning    odours    from    the   Oower.' 
I  ansa."  Pops. 


Lascertain] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


IH 


Mount,  like  rise,  is  progressive, 
but  it  expresses  a  process  with  a  limit, 
and  points  to  tlie  limit  or  end,  while 
Rise  has  no  such  limit.  Consequentlj 
mount  is  a  ti-ansitive  verb,  as  rise  is 
not.  We  say  the  birds  rose,  meaning 
that  they  took  wing  upwards.  They 
did  not  mount,  because  the  action  was 
unmeasured.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
tide  mounts  because  we  have  in  our 
minds  a  certain  line  towards  which 
it  tends,  and  which  it  will  not  exceed. 
In  mount  will  always  be  found  to 
underlie  some  im})lied  degree  of  rising 
which  is  measured  or  not  consider- 
able, while  ascend  may  express  a 
course  indefinite  and  considerable. 
Ascend  is  sometimes  employed  for 
mount,  in  order  to  give  dignity.  The 
rider  mounts  his  horse  ;  tlie  sovereign 
ascends  the  throne.  Ordinarily  speak- 
ing, we  ascend  a  mountain,  but  not  a 
horse.  To  ascend  a  hill  is  to  go  higher 
and  higher  up  it,  to  mount  is  to  get  to 
the  top  of  it.  Ascend  conveys  the 
idea  of  a  more  considerable  degree  of 
altitude  than  mount. 

To  Climb  (A.  S.  cUmban)  is  to  as- 
cend, step  by  step,  and  with  the  use 
of  the  arms  as  well  as  the  legs,  in  a 
series  of  personal  efforts,  lo  Scale 
Lat.  scdUi,  a  ladder)  is  to  pass  over 
-any  difficult  height  by  personal  exer- 
•ion.  '1  o  climb  points  to  the  effort  of 
the  person  to  scale  to  the  arduous 
Mature  of  the  thing.  As  the  idea  is 
that  of  passing  a  wall  or  rampart  by  a 
besieging  ladder,  we  speak  of  scaling 
when  a  difficult  summit  has  been 
?»»Ached,  and  a  vantage  ground  gained. 

'  The  idlest  and  the  paltriest  mime  that 
ev'ir  mounted  upon  bank." — MiLT0>'. 

■'  Its  hooked  form  is  of  great  use  to  the 
r«^pacious  kind  in  catching  and  lioldingtheir 
l>«'ey,  and  in  the  comminution  thereof  by 
tearing.  To  others  it  (the  mouth)  is  no  less 
sorvieeable  to  their  climbing  as  well  as  neat 
and  nice  comminution  of  their  food." — 
l)«RHAJI. 

"  The  monntam  tops  confirm  the  pleasing 

sight, 
Aod  curling  smoke  ascending  from  their 

height."  Drydkn. 

"  Manlius  Capitolinus  was  the  first  Ro- 
man knight  or  man  at  armes  that  was  hon- 
oured with  a  mural  1  crown  of  gold  for  skaling 
over  the  wall  in  an  assault." — HoLI^ND, 


ASCENDANCY.      Empiuf.     In 

FLUENCE. 

These  three   terms  express  moral 
power  exercised  over  men.     Ascen- 
dancy (Fr.  ascendant,  Lat.  ascendtre, 
to  ascend)  is  the  power  of  superiority. 
Emi'ire  (Lat.  imp^rinm)  is  the  power 
of  force.    Influence  (  Fr.  injinence)  is 
the  power  of  insinuation.    Of  these, 
ascendancy  is  the  most  absolute,  sub- 
jecting personal  interests,  desires,  sen- 
timents, will,  to  him  who  exercises  it. 
Empire  is  the  most  despotic,  being  that 
to  Avhich  one's  desires  and  will  offer 
only  an   ineffectual  resistance.      In- 
fluence is  the  most/ni/fi  and  insensible, 
causing  the  sentiments  and  ideas  of 
another  to  become  one's  own.     For 
men   direct   their  conduct  by  their 
will,    and   their    will    follows    their 
opinions.       Ascendancy     commonly 
comes  fi-om  the  stronger  mind,  but 
influence  belongs  even  to  the  weak 
when  they  are  pure  and  good.     The 
husband  may  have  an  ascendancy  over 
his  wife  at  the  same  time  that  she  has 
no  little  influence  over  him.     Power 
of  chai-acter  commonly  gives  ascen- 
dancy,  detennination   ot   will  gives 
empire,  penetration  and  address  give 
influence.     Where  another  exercises 
ascendancy  over    us,   we   must  feel 
some  regard  for  him,  where  empire 
some  fear,  where  influence  some  per- 
suasion of  his  intelligence.     If  men 
would  examine  themselves  they  would 
probably  have  to  acknowledge  some 
propensity  which  has  the  ascendancy 
over  them,  the  empii-e  of  some  passion, 
or  the  influence  of  some  prejudice. 
Influence  alone   is  employed  of  the 
subtle,  but  powerful,  forces  of  nature. 
The  weather  has  a  constant  influence 
upon  the  body  and  the  health.   Some 

have   believed  in  influences  of   the 

ASCERTAIN.     Verify. 

Both  these  tenns  denote  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  thing  as  true.  They 
difter  in  the  difterent  states  of  mind 
and  tlie  different  modes  of  inquiry 
belongingtc  each  process.  ToAscer- 
TAiN  is  to  prove  whether  a  thing  is  ti-ue 
ornot,  to  Verify  (Lat.  vlrificare)  is  to 
prove  that  it  is  time.  Of  old.  Ascertain 
had  the  force  of  to  prove  true  and  to 
make  sure ;  these  senses  it  has  parted 


122 


witli,  so  tliat  tliey  are  now  expresserl 
by  tlie  verbs  verifi(  and  secure,  while 
it  has  retained  to  itself  the  sense 
mentioned  above.  1  am  in  doubt 
whetlier  a  circumstance  has  occurred 
or  not,  and  I  make  inquiries  to  ascer- 
tain. I  feel  convinced  that  it  has 
occurred,  but  not  bein^  iurnished 
with  evidence  to  prove  it,  I  search 
for  that  evidence  that  so  I  maj^  verify 
it.  Ascertain  commonly  relates  to 
matters  of  practical  life,  verify  to 
matters  of  literary  or  speculative 
truth.  I  ascertain  a  common  fact,  I 
verify  a  point  of  history  or  science. 

ASCITITIOUS.     Adventitious. 

AsciTiTious  or  Adscititious  is  from 
the  Lat.  adsciscere,  part,  oc/scltus,  more 
commonly  asc-,  to  admit,  to  adopt.  Ad- 
ventitious is  from  the  Lfit.adventlcius, 
foreign,  advhnre,  to  arrive.  Hence  the 
meaning  of  tlie  former  is  adjoined  or 
assumed,  that  of  the  latter  foreign, 
accessary,  accidental.  Both  may  be 
opposecf  to  what  is  intrinsic,  essential, 
substantial,  and  so  both  may  partake 
of  an  unfavourable  meaning.  But 
properly  the  ascititious  is  in  the  act 
of  the  person,  adventitious  in  the 
ouality  of  the  thing.  The  former  is 
foreign  in  introduction,  the  latter 
foreign  in  nature.  The  foraier  is  ir- 
regularly borrowed,  the  latter  irregu- 
larly supei-venient. 

ASCRIBE.   Impute.    Attribute. 

'iliese  words  belong  to  the  process 
of  assigning  cause,  and  apparently  are 
used  in  accordance  with  the  nature 
of  the  cause  assigned.  Causation  may 
be  regarded  as  physical,  moral,  or 
mixed.  Mixed  causation  or  human 
production  is  expressed  by  Ascribe 
(Lat.  ascrihh-e).  I  ascribe  such  a 
book  to  such  an  author.  Ascribe  is 
also  used  in  the  simplfe  sense  of  refer, 
without  any  idea  of  causation,  but  of 
quality  or  property ;  as  to  ascribe  glory 
to  God,  that  is,  to  express  an  attri- 
bute of  His  nature.  Like  Impute, 
(^Lat.  impiitare)  it  has  commonly,  as 
impute  has  invariably,  a  personal 
reference.  Impute  expresses  moral 
causation  or  human  motive ;  as  I  im- 
pute such  conduct  to  his  generosity, his 
cruelty,  or  his  ignorance,  as  the  case 
may  be.     Physical  and  moral  causa- 


SYNONYMS  [ascititious] 

tion  is  expressed  by  Attribute  (Lat. 
attrlhuhe,  jiiiri.  attrlbutiis).  I  attribute 
the  loss  of  the  ship  to  the  violence  of 
the  storm,  or  1  attribute  his  behaviour 
to  his  ignorance.  To  ascribe  is  to 
write  one  thing  to  the  account  of  an- 
other, whether  as  a  quality,  an  appur- 
tenance, or  as  the  effect  of  a  cause. 
To  attribute  is  to  form  an  act  of  judg- 
ment by  which  we  connect  a  thing 
with  a  person,  or  with  another  thing, 
as  the  source  or  cause  of  it  either 
immediately  or  indirectly.  To  impute 
a  thing  to  a  person  is  to  make  hinri 
morally  responsible  for  it,  so  as  to 
connect  its  merit  or  demerit  with  him. 
Hence  attribute  expresses  the  nearer, 
impute  the  remoter  cause.  I  attribute 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  to  the 
successful  invasions  of  the  barbarians ; 
1  impute  it  to  internal  corruption.  To 
attribute  is  the  plainer,  to  impute  the 
more  complex  act.  It  is  remarkable 
that,  except  in  the  theological  sense 
of  imputing  righteousness  or  merit, 
the  term  is  commonly  used  of  bad  mo- 
tives, or  untoward  causes  of  conduct. 
One  attributes  things,  one  imputes  the 
good  or  evil  consequences  of  things, 
but  much  more  commonly  the  latter. 
One  ought  not  to  ascribe  unjustly, 
nor  attribute  lightly,  nor  impute  gra- 
tuitously. Knowledge  or  belief  as- 
cribes, judgment  atti-ibutes,  prejudice 
imputes. 

"  Behold  Sir  Balaam,  now  a  man  of  spirit, 
Ascribes  his  gettings  to  I  is  parts  and  merit. 
What  late  he  called  a  blessing  now  was 

wit. 
And  God's  good  Providence  a  lucky  hit," 
Pope. 
"  Nor  yoc,  ye  proud,  impute  to  these  the 

fault 
If  memory  o'er  their    tombs    no  trophy 

raise 
Where  through  the  long-drawn  aisle  and 

fretted  vault 
The  pealing  anthem   swells    the   note  of 

praise."  Gray. 

"  It  is  a  practice  much  too  common  in 
enquiries  of  this  nature  to  attribute  the 
cause  of  feelings  which  merely  arise  from 
the  mechanical  structure  of  our  bodies,  or 
from  the  natural  frame  and  constitution  of 
our  minds,  to  certain  conclusions  of  the 
reasoning  faculty," — BuRKE. 

ASHES.     Embers,     Cinders. 
Ashes  ( A.S.  atsce,  pi.  ccscan)  denotes 
the  residue  of  earthy  particles  which 
are  exhibited  after  combustion  of  com 


[ask] 


bustible  bodies,  wbetlier  vegetable, 
animal,  or  mineral.  Embers  (A.S. 
emnrian,  *'  an  unauthorized  word,  but 
apparently  of  con-ect  form":  Skeat, 
Eti/in.  Diet.)  are  smouldering  ashes. 
CiNDEUs  (Fr.  cendres,  L&t.cineres)  are 
things  of  combustible  matter  par- 
tially burnt,  whether  actually  burning 
or  not.  A  cinder  differs  from  an  ash 
in  being  capable  of  furtlier  combus- 
tion or  ignition,  and  from  embers  in 
being  separated  from  the  burning 
mass. 

ASK.  Request.  Beo.  Beseech. 
Supplicate.  Emukat.  Imploiie. 
Solicit. 

To  Ask  (A.  S.  axcian)  is  to  seek  to 
obtain  by  words.  But  the  character 
of  these  words  may  vary  from  the 
humblest  entreaty  to  a  demand.  Its 
further  sense  of  obtaining  information 
by  words  of  inquiry  is  not  here  con- 
sidered. It  is  the  simplest  and 
broadest  tei-m  for  making  a  request. 
It  implies  no  particular  sort  of  rela- 
tionship, as  of  superiority'  or  inferior- 
ity between  parties.  The  master  asks 
the  servant,  and  the  servant  the  mas- 
ter, to  do  a  thing.  It  is  the  ordinary 
term  for  expressing  ordinary  require- 
ments. 

"  And  I  beseech  you  come  again  to-morrow. 
What  shall  yoa  ask  of  me  that  I'll  deny, 
That  honour  saved  may  upon  asking  give  ?  " 
Shakespeare, 

Request  (Lat.  rtqun^re,  part. 
leqnmtus)  is  a  more  polite  word  for 
die  same  thing.  Nevertheless  the 
latter  is  sometimes  used  with  an  im- 
plied sense  of  authority,  amounting 
virtually  to  a  command.  Request  is 
not  a  sti'ong  term,  carrying  with  it 
neither  urgency  of  want  nor  vehe- 
mency  of  word. 

"  Requesting  him  to  accept  the  same 
in  good  part  as  a  testimony  and  witness  of 
'.he"  goo<l  hearts,  zeal,  and  tenderness 
"cW  rds   him   iind    his   country." — Hack- 

To  Beg  (0.  E.  beggen,  thought  to 
06  a  contraction  of  A.  S.  bed-ec-ian, 
and  so  a  frequentative  of  bid)  is  more 
earnest;  and,  except  when  used  in  a 
kind  of  irony,  is  the  act  of  an  equal 
or  an  inferior,  as  request  may  be  ot  an 
equal  or  a  superior.  To  beg  is  not  a 
term  of  marked  character.  We  may 
beg  boldly  or  timidly,  but  in  any  case 


DISCRIMINATED. 


123 


some  degree  of  dependence  is  in- 
volved. The  term  beg  is  a  useful 
one  when  the  speaker  wishes  to  com- 
bine impressiveness  of  entreaty  with 
deference  or  respect. 

"In  begging  oiher  inferior  things  it  may 
become  us  to  be  reserved,  indiffeient,  and 
modest ;  but  about  these  matters  wherein 
all  our  felicity  is  extremely  concerned,  it 
were  a  folly  to  be  slack  or  timorous."— 
Barrow. 

Neither  ask,  request,  nor  beg,  are 
so  strong  as  Beseech  {be-  and  O.  E. 
sechen,  to  seek).  To  beseech  and  to 
Entreat  (O.  Fv.entraiter,  to  treat  oj) 
are  much  the  same,  but  beseech  be- 
longs more  to  feeling,  enti-eat  to  ar- 
gument. We  entreat  an  equal  by 
what  lie  knows,  feels,  or  can  under- 
stand ;  we  beseech  a  superior  by  his 
goodness  or  his  greatness.  There  is 
condescension  when  we  entreat  an  in- 
ferior, as  a  father  may  entreat  a  son 
to  be  more  diligent  for  his  own  sake. 
This  is  to  urge  on  grounds  of  affection 
and  argument  combined. 

"  The  servant  therefore  fell  down  and 
worshipped  him,  prostrated  himself  at  his 
master's  feet,  and  in  the  most  moving  terms 
besought  him,  saying,  '  Have  patience  with 
me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.' " — Bishop 
Porte  us. 
"  So  well  he  woo'd  her,  and   so  well   he 

wrought  her 
With   fair  entreaty  and    sweet   blandish 
ment."  Spexskr. 

To  Supplicate  (Lat.  suppticare, 
lit.  to  ask  with  bended  ki.ees)  and  to 
Implore  (Lat.  implovare,  to  beg  with 
tears)  both  imply  exti'eme  distress  and 
earnestness;  but  we  may  implore 
equals,  we  supplicate  only  superiors; 
for  supplication  denotes  abject  hu- 
mility, as  in  a  slave,  or  an  offender, 
supplicating  for  pardon.  We  com- 
monly beseech  on  the  ground  of  per- 
sonal influence,  as  in  the  phrase,  '*  1 
beseech  you  for  my  sake."  In  im- 
ploring we  sti-ive  to  move  the  feelings 
as  of  pity,  sympathy,  or  compassion. 

To  Solicit  (Lat.  solllcttare)  has 
lost  its  classic  force  oi' causing  anii- 
etUy  though  it  appears  prominently 
iti  the  cognate  aajective,  solicitoti$. 
To  solicit,  with  us,  is  to  ask  with  a 
feeling  of  strong  appreciation  or  inte- 
rest in  what  we  ask,  and  implies  what 
a  superior  only  can  grant,  or  at  least 
what  we  can  receive  only  from  the 


124 


SYNONYMS  [aspect] 


favour  of  another.  We  solicit  not 
matters  of  vital  importance,  as  the  ne- 
cessaries of  life,  but  rather  that  which 
is  pleasant,  desirable,  or  advantageous 
to  procure,  such,  for  instance,  as 
places  of  trust  and  emelument. 

To  Crave  (A.  S.  crajian)  is  to  ask 
w^ith  eagerness  so  as  to  gratify  a  de- 
sire or  satisfy  a  natural  want.  It  is 
the  expression  of  a  longing  oi.  the 
part  of  one  who  is  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  suppliant  by  the 
urgency  of  that  for  which  he  asks. 

"  Whose  mercy  the  most  opulent  of  as  all 
must  one  day  supplicate  with  all  the  ear- 
nestness of  abject  mendicity." — Knox. 
"  With  piercing  words  and  pitifal  implore'^ 
Spenser. 

"  To  solicit  by  labour  what  might  be 
rarished  by  arms  was  esteemed  unworthy 
of  the  German  spirit." — Gibbon. 

"  For  my  past  crimes  my  forfeit  life  re- 
ceive. 
No  pity  for  my  sufferings  here  I  crave." 
RoWE 

ASPECT.     View. 
V^iBw  (Fr.  vue)  is  subjective,  being 
the  application  of  the  faculty  of  sight 
to  an  object  considerable  or  complex. 

Aspect  (Lat.  aspictre,  part,  aspectus, 
to  look  at)  is  objective,  being  the  way 
in  which  the  thing  contemplated  pre- 
sents itself  to  our  view.  I  have  a 
view  from  my  window.  This  view 
may  have  a  fertile,  a  barren,  a 
harsh,  or  a  smiling  aspect.  The  as- 
pect is  often  of  an  individual  object 
in  detail.  A  thing  may  have  a  sin- 
gular aspect.  The  view  is  permanent, 
the  aspect  variable.  I  have  fi-om  the 
same  window  a  view  of  the  sea ;  on 
no  two  successive  days  is  its  aspect 
the  same.  A  false  view  is  an  en-or 
of  one's  own  observation.  A  false 
aspect  is  a  deceptive  character  in  the 
object  contemplated,  though  it  is 
possible  that  something  in  ourselves 
may  so  invest  it.  Passion  and  pre- 
judice may  be  said  to  lead  to  false 
views  of  things,  or  to  present  things 
under  false  aspects. 

ASSliMBLY.  Assemblage. 
Group.  Collectiox.  Gathering. 
Company.     Meeting. 

Assembly  and  Assemiilage  are  from 
O.  Fr.  o:ssembler,  L.  Lat.  asstmillare, 
10  oring  together.  They  are  both  ap- 
plicable to  persons,  and  Assemblage 


to  inanimate  objects  also.  Where  they 
refer  to  persons,  Assimblv  implies  a 
voluntary.  Assemblage  an  involun- 
tary, collection.  A  number  of  persons 
skating  on  the  ice  is  not  an  assembly 
because,  though  their  employment  is 
common,  their  object  is  not.  The 
assemblage  might  become  an  as- 
sembly, should  some  topic  of  interest 
suggest  itself  to  be  discussed.  As 
the  objects  in  an  assemblage  possess 
a  certain  amount  of  conspicuousness, 
assemblage  is  said  of  illustrious,  as- 
sembly of  ordinary,  persons.  In  a 
large  assembly  may  be  often  observed 
a  striking  assemblage  of  characters, 
countenances,  figures,  dresses. 

"  He  scarce  had  finish'd,  when  such  mur 

murs  fill'd 
Th'  assembly,  as  when  hollow  rocks  retain 
The  sound  of  blustering  winds,  which  all 

night  long 
Have  roused  the  sea."  Milton. 

"  In    sweet    assemblage    every    blooming 

grace 
Fix   Love's  bright  reign  on  Teraminta's 

face."  Fenton. 

Group  (Fr.  groupe)  is  applied  to 
objects  both  animate  and  inanimate. 
A  group  is  an  assemblage  of  no  con- 
siderable number,  regarded  with  an 
eye  to  its  configuration,  or  such  rela- 
tions of  the  parts  as  might  be  noticed 
for  their  artistic  effect  in  colour  or 
form.  A  group  has  a  completeness 
of  outline  which  isolates  it  from  sur- 
rounding objects. 

"  Du  Fresney  tells  ns  that  the  figures  of 
the  groups  must  not  be  all  on  a  sioe ;  that 
is,  with  their  faces  and  bodies  all  turned 
the  same  way,  but  must  contrast,  each  other 
by  their  several  positions." — Dryden. 

Collection  (Lat.  collectionem)  ex- 
presses a  number  of  persons  or  things 
brought  together  by  some  force  ex- 
ternal to  themselves,  which  has  made 
them  one  either  as  to  unity  of  nature, 
or  by  identity  of  place,  while  As- 
sembly denotes  a  meeting  purposely 
made  and  purposely  sustained.  A 
collection  of  persons  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  a  common  object,  or  it  may  be 
fortuitous.  Assemblage  points  rather 
to  the  unity  of  the  time  and  place  at 
which  the  gathering  occui-s ;  Col- 
LEciiON  to  the  variety  and  diversity  of 
quarters  from  which  the  component 
members  of  it  hare  come.    Collection 


[assert] 


DlSCKIMINATED. 


125 


may  be  fortuitous  aud  mechanical. 
Refuse  substances  are  collected  at  tlie 
mouths  of  rivers. 

"Thej  (the  Collects)  are  generally  so 
exactly  snited  to  them  (the  Epistle  and 
Gcspel)  that  some  think  they  take  their 
name  from  being  collected  out  of  tho^e  parts 
of  Holy  Writ.  liut  the  use  of  the  word  in 
the  Bible  and  the  Fathers  being  applied  to 
denote  the  gathering  together  of  the  people 
in  religions  assemblies,  thence  some  ritnal- 
ists  say  the  Collects  are  prayers  made 
among  the  people  collected  or  gathered  to- 

f tether.  Others  think  they  are  named  Col- 
ects  because  of  their  comprehensive  brevity, 
because  the  priest  in  tlum  sums  up  the  de- 
siies  'if  the  jeuple  in  a  little  room.  I  may 
add  in  this  variety  my  own  conjecture  that 
these  prayei-s  have  been  named  Collects 
from  their  being  used  so  near  the  time  of 
making  the  collection  before  the  Holy 
Communion." — CoMBES. 

Meeting,  a  body  met  together 
(A.S.  TO^raH,;omeef,ofefain),isofmanj 
persons,  though  in  its  abstract  sense 
of  a  coming  together,  it  may  refer  to 
two  only.  It  conveys  tlie  idea  of  in- 
volunt'iry  union,  or  of  persons  finding 
themselves  together.  It  also  implies 
more  sti-ongly  the  idea  of  a  specific 
point  or  locality  at  which  the  meeting 
takes  place.  Wliere  a  meeting  of 
persons  has  been  purposely  convened. 
It  is  still  a  term  of  less  dignity  than 
assembly.  We  speak  of  the  meeting 
of  Parliament  in  the  general  sense  of 
the  reunion  of  its  members.  Parlia- 
ment itself  may  be  regarded  as  an 
august  assembly.  Local  matters  are 
discussed  at  local  meetings.  A  meet- 
ing conveys  also  the  idea  of  fewer 
numbers  a  nd  greater  familiarity  among 
its  constituents  than  nssembly. 

"  Understand  this  Stethva  to  be  the 
meeting  of  the  British  poets  and  minstrels 
for  trial  of  their  poems  aud  music  sufli- 
ciences,  where  the  best  had  his  reward,  a 
silver  harp." — Drayton. 

ASSERT.  Affirm.  Asseverate. 
Aver.     Avouch,     Protest. 

To  Assert  (Lat.  assirere,  to  take  to 
mteself)  and  Affirm  (Lat.  affinnare) 
both  denote  the  making  of  a  state- 
ment, but  Assert,  true  to  its  origin,  is 
8ubjective,AFFiRM  objective  in  its  cha- 
racter. I  assert  a  thing  as  a  truth,  or 
as  a  conviction  of  my  own  mind.  I 
affirm  it  as  a  proposition.  Assert 
therefore  has  a  metaphysical,  affirm  a 
logical  foree.     I  as.sert  boldly,  1  affirm 


distinctl3%  The  opposite  to  Assert 
would  be  to  suppose  or  to  imply. 
The  opposite  to  Affirm  is  to  deny ; 
or  again,  we  confute  an  assertion  and 
deny  an  affirmation.  A  man  may  af- 
firm a  thing  because  he  would  rather 
do  so  than  deny  it,  or  he  may  affirm  it 
for  the  sake  of  discussion  upon  it. 
But  when  he  asserts  it  he  takes  upon 
himself  the  consequences  of  his  state- 
ment. Hence  bold  assertions  com- 
monly indicate  a  combimition  of  ig- 
norance and  rashness.  In  delibera- 
tive assemblies  a  resolution  of  fact  is 
said  to  be  affirmed,  not  asserted  bv 
the  meeting,  because  the  moral  re- 
sponsibility of  individuals  is  not  the 
idea  of  it,  but  a  proposition  unani- 
mously assented  to. 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  that  anyone  wil 
assert  that  a  parcel  of  mere  matter  left  al- 
together to  itself  could  ever  of  itself  begin 
to  move.  If  there  is  any  such  bold  asst-rter 
let  him  fix  his  eyes  upon  some  lump  of 
mutter,  fjr  instance,  a  stone,  piece  of  tim- 
ber, or  a  clod  cleared  of  all  animals,  and 
peruse  it  well." — Woolastox. 

"  If  one  writer  shall  affirm  that  virtue 
added  to  faith  is  sufiicient  to  make  a  Chris- 
tian, and  another  shall  zealously  deny  this 
projiosition,  they  seem  to  differ  widely  in 
words,  and  perhaps  they  may  both  really 
agree  in  sentiment,  if  by  the  word  virtue 
the  affirmer  intends  our  whole  duty  to  God 
and  man,  and  the  denier  by  the  word  virtue 
means  only  courage,  or  at  most  our  duty 
toward  our  neighbour,  without  including  in 
the  idea  of  it  the  duty  which  we  owe  tc 
God." — Watts'  Lo,jic. 

To  Asseverate  (Lat.  as.&cvivare')  is 
to  assert  or  affirm  in  a  peculiarly  ear- 
nest and  forcible  manner  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inducing  conviction  thereby, 
or  possibly  as  being  one's  self  under 
the  influence  of  energetic  persuasion. 

"  I  will  come,  and  some  of  you  shall  see 
me  coming.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  in 
such  an  asseveration  the  word  to  come  may 
bear  two  different  senses?  " — Harlky. 

Aver  {Vr.averer,  \.9.X..  ad-v'trare^vh 
rus,  true)  is  the  more  solemn,  as  asseve 
rate  is  the  more  energetic  term.  I  aver 
that  which  I  formally  declare  to  be  true. 
To  aver,  in  the  technical  language  of 
pleading,  is  to  state  what  one  is  pre- 
pared to  prove.  It  belongs,  therefoie, 
to  matters  of  knowledge  and  fact.  1 
aver  that  a  thing  is  so,  which  I  have 
no  right  to  do  unless  1  am  prepared 
with  pusitiye  demoi is t ration  for  it. 


(26 


"  I  shall  only  aver  what  myselt  have 
Bometimes  observed  of  a  duck  when  closely 
pursued  by  a  water-dog.  She  not  only  dives 
to  save  herself,  but  when  she  comes  up  again, 
brings  not  her  whole  body  above  water, 
but  only  her  bill  and  part  of  her  head, 
holding  the  i-est  underneath,  that  so  the 
dog,  who  in  the  meantime  turns  round  and 
looks  about  him,  may  not  espy  her  till  she 
have  recovei-ed  bi-eath." — Ray. 

To  Protest  (Lat.  proteslarij  to  de- 
clare pxibliclxi,  to  protest)  is  to  aver  in 
a  serious  and  public  manner,  indicat- 
ing not  only  the  truth  of  the  thing,  but 
one's  own  sincerity  in  making  the 
statement.  Protestation,  when  it  is 
relative, becomes  antagonistic  ;  and  so 
the  noun  Protest  has  come  to  convey 
the  idea  of  a  declaration  against  some 
other  thing  or  person  ;  but  tins  is  acci- 
dental, not  essential,  to  its  meaning, 
which  is  o})en  and  solemn  declaration 
with  the  energy  of  sincerity,  expres- 
sive of  the  importance  as  well  as  the 
truth  of  the  thing  said.  It  belongs 
commonly  to  cases  in  which  the  indi- 
vidual is,  as  it  were,  on  trial,  or  where 
he  writes  to  obtain  credit  for  purity  of 
motive.  Affirmation,  averment,  and 
assertion,  are  of  facts  generally;  pro- 
testation is  of  such  facts  as  are  closely 
connected  with  one's  self,  and  so  mat- 
ters even  more  of  feeling  than  of  fact. 
One  protests  that  he  has  or  has  not 
takep  such  a  part  in  a  transaction,  or 
that  he  was  innocent,  or  that  he  is  in- 
fluenced by  certain  feelings,  as  of 
sympathy  or  regret  in  regard  to  it. 
Protestations  sometimes  stand  in  con- 
tradiction to  actions,  and  seem  to  ex- 
press one  motive  whil?  they  indicate 
another. 

"  Collecting  an  army  on  the  borders  of 
Normandy,  he  protests  that  his  measures 
are  pacific." — Landon. 

Avouch  (Fr.  a,  i.e.  ad,  to,  and  png. 
vouch,  Lat.vocare)  is  to  make  a  declara- 
tion, not  only  in  a  positive  manner,  but 
in  favour  of  some  person,  or  in  main- 
tenance of  some  cause.  'l"o  avouch  a 
thing  is  to  place  one's  self  in  the  posi- 
tion of  a  witness  for  it.  So  Shakespeare 
uses  the  noun  Avouch  in  the  sense  of 
simple  evidence. 

"Before  my  God  I  might  not  this  believe 
Without  the  sensible  and  true  avouch 
Of  mine  own  eyes." 


SYNONYMS  [assistant] 

ASSISTANT.    Coadjutor. 

Assistant  (  Fr.  assist er,  to  assist)  and 
CoAVjvTon^Lat.coadjutor, a  colleague) 
differ  only  in  quality.  The  menial 
servant,  or  one  much  younger,  may  be 
an  assistant,  but  the  coadjutor  is  in  a 
measure  on  a  level  with  him  whom  he 
aids,  and  with  whom  he  is  associated 
in  some  honorable  office.  The  assis- 
tant aids  by  doing  many  things  which 
the  principal  does  not  do.  The  co- 
adjutor aids  by  doing  the  same  kind 
of  things,  and  so  sharing  the  burden 
of  duty. 

"  In  one  respect,  I'll  thy  assistant  be." 
Shakespeare. 

"  The  plebeian  acdiles  were  chosen  out  of 
the  common,  and  were  in  some  respects  a 
sort  of  coadjutor  to  the  Tribunes."— Mel- 
moth. 

ASSOCIATION.  Society.  Com- 
munity. 

All  these  terms  have  both  an  ab- 
stract and  a  concrete  signification.  It 
is  in  the  latter  that  they  are  here  com- 
pared. 

Association  ( Lat. crss'tic tare,  to  make 
a  companion  oj')  is  literally  the  institu- 
tion of  companionship.  This  may  be 
between  two  or  more.  An  association, 
as  compared  with  a  Society,  is  less 
strictly  organized.  It  is  the  result  of 
a  common  interest  in  an  objector  sub- 
ject. It  springs  from  a  feeling  that 
the  efforts  of  individuals  are  likely  to 
be  more  efficient  when  they  are  co- 
operative, and  expresses  a  stage  short 
of  that  which  is  expressed  by  society. 
Societies  are  in  the  main  literary, 
scientific,  moral,  philantliropical,  or 
religious.  In  the  society  the  tentative 
condition  of  the  association  has  been 
passed,  and  it  has  grown  into  an  insti- 
tution upon  a  large  and  public  scale. 
So  we  speak  of  the  Zoological  Society, 
the  Humane  Society,  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Cospel.  In 
its  widest  sense  society  is  co-extensive 
with  the  human  race. 

A  Community  (^hat.  comtntimldtem) 

is  a  society  having  reciprocal  rights, 

privileges,   interests,   manners,    and 

customs  ;  in  short,  a  common  way  of 

!    living  together.    This  may  be  on  a 

j    large  or  a  small  scale,  beyond  that  of 

I    the   family.     Some  communities  are 


[attachment]       discriminated. 


127 


states;  some  are  like  large  families,  as 
in  the  case  of  a  religious  fraternity. 
"  Associations  of  mysterious  sense, 
Againstjbut  seeming  for  tiie  king's  defence." 
Dryden. 

"  God,  having  designed  man  for  a  sociable 
ereatui'e,  madehim  not  only  with  an  inclina- 
tion and  under  a  necessity  to  have  fellow- 
ship with  those  of  his  own  kind,  but  fur- 
nished him  also  with  language,  which  was 
to  be  the  greater  instrument  and  common 
tie  of  society."— LoCKB. 

ASYLUM.  Refuge.  Shei.ier. 
Retreat. 

Asylum  (l^at.  lisylum,  Gr.  a<>Z\ov, 
neut.  adj.,  safe  from  violence)  signi- 
fied orignially  a  place  whose  sanctity 
protected  it  from  lawlessness  and  war. 
Asa  synonym  with  the  others  given 
above,  the  idea  expressed  is  more  per- 
manent. 

The  Refuge  (Fr.  refuge,  Lat.  rc- 
fugiiim),  the  Shelter  (connected 
with  shield)  affords  some  protection 
against  specific  violence  or  hostile 
force,  as  the  storm-tost  ship  seeks 
shelter  from  the  storm,  or  men  and 
women  in  old  times  sought  shelter  in 
monasteries  from  the  lawlessness  and 
violence  of  the  times. 

A  Retreat  (Fr.  retraite)  is  a  placP 
where  we  may  find  rest,  quiet,  or  re- 
tirement ;  as  an  escape  from  toils,  a 
cessation  of  responsibilities,  or  an 
ouportunity  for  leisurely  reflexion,  as 
tfie  man  of  active  and  public  life  loves 
some  rural  retreat  for  his  old  age  or  in 
the  intervals  of  work.  The  term  asy- 
lum is  not  used  but  in  an  honourable 
sense,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
refuge.  The  contemplative  find  an 
asylum  in  solitude.  Robbers  and  wild 
beasts  have  their  places  of  refuge. 
The  haunts  of  idlers,  gamblers,thieves, 
and  vagabonds  are  not  called  asylums. 
Certain  sacred  places,  as  churches  or 
religious  institutions,  had,  and  in 
some  countries  still  have,  a  right  of 
asylum ;  that  is,  the  criminal  or  ac- 
cused who  could  fiy  to  them  might 
claim  not  to  be  removed.  Of  this 
character  were  the  Mosaic  cities  of 
refuge. 

"  Earth  has  no  other  asylum  for  them 
than  its  own  cold  bosom." — SouTHEY. 

••  The  hapless  unbeliever,  while  dis- 
ordered nature  is  sounding  in  his  ears,  hath 
nowliere  to  fly  for  r^uge  from  its  terrors." 
-Wakburton. 


"  That  pleasing  shade  they  sought,  a  soft 

retreat 
From  sudden  April  showers,  a  shelter  from 

the  heat."  Dryden. 

ATTACHMENT.  Affection. 
Tenderness.  Fondness.  Love 
Liking. 

A  feeling  of  love  may  be  expressed  by 
Attachment  (Fr.  uttacher,  to  fasten) 
or  Affection  (hat.  affectionem).  Af- 
fection is  the  state  of  one  who  feels 
towards  another  with  warmth  and 
tenderness,  Attacbment,  that  of  one 
who  is  bound  to  another  by  strong  and 
lasting  ties,  A  flection  may  spring 
from  natural  relationship,  as  the  aftec- 
tion  of  a  child  to  its  parent,  or  from 
personal  predilection,  as  in  the  com- 
panionship of  the  purest  friends.  At- 
taclnnent  is  the  result  of  circumstance, 
ase.^-.  association,  congeniality  of  dis- 
position, tastes,  pursuits,  or  kindness 
shown.  Afi'ection  is  more  a  thing  ot 
sentiment.  Attachment  involves  prin- 
ciple also.  A  strong  affection,  a  lasting 
or  faithful  attachment.  So  strongly 
does  tlie  element  of  habituation  belong 
to  attachment,  that  the  term  is  applic- 
able to  many  things  to  which  ail'ection 
'.s  inapplicable,  as  the  memory  of 
another,  one's  own  principles,  pro- 
fession, country,  or  even  the  locality 
in  which  one  resides,  or  j)laces  of 
favourite  resort.  A  flection  is  attach- 
ment combined  with  a  higher  degree 
of  warmth.  It  is  also  a  Avider  term.  At- 
tachment is  not  felt  towards  inferiors, 
while  aflection  may  be  felt  towards 
all.  I  feel  aflection  towards  a  favourite 
dog,  which  is  strong  in  proportion  to 
his  attaclmient  to  his  master.  A 
mother  feels  affection,  but  hardly 
attachment  to  her  child. 

"  Conjugal  affection, 
Prevailing  over  fear  and  timorous  doubt." 
MiLTOX. 

"  There  is  no  man  but  is  more  attached  tc 
one  particular  set  or  scheme  of  opinions  in 
philosophy,  politics,  and  religion,  than  he 
is  to  another.  I  mean,  if  he  hath  employed 
his  thought  at  all  about  them.  The  ques- 
tion we  should  examine  then  is,  hew  came 
we  by  those  attachments?  "— Masox. 

Tenderness  (Fr,  tendre,  tender) 
has,  as  a  synonym  in  this  connexion, 
its  active  and  its  passive  side.  In  the 
latter  it  has  the  force  of  tender-hearted 


128 


that  18,  possessing  a  seiisitiveness  of 
syinpatlij  to  an  extreme  degree,  whicli 
would  shrink  from  inflicting,  and  can 
with  difficulty  bear  the  si^lit  of 
Buftering.  It  is  in  this  sense  ^lassive 
benevolence.  In  the  formei  it  is  a 
quality  of  affection  or  a  mode  in  which 
it  is  shown.  Its  characterisac  is  tlie 
treatment  of  others  witli  gentleness, 
delicacy,  thoughtfulness,  and  care, 
entering  into  feelings,  anticipating 
wants,  supplying  the  smal-.est  plea- 
sures, and  studious  of  comforts.  It  is 
tlie  accompaniment  of  affection  in  its 
work  of  tending  the  weak  and  depen- 
dent, the  aged  or  the  sick.  It  belongs 
to  natures  refined  as  well  as  loving, 
and  possessing  that  considerateness  of 
which  finer  dispositions  only  are 
capable. 

"  Fatherly  fond,  and  tenderly  severe." 
Smart. 

Fondness  (0.  E.fo7men,tobe foolish, 
ofwhich  verhj'onned  is  the  part.)  retains 
so  much  of  its  original  meaning  as  not 
to  apply  to  any  profound  attachment 
or  to  any  predilection  for  what  is 
lofty  or  important.  It  is  applicable 
to  inanimate  as  well  as  animate  things. 
In  regard  to  persons,  it  is  the  caressing 
expression  of  a  feeling  more  demon- 
strative than  deep.  VV^e  may  have  a 
fondness  for  certain  pursuits  which 
are  of  no  grave  or  high  character, 
not  scientific,  e.g.  or  philosophical. 
In  attachment  and  affection  there  may 
be  self-sacrifice  ;  in  fondness  there  is 
eelf  indulgence. 

"The  profusion  of  ornaments  with  which 
they  are  loaded  are  marks  of  her  continual 
fondness  for  dress." — Walpolk. 

Love  (A.  S.  lufu)  is  the  most  gene- 
ral of  all  these  terms.  It  includes 
natural  affection  as  of  parent  and  child, 
desire  and  delight  in  one  of  the  oppo- 
site sex,  strong  and  devoted  liking, 
and,  in  a  more  general  way,  good-will 
and  kindness,  which  desires  the  happi- 
ness of  its  object  without  any  strong 
feeling  of  personal  tendency.  Affec- 
tion is  towards  objects  not  far  removed 
from  one's  self  in  nature  and  circum- 
stances, so  that  it  implies  either  com- 
munity or  equality  of  state.  So  though 
man  may  love  God,  it  would  be  un- 
u&tural  to  8ay  that  man  could  have 


SYNONYMS  [attack] 

nffection  towards  God.  Affection 
longs  to  benefit,  to  tend,  to  protect, 
l.ove  aspires  also  to  obtain  and  enjoy 
the  mere  presence  of  its  object.  Love 
is  such  a  strong  mental  or  sensual 
drawing  to  an  object  as  varies  in 
every  clegree  of  purity  and  right ; 
affection  is  more  orderly,  regular,  and 
constant,  less  rapturous  and  passion- 
ate. 

"  In  peace  love  tunes  the  shepherd's  reed  ; 
In  war  he  mounts  the  warrior's  steed; 
In  halls  in  gay  attire  is  seen. 
In  hamlets  dances  on  the  green. 
Love  rules  the  court,  the  camp,  the  grove, 
And  men  below  and  saints  above, 
For  love  is  heaven,  and  heaven  is  love." 
Scott. 

Liking  (A.  S.  lician,  to  please) 
expresses  that  kind  of  inclination 
of  mind  or  feeling  towards  objects 
animate  or  inanimate  which  flows 
from  congeniality  of  nature.  In  re- 
gard to  the  former,  it  implies  no 
strong  feeling  of  affection  or  love  (to 
which,  indeed,  it  stands  opposed),  noi 
any  disinterested  desire  of  the  welfare 
or  happiness  of  another.  It  ha.s,  like 
fondness,  an  element  of  selfishness, 
for  we  like  what  gives  us  ])leasure. 
Liking  may  be  grounded  on  very 
different  qualities  from  those  which 
excite  love.  Love  involves  some  de- 
gree of  admiration,  though  admiration 
is  not  in  itself  love ;  hut  we  may  like 
persons  for  amiable  qualities,  even 
when  those  qualities  betray  weak- 
ness. 

"  The  men,  though  grave. 
Eyed  them,  and  let  their  eyes 
Rove  without  rein  till  in  the  amorous  net 
Fast  caught,  they  liked,  and  each  liis  liking 
chose."  Milton. 

ATTACK.  Assail.  Assault.  En- 
counter. 

Of  these  Attack  (Fr.  aitaquer , 
"  really  the  same  word  as  attacher." — 
Bracue  1 )  denotes  a  falling  upon  with 
force,  whether  the  object  be  a  perso- 
nal enemy  or  an  inanimate  material. 
It  may  be  witli  material  weapons,  or 
with  words  and  the  movements  of  con- 
troversy. We  may  attack  a  man's 
person,  his  reputation,  or  his  opinions. 
The  attack  may  be  violent  or  insidious ; 
and  that  which  is  involved  in  the  idea 
of  attack  is  premeditated  harm,  not 
necessari^ly   commencing  witli    open 


[attiicde] 


violence.  Some  attacks  are  opened 
by  stratagem.  To  attack  is  to  perform 
the  first  act  of  hostility. 

"  Henry  V.  drew  up  his  army  on  a  nar- 
row ground  between  two  woods,  which 
guarded  each  flank,  and  he  patiently  ex- 
pected in  that  posture  the  attack  of  the 
enemy."— Hume. 

To  Assail  (Fr.  assailtir)  is  to  attack 
in  a  vehement,  sudden,  and  energetic 
manner,  and  often  involves  the  idea  of 
repeated  minor  efforts  of  attack.  It 
denotes  less  powerful  but  more  brisk 
action  than  attack.  Those  who  are  at- 
tacked naturally  think  of  self-defence; 
those  who  are  assailed  are  often  so 
disconcerted  by  the  novelty  and  variety 
of  the  attack,  as  not  to  know  what 
course  to  pursue. 

In  Assault  {Fr.assant,  O.  Fr.  assalt) 
the  idea  is  that  of  a  hand-to-hand 
approach  ;  in  Assail  we  rather  imply 
tlae  use  of  missile  weapons.  Moral 
attack  is  expressed  by  Assail,  physical 
by  Assault.  We  attack  a  man's  cha- 
racter when  we  speak  evil  of  it ;  we 
assail  him  with  abuse,  irony,  epithets, 
as  if  words  were  like  missiles  thrown 
at  him. 

Encounter  (0.  Fr.  enco,i':rer)  is  a 
measured  attack,  though  the  occasion 
of  the  meeting  may  have  been  acci- 
dental. It  is  the  measuring  of  strength 
between  two  parties,  while  an  attack 
or  an  assault  may  possibly  be  borne 
without  resistance.  While  Aitack  and 
Assail,  too,  may  be  used  as  against  in- 
animate things,  Encounter  implies 
properly  a  struggle  between  living 
beings. 
*'A  thousand   battles   have  assailed    thy 

banks."  By  RON. 

Or,  in  the  moral  sense  : 

"The  papal  authority  was  steadily  though 
gradually  assailed."— UxL.'LA.M, 

The  assaulting  of  the  papal  authority 
would  have  implied  an  unlawful  or 
insulting  violence  which  was  not 
meant.  Attack  and  Encounter  have 
often  the  sense  of  coming  unex- 
pectedly upon  what  is  dangerous,  and 
are  even  extended  to  what  is  difficult. 
We  are  said  to  encounter  not  only 
perils,  but  obstacles.  An  encounter 
involves  movement  and  counter-move- 
ment. Two  knights  or  two  ships  may 
encounter  each  other,  but  the  attack 


DISCRIMINATED. 


120 


or  assault  made  by  an  army  upon  the 
walls  of  a  castle  is  not  an  encounter  . 
this  takes  place  subsequently  between 
the  besiegers  and  the  besieged. 
"Ensnared,      assaulted,     overcome,     led 

bound."  Milton. 

"  Full  jolly  knight  he  seem'd,  and  fair  did 

sit. 
As  one  for  knightly  giusts  and  fierce  en- 
counters fit,"  Spenser 

ATTENTIVE.     Intent. 

These  words,  formed  from  the  Lat. 
tendercy  to  stretch,  are,  the  one  passive, 
or  indicative  of  a  state,  the  other  ac- 
tive. I  am  Attentive  whenmyearor 
my  mind  is  in  an  attitude  of  listening, 
and  I  am  ready  for  any  impression 
that  may  be  made  upon  either.  I  am 
Intent  when  1  am  in  an  attitude  of 
being  stretched  forward  toward  a 
thing  in  eagerness,  premeditation, 
and  desire.  I  am  attentive  to  receive, 
1  am  intent  upon  doin^.  He  who  is 
attentive  allows  an  object  to  be  pro- 
posed to  him  by  another ;  he  who  is 
intent  has  proposed  one  to  himself. 
He  who  is  not  attentive  is  heedless, 
he  who  is  not  intent  is  indifferent  and 
inactive.  I  am  attentive  to  the  voice 
of  persons,  to  the  claims  of  duty.  I 
am  intent  on  a  certain  work  or  design, 
on  reaching  a  certain  point,  on  gain- 
ing a  proposed  end. 

ATTITUDE.    Posture. 

Attitude,  which  word,  as  "con- 
nected with  the  painter's  art,"  came 
from  Italy:  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet. 
(It.  attitudhie,  Lat.  wptttuduiem),  is 
closely  allied  to  Posture  (Fr.  posiure, 
Lat.  pMtura).  But  posture  is  gene- 
rally natural ;  attitude  is  studied,  either 
for  the  general  purpose  of  looking 
graceful,  or  as  illustrative  of  some 
sentiment,  intention,  action,  subject,  or 
words.  Attitude  is  a  term  of  greater 
dignity  than  Posture.  It  is  more 
significant.  If  Attitude  have  no  mean- 
ing beyond  itself  it  is  mere  Posture. 
It  is  evident  that,  according  as  the 
uppermost  idea  is  the  mere  placement 
of  the  body,  or  tlie  reasoji  ot  its  bein^ 
so  placed,  the  same  thing  is  regarded 
as  a  posture  or  as  an  attitude.  The 
posture  of  the  suppliant  is  an  attitude 
of  supplication.  Positions  of  the  body 
whicn  are  forced,  odd,  or  ungainly ,  are 
called    postures.    Those    which   w« 


130 


SYNONYMS  [attractions] 


noble,  agreeable,  and  expressive,  in 
which  the  expression  of  the  counte- 
nance aids  the  pose  of  the  limbs  and 
bodj,  are  called  attitudes.  Postures 
often  are  to  the  body  what  grimaces 
are  to  the  countenance.  Attitude  is 
to  the  figure  what  expression  is  to  the 
face.  The  clown  deals  in  ridiculous 
postures,  the  tragic  actor  assumes 
dignified  attitudes.  Yet  that  which 
is  an  attitude  fit  for  certain  occasions 
would  become  a  ridiculous  posture  if 
exhibited  on  other.  On  meeting  with 
something  very  startling,  one  often 
assumes  unconsciously  an  attitude  of 
surprise.  It  is  painful  to  keep  the 
body  long  in  the  same  posture.  The 
attitude  is  the  posture  with  expression. 

"  A  particular  advantage  of  this  attitude 
so  judiciously  assigned  to  Virtue  by  ancient 
masters,  is,  that  it  expresses  as  well  her  as- 
piring effort  or  ascent  towards  the  stars  of 
heaven  as  her  victory  and  superiority  over 
fortune  and  the  world."— SHAFTESBURr. 

"  He  held  his  hand  in  a  posture  to  show 
that  I  must  be  carried  as  prisoner." — 
Voyage  to  Lilliput. 

ATTRACTIONS.    Charms. 

These  terms  are  here  regarded  in 
their  application  to  personal  appear- 
ance and  manners.  Attractions  (Lat. 
attr  actionem  J  a  drawing  together)  is  a 
very  general  term.  It  may  denote 
what  excites  admiration  in  the  person, 
face,  or  figure.  It  is  more  physical 
than  Charms  (Fr.  charmes,  Lat.  car- 
men, an  incantation  or  charm).  But 
both  one  and  the  other  extend  beyond 
the  idea  of  merely  physical  beauty, 
though  some  amount  of  this  pro- 
bably is  implied  in  both.  Attractions 
owe  to  the  mind  the  greater  part  of 
their  force,  while  charms  involve  of 
necessity  amiability  of  character  from 
which  they  materially  spring.  A  well- 
formed  figure,  bright  looks,  animation, 
wit,  gaiety,  coquetry,  may  add  to  fe- 
male attractions,  or  are  enough  to  con- 
stitute them.  A  kindly  smile,  an  ex- 
pression of  sensibility,  candour,  sim- 
plicity, unaffectedness,  have  their 
charms.  Men  are  smitten  by  atti-ac- 
tions,  touched  by  charms.  Attractions 
may  be  helped  out  by  study  or  art, 
charms  are  never  so  effective  as  when 
they  are  perfectly  natural.  Women 
ia  Jove,  it.  has  fceer  said,  under-value 


their  allurements,  neglect  their  at- 
tractions, and  dare  not  count  upon 
their  charms.  On  the  other  hand,  she 
who  wishes  to  captivate  should  forget 
the  first,  make  the  most  of  the  second, 
and  leave  the  third  to  tlieraselves.  The 
term  Charms  expresses  something 
more  pure  than  allurements,  and  more 
morally  estimable  than  attractions. 

ATTRACTIVE.  Alluring.  In- 
viTiNG.     Engaging. 

That  is  Attractive  (Lat.  attracti- 
vus)  which  draws  attention,  interest, 
observation,  admiration,  and  the  like, 
in  a  moderate  degree.  It  is  an  epithet 
both  of  things  and  of  persons.  That 
is  Alluring  (Fr.  a  leurre,  to  the  bait) 
which  attracts  the  fancy,  the  interest, 
or  the  desires  so  strongly  as  to  draw 
away  from  other  matters,  and  to 
create  a  wish  for  more  and  more  en- 
joyment— as  for  instance  the  plea- 
sures of  society,  which  often  lead 
on  to  a  craving  for  more  and  more 
excitement.  As  Attract  is  a  milder 
term  than  Allure,  so  it  does  not  con- 
vey in  so  marked  a  way  the  idea  of 
insidiousness  in  the  influence.  One 
may  be  attracted  by  what  strikes  the 
eye,  the  imagination,  the  ear,  or  the  un- 
derstanding; one  is  allured  by  what 
gives, or  is  believed  to  give,  enjoyment 
or  pleasure.  Though  persons,  as  well 
as  things,  may  allure,  yet  the  epithet 
Alluring  belongs  to  the  latter.  In- 
viting (Lat.  inv'itdre)  is  not  employed 
of  persons,  while  Engaging  (Fr.  en- 
gager) is  employed  of  persons  exclu- 
sively. That  is  inviting  which  draws 
us  by  a  natural  and  inherent  force  of 
persuasion  over  our  movements  and 
actions  to  derive  pleasure  from  it  as  a 
source ;  as  fine  weather  is  inviting — 
that  is,  attracts  us  to  go  forth  and  en- 
joy it.  Engaging  belongs  to  the  dis- 
Eosition  and  manners  of  persons,  as 
avingan  unstudied  power  of  winning 
the  est(;em  or  affection.  The  use  of 
Engaging,  in  this  elliptical  sense,  is 
modern.  It  is,  of  course,  equivalent 
to  engaging — that  is,  enlisting  or 
securing — the  regard.  The  whole 
phrase  is  thus  given  by  Blair : — 

"  The  present,  whatever  it  be,  seldom 
etigages  our  attention  so  much  as  what  is  to 


[augur] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


131 


That  is  attractive  which  awakens 
interest.  That  is  alluring  which 
awakens  desire.  That  is  inviting  which 
prompts  to  take  and  enjoy.  That  is 
engaging  which  takes  possession  of 
the  mind  and  heart. 

"  Cato's  Sonl 
Sbiues  out  iu  every  thing  she  acts  and 

speaks. 
While   waning   mildness    and    attractive 

smiles 
Dwell  on  her  looks,  and  \nth  becoming 

gi-ace 
Soften  the  rigour  of  her  father's  virtues." 
,  Addison. 

*'  Though  caution'd  oft  her  slippery  path  to 

shun 
Hope  still  with  promised  joys  allicred  them 

on  ; 
And  while  they  listen'd  to  her  wmning 

lore 
The  softer  scenes  of  peace  could  please  no 

more."  Falconer. 

"  If  he  can  bat  dress  up  a  temptation  to 
look  invitingly,  the  busmess  is  done." — 
Shakp. 

AVARICE.      Cupidity.      Covet- 

OUSNESS. 

AvAniCE  (Lat.  fifvarYfia)  is  employed 
of  the  specific  passion  for  money; 
while  Cupidity  (Lat.  ciipiditdtem)  and 
CovETOUSNESs  (O.  Fr.  covoiter,  from 
Lat.  ciipid^tare)  are  used,  the  former 
of  valuable  possessions,  the  latter  of 
goods  in  the  abstract.  Hence  one 
may  be  said  to  be  covetous  of  rank  or 
celebrity,  to  which  both  avarice  and 
cupidity  would  be  inapplicable.  The 
avaricious  man  is  inordinately  desirous 
of  gain.  He  heaps  up  and  cannot 
bear  to  part  with  his  wealth.  The 
covetous  man  desires  property,  wealth, 
or  possessions,  especially  when  he  sees 
them  in  the  hands  of  others.  The 
covetous,  though  eager  to  obtain 
money,  are  not  so  desirous  of  retain- 
ing it.  The  same  man  may  be  covetous 
and  a  spendthrift,  but  the  avaricious 
are  not  fi*ee  spenders.  Cupidity  is 
the  eager  love  of  gain,  avarice  the  sel- 
fish love,  covetousness  the  unjust  love. 

'•  To  desire  money  for  its  own  sake,  and 
to  hoard  it  up,  is  avarice,  an  unnatural 
passion  that  disgraces  and  entirely  debases 
the  soul." — Beattie. 

"  For  that  tyrant,  blinded  and  glutted 
with  the  cupiditie  of  ruling  and  sovereignty, 
commanded  Edward  my  brother  and  me 
to  be  slain  and  despatched  out  of  this  mor- 
tal life ; "  Henry  F//— Hall. 


"  The  word  in  Greek  is  irXfov«fi«,  which  pro- 
perly signifies  covetousness,  or  an  intempe- 
rate, ungoverned  love  of  riches." — LoCKK. 

AVENGE.  Revenge.  Vindicatb. 

These  are  all  derivations  of  the 
Lat.  vhidicare,  which,  in  the  case  of 
the  two  former,  have  come  through  the 
French.  The  idea  common  to  all  is 
that  of  taking  up  a  cause  against 
opposition  or  wron^.  Grammatically 
there  is  a  difference  iu  the  ways  in 
which  the  Avords  are  employed.  I 
avenge  myself  upon  another,  or  I 
avenge  another,  or  I  avenge  a  wrong. 
I  revenge  myself  upon  another.  I 
vindicate,  not  persons,  but  their  acts, 
rights,  claims,  and  the  like.  To 
Avenge  is  to  inflict  pain  for  the  sake 
of  retaliation,  either  one's  own  or 
another's.  This  may  be  an  act  of 
justice.  To  Revenge  is  simply  to  in- 
flict pain  for  pain,  or  wrong  for  wrong, 
to  satisfy  vindictive  desire.  To  Vin- 
dicate is  always  presumed  to  be  an 
act  of  generosity  and  justice.  The 
infliction  of  pain  may  come  of  it,  but 
this  is  not  the  object  sought,  which  is 
to  reinstate  what  has  been  oppressed 
or  misrepresented,  in  the  way  of 
claims,  rights,  causes,  statements, 
principles,  conduct,  of  persons.  We 
avenge  others,  we  revenge  ourselves. 
To  vindicate  is  an  act  of  spontaneous 
justice,  to  revenge  of  passionate  re- 
taliation. We  avenge  another's 
wrongs  and  vindicate  his  rights. 

"  How  httle  reason  this  king  had  to  im- 
pute the  death  of  Hotham  to  God's  aveyige- 
ment  of  his  repulse  at  Hull  may  easily  be 
seen." — MiLTOK. 

"  Revenge  is  an  insatiable  desire  to  sacri- 
fice every  consideration  of  pity  and  hu- 
manity to  the  principle  of  vindictive  jus- 
tice."—CoGAX. 

"Yea,  and  we  shall  by  daily  experience 
see  in  the  world  that  if  one  proud  man  in- 
jure or  oppress  an  humble  man,  it  is  a  thou- 
sand to  one  another  undertakes  his  patron- 
age, defence,  and  vindication,  and  very 
oftentimes  is  a  means  of  his  protection  and 
deliverance." — Hajle. 

AUGUR.  Presaoe.  Forebode. 
Betoken.  Prognosticate.  Portend. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  is 
that  of  declaring  something  fiiture 
on  the  ground  of  some  present  indi- 
cation. With  the  exception  of  Pre- 
sage, in  which  its  use  in  .-egard  to 


132 


persons  seems  somewhat  forced,  these 
terms  are  equally  employed  of  persons 
and  events  or  cu-cumstances.  Augur 
and  Presage  are  peculiarly  near 
akin.  Augurv  (Lat.  augurium) — 
probably  formed  from  the  word  arts, 
a  bird,  and  a  root  gnr  =  telling :  cf. 
Skt.  gar,  to  shout,  garr'ire,  &c. — was 
drawn  originally  from  the  song,  flight, 
or  other  action  or  condition  of  birds  ; 
whence  the  term  augury  has  come  to 
be  applied  to  specific  conjecture  con- 
cerning future  consequences.  Pre- 
sage (Lat.  prasdgium)  comes  from 
aaglre,  that  is,  according  to  Cicero, 
De  Divin,,  to  perceive  or  discern  acutely; 
so  that  to  presage  is  originally  to  be 
wise  beforehand — to  declare  facts  be- 
longing to  the  future.  An  augury  is 
an  idea  of  anticipation.  A  presage  is 
a  sign  which  announces  the  future. 
Presage  partakes  more  of  the  nature 
of  proof,  augury  of  inference.  The 
augury  is  more  in  our  minds,  the 
presage  more  in  the  object,  though  in 
our  minds  also.  The  augury  is  the 
more  uncertain,  the  presage  the  more 
ceitain  indication.  The  former  turns 
upon  the  imaginary,  speculative,  and, 
possibly,  vague  or  frivolous ;  the 
latter  upon  what  is  real,  certain, 
probable,  or  known.  Hence  Augury 
amounts  to  a  more  light  or  vague, 
Presage  to  a  gi*ave  and  seasonable, 
conjecture.  Beside  these  distinctions. 
Presage  relates  to  the  fact  or  event, 
AuGURYto  the  felicitous  or  infelicitous 
nature  of  it.  The  presage  is  sure  or 
doubtftil,  the  augury  happy  or  un- 
happy. In  the  presage  one  considers 
the  nature,  the  force,  the  reality  of  its 
relation  to  the  thing  pointed  to ;  in 
augury  the  smiling  or  sinister  look  of 
it,  the  evil  or  the  good  which  is  at- 
tached to  it,  tlie  agreeable  or  disas- 
trous end  to  which  it  points.  Hence 
Presage  points  to  more  specific  re- 
sults than  Augur.  I  augur  well  for 
tje  man  when  I  see  the  ingenuous- 
ness of  the  boy.  On  the  other  hand, 
from  his  successes  at  school  I  presage 
distinction  in  after  life. 

•'  I  shall  do  well: 
Tho  people  love  mt,  and  the  sea  is  mine. 
My  powers  ace  crescent,  and  my  auguring 

hope 
8aya  it  will  eome  to  the  fall." 

Shakbspbarb 


SYNONYMS  [augur] 

"  Plotinus  observes,  in  his  third  Ennead, 
that  the  art  of  presaging  is  in  some  tort 
the  reading  of  natural  letters  denoting 
order,  and  that  so  far  forth  as  analogy 
obtains  in  the  universe  there  may  be  vati- 
cination."— Stewart. 

Forebode  (fore,  and  A.  S.  bodian,  to 
command,  to  order)  is,  literally,  to  de 
clare  beforehand,  but  is  by  usage  re- 
stricted to  the  prescience  or  anticipa- 
tion, rather  than  the  verbal  announce- 
ment of  evil.  To  forebode  is  vague, 
dim,  imaginative.  Evils  of  no  definite 
character,  or  number  or  precise  time 
of  appearing,  are  foreboded  ;  while 
augur  and  presage  belong  equally  to 
evil  and  to  good. 

"  Mj  he&rt  forebodes  1  ne'er  shall  see  you 
more/'  Drydkn. 

Betoken  (A.  S.  ge-tacnian,  to  be- 
token, signify)  and  Portend  (Lat. 
(pbrtendere,  to  indicate)  relate  to 
tendencies  of  events,  and  do  not 
belong  to  any  personal  prediction. 
They  differ  in  being  suggestive,  the 
former  of  ordinary,  the  latter  of  ex- 
traordinary sequences,  whether  pre- 
ternatural or  not.  The  aspect  of  the 
sky  betokens  rain,  or  portends  a  storm. 
But  Betoken  differs  from  all  the  rest 
in  being  not  restricted  to  matters  of 
the  future.  A  certain  act  of  a  moral 
kind  betokens  the  spirit  which  dic- 
tated it. 

"  A  de^vy  cloud,  and  in  the  cloud  a  bow 
Betokening  peace."  Milton. 

"  It  was  the  opmion  of  the  Gentiles  that 
if  one  victim  proved  faulty,  or  portended 
e^'i],  another  victim  might  have  a  more  pro- 
pitious aspect,  and  be  accepted."— JoRTiN. 

To  Prognosticate  {ir^oyycuG-Tinoq, 
prescient)  is  exclusively  personal,  and 
an  act  of  mind.  It  applies  to  gi-eat 
and  small  forthcomings,  which  are,  as 
it  were,  heralded  by  certain  charac- 
teristic symptoms  or  indications, 
which  observation  has  shown  to  pre- 
cede them.  Prognostication  is  pre- 
diction based  upon  indication,  and 
regulated  by  induction  ;  augury  is 
based  upon  external  appearances  com- 
bined with  conjecture. 

"  The  causes  of  this  inundation  cannot 
indeed  be  regular,  and  thei'efore  their 
effects  not  prognosticable  like  ecl\|>ce9."— 
Brown's  Vulgar  Erron. 


[austerity] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


133 


AUSPICIOUS.    Propitious.    Fa- 
vourable.    Genial. 

The  Auspicious  ( Lat.  ausptcium,  lit. 
bird-inspection)  and  Propitious  (Lat. 
vr6pitiui)&xe both  forms  ofthe  Favour- 
able (Lat.  ^vordW/ is).  Theterm  Fa- 
vourable la  the  most  comprehensive 
and  the  least  specific  in  its  meaning'. 
It  is  applied  to  anything  which  tends 
to  further  our  designs,  whether  it  be 
*-he  goodwill  of  men,  or  the  forces  of 
nature,  as  a  favourable  wind  ;  or  the 
confluence  of  events,  as  a  favourable 
moment  or  circumstance.  That  is 
propitious  which  is  favourably  in- 
clined; that  is  auspicious  which  looks 
favourable,  and  seems  an  indication 
of  coming  good  or  success.  Auspicious 
cannot  therefore  be  applied,  like  Pro- 
pitious and  Favourable,  to  persons, 
but  only  to  events  and  appearances. 
That  is  auspicious  which  looks  as  if 
success  were  at  hand;  that  is  pro- 
pitious Avhich  causes  or  grants  suc- 
cess ;  that  which  inclines  or  is  well 
disposed  to  us,  wliich  aids,  seconds, 
or  IS  ready  to  serve  us,  is  favourable. 
That  which  is  above  us,  or  stronger 
than  we,  yet  ready  to  protect  or  assist 
us,  or  having  that  tendency — which 
comes  to  our  succour,  and  having 
power  exerts  it  on  our  behalf,  is  pro- 
pitious. The  inefficient  may  be  fa- 
vourable ;  the  powerful  only  can  be 
propitious.  Persons  and  circum- 
stances show  themselves  every  day 
as  favourable  or  unfavourable  to  us. 
It  is  in  trouble,  danger,  or  enter- 
prise, that  men  say  they  hope  that 
heaven  or  fortune  may  be  propitious. 

"  Thz favourableness  oi  the  present  times 
to  all  exertions  in  the  canse  of  liberty." — 

BURKB. 

"  Thus  were  their  \i\es  auspiciously  began. 
And  thus  \Tith  secret  care  were  carried  on." 

Dryden. 
"  And  now  to  assuage  the  force  of  this  new 

flame 
And   make   thee  more  propitious  in   my 

need, 
I  mean  to  sing  the  praises  of  thy  name, 
And  thy  victorious  conquest  to  areed." 
Spenser. 

The  Genial  (Lat.  ghiialis:  see  Ge- 
nius) is  that  which  warms  and  fosters 
into  life,  vivifies,  and  nurtures  ;  hence 
filtering  the  natural  enjoyment  of  life 
— eympathizing  wi'-h  it  and  promoting 


it.  The  genial  is  opposed  to  the  chill- 
ing in  natural  effects,  and  the  austere 
in  human  dispositions.  The  genial 
breeze  invigorates ;  it  freshens  while 
it  warms.  The  genial  disposition  is 
bright,  warm,  and  pleasant,  and  has 
pleasure  in  the  pleasure  of  others. 
Originally,  genial  meant  natural,  or 
inborn ;  "  genial  pride  "  was  the  pride 
of  a  person's  nature. 
"For  me  kind  nature  wakes  her  genicU 
power."  PoPK. 

AUSTERITY.  Severity.  Rigour. 
Sternness.     Strictness. 

The  primary  meaning  of  Austere 
(Lat.  austirus)  is  harsh,  like  the  fla- 
vour of  inferior  or  unripe  fruit ;  and 
in  this  sense  English  writers  have 
sometimes  used  it,  aa  Bishop  Harley: — 

"  The  sweetness  of  the  ripened  fruit  is 
not  the  less  delicious  for  the  austerity  of 
itaaruder  state." 

Austerity  is  the  result  sometimes  of 
constitutional  disposition  ;  sometimes 
of  a  stern  view  of  the  nature  of  life  ; 
sometimes  of  both  combined.  When 
austere  is  applied  to  looks,  manners, 
and  the  like,  what  is  meant  is,  thnt  they 
are  the  looks,  manners,  and  the  like,  of 
an  austere  person — of  one  who  takes  a 
somewhat  sour  view  of  the  enjoyments 
and  relaxations,  and  dwells  habitually 
upon  the  duties  and  denials  of  exis- 
tence. The  austere  man  is  accordingly 
exacting  upon  himself  as  well  as  upon 
others.  An  austere  master  speaks  but 
to  command,  and  commands  so  as  to 
be  obeyed.  The  countenance  of  the 
austere  seldom  relaxes  into  a  smile. 
Those  views,  doctrines,  principles, 
precepts,  habits,  persons,  which  are 
painful  to  the  moral  taste  and  unpa- 
latable to  human  nature  are  austere. 
Austerity  shuns  luxury  and  social  en- 
joyment, and  courts  self-mortification, 
and  preaches  this  to  others. 
"  Such  was  the  life  the  frugal  Sabines  led ; 
So  Remus  and  his  brother  God  were  bred. 
From  whom  th'aiw^ere Etrurian  virtue  rose; 
And  this  rude  life  our  homely  fathers  chose." 
Dkydex. 

Severity  (Lat.  stvcritatem)  is  the 
constitutional  tendency  to  enforce  the 
rigour  of  discipline  or  retribution, 
without  being  deterred  by  pity  from 
the  execution  of  punishment ;  or  to 
insist  on  such  things  as  might  be  hard 


134 


SYNONYMS  [authoritative] 


or  painful  to  others.     Austerity  is  a 

J  art  of  the  nature ;  severity  a  ten- 
ency  which  appears  in  the  treatment 
of  particular  cases:  hence  severity 
may  be,  on  principle,  resorted  to  in 
specific  instances. 

"  I  am  very  apt  to  think  that  gi'eat 
severity  of  punishment  does  but  very  little 
good,  nay,  great  harm  in  education." — 
Locke. 

Rigour  (Lat.  rtgorem,  stiffness,  se- 
verity) is  an  unbending  adherence  to 
rule  or  p]-inciple,an  inflexibility  which 
renders  inaccessible  to  allurement, 
entreaty,  or  any  force  employed  to 
induce  one  to  relax  the  strictness  of 
his  adherence.  Severity  is  a  way  of 
thinking  and  judging.  Rigour  is  a 
way  of  punishing  and  exacting.  The 
severe  man  condemns,  and  excuses 
not ;  the  rigorous  man  enforces,  and 
relaxes  not.  Rigour  is  seldom  desi- 
rable except  where  an  example  has  to 
be  made. 

"  Capitation  taxes  are  levied  at  little  ex- 
pense, and  where  they  are  rigorously  ex- 
arted,  afford  a  very  sure  revenue  to  the 
state."— Adam  Smith. 

SiRiCTNEss  (Lat.  sfr/cfjis,  severe^  is 
rigour  in  reference  to  "ule,  and  is  an 
abridger  of  liberty  in  favour  of  method. 
It  is  commonly  taken  in  a  favourable, 
as  Sev  erity  in  an  unfavourable  sense. 
Unlike  the  rest,  strict  is  used  in  an 
objective  sense.  Not  only  is  the  en- 
forcer and  multiplier  of  rales  called 
strict,  but  rales  themselves  may  be 
sti-ict.  In  this  manner  we  speak  of 
strict  obligations,  duty,  regulations, 
the  strict  meaning  of  an  expression. 
In  these  cases  it  bears  the  sense  of 
rigorously  nice,  limited,  or  restricted. 
A  strict  rule  is  that  which  does  not 
admit  of  being  relaxed.  A  sti-ict 
meaning  is  Liat  which  is  commensu- 
rate with  the  term  ;  which  comprises 
all  that  it  signifies,  and  leaves  no  room 
for  importing  or  associating  what  is 
foreign  or  irrelevant. 

"  We  greatly  deceive  ourselves  if  we 
imagine  that  God  requires  greater  strict- 
jiess  oflife  at  one  time  than  at  another."— 
Gilpin. 

Steunnk5s(  A.S.stern ;  stem,  severe) 
is  more  applicable  to  look,  demeanour, 
and  manners  than  to  nature  or  dispo- 
sition. The  stern  man  may  be  severe 
ftnd  even  cruel ;  on  the  other  hand, 


sternness  is  sometimes  assumed  as  a 
disguise  of  tender  feeling.  The  com- 
mander may  sternly  order  a  punish- 
ment, while  he  is  much  moved  in- 
wardly, and  would  have  gladly  been 
spared  the  occasion.  The  severe  man 
has  no  such  compunction. 

"  The  public  father  who  the  private  qnell'd 
As  on  the  dread  tribunal  sternly  sad." 

Thosison. 

AUTHORITATIVE.  Impera- 
TivE.     Imperious.     Commanding. 

Authoritative  denotes  either  a 
character  or  a  manner  which  pos- 
sesses or  pretends  authority.  It  also 
follows  the  twofold  sense  of  authority 
— that  is,  having  power  to  establish, 
and  power  to  command;  and  is  an 
epithet  both  of  things  and  persons. 
Hence  it  is  in  its  turn  a  sjaionym  with 
determinative,  magisterial,  and  dicta- 
torial ;  or  having  binding  authority, 
exercising  authority,  and  assuming 
authorit;^^.  It  differs  from  Co«imand- 
iNG  in  implying  some  right  to  be 
followed  or  obeyed.  Nor  does  Com- 
manding (Fr.  commander^  belong  to 
the  internal  force  of  things,  or  the 
power  and  authority  of  persons,  but 
only  to  their  personal  attributes.  A 
commanding  presence  or  voice  is  one 
which  has  a  tendency  to  procure  to 
itselfdeference  and  attention.  It  seems 
that,  when  directly  applied  to  per- 
sons. Authoritative  implies  the  un- 
due assumption  of  an  air  of  authority. 
On  the  other  hand  an  authoritative 
manner,  though  not  ordinarily  agree- 
able, may  be  called  for  by  circum- 
stances. 

The  following  will  illustrate  the 
twofold  use  of  authoritative  • — 

"  The  mock  authoritative  manner  of  th* 
one,  and  the  insipid  mirth  of  the  other." — 
Swift. 

"  A  layman  should  not  intrude  himself 
to  administer  the  sacred  functions  of  autho- 
ritative teaching."— Barrow. 

Of  Imperious  and  Imperative 
(Lat.  imph-are,  to  command)  the  for- 
mer is  the  more  personal.  Imperious 
characterizes  a  disposition  to  com- 
mand, showing  itself  in  an  exacting  be- 
haviour; wliile  Imperative  belongs 
lo  the  thing  required  or  to  the  feel 


[authentic]  discriminated. 


135 


ing,  not  habitual,  but  on  the  occasion, 
of  the  person  commanding.  An  im- 
perious person  is  selfish  arfd  overbear- 
ing. We  may  be  imperative,  or 
speak  imperatively,  from  a  sense  of 
necessity,  and  even  cii'cumstances 
may  render  a  thing  imperatively  ne- 
cessary. The  imperious  character 
manifests  itself  especially  under  con- 
tradiction, and  with  some  degree  of 
temper. 

"  The  suits  of  kings  are  imperative."— 
Bishop  Hall. 
"  Oh,  that  my  tongue  had  every  grace  of 

speech. 
Great  and  commanding  as  the  breath  of 
kings."  RoWE. 

'•  Hi«  bold,  contcmptuoas,  and  imperious 
spirit  soon  made  him  coaspicnons,"— 
Macaulay. 

authentic.     Genuine. 

The  distinction  drawn  by  Bishop 
Watson  is  as  follows,  between  the 
Authentic  (sci.9£>T<xo'f,  uarranted)  and 
Genuine  (Lnt. g^tilnus)  : — 

"A  genuine  book  is  that  which  was 
written  by  the  peison  whose  name  it 
bears  as  the  author  of  it.  An  authentic 
book  is  that  which  relates  matters  of  fact  as 
they  really  happened.  A  book  may  be 
genuine  without  being  authentic,  and  a 
book  may  be  authentic  without  being 
genuine.  The  books  written  by  Richard- 
son and  Fielding  are  genuine  books,  though 
th»  histories  of  Clarissa  and  Tom  Jones  are 
fal  les.  The  history  of  the  island  of  Famosa 
is  a  genuine  book.  It  was  written  by 
Psalmanazar,  but  it  is  r^ot  an  authentic 
book,  though  it  was  long  esteemed  as  such, 
and  translated  into  different  languages  ; 
for  the  author  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
took  shame  to  himself  for  having  imposed 
U|ion  the  world,  and  confessed  that  it  was  a 
mere  romance.  Anson's  Voyages  may  be 
c<msidered  an  authentic  bock.  It  probably 
contains  a  true  narrative  of  the  principal 
events  recorded  in  it ;  but  it  is  not  a  genuine 
book,  having  not  been  written  by  Walter, 
to  whom  it  is  ascribed  by  Robins." 

In  reference  to  this,  Archbishop 
Trench  says  ("Select  Glossaiy,"  un- 
der Authentic)  : — 

••  Of  *  authentic,'  he  has  certainly  not 
seized  the  true  force,  neither  do  the  uses  of 
it  by  good  writers  bear  him  out.  The  true 
opposite  to  aiS«vTiieo{  in  Greek  is  aiirTrorof 
{i.e.  not  owned,  anonymous)  and  authentic  is 
properly  having  an  author,  and  thus  com- 
ing ^v^th  authority,  anthontative  ;  the  con 
nexion  of  author  and  authority  in  our  own 
language,  giving  us  the  key  to  its  successive 
meanings.  Then  an  authentic  document  is 
m  its  drst  meaning  a  document  written  bj* 


the  proper  hand  of  him  from  whom  it  pro- 
fesses to  proceed.  In  all  the  passages 
which  follow  it  will  be  observed  that  the 
word  might  be  exchanged  for  authorita- 
tive." 

I  venture  to  suggest,  as  a  reconcilia- 
tion of  these  conflicting  authorities, 
that  Bishop  Watson's  view  exactly 
coincides  with  the  force  of  the  French 
authentiqiie  ;  as  also  the  word  genuine 
in  English  is  opposed  not  only  to 
what  is  adulterated  or  fictitious,  bu' 
also  to  what  is  spurious  m  origin. 

According  to  the  French  use  of  the 
term,  that  is  an  authentic  act  which 
has  formality,  legality,  proof,  and  so 
inherent  validity.  An  authentic  copy 
is  one  which  may  be  used  for  the 
purposes  of  the  original.  That  is  au- 
thentic to  which  our  credence  is  in- 
contestably  due.  An  authentic  report 
of  facts  is  relied  upon  not  simply  on 
the  authority  of  the  person  who 
drew  it  up.  The  following  remarks, 
extracted  fi'om  Webster's  "  Syno- 
nyms," are  much  to  the  purpose : — 

"  We  call  a  document  genuine  when 
It  can  be  traced  back  ultimately  to 
the  author  or  authors  from  whom  it 
professes  to  emanate.  We  call  a  docu- 
ment authentic  in  the  primary  sense 
of  the  term,  when,  on  the  ground  of  its 
being  thus  traced  back,  it  may  be  re- 
lied on  as  true  and  authoritative ;  and 
in  this  sense  the  tenn  is  used  in  re- 
spect to  legal  insti-uraents.  But  in 
general  literature  it  has  obtained  a 
wider  signification.  We  can  often 
rely  upon  statements  a.s  true  without 
knowing  the  name  of  the  person  with 
whom  they  originated.  Their  claims 
to  be  believed  may  rest  on  collateral 
evidence  of  the  most  unquestionable 
nature,  and  such  statements  are  ac 
cordingly  spoken  of  as  authentic. 
This  secondary  use  of  the  term  is  the 
one  now  most  in  use.  Thus  we  speak 
of  an  authentic  report  of  facts,  authen- 
tic history,  &c.  Hence  writers  on 
the  evidences  of  our  religion  speak  of 
the  genuineness  and  the  authenticity 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  meaning  by 
the  foiTuer  that  the  books  have  coiue 
down  to  us  uncon-upt  from  their 
original  sources ;  and  by  the  latter 
that  they  may  be  relied  upon  as  ti-ue 
and  authoritative  in  all  matters  of 
faith  and  practice." 


136 


SYNONYMS 


[authority] 


Jul 


AUTHORITY.     Power. 
DICTION.     Dominion. 

Authority  (Lat.  auctoritdtem)  is 
the  right  of  exercising  Power  (Fr. 
pouvoir)f  no  matter  what  the  character 
of  the  power  may  be.  It  is  bnsed 
upon  the  grounds  of  some  relation- 
ship, so  that  it  is  natural,  moral, 
domestic,  social,  political,  and  the 
like.  Under  moral  authority  might 
be  included  that  which  comes 
from  superior  knowledge  generally, 
or  better  specific  information.  Au- 
thority is  based  either  upon  conven- 
tional or  natural  right,  otherwise  it 
becomes  usurpation.  As  political  au- 
thority is  limited  by  right,  so  pai-ental 
authority  is  limited  by  age.  It  is  in 
their  moral  significance  that  Autho- 
rity and  Power  are  here  regarded  as 
synonyms.  Authority  leaves  the 
more  liberty  of  choice,  power  has  the 
greater  force.  Superiority  of  mind 
and  stature  gives  authority.  Attach- 
ment to  persons  contributes  much  to 
the  power  which  they  exercise  over 
us.  Such  power  lives  by  entreaty  or 
persuasion,  inducing  us  to  yield  our- 
selves to  what  others  desire  of  us ;  or 
it  gains  its  ends  by  art.  The  art  of 
finding  out  weak  points,  and  seizing 
the  advantage  to  be  derived  from 
them,  gives  a  great  amount  oS  power. 
The  authority  which  we  have  over 
others  is  always  honourable.  It  comes 
of  some  degree  of  merit  or  excellence. 
Power  comes  of  some  binding  influ- 
ence of  the  heart  or  interests.  To  the 
good  and  Avise  friend  we  ought  to  ac- 
cord an  authority  in  matters  of  opinion, 
and  a  certain  power  over  us  for  prac- 
tical guidance,  so  long  as  we  do  not 
part  with  our  discretion,  or  render  an 
unreasonable  compliance  or  submis- 
sion. In  their  political  aspects,  too, 
authority  and  power  difl^'er.  In  this 
relation,  authority  is  the  right  of  civil 
or  political  administration.  It  is  the 
principle  of  which  power  is  the  action. 
Authority  is  derived  from  the  laws, 
and  power  is  derived  from  authority. 
Of  God  alone  it  can  be  said  that  His 
authority  is  unlimited  or  His  power 
absolute.  Strictly  speaking,  the  only 
natural  authority  is  that  of  the  parent 
over  tlie  child.  Every  other  autho- 
rity comes  of  law  or  positive  enact- 


ment. Power  is  no  more  than  the 
possession  of  means  to  compel  to  an 
action  or  condition. 

"For  that  which  obtaineth  nniversally 
must  either  have  some  for«e  in  itself  to 
command  acceptation  or  else  must  be  im- 
posed by  some  over-ruling  authority."— 
Bishop  Hau.. 

"Power  gradnally  extirpates  from  the 
mind  every  humane  and  gentle  virtue." — 
Bdrke. 

Politically,  Authority  is  the  active 
right  of  administi-ation.  Power  is 
the  faculty  of  cairying  into  execution 
such  orders  as  come  fi-om  a  superior 
authority.  Authority  is  derived  from 
the  laws.  Power  lies  in  those  whose 
office  it  is  to  execute  the  laws.  Hence 
power  is  subordinate  to  authority. 
Authority  which  is  excessive  militates 
against  divine  and  natural  law,  as 
power  which  is  excessive  transgresses 
the  limits  of  right  jurisdiction. 

Jurisdiction  (Lat.  jurisdictionem) 
IS  tlie  possession  or  exercise  of  political 
authority  within  limits  legally  de- 
fined— that  is,  over  certain  persons  or 
within  certain  localities,  or  on  certain 
subjects  and  in  certain  cases.  In  its 
widest  sense.  Jurisdiction  is  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  by  means  and 
under  conditions  furnished  by  the 
laws. 

"But  at  present,  by  the  long  uniform 
usage  of  many  ages,  our  kings  have  dele- 
gated their  own  judicial  power  to  the  judges 
of  their  several  com'ts,  which  are  the  gi-aud 
depositories  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
kingdom,  and  have  gained  a  known  and 
st&ted  jurisdiction  regulated  by  certain  and 
established  rules,  which  the  Crown  itself 
cannot  now  alter,  but  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment."—Blackstoke. 

Dominion  (L.  Lat.  domimdnem,  dh- 
niinns,  lord)  is  a  term  of  general, 
rather  than  technical  or  exact  import. 
It  means  lordship  or  the  exercise  of 
it;  and,  politically,  a  territory  within 
which  it  is  exercised.  Like  Powkh 
and  unlike  Authority,  it  implies  no- 
thing necessarily  as  to  lawfulness. 
Man  has  dominion  over  the  inferior 
animals.  The  dominion  is  in  itself 
given  him  by  God,  but  as  man  exer- 
cises it,  it  IS  sometimes  a  merciful, 
sometimes  a  merciless  dominion. 
Dominion  is  as  vague  as  Jurisdiction 
is  definite  and  exact,  and  is  used  in  a 
great  variety  of  analogous  cases.  The 


[average] 


dominions  of  a  Sovereign  are  the 
territories  under  bis  crown,  regarded 
iiTespectively  of  the  local  modifica- 
tions of  his  authority.  So  India  and 
Canada,  though  in  very  different 
forms,  are  included  in  the  British  do- 
minions. 

"  Though  for  a  while  the  pleasure  of  sin 
may  captivate,  and  unlawful  gain  may 
bring  its  present  advantage,  yet  we  may 
depend  upon  it  a  time  will  come  when  sin 
will  assert  his  dominion." — Gilpin. 

AUTHORIZE.  Empower.  Ex- 
able. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  is 
that  of' imparted,  delegated,  or  trans- 
mitted power. 

Enable  {see  Able)  is  the  widest. 
It  may  denote  the  giving  of  physical, 
moral,  mental,  or  official  competency. 
To  enable  a  person  is  to  put  him  into 
a  position  to  do  a  thing,  and  by  an  ex- 
tended application  to  Ho  it  rightly,  or 
with  propriety.  He  who  is  enabled 
is  made  intrinsically  sti-onger. 

"  Temperance  gives  nature  her  full  play, 
and  enables  her  to  exert  herself  in  all  her 
force  and  vigour." — Addisox. 

He  who  is  EsiPOAVEnED  (pref.  en,  in, 
and  power,  Fr.  pouvoir)  receives  an  ex- 
ternal accession  of  sti-ength.  A  docu- 
ment empowers  a  man  to  act  officially ; 
food  enables  him  to  bear  fatigue. 
Authorize  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
exercise  of  active  rights.  Empower 
belongs  also  to  the  bestowing  a  ca- 
pacity, or  conferring  passive  quali- 
fications. 1  authorize  an  agent  to  make 
a  demand  for  money,  and  empower  him 
10  receive  it.  Empower  Las  a  force 
more  strongly  technical,  or  legal ;  Au- 
thorize more  general  and  moral.  I 
am  authorized  to  conclude  a  fact  when 
I  do  so  upon  authentic  and  sufficient 
evidence.  To  such  a  case,  implying 
the  rightful  exercise  of  my  own  powers 
of  mind,  the  word  Empower  does  not 
apply.  Persons  or  the  state  of  cir- 
cumstances authorize ;  the  State  or  the 
law  empowers.  The  law  authorizes 
the  magistrate  to  impose  a  certain 
penalty — that  is,  avouIq  bear  him  out  i{ 
any  (question  of  his  right  to  do  it  were 
to  arise.  But  it  also  empowers  him 
to  do  it — that  is,  invests  him  with 
Ubertjr  to  act  for  himself  in  the  matter, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


137 


conferring  upon  him  a  jurisdiction 
which  in  his  private  capacity  he  does 
not  possess. 

"  For  let  a  vicious  person  be  in  never  so 
high  a  command,  yet  still  he  will  be  looked 
upon  but  as  one  great  vice  empowered  to 
correct  and  chastise  others." — SoUTH. 

"  Since  God  evidently  designed  the  re- 
gular course  of  nature  for  the  support  and 
comfort  of  man,  we  seem  authorized  to  con- 
clude that  He  will  apply  its  irregularities 
and  disorder  to  his  punishment,  correction, 
and  admonition." — BiSHOP  PORTEUS. 

AUXILIARY.  Subsidiary.  An- 
cillary. 

That  which  is  Auxiliary  (Lat. 
auxilidrius)  operates  in  conjunction 
with  that  which  it  aids,  so  as  to  pro- 
duce a  result.  That  which  is  Sra- 
siDiARY  (Lat.  subsididrius,  subsidium^ 
support,  being  originally  the  ti'oops 
stationed  in  the  third  line  of  battle  as 
a  reserve,  from  snbsidire,  to  settle  down) 
is  in  the  relation  of  means  available 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  that  re- 
sult '1  hat  which  is  auxiliary  is  di- 
rectly promotive,  that  which  is  sub- 
sidiary is.  subserviently  applicable. 
That  which  is  auxiliary  is  already  in 
action,  that  which  is  subsidiary  may 
remain  in  reserve:  the  foiiner  is  of 
use,  the  latter  may  be.  Auxiliary  tes- 
timony increases  the  evidence.  Sub- 
sidiary testimony  has  this  property. 
Hence  there  is  an  ecjuality  implied  m 
the  auxiliary,  an  inferiority  in  the 
subsidiary.  Ancillary  (  Lat.  ancilla, 
a  handmaid)  is  a  term  formed  to 
express  a  more  mai"ked  inferiority  or 
subserviency  of  co-operation.  Being 
a  purely  metaphorical  term,  it  is  com- 
monly employed  of  abstract  rather 
than  material  operations,  in  the  sense 
of  subordinately  promoting  intel- 
lectual, scientific,  literary,  or  political 
ends.  That  which  is  ancillary  con- 
tributes to  the  work,  that  which  is 
subsidiary  contributes  to  the  means, 
that  which  is  auxiliary  contributes  to 
the  end. 

AVERAGE.     Mean.     Meoium. 

Average  (L.  Lat.  awragium,  orig. 
a  vortion  of  work  done  bif  cattle;  pi. 
averia)  is  a  mean  proportion,  a  medial 
sum  or  quantity  made  out  of  ieveral 
unequal  sums  or  quantities,  or,  in  » 


138 


SYNONYMS  [aw  Alio] 


general  way,»tt  medial  statement  or 
estimate,  derived  from  several  specific 
cases.  If  A  contributes  ten  pounds, 
B  twelve,  and  C  fourteen,  the  sum  is 
thirty-six,  and  the  average  twelve. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  some  persons  that 
a  principle  of  compensation  runs 
through  human  affairs;  that  if  one 
enjoys  more  than  another,  that  other 
suffers  less ;  tliat  if  one  has  more 
'esn-es  gratified,  another  has  fewer 
aesires  ;  and  so  that,  though  it  is  not 
capable  of  demonstration,  yet  an 
average  of  human  happiness  may  be 
conceived  to  exist. 

A  Mean  (Fr.  moyen,  Lat.  jiudinin) 
is  the  point  or  place  intermediate  be- 
tween two  exfremes — the  middle  rate 
or  degree.  If  nine  and  seven  are  the 
extremes,  eight  is  the  mean.  The 
mean  is  sometmies  the  same  as  the 
average,  that  iSj  it  is  formed  by  add- 
ing the  quantities  together  and  divid- 
ing by  their  number.  This  is  the 
arithmetical  mean.  The  geometrical 
mean  is  the  square  root  of  the  product 
of  tlie  quantities.  But  a  mean  is  not 
always  a  quantity  having  an  inter- 
mediate value  between  several  others 
from  which  it  is  derived  ;  it  is  some- 
times expressive  of  that  which  is 
moially  equidistant  between  opposite 
extremes.  Thus  moral  virtue,  accord- 
ing to  Aristotle,  lay  in  a  mean  state  or 
condition,  each  particular  virtue  being 
a  mean  between  a  vice  of  defect  and  a 
vice  of  excess ;  as  liberality  between 
niggardliness  and  prodigality,  courage 
between  fear  and  foolhardiness;  and  so 
on.  Medium,  in  addition  to  the  sense 
of  mean,  has  also  that  of  an  intervening 
substa nee — as  an  atmospheric  medi um , 
a  circulating  medium.  Where  this 
intervening  object  is  an  instrument 
by  which  a  thing  is  done,  it  is  nearly 
equivalent  to  the  plural  means,  but  the 
medium  may  be  an  agent  as  well  as 
an  instrument. 

AWARD.     Adjudge. 

The  difference  exists  between  these 
tei-ms  which  exists  between  the  office 
of  the  arbitrator  and  the  judge.  Every 
arbitrator  is  a  judge,  though  every 
judge  is  not  an  arbitrator.  To  Adjudge 
issimply  to  decide  by  a  judicial  opinion 
or  sentence;    where  this  is  between 


persons  of  opposing  interests,  the  ad- 
judication is  an  Awahd  (O.  Fr.  «5tmr- 
deir,  formed  from  O.  H.  G.  war  ten,  to 
look  at,  guard).  The  term  Adjudge 
(Lat.  adjud'icare)  is  applicable  to  the 
case  as  well  as  the  object;  Award,  only 
to  the  object.  Accordingly,  those  who 
adjudge  act  upon  law  and  rule,  to 
which  they  are  bound  exactly  to  ad- 
here ;  those  who  award  act  often  upon 
their  own  judgment,  or  their  views  of 
the  comparative  merits  of  cases  and 
persons. 

AWARE.     Conscious.    Sensiule. 

Aware  (A.  S.  gewitr,  icary)  belongs 
to  the  knowledge  which  is  needful  for 
one's  own  sake  in  the  regulation  of 
conduct  or  the  regulation  of  interests. 
It  refers  to  matters  of  ordinary,  com 
men, or  practical  information,  or  to  anj 
facts  or  truths  as  bearing  upon  our- 
selves. We  are  not  said  to  be  aware 
of  what  is  matter  of  pure  science,  un- 
less it  practically  concerns  us  in  some 
way.  I  am  aware  of  a  thing,  when  my 
knowledge  of  it  is  such  as  to  lead  me 
to  take  it  into  due  consideration.  Such 
knowledge  is  the  result  of  observation 
and  experience.  When  we  are  aware 
of  a  thing,  we  bear  in  mind  its  relative 
nature  and  consequences.  I  know  a 
certain  scientific  truth  :  if  I  enter  into 
argument  connected  with  it,  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  I  should  be  aware  of  it, 
otherwise  a  false  step  in  the  reasoning 
may  be  the  result. 
"  Fastidious  or  else  listless,  or  perhaps 
Aware  of  not'  /ng  arduous  in  a  task 
They  never  undertook,  they  little  note 
His  dangers  or  escapes,  and  haply  find 
There  least  amusement  where  he  found  the 
most."  CowPER. 

Conscious  (Lat.  conscins)  belongs 
to  reflexive,  as  Sensible  (Lat.  sensi- 
bilis,  perceptible  to  the  senses)  tx>  per- 
ceptive knowledge.  I  am  sensible  of 
a  thing  when  1  feel  it.  I  am  conscious 
of  it  when  I  reflect  upon  it.  I  am 
aware  of  it  as  a  fact  wnich  concerns 
me,  but  is  external  to  myself.  Botli 
conscious  and  sensible  imply  the  per- 
sonal nature  of  the  matter  of  knowledge 
and  its  character  as  intrinsic  to  one'a 
self.  A  sick  man  is  sensible  of  a  change 
for  the  better  when  he  experiences  a 
bodily  improvement.  He  is  conscious 
of  it  when  he  could  not  with  truth 


[azure] 

deny  it.  I  am  conscious  that  another 
has  behaved  to  me  in  a  certain  way  : 
I  feel  sensible  of  gratitude  to  him. 

"  Conscio'us7iess  is  the  perception  of  what 
passes  in  one's  o^vn  mind." — LoCKE. 

*'  It  is  the  good  acceptance,  the  sensible- 
ness  of,  and  acrjuiescence  in,  the  benefactor's 
powlness  Ihat  constitutes  the  gratitude." — 
Barkow. 

A  WKWARD.  Clumsy.  Ungainly. 
Uncouth. 

AwKAVARD  (0.  E.  auk,  contrai-yy 
wrong ;  and  tennination,  ward — i.e.  in 
the  direction  of)  denotes  untowardness 
of  movement,  which  is  also  to  some 
extent  expressed  by  Clumsy,  which 
seems,  originally,  to  have  meant  be- 
numbed, cramped;  cf.  Du.  klemmen,  to 
pinc/i.  Awkward  has  an  active,CLUMSY 
a  passive  meaning.  Clumsiness  comes 
of  natural  heaviness  of  limb  and  want 
of  symmetry  of  figure.  Awkward- 
ness is  specific  in  relation  to  some 
particular  action  which  may  be  the 
result  simply  of  wantof  experience — as 
the  novice  in  the  use  of  an  implement 
is  necessarily  awkward  till  he  has  be- 
come familiar  with  it,  though  he  may 
even  have  a  natural  aptitude  for  it. 
A  person  is  awkward  in  movement, 
clumsy  in  shape.  The  latter  is  a 
natural  cause  of  the  fonner. 

"  Au-hcnrdncss  is  a  more  real  disadvan- 
tage than  it  is  commonly  thought  to  be.  It 
often  occasions  ridicule.  It  always  lessens 
digni  ty."—  CHESTERFIELD. 

"  The  manufacture  would  be  tedious,  and 
at  best  but  clumsily  performed."— Spectator. 

In  the  phiase  "  an  awkward  excuse  " 
we  regard  the  maker  of  it.  A  clumsy 
excuse  points  to  the  nature  of  it  when 
made.  In  the  colloquial  expression 
*•  an  awkwa  id  affair."  the  etymological 


DISCRIMINATED. 


139 


force  of  the  word  seems  kept  up.  It 
is  an  affair  that  goes  wrong,  and  in  a 
contrary  way  to  the  right  way. 

Ungainliness  is  a  chronic  awkwaid- 
ness  of  manner.  1 1  is  the  want  of  that 
which  was  once  expressed  by  the  word 
gainly,  now  obs,,  meaning  gracious ; 
and,  though  in  form  of  expression 
negative,  like  almost  all  such  nega- 
tives, expresses  a  positive  defect. 

"  Flora  had  a  little  beauty  and  a  great 
d»al  of  wit,  but  then  she  was  so  ungainly 
in  her  behaviour,  and  such  a  langhing  hoy- 
den." — Taller. 

In  the  moral  sense  Hammond  speaks 
of  "misusing  knowledge  to  Ungain- 
ly," that  is  ungracious,  unsuitable, 
"  ends." 

Uncouth  (A.  S.  uncud,  unknown, 
uncouth)  is  in  matters  of  general  de- 
meanour, what  awkward  and  clumsy 
are  in  movement  or  action.  Strange, 
odd,  awkward  things  are  said  by  the 
uncouth,  and  unconventional  things 
done,  from  want  of  knowledge  and 
familiarity  with  the  ways  of  the  trained 
society  in  which  he  finds  himself. 
It  belongs  to  style  of  language  and 
thought,  a.s  well  as  manner  and  dress. 
The  uncouth  person  gives  the  notion 
of  one  who  has  been  allowed  to  run 
wild  without  systematic  education, 

"  The  dress  of  a  New  Zealander  is  cer- 
tainly to  a  stranger  at  first  sight  the  most 
uncouth  that  can  be  imagined," — Cook's 
Voyages. 

"  The  uncotithTiess  of  his  language  and 
the  quaintness  of  his  thoughts  will  not,  it 
is  hoped,  disgust  the  delicacy  of  readers 
unaccustomed  to  the  writings  of  our  old 
divines."— Knox. 

AZURE.     Blue. 
Blue  (Fr.  bleu)  is  the  generic  term. 
Azure  (0,  Fr.  azur)  is  the  blue  of 
the  sky — cerulean  blue. 


140 


B 


BABBLE.  Prattle.  Chatter. 
Chat.     Prate. 

To  Babble  (onomatop.  cf.  Fr.  babil- 
ler)  is  to  talk  small  talk  in  an  easy  but 
monotonous  flow.  Babbling  is  a 
fluency  which  takes  no  note  of  the  re- 
lative importance  of  matters  of  con- 
versation. As  the  object  of  the  bab- 
bler is  rather  to  relieve  himself  than 
to  instruct  others,  he  is  apt  to  become 
indistinct  and  unintelligible  in  his 
speech,  and  to  speak  in  a  murmurous 
flow.  Old  men  who  have  lost  energy, 
and  employ  speech  merely  as  a  vent 
to  mental  impressions  and  recollec- 
tions as  they  successively  arise,  or  are 
revived,  are  apt  to  babble.  As  bab- 
bling excludes  reflexiveness  and  re- 
straint in  speech^  a  babbler  sometimes 
means  an  indiscriminate  talker,  hence 
a  tale-bearer  or  gossip.  Poetically, 
the  term  has  been  applied  to  the  per- 
petual babbling  sound  of  running 
water,  "  babbling  brooks." 

•*  When  St.  Paul  was  speaking  of  Christ 
and  His  Resurrection,  the  great  Athenian 
philosophers  looked  upon  all  he  said  to  be 
mere  babbling.'^ — Bkvekidqe. 

Chatter  ^onomatop.  cf.  Fr.  caque- 
ter.)  The  English  chatter  is  em- 
ployed of  the  inarticulate  sounds  of 
some  animals,  as  of  birds;  hence  talk 
which  consists  of  the  rapid  repetition  of 
sounds  without  much  sense.  An  old 
form  of  the  word  was  chitter.  As 
babbling  is  often  the  product  of  infir- 
mity, as  in  the  aged,  so  chatter  comes 
from  over-activity  of  mind  in  little 
matters.  When  quick  perception  and 
nervous  activity  are  combined  with 
want  of  mental  power,  they  produce 
that  which  is  called  chatter. 

Chat,  a  shorter  form,  is  confined 
to  the  easy  and  social  interchange  of 
conversation  on  matters  of  no  high 
moment,  but  sufficiently  interesting 
to  the  parties  engaged.  Chattering 
is  especially  manifest  among  women 
and  children  in  parties  of  themselves. 
The  chatterer  is  a  person  of  fussy  self- 
importance.  As  babbling  is  subdued, 
80  chattering  is  loud  and  harsh.  As 
a  single  person  babbles,  an  assembly 


SYNONYMS  [babble] 

of  persons  provoke  one  another  to 
chattering,  which  is  often  the  life  ol 
such  gatherings. 

"  Birds  of  the  air,  perceiving  their  young 
ones  taken  from  their  nest,  chitter  for  a 
while  in  trees  thereabout,  and  straight  after 
they  fly  abroad,  and  make  no  more  ado."— 
Wilson's  Arte  of  Rhetorike. 
"  The  mimic  ape  began  his  chatter. 
How  evil  tongues  his  life  bespatter. 
Much  of  the  censuring  world  complain'd 
Who  said  his  gravity  was  feign'd." 

Swift. 
"  She  foaml  as  on  a  spray  she  sat 
The  little  friends  were  deep  in  chat." 
Cotton's  Fables. 
Prate  and  Prattle  are  connected 
with  the  Dutch  praaten;   prov.  Ger. 
praten.     Prattling  is  the  innocent  talk 
of  young  children,  while  prating  be- 
longs more  to  elders,  and  is  talking 
much  but    to    little   purpose.     The 
former  is  innocent,  lively,  childlike  ; 
the  latter  is  graver,  impertinent,  and 
obtrusive.     Solemn  or  pompous  talk 
combined  with  a  shallow  knowledge 
of  the  subject  is  prating. 

"This  is  the  reason  why  we  are  so  much 
charmed  with  the  pretty  prattle  of  children, 
and  even  the  expressions  of  pleasure  or  un- 
easiness in  some  part  of  the  brute  creation.*' 
—Sidney's  Arcadia. 

"  These  praters  afiect  to  carry  back  the 
clergy  to  that  primitiA'e  erangelic  poverty 
which  in  the  spirit  ought  always  to  exist  in 
them  (and  in  us  too,  however  we  may  )ike 
it),  but  in  the  thing  must  be  varied." — 
Burke. 

BAD.  Evil.  Wicked.  Naughty. 
Of  these,  Bad  (cf.  Cornish,  bad, 
stupid  J  insane ;  and  Gael,  baodh,  vain, 
giddy :  S k  e at,  Etym .  Diet. )  is  the  sim- 
plest and  widest  term.  Every  thing 
IS  presumed  to  have,  in  its  true  and 
normal  state,  a  distinctive  nature,  cha- 
racter, and  force,  by  which  it  mani- 
fests itself  aright,  and  answers  its 
proper  idea  and  purpose.  When  this 
is  so,  it  may  be  pronounced  good, 
when  the  contrary,  it  is  bad.  The 
term  Bad  denotes  that  wliich  is 
wanting  in  good  qualities  in  any  sense, 
moral  or  physical,  and  this  in  any  de- 
gree hurtful,  defective,  or  only  un- 
favourable. A  man  is  bad  wlien,  in- 
stead of  the  characteristic  qualities  of 
human  nature  in  its  rightful  state — 
as,  for  instance,  sobriety,  humanity, 
equity,  justice,  kindness — he  exhibit* 
habitually  the  contrary  vices,  or  eny 


DISCRIMINATED. 


[badly] 

one  in  particular.  It  may  be  observed 
that  a  thing  is  sometimes  called  bad 
as  being  relatively  offensive  or  noxi- 
ous, as  a  bad,  tliat  is,  offensive  smell. 
An  air  which  is  in  itself  pure  yet 
keen,  is  spoken  of  as  bad  for  a  person 
of  delicate  lungs. 

"  Every  one  must  see  and  feel  that  bad 
thoaghts  quickly  ripen  into  bad  actions, 
and  that  if  the  latter  only  are  forbidden, 
and  the  fonuer  left  free,  all  morality  will 
soon  be  at  an  end."— Bishop  Porteus. 

Evil  (A.  S.  yfel)  is  now  only  em- 
ployed in  a  moral  sense.  It  is  the 
potentially  bad— tliat  which  has  a  na- 
ture or  properties  which. tend  to  pro- 
duce badness.  It  belongs  to  persons 
and  their  properties,  words,  or  deeds, 
and  to  abstract  causes,  not  specifically 
to  material  substances.  Evil  is  in- 
herent and  malignant.  Badness  is  a 
quality ;  evil  is  that  quality  as  it  is 
judged  of  and  recognized,  or  forecast 
by  rational  and  intelligent  beings. 
1  hat  is  evil  which  produces  unhap]n- 
ness,  misery,  pain,  harm,  suffering, 
injury,  calamity.  Hence,  any  devia- 
tion from  conscience,  law,  or  sound 
religion,  is  evil.  Bad  expresses  a 
condition,  Evii  «  principle  or  power. 
A  bad  condition  ;  an  evil  influence. 
Badness  is  an  attribute  of  present 
things,  evil  may  take  effect  npon  the 
future.  Badness  may  be  in  default  of 
good,  evil  is  always  in  opposition  or 
antagonism  to  it.  A  stubborn  dispo- 
sition is  a  bad  one,  but  not  so  far  an 
evil  one.  Badness  may  be  negative  : 
anything  which  exhibits  a  great  de- 
gree of  inferiority  may  be  called  bad  ; 
but  evil  is  positive  and  pernicious. 
•'  E}cil  news  rides  fast,  while  good  news 
baits."  MlLTO'. 

Though  the  best  men  have  in  them 
something  of  the  sinful  and  the  evil, 
they  are  not  therefore  to  be  called 
WicKF.D.  The  term  is  used  of  things 
as  well  as  persons,  in  which  case  it  is 
only  employed  reflexively — a  wicked 
act  being  the  act  of  a  wicked  person. 
The  wicked  person  is  so  in  his  wliole 
nature,  and  systematically.  He  lives 
in  sin  and  wrong.  He  contradicts, 
whenever  he  desires  it,  any  law, 
liman  or  divine ;  hence  wickedness 
includes  immorality  and  sin,  or  offences 
iiumaa  and  divine.     As  evil  is  malig- 


141 


nant  and  internal,  so   wickedness  is 
mischievous  and  active. 

"  Self-preservation  requires  all  men  not 
only  barely  to  defend  themselves  against 
aggressors,  but  many  times  also  to  perse- 
cute such  and  only  such  as  are  wicked  and 
dangerous." — Woolastox. 

Nauohty  (A.  S.  nawiht,  7idwt,  no- 
thing ;  good  for  nothing)  had  of  old 
the  same  extensive  kincf  of  application 
as  bad,  and  was  applicable  to  anything 
which  was  not  what  it  ought  to  be — as 
"  naughty  figs  "  in  the  English  ver- 
sion of  tlie  Book  of  .lereraiah.  It  now 
denotes  those  minor  offences  which, 
are  the  results  of  little  self-indul- 
gences, waywardness,  and  self-will, 
and  expresses  characteristically  the 
faults  or  children.  There  is  an  inge- 
nious combination  of  the  old  and  the 
new  idea  of"  naughty  "in the  follow- 
ing. 

"  Play  by  yourself,  I  dare  not  venture 
thither. 

You  and  your  naughty  pipe  go  hang  to- 
gether."      Drydex's  Theocritus. 

BADGE.     Cognizance. 

The Badg e  (L.  Lat.  bagia ;  Fr.  baga  ; 
I.e.,  bacca,  a  ring)  is  a  personal  mark 
of  distinction  used,  except  where  the 
contrary  is  specifically  expressed,  in 
an  honourable  sense.  Where  it  is  a 
party  distinction,  this  would  depend 
upon  the  estimate  formed  of  the  party. 

A  Cognizance  is  a  French  term, 
more  purely  heraldic.  The  badge  is 
personal,  the  cognizance  is  of  the 
family  or  house.  A  servant  might 
bear  the  cognizance  of  his  master's 
family  with  his  livery,  but  he  could 
have  no  right  to  bear  his  badge. 
Nevertheless,  the  cognizance  might 
be  spoken  of  in  reference  to  the  ser- 
vant who  bore  it,  as  the  badge  of  his 
retainership  ;  that  is — as  being,  in  re- 
gard to  himself  personally,  a  distinc- 
tive mark. 

"  Charity,  which  Christ  has  made  the 
yery  badge  and  discriminating  mark  of  His 
religion.'^— Bishop  Portbus. 

'*  For  which  cause  men  imagined  that  he 
gave  the  sun  in  his  full  brightness  for  his 
cognixaunce  or  badge."— Haxl,  Henry  VI. 

BADLY.     III. 

Badly  belongs  more  naturally  to 
the  thing  done,  and  the  act  of  doing  it ; 
III  to  attendant  circumstances,  ab< 


142 


SYNONYMS 


Btract  character,  and  to  the  conception 
of  things  ratlier  than  their  execution. 
If  we  wished  to  disapprove  a  matter 
both  in  purpose  and  performance,  we 
mio:ht  say  that  it  was  ill-conceived 
and  badly  executed.  A  thing  may  be 
ill-judged  without  being  badly  done — 
that  is,  it  may  be  objectionable,  not 
in  itself,  but  in  regard  to  the  season 
3r  circumstances  of  it. 

BAFFLE.  Defkat.  Disconcert. 
Frustrate.     Discojipose.     Foil. 

Baffle  (a  corr.  of  Lowland  Scotch, 
baucJde,  to  treat  contemptuously;  for 
change  of  c^  to^',  cLtough,rflugh,S)C. : 
Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.),  like  the  rest  of 
these  synonyms,  is  used  both  of  the 
schemer  and  the  scheme.  He  who 
baffles  does  so  by  skill,  forethought, 
address.  Tlie  baffled  finds  that  the 
baffler  has  been  before  him,  and  has 
taken  just  so  much  out  of  his  arrange- 
ments as  to  make  his  plan  ineffectual. 
Hence,  Baffling  commonly  implies 
versatility  in  the  baffler,  and  repeated 
little  counteractions.  Baffling  winds 
seem  to  shift  with  the  ship's  course. 
It  is  evident  that  it  is  only  as  em- 
ployed of  persons  that  baffling  in- 
volves skill.  An  obstinate  disease 
tmy  baffle  the  skill  of  the  physician. 

"  Experience,  that  great  bajler  of  specn- 
lation."— Go».  of  the  Tongue. 

The  chess-player  who  plays  a  losing 
game  is  baffled  by  the  play  of  his 
adversary,  but  he  is  not  of  necessity 
thereby  defeated  (O.  Fr.  dtfait,  part. 
oi  (lefaire,  to  undo).  HDEFEATis  final, 
while  Baffling  may  ne  final  or  pro- 
gressive, unless  it  be  used  of  some 
one  design  said  to  be  baffled.  Baffling, 
then,  is  a  kind  of  defeat,  not,  as  defeat 
may  be,  by  superior  force  or  skill,  but 
by  skill  only;  so  that  one  may  be 
baffled  yet  still  strive,  but  wben  one 
:s  defeated,  the  strife  is  over. ' 
"  Too  well  I  see  and  rue  the  dire  event 
That  with  sad  overthrow  and  foul  defeat 
Hath  lost  us  heaven."  Milton. 

Disconcert  (O.  Fr.  disconcerter ; 
originally,  from  Lat.  coyisacre,  to  join 
together),  whether  applied  to  persons 
or  their  plans,  is  to  throw  into  confu- 
sion, such  as  may  or  may  not  terminate 
the  proceeding.  He  is  disconcerted, 
whose  ideas  fall,  as  it  were,  to  pieces, 
and  cease  to  be  ioined  together.     Se- 


[baffle] 


auence,  continuity,  consistency,  are 
destroyed  for  the  time,  and  the  actor 
or  speaker,  if  he  is  not  to  be  entirely 
baffled,  must  institute  them  anew. 
Those  persons  who  have  strong  self- 
love,  but  no  great  readiness  of  mind, 
are  apt,  in  the  common  intercourse  ot 
life,  to  be  disconcerted  by  trifles 
Disconcerting  falls  far  short  of  defeat. 
The  disconcerted  man  is  thrown  off  the 
line  of  thought,  speech,  or  action,  and 
does  not  know  how  to  find  his  way  back. 
"Far  from  being  overcome,  never  once 
disconcerted,  never  once  embarrassed,  but 
calmly  superior  to  every  artifice,  to  every 
temptation,  to  fevej-y  difficulty."— Bishop 
Porteus. 

What  Disconcert  is  to  the  purpose 
and  the  plan.  Discompose  (Lat.  dh- 
apart,  and  componere,  to  put  together 
is  to  the  feelings.  He  who  is  dis- 
composed is  thrown  out  of  a  state  c" 
serenity,  as  he  who  is  disconcerted  in 
thrown  out  of  self-possession.  A  man 
maybe  discomposed  without  being  in 
the  smallest  degree  disconcerted.  He 
may  have  his  feelings  disturbed,  while 
his  judgment  remains  unaffected. 
Persons  of  irritable  temper  are  apt  to 
be  discomposed.  He  who  is  discon- 
certed becomes  more  or  less  silent. 
He  who  is  discomposed  may  become 
more  energetic  in  speech. 

"  Every  opposition  of  our  espoused 
opinions  discomposeth  the  mind's  serenity." 
— Glanvill. 

Frustrate  ( Lat. /rusfran,  or  -re) 
is  to  make  a  purpose  miss  its  end — tc 
cause  that  it  shall  not  attain  or  secure 
that  which  it  sought.  In  common 
parlance,  schemes,  designs,  or  move- 
ments, are  baffled,  efforts  are  defeated, 
arrangements  are  disconcerted,  policy 
is  confounded,  purposes  or  hopes  are 
frustrated,  feeliii^s  or  thoughts  are 
discomoosed,  attempts  are  foiled. 

The  term  Foil,  which  most  re- 
sembles baffle  {Yt.  fouler,  to  trample 
upon,  to  hurt)  seems  to  imply  an  un- 
dertaking already  begun,  but  defeated 
in  the  course  of  execution.  One  may 
be  baffled  by  anticipation,  one  is  foiled 
by  counteraction. 

"  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  He  should 

disappoint  His  creation,  and  frnstrat*  this 

very  desire  (of  immortality)  which  He  has 

Himself  implanted  ?" — Beattie. 

"  I    have    endeavoured   to    find  out,   i! 


[band] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


143 


possible,  the  amount  of  the  whole  of  these 
demands,  in  order  to  see  how  much,  sup- 
posing the  country  in  a  condition  to 
furnish  the  fund,  may  remain  to  satisfy 
the  public  debt  and  the  necessary  esta- 
blishments, but  I  have  been  foiled  in  my 
attempts." — Burke. 

BALANCE.     Poise. 

Balance  (Fr.  balancer;  Lat.  Vi- 
Uincem,  balance,  scales)  and  Poise  (Fr. 
poids;  Lat.  pond  us,  weight)  both  de- 
note the  establishment  of  an  equili- 
brium. Balance  is  of  different  ob- 
jects, Poise  of  one.  I  poise  a  thing 
m  a  given  point ;  I  balance  it  bj- 
counteracting  its  weight  with  another 
equal  weight.  The  empty  scales  in  a 
just  balance  are  balanced  each  by  the 
other.  If  one  were  taken  and  placed 
upon  a  needle  upon  its  absolute 
centre,  without  any  disturbing  force, 
as  of  the  atmosphere,  it  would  be 
poised.  Balance  is  consistent  with 
movement  in  the  body  balanced  or 
balancing  itself.  That  which  is  poised 
is  stationary.  The  bird,  through  its 
whole  flightjbalances  itself  on  its  wings. 
It  sometimes  stops  its  flight  and  poises 
itself  in  mid  air.  A  man  may  balance 
himself  along  a  tight  rope.  If  he 
poises  himself,  he  is  at  one  point  of  it. 

"  Him    science   taught    by  mystic  lore   to 

trace 
The  planets  wheeling  in  eternal  race. 
To  mark  the  ship  in  floating  balance  held, 
By  earth  attracted,  and  by  seas  repelled." 
Falconer. 
"  Earth  upon 
Her  centre  poised." 

Milton. 
BALL.  Globe.  Sphere.  Orb. 
BALL(Fr.  balle)  expresses  any  lx)dy 
which  is  round,  or  even  approximate 
to  rotundity — a  ball  ofcotton,  a  cricket- 
ball,  a  snow-ball,  the  ball  of  the  toe. 
It  is  presumably  solid. 

"  Why  was  the  sight 
To  such  a  tender  ball  as  th'  eye  confined  ?" 
Milton. 

Globe  (Lat.  globus),  on  the  other 
hand,  regar'ds  entirely  the  fonn  and 
not  the  composition.  It  is  presumed 
to  be  perfectly,  or  almost  perfectly 
round,  and  may  be  solid  or  hollow. 

"Mercator  in  some  of  his  great  globes 
hath  continued  the  West  Indies  laud,  even 
to  the  North  Pole,  and  consequently  cut 
off  all  passage  by  sea  that  way." — Hack- 
\.VYT 


Sphere  (La:,  sphtrra,  Gr.  a-'^aipa)  is 
in  Greek  what  Gi.oBE  is  in  Latin.  Like 
Globe,  Simieii  k  beiirs  reference  only  to 
form,  not  to  composition  or  substance. 
It  is  more  strictly  a  geometrical  term 
than  globe,  and  is  defined,  "  a  body 
contained  under  a  single  surface  which 
at  every  part  is  equally  distant  from 
a  point  within  it,  called  the  centre." 
In  its  secondary  meaning,  Sphere  de- 
notes a  limited  extent  of  operation,  a 
proper  action  and  influence. 

"  There  is  but  little  variety  of  other  ve- 
getable productions,  though  doubtless  se- 
veral had  not  yet  sprung  up  at  the  earl/ 
season  when  we  visited  the  place,  and  many 
more  might  be  hid  from  the  narrow  sphere 
of  our  observation." — Gook's  Voyages. 

Orb  (Lat.  orbis)  has  at  present  a 
somewhat  rhetorical  character,  and  i? 
commonly  associated  with  costliness 
of  material,  brilliancy  or  luminous- 
ness — as  the  orb  of  the  royal  crown, 
the  orbs  of  the  firmament,  or  the  eyes. 
"And  her  bright  eyes,  the  orbs  which  beauty 

moves. 
As  Phoebus  dazzles  in  his  glorious  race." 
DrummonD. 

An  orb  is  a  circular  surface.  A 
sphere  is  a  circular  envelope.  Taylor 
says,  *'  Rotundity  is  the  common  pro- 
perty of  all  these  bodies;  but  the  circle 
IS  a  hoop,  the  orb  a  disk,  the  sphere  a 
shell,  and  the  globe  a  ball." 

*'  Within  the  visible  diurnal  sphere." 
Milton  ; 
that  is,  the  concave  region  of  day. 
"  Ex  solidis  globus  ;  ex  planis  autem,  cir- 
culus  aut  orbis."  CiCKRO. 

In  its  secondary  sense,  Sphere  is  to 
human  duties  what  Circle  is  to  social 
acquaintance. 

BAND.  Company.  Crew.  Gang. 
Troop.     Horde. 

Of  these,  Company  (Fr.  compagnte, 
Lat.  con-,  together,  and  pants,  bread ;  a 
companion  being,  literally,  a  mess- 
mate)  is  the  generic  term.  A  Com- 
pany may  imply  permanent  or  tran- 
sient association;  and  this  for  the 
graver  or  lighter  purposes  of  life, 
for  pleasure  or  for  profit,  voluntarily, 
or  as  part  of  a  larger  organization; 
as  we  speak  of  a  company  of  travel- 
lers, elegant  company,  a  trading  or 
mercantile  company,  a  ship's  com- 
pany, a  company  of  persons  thrown 
together  by  chance,  or  lastly,  in  its 


IM 


SYNONYMS 


[bane] 


abstract  sense,  company  as  opposed 
to  solitude.  Occupation,  recreation, 
interest  oi  duty  may  be  the  bond  of 
a  company.  The  tei-m  lias  no  un- 
favourable sense  of  itself,  but  depends 
for  this  on  the  qualifying  context.  A 
company  of  thieres,  or  a  company  of 
angels. 

"  The  blessed  angels  to  and  fro  descend 
From  highest    heaven   in   gladsome  covi- 
panee."  S  penser. 

Band  (Fr.  bande)  is  a  number,  not 
large,  and  generally  smaller  than  com- 
pany, of  personsbound  together  having 
a  work,  design,  or  employment  in  com- 
mon.  They  may  be  bound  by  consent 
or  as  an  organized  body — as  a  band  of 
soldiers,  a  musical  band. 
"  Ye  see  how  all  around  them  wait 
The  ministers  of  human  fate. 
And  black  misfortrnes'  baleful  train  ; 
Ah,  show  them  w^  ere  in  ambush  stand. 
To  seize  then-  prej  ,  the  murderous  band — 
Ah,  tell  them  they  are  men."         Gray. 

Chew  (0.  Icel  kru,  a  stvarm,  crowd, 
**  like  many  sea- 1€  rms,  of  Scandinavian 
origin : "  Skeat,  .^tym.  Diet.),  a  word 
often  honourably  employed. 

"At  oble  crew 
Of  Lords  and  Ladies  stood  on  every  side." 
Spenser. 

Its  common  technical  use  now  is 
that  of  a  ship's  company,  in  which  the 
legal  application  assumes  the  officers 
to  be  included.  It  has  picked  up  an 
ignoble  meaning,  according  to  which 
it  seems  to  combine  the  idea  of  insig- 
nificance in  the  members  with  a  mis- 
chievous character  of  the  aggregate. 

"  Being  sufficiently  weary  of  this  mad 
creiv,  we  were  willing  to  give  them  the  slip 
at  any  place  from  whence  we  might  hope 
to  get  a  passage  to  an  English  factory." — 
Dampikr's  Voyages. 

Gang  (A.  S.  gang, a  going,  a  crew) 
is  a  number  of  persons  going  in  com- 
pany— as  a  gang  of  thieves;  also  a 
gang  of  workmen,  which  is  a  company 
cf  workmen  not  only  seeking,  but  also 
employed  in  a  common  labour.  A 
large  piece  of  work,  especially  manual 
labour,  will  often  be  undertaken  by 
labourers  working  in  gangs.  Where 
tsed  in  an  unfavourable  sense,  like 
Crew,  it  has  a  more  energetic  and  for- 
midable meaning :  as  a  Crew  of  men 
suggests  mischief,  so  a  G  a  vc  .suggests 
violence. 


"  In  order  to  furnish  at  the  expense  of 
your  honour  an  excuse  to  your  apologists 
here  for  several  enormities  of  yours,  you 
would  not  have  been  content  to  be  repre- 
sented as  agatig  of  Maroon  slaves  suddenly 
broke  loose  from  the  house  of  bondage,  and 
therefore  to  be  pardoned  for  your  abuse  of 
the  liberty  to  which  you  were  not  accus- 
tomed, and  were  ill-fitted."— Burke. 

BANE.     PisT.     Ruin. 

The  Bane  of  anything  (A.  S.  bana, 
a  killer)  is  that  which,  as  it  were, 
wounds  or  poisons  it,  inflicting  injury 
or  serious  detriment  on  what  would 
be  otherwise  sound  or  pleasurable  ; 
but  though  spoiling,  not  destroying 
it.  The  word  is  not  associated  with 
the  idea  of  purely  physical  hurt  or 
injury,  but  also  with  that  of  moral 
deterioration  of  what  has  an  abstract 
value — as  virtue,  happiness,  well- 
being,  prosperity,  hope,  success,  and 
the  like. 

*'  A  monster  and  a  bane  to  human  society." 
Blackwood. 

A  Pest  (Lat.  pestis,  plague)  is  that 
which  interferes  in  a  noisome,  vexa- 
tious, or  irritating  manner.  A  pest 
haunts  and  annoys ;  a  bane  may  be 
inherent.  Any  bad  habit  is  a  bane  of 
happiness  to  tne  individual.  A  pest 
is  always  external. 

"  Of  all  the  virtues  justice  is  the  best. 

Valour  without  it  is  a  common  pest." 
Waller. 

The  Ruin  of  a  thing  (Lat.  rinna, 
ruire,  to  full)  is  that  which  destroys  it 
utterly,  causing  it,  as  it  were,  to  fall 
headlong,  and  to  pieces.  That  which 
is  ruined  is  marred,  spoilt,  and  for 
its  specific  purpose  destroyed. 
"  The  ruin  of  the  clock-trade."— Dickens. 

BANISH.  Exile.  Expel.  Trans- 
port.    Expatriate. 

To  Banish  (O.  Fr.  baiiir)  is  literally 
to  eject  by  a  Ban  or  public  proclama- 
tion. To  Expel  (Lat.  expelltre)  is  to 
drive  out.  To  Exile  is  to  send  to  a 
place  of  banishment  (Lat.  exilium). 
The  idea  common  to  the  three  is  that 
of  coercive  removal  of  persons ;  for  it 
is  only  by  a  figure  of  speech  that  hopes 
are  said  to  be  banished,  or  thouglits 
expelled.  He  is  banished  who  is  in- 
terdicted from  any  place  to  which  he 
has  been  accustomed,  or  to  which  he 
may  desire  to  resort.  The  nature  of 
the  banishment  will  dei)end  aimplj  oa 


[bankruptcy]        discriminated. 


145 


the  nature  of  the  interdiction.  Exile 
is  that  specific  sort  of  banishment 
which  relates  to  one's  native  country. 
Banish  is  the  more  social,  exile  the 
more  political  term.  Exile  may  be 
voluntary  or  involuntary.  To  expel 
is  merely  to  drive  out  with  disgrace, 
and  relates  to  some  particular  com- 
munity or  section  of  society. 

Transport  (Lat.  transportare,  to 
carry  across),  as  a  synonym  of  the  a- 
bove,  is  to  carry  bej'ond  sea  to  a  penal 
colony  as  a  penalty,  the  expenses  of 
which  are  borne  by  the  State.  Banish- 
ment may  be  domestic,  or  from  private 
circles  of  society,  and  denotes  more 
forcible  and  authoritative,  as  well  as 
more  ignominious  removal  than  exile. 
We  speak  of  honourable  exile,  hardly 
of  honourable  banishment,  save  in 
exceptional  cases  where  the  banish- 
ment was  unjust,  and  with  no  fault 
of  the  banished,  or  where  the  'ight 
was  on  his  side.  In  that  respect  his 
sympathizers  might  call  it  honourable. 
Banishment  is  moral,  social,  and  po- 
litical ;  exile  only  political.  Banish- 
ment involves  a  formal  public  or  ju- 
dicial decree :  on  the  other  hand,  one 
goes  spontaneously  into  exile.  Ban- 
ishment is  pronounced  by  a  decree 
of  a  judicial  tribunal ;  exile  by  an 
authoritative  order.  The  Tarquins 
were  banished  from  Rome  by  a  public 
decree,  Ovid  was  sent  by  Augustus 
into  exile.  Banish  expresses  the  idea 
of  being  forbidden  a  certain  place, 
Exile  the  assignation  of  a  place  of  ban- 
ishment. Expulsion  implies  some 
feeling  of  dissatisfaction  or  indigna- 
tion on  the  part  of  those  who  expel 
on  the  ground  of  moral  unfitness,  or  of 
offence  against  social  or  political  order. 
It  is  the  severing  of  a  corrupt  limb 
from  the  body,  the  casting  out  of  an 
unworthy  member.  The  banished 
man  feels  the  force  of  law  or  social 
power.  The  exiled  has  exchanged  the 
comforts  of  home  for  a  strange  and 
distant  solitude.  The  expelled  carries 
with  him  the  mark  of  disapprobation 
from  those  who  have  rid  memselves 
of  his  society  and  presence. 

"  Haste  thee,  and  from  the  Paradise  of  God 
Without  remorse  drive  out  the  sinful  pair. 
From  hallow'd  ground  th'  unholy,  and  de- 

ucuiice 


To  them,  and  to  their }  rugeuy,  from  thence 
Perpetual  banishment."  '     MiLTOX. 

"  Brutus  in  the  book  which  he  writ  on 
virtue,  related  that  he  had  seen  Marcellus 
in  exile  at  Mitylene,  living  in  all  the  hap- 
piness that  human  nature  is  capable  of,  &nd 
cultivating  with  as  much  assiduity  as  e^er 
all  kinds  of  laudable  knowledge." — BoLlNG- 
BROKE. 

"  One  great  object  is  pursued  throughout 
the  Scriptures,  from  the  expulsion  of  our 
first  parents  out  of  Eden  to  the  last  of  the 
prophets  of  Israel,  namely,  the  coming  of  a 
great  person  under  various  titles,  the  de- 
liverer from  death  and  destruction,  the  pro- 
mised seed  there  was  to  come  of  the  woman, 
not  of  man,  and  therefore  of  a  virgin."— 
Sharpk. 

The  term  transport  is  equally  ap- 
plicable to  persons  and  commodities. 

"All  these  different  commodities  are  col- 
lected at  Manilla,  there  to  be  transported 
annually  in  one  or  more  ships  to  the  port 
of  A^apulco,  in  the  kingdom  of  Mexico." — 
Anson"S  Voyages. 

Expatriate  (Lat.  ex,  out  of,  and 
patria,  mitive  coimtry)  denotes  the 
specific  alienation  from  one's  native 
land,  for  whatever  cause,  whether  in 
political  exile  or  voluntary  emigra- 
tion. Its  characteristic  force  lies  in 
the  negative  idea  of  separation  from 
the  relations  of  home  and  kindred,  tlie 
renunciation  or  loss  of  privileges  of 
citizenship,  and  the  need  of  finding 
by  adoption  a  new  country  for  one's 
home. 

"The  allied  Powers  possess  also  an  ex- 
ceedingly numerous,  well-informed,  sensi- 
ble, ingenious,  high-priucipled,  and  spirited 
body  of  cavaliers  in  the  expatriated  landed 
gentry  of  France." — BuRKB. 

BANKRUPTCY.  Insolvency 
Failure. 

These,  which  are  terms  of  the  mer- 
cantile world,  follow  practically  in  the 
following  order — insolvency,  failure, 
bankruptcy. 

The  Insolvent  (Lat.  in-  not,  and 
solvere,  to  pay)  is  simply  one  who  is 
unable  to  pay  his  debts,  or  meet  his 
obligations  and  pecuniaiy  liabilities. 
These  may  be  merely  of  a  personal 
nature ;  that  is,  he  may  not  be  in 
business  at  all,  or  he  may  be  in  too  low 
a  way  of  dealing  to  be  bankrupt. 

The  Failure  (Ft.  faiilir,  to  fail) 
is  an  act  or  a  state  consequent  upon 
the  pK)sitive  or  presumed  insolvency, 
being   a   cessation   of  business   pro- 


146 


claimed  or  kuowu,from  want  of  means 
to  carry  it  on,  and  so  conveying  no 
reproach. 

BANKRiJPTCy  (Fr.  banqtieroute)  is 
the  condition  of  insolvency,  when  it 
has  passed  into  the  recognition  of  the 
law,  which  deals  with  the  case  and 
its  liabilities  according-  to  principles 
established  by  legislation  ;  and  these 
may  vary  in  diflferent  nations. 

**  Truman  was  better  acquainted  with  his 
master's  affairs  than  his  daughter,  and  se- 
verely lamented  that  each  day  brought  him, 
by  many  miscarriages,  nearer  bankruptq/ 
thaa  the  former." — Tatler. 

♦'Whether  the  insolvency  of  the  father  be 
by  his  fault  or  his  misfortune,  still  the  sou 
is  not  obliged."— Bishop  Taylor. 

"  The  greater  the  whole  quantity  of 
trade,  the  greater  of  course  must  be  the 
positive  number  of  failures,  while  the  ag- 
gregate success  is  still  in  the  same  propor- 
tion."—BUBKE. 

BANQUET.  Feast.  Cahousal. 
Entertainment.     Treat. 

Of  these,  Feast  (O.  Fr./cs/e,  Lat. 
festa^  pi.  offestuin)  extends  in  some 
of  its  senses  to  more  than  the  idea  of 
eating  and  drinking ;  and  is  synony- 
mous with  festival  or  holiday.  In 
regard  to  the  former.  Feast  points  to 
no  more  than  the  abundance  and  suf- 
ficient goodness  of  the  viands,  and  the 
satisfaction  derived  from  them.  An 
ample  and  enjoyable  supply,  with  free- 
dom from  the  calls  of  business  and 
leisure  to  enjoy  it,  constitute  the  notion 
of  a  feast,  and  govern  its  metaphorical 
application,  as  in  the  proverb,  "  A 
contented  mind  is  a  continual  feast. " 

"  There  my  retreat  the  best  companions 

grace — 
Chiefs  out  of  war  and  statesmen  out  cf 

place. 
There  St.  John  mingles  with  my  friendly 

bowl, 
The  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul." 
Pope. 

Banquet  (Fr.  banquet;  baiique,  a 
bench, literaWy,  a  feast  at  which  persons 
iit)  conveys  the  idea  of  sumptuous, 
choice,  or  magnificent  feast.  'I'here 
are  no  materials,  and  there  is  no  com- 
pany too  common  for  a  feast,  but 
dainty  and  exquisite  fai'e  is  needed  for 
a  banquet,  which  has  accessories  of 
elegance  such  as  would  be  thrown 
away  upon  coarse  natures. 


SYNONYMS  [BANQUETj 

"  Christianity  allowis  us  to  use  the  world 
provided  we  do  not  abuse  it.  It  does  not 
spread  before  us  a  delicious  banquet,  and 
then  come  with  a  *  Touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not.'"— Bishop  Porteus. 

Entertainment  (Fr.  entreienir) 
refers  to  other  pleasures  than  those  of 
the  palate.  Its  characteristic  is  that  it 
is  given  by  some  one  for  the  benefit  of 
others,  and  hence  involves  the  idea  of 
reception,  or  courteous  and  hospitable 
treatment.  He  who  gives  an  enter- 
tainment not  only  feeds  his  guests, 
but  studies  their  enjoyment,  throws 
open  his  house  to  their  use,  and  during 
ifs  continuance  places  himself  at  their 
disposal.  It  may  sometimes  happen 
that  an  entertainment  shall  pass  with 
little  or  no  eating  and  drinking,  or 
that  these  shall  have  been  made  sub- 
ordinate to  other  and  more  intellec- 
tual pleasures.  Entertainments  may 
be  musical,  and  literary,  or  even  con- 
nect themselves  with  the  arts  and 
with  science. 

"  His  office  was  to  give  entertainment 
And  lodging  unto  all  that  came  and  went. 
SPENSKR. 

A  Carousal  (Fr.  carrousel,  a  titt- 
ing-match,  a  carousal)  is  in  its  charac- 
ter opposed  to  Entertainment.  It  is  a 
feast  in  which  the  obligation  to  strict 
sobriety  is  disregarded.  It  needs  little 
refinement  or  vivid  interchange  of 
thought  among  a  number.  Two  or 
three  dull  persons  may  sit  down  to- 
gether for  a  night's  carouse. 

Treat  (Fr.  trailer)  conveys  the 
idea  of  a  kind  of  entertainment  speci- 
fically selected,  or  consonant  with  the 
circumstances  and  relation  of  the  giver 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  condition 
and  tastes  of  the  receiver  on  the  other. 
Any  inconsistency  in  the  latter  would 
neutralize  the  treat,  however  hospi- 
table and  kind  might  be  the  intention 
of  the  giver.  He  has  exhibited  not  only 
liberality,  but  tact  also,  who  has  suc- 
ceeded in  furnishing  another  with  a 
treat.  Superiors  give  treats  to  infe- 
riors, and  elders  to  children,  and  per- 
sons who  have  access  to  certain  sources 
of  enjoyment  to  those  who  could  not 
command  these  for  themselves.  It 
denotes  innocence  and  simplicity  of 
enjoyment.  How  much  a  treat  de- 
pends upon  the  character  of  the  re- 


[barbarous]  discriminated. 


cipient  may  be  infeiTed  from  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  Carrion  is  a  treat  to  dogs,  ravens,  vo!- 
tores,  and  fish," — Palkt. 

BANTER.     Rally. 

We  Banter  (not  an  old  word  ;  per- 
haps slang  ?)  when  we  play  upon  an- 
other with  words  ill  good-humour.  We 
Rally  (Fr.  raiiler)  when  we  slightly 
rail,  that  is,  speak  with  slight  con- 
tempt or  sarcasm,  of  some  specific 
fault,  ofience,  or  weakness.  So  Banter 
has  always  a  mischievous  force,  but 
Rally  often  means  such  lively  remon- 
strance as  may  induce  another  to  act 
more  properly,  more  energetically, 
or  loss  despondingly.  Bantering  is 
slightly  vexatious  and  provoking,  as 
rallying  is  slightly  remonstrative. 
Banterm^  owes  its  force  more  to  the 
way  in  which  the  subject  is  shown  up, 
rallying  to  the  way  in  which  the  person 
is  touched.  We  more  commonly  banter 
a  superiority  of  which  we  are  jealous, 
and  rally  an  inferiority  with  which  we 
are  dissatisfied.  Wit  must  be,  accord- 
ing to  present  notions,  an  ing^-edient 
in  both. 

*'  When  wit  hath  any  mixture  of  raillery 
it  is  but  calling  it  banter,  and  the  thing  is 
done.  This  polite  word  of  theirs  was  first 
borrowed  from  the  bullies  in  Whitefriars, 
then  fell  among  the  footmen,  and  at  last 
retired  to  the  pedants,  by  whom  it  is 
applied  as  properly  to  the  protluction  of  wit 
as  if  I  should  apply  it  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
mathematics," — SwiFl'. 

"  The  only  place  of  pleasantry  in  '  Para- 
dise Lost'  is  where  the  evil  spirits  are  de- 
•cribed  as  rallying  the  angels  upon  the 
(success  of  their  new-invented  artillery." — 
Adi>isox. 

BARBAROUS.  Inhuman.  Cruel. 
Brutal.     Savage. 

These  words  indicate  much  the 
same  thing  £is  contemplated  from  dif- 
ferent points  of  view.  Cruel  (Fr. 
cruel,  Lat.  crud'dis)  expresses  that 
kind  of  disposition  which  derives 
pleasure  from  inflicting  pain  on  other 
creatures — as  the  child  sometimes,  or 
as  the  tyrant.  Such  cruelty  is  an 
animal  propensity.  It  must  be  ob- 
served, bowever,  that  acts  are  often 
called  cruel  when  they  are  such  as 
wouM  be  produced  by  a  propensity, 
thoiii^h  they  have  not  been  in  fact  so 
•••roduci'd.   To  desert  wife  and  child  is 


147 


a  cruel  act  by  reason  of  its  nature  and 
consequences;  yet  it  may  proceed, 
and  commonly  does,  from  an  excess  ot' 
selfishness,  and  not  from  any  plea- 
sure derived  from  subjecting  them  to 
privation.  It  is  by  no  happy  analogy 
that  we  speak  of  cruel  disappoint- 
m-ents  and  the  like,  meaning  severe,  for 
in  such  cases  the  essence  of  cruelty — 
namely,  the  gratification  derived  from 
inflicting  of  pain — is  altogether  want- 
ing. The  cruel  inflict  moral  as  well  as 
physical  pain.  In  the  former  kind 
onlyrational  animals  share :  the  cruelty 
of  the  lower  animals  is  instinctive  and 
subservient  to  their  natural  appetites, 
that  of  man  may  be  subordinated  to  a 
refined  revenge. 

"  This  man  [Jefferies]  who  wantoned  in 
cruelty,  had  already  given  a  specimen  of 
his  character  in  many  trials  where  he  pre- 
sided, and  he  now  set  out  with  a  savage  joj 
as  to  a  full  harvest  of  death  and  destruc- 
tion."— Hume. 

Inhuman,  like  many  other  such 
words,  as,  for  instance,  inconvenient, 
unpleasant,  though  negative  in  form,  is 
in  force  positive  and  strong.  It  denotes 
that  character  of  person  or  act  which  is 
not  checked  or  guided  by  principles 
and  sympathies  of  humanity,  or  human 
nature  in  its  kindlier  and  worthier  as- 
pect. Inhumanity,  therefore,  amounts 
to  premeditated  or  at  least  conscious 
cruelty ;  and  so  we  speak  not  of  the 
inhumanity  (tliough  we  speak  of  the 
cruelty)  of  children,  but  of  grown  per- 
sons, as  having  that  mature  apprecia- 
tion of  the  evil  they  inflict,  which  is 
needful  to  the  idea  of  inhumanity. 
We  more  commonly  associate  cruelty 
with  the  execution  of  deeds,  and  in- 
humanity with  the  ordering  or  causing 
of  them.  The  inhuman  tyrant  gives 
an  unscrupulous  order  of  execution, 
though  he  may  not  think  of  seeing  it 
carried  out.  He  is  dead  to  compunc- 
tion and  compassion,  inexorable  and 
stony-hearted. 

"When  Alexander  bad  in  his  fury  tn- 
kumanZy  butchered  one  of  his  best  friends 
and  bravest  captains,  on  the  return  of 
reason  he  began  to  conceive  a  hoiTor  suit- 
able to  the  guilt  of  such  a  murder."^ 
Burkk. 

The  Barbarous,  the  Savage,  and 
the  Brutal  are  epithets  which  likes 


X 


148 


SYNONYMS 


[bare 


tlie  conduct  or  disposition  to  those  of 
barbarous  (Lat.  barMrus)  savages 
(Fr.  sauvage,  Lat.  silvdticus)  and 
brutes  (Lat.  briitus,  irrational).  These 
terms  therefore  are  only  analogous 
expressions,  and  might  be  taken,  as 
they  often  are,  to  express  other  quali- 
ties, or  to  qualify  other  conditions — as 
barbarous  rudeness,  savage  manners, 
brutal  ignorance.  Barbarous  and 
Savage  are  epithets  of  manners  pri- 
marily, and  of  disposition  secondarily ; 
Brutal  and  Crukl  of  disposition  pri- 
marily, and  of  conduct  secondarily  ; 
and  indeed  are  hardly  applicable  to 
the  manners  of  a  community,  though 
they  may  well  be  predicated  of  cus- 
toms or  habits.  As  the  barbarous 
bears  relation  to  the  civilized,  we 
could  never  speak  of  the  inferior 
animals  as  barbarous,  yet  we  speak  of 
them  as  savage  or  cruel.  In  this  way 
the  savage  is  a  wild  form  of  cruelty,  as 
the  barbarous  is  a  rude,  and  the  brutal 
an  unfeeling  foi-m  of  it.  Hence  cruelty 
itself  may  be  characterized  as  barba- 
rous, savage,  or  brutal,  according  to 
the  nature  and  exhibition  of  it.  The 
same  act  may  be  the  result  of  either 
barbarity  or  cruelty,  and  often  an  act 
is  called  cruel,  which  ought  rather  to 
be  called  barbarous.  The  exposure 
of  infants  to  death  is  a  bai'barous  act, 
but  has  been  a  custom  of  some  nations, 
publicly  sanctioned  and  not  dictated 
by  ci'uelty — in  some  cases  by  State 
policy,  and  in  some  by  peculiar  notions 
of  humanity.  The  barbarous,  inhuman, 
and  brutal,  can  only  be  said  of  men  ; 
the  cruel  and  savage  of  beasts  as  well. 
Barbarity  inflicts  death  unworthily, 
cruelty  delights  in  witnessing  its  in- 
fliction. African  tribes  barbarously 
put  their  captives  to  death,  when  a 
civilized  people  would  have  spared 
them ;  cruelly,  when  they  aggravate 
the  pain  of  death ;  savagely, when  they 
dance  round  their  victims  in  wild  glee. 
'J'he  Greeks  called  all  nations  barba- 
rians, as  countuig  them  inferior  to 
themselves  in  arts  and  refinement  of 
manners.  Barbarity  comes  fi-om  igno- 
rance consequent  upon  the  want  of 
development  of  the  moral  faculties, 
cruelty  from  inherent  badness,  sav- 
agery from  excessive  wildness  of  tem- 
perament. 


"  Pyrrhos,  seeing  the  Romans  marshal 
their  army  with  some  art  and  skill,  said 
with  sui^jrise  :  These  barbarians  have  no- 
thing barbarous  in  their  discipline." — 
HUMK. 

"  So  much  was  he  altered  by  a  long  suc- 
cession of  haidships  that  he  passed  entirely 
without  notice,  and  in  the  evening  when  he 
was  going  up  to  the  Przetor's  chair  he  was 
bi-utally  repulsed  by  the  attendjig  Lectors.' 
—Goldsmith. 

BARE.     Mere. 

Bare  (A.  3.  beer,  bare,  open)  is 
sometimes  used  in  a  restrictive  sense 
in  the  sense  of  no  more  than,  and  as 
a  synonym  of  Mere  (Lat.  mtrus,  sim- 
ple, pure) ;  as  we  might  say  either  the 
bare  necessaries,  or  the  mere  neces- 
saries of  life.  But  the  force  of  Bare  is 
sometimes  positive,  so  that  Mere  is 
more  suitably  followed  gi'ammatically 
by  some  term  expressive  of  negation, 
while  Bare  is  best  construed  with  an 
affirmative  sentence  ;  as,  the  bare  re- 
cital of  such  a  tale  would  move  to 
tears  ;  the  mere  shedding  of  tears  is 
an  imperfect  compassion.  Bare  is 
purelif  restrictive ;  Mere  is  used  when 
the  restriction  is  matter  of  insufficiency 
or  incompleteness.  Thus,  if  I  wished 
to  say  that  a  thing  was  no  better  than 
foolishness,  I  should  say  that  it  was 
mere  folly,  not  bare  folly.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  I  wished  to  express 
an  insufficiency,  not  in  quality  but 
quantity,  I  should  say  the  amount 
was  barely,  not  merely,  sufficient. 

So  in  the  following  examples, 
"  barely  as  a  man  "  means  not  also 
"  as  a  gentleman  ;  "  "mei-ely  conjec- 
tural "  means  no  better  than  conjec- 
tural— that  is,  not  ascertained. 

"  The  study  of  morality  I  have  above 
mentioned  as  that  that  becomes  a  gentle- 
man, not  barely  as  a  man,  but  in  order  to 
his  business  as  a  gentleman." — LoCKK. 

"  As  for  the  rest  of  the  planets  their 
uses  are  to  as  unknown,  or  merely  conjec- 
tural,"—Ray. 

BARREN.     Unproductive. 

Barren  (O.  Fr.  baraigne)  points 
rather  to  the  nature.  Unproductive 
(Lat.  produccre,  to  bring  forth)  to  the 
condition.  The  rock  is  barren,  the 
field  untilled  and  neglected  is  unpro- 
ductive. The  desert  would  not  be 
called  unproductive,  but  ban^en.  Bar- 
ren, too,  does  not  admit  so  easily  as 


[base] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


149 


unproductive  the  idea  of  degree.  The 
barren  field  produces  no  crops,  the 
unproductive  field  may  be  not  alto- 
gether barren,  but  bear  in  scanty  pro- 
portion. 

BARTER.  Change.  Exchange. 
Truck.     Chaffer.     Interchange. 

Of  these  CiiA^G^  (Ft.  changer)  may- 
be taken  as  the  simplest  term.  Of  it- 
self it  expresses  no  more  than  to  eflfect 
an  alteration,  whether  this  amount  to 
an  entire  removal,  and  substitution  of 
another  thing  or  not.  It  is  therefore 
abstract  and  indeterminate.  I  may 
change  the  appearance  of  a  thing  or 
the  thing  itself.  As  a  synonym  with 
the  above,  it  expresses  no  more  than 
to  take  one  person  ©r  thing  for  an- 
other. Sotne  persons  change  their 
friends  as  they  change  their  clothes. 
The  term,  however,  when  so  em- 
ployed, refers  to  things  of  the  same 
class  or  nature.  When  we  liave 
changed  our  opinions,  those  which  we 
have  adopted  anew  may  be  unlike  and 
even  the  opposite  to  what  we  held  be- 
fore, but  they  remain  at  least  opinions. 

To  Exchange  is  to  change  one 
thing  for  another,  whether  of  the 
same  or  of  a  different  kind,  while  to 
change  is  only  to  part  with  one  thing 
and  take  another  of  the  same  kind. 
I  change  my  book  at  the  reading-room 
when  1  put  it  back  and  take  another. 
I  exchange  it  for  another  or  for  an 
article  of  a  different  description. 

"  What  shall  a  man  give  in  excJiange  for 
his  soul  'f  "—English  Bible. 

"  We  all  know  how  often  those  masters 
who  sought  after  colouring  changed  their 
manner,  whilst  others,  merely  from  not 
seeing  various  modes,  acquiesced  all  their 
lives  in  that  which  they  set  out  with."  -  Sir 
J.  Reynolds. 

Barter  (O.  Fr.  bareter)  refers, 
strictly  speaking,  to  commercial  ex- 
change of  certain  commodities  for 
others  of  the  same,  but  most  commonly 
of  different  kinds.  He  who  barters  is 
still  on  the  road  to  market.  He  is 
improving  his  stock  by  exchanging 
less  negotiable  for  more  negotiable 
commodities.  In  the  moral  sense  it 
is  used  unfavourably.  Mercenary 
persona  will  barter  coijscience  for 
gold. 


Truck  (Fr.  Iroqiury  to  exchange,  to 
truck)  is  a  familiar  word,  applied  to 
the  private  bartering  of  articles  of  nu 
great  intrinsic  value,  but  of  common 
convenience  and  use.  He  who  barters 
exchanges  goods  with  a  view  to  the 
market ;  he  who  trucks  does  not  go  to 
market  perhaps  at  all,  but  makes  hig 

frofit  on  the  spot  in  the  article  itself, 
t  is  therefore  a  term  of  much  less 
dignity  than  barter. 

"  To  truck  the  Latin  for  any  other  vul- 
gar language  is  but  an  ill  barter.  It  is  as 
bad  as  that  which  Glaucus  made  with  Dio- 
medes  when  he  parted  with  his  golden 
arms  for  brazen  ones." — HowELL. 

Chaffer  is  to  purchase  as  the  result 
of  frequent  attempt ;  it  is  to  the  talk 
what  higgle  is  to  the  ti'ansaction.  It 
is  connected  with  A.  S.  ceaf,  a  bar- 

fain.    So  chapman,  a  seller  of  wares, 
t  is  never  used  but  in  a  mean  sense. 
*'  To  chaffer  tor  preferments  with  his  gold." 

DUYDEN. 

Interchange  is  distinguished  from 
exchange  as  denoting  not  a  single  act, 
but  a  system  and  repetition  of  acts  of 
exchange.  It  is  as  often  employed  of 
moral  as  of  material  benefits  or  com- 
modities. An  exchange  has  no  other 
limit  than  that  of  the  transaction.  An 
interchange  is  circumscribed  by  a 
circle  of  society.  A  methodical  ex 
change  is  an  interchange. 

"  Interchanges  of  cold  frcets  and  piercing 
winds." — Bishop  Hall. 

BASE.  Vile.  Mean.  low.  Ab- 
ject. 

Base  is  the  Fr.  bos,  low ;  Vile  the 
Lat.  vilis^  cheap,  worthless;  Mean  the 
A.  S.  mctiie.  Base  is  stronger  than 
Vile, and  Vile  is  stronger  than  Me  4N. 
Base  expresses  the  morally  degraded, 
ViLP  cne  morally  despicable,  Meas 
the  morally  paltiy.  Low  (peibap* 
akin  to  lay,  lie),  unlike  the  rest,  ha* 
not  only  a  purely  physical,  but  an 
analogous  social  force,  out  of  which 
that  of  moral  degi-adation  has  flowed, 
but  which  is  independent  of  it.  A 
low  rank  is  near  the  bottom  of  the 
social  scale.  A  low  price  is  near  tlie 
bottom  of  a  scale  of  charges.  That 
conduct  in  a  man  is  low  which  is 
either  wanting  in  dignity  morally,  or 
derogates  fi-om  the  dignity  of  his  social 
condition.    A  low  profession  is  one 


150 


which  would  only  be  exercised  by 
persons  who  had  no  social  staixling. 
A  low  act  is  one  worthy  only  of  a  low 
profession.  Yet  a  man  in  a  low  rank 
of  life  may  entertain  sentiments  and 
exhibit  a  character  worthy  of  a  higher. 
The  epithet  low  is  expressive  of  such 
petty  dishonesties  or  meannesses  as 
are  unworthy  of  persons  who  have 
even  a  moderate  degree  of  self-respect. 
What  is  base  excites  our  abhorrence, 
as  confa-adicting  all  loftiness  and  gene- 
rosity of  na^'i  "^ — e.g.  treachery  and 
ingratitude.  sVhat  is  vile  excites  dis- 
gust, as  the  gaming  of  a  living  by  the 
trade  of  the  informer.  What  is  mean 
excites  pure  contempt,  as  prevari- 
cation, cringing  flattery,niggardliness. 
Meanness  is  associated  with  a  dis- 
honourable regard  to  self-preservation 
or  self-interest ;  baseness  with  a  dis- 
honourable treatment  of  others.  We 
feel  more  hatred  and  resentment 
against  the  base,we  loathe  the  vile,  and 
despise  the  mean.  Low  habits  indi- 
cate a  kind  of  hopeless  meanness, 
depravity',  and  dishonourableness, 
the  result  of  an  essential  incapacity 
of  what  is  high,  pure,  noble,  gene- 
rous, or  refined.  The  opposite  of 
lowness  is  loftiness ;  of  baseness,  mag- 
nanimity ;  of  vileness,  nobility  ;  and 
of  meanness,  generosity  in  feeling  and 
liberality  in  treatment. 

"  Yet  sometimes  nations  will  decline  so  Imv 
From  virtue."  Mii^ton. 

'♦ '  Si  ingratum  dixeris  omnia  dicens,' 
says  the  Latin  maxim  :  '  If  you  call  a  man 
ungrateful,  you  have  called  him  everything 
that  is  base.  You  need  say  nothing  more." — 
Beattie. 

"  Though  we  caress  dogs,  we  borrow  from 
them  an  appellation  of  the  most  despicable 
kind  when  we  employ  terms  of  reproacli  ; 
and  this  appellation  is  the  common  mark  of 
the  last  vileness  and  contempt  in  every 
language."— Burke. 

"  There  is  hardly  a  spirit  upon  earth  so 
mean  and  contracted  as  to  centre  all  regards 
on  its  own  interest,  exclusive  of  the  rest  of 
mankind."— Berkeley. 

The  state  of  the  Abject  (Lat. 
abjicere,  part.  abjecUis,  to  cast  aicuy) 
is  one  of  profound  humiliation.  Men 
are  low  in  place  or  character,  vile 
iE  the  opinion  of  others,  mean  in  con- 
duct and  disposition,  base  in  a  pro- 
found badness,  abject  in  feeling  and 


SYNOKYMS  [basis] 

under  the  weight  of  circumstances. 
The  abject  is  rejected  of  fortune  and 
of  men.  An  abject  sentiment  is  one 
in  which  honour  and  self-respect  have 
been  tJirown  away — one  past  sensi- 
bility and  uttered  without  blushing. 
Abject  superstition  is  of  the  lowest 
kind.  The  man  who  is  in  an  abject 
condition  has  ceased  to  think  of  the 
opinions  of  others,  under  the  feeling 
that  others  have  ceased  to  think  of 
him.  He  is  at  once  in  degi'adation 
and  in  isolation.  The  mean,  the  vile, 
and  the  abject  have  to  some  extent 
parted  with  their  independence  and 
are  despised,  but  men  in  power  may 
do  base  things,  and  may  be  dreaded 
without  being  at  all  despised, 

"  There  needs  no  more  be  said  to  extol 
the  excellence  and  power  of  his  wit,  than 
that  it  was  of  magnitude  enough  to  cover  a 
world  of  very  great  faults— that  is,  a  narrow- 
ness in  his  nature  to  the  lowest  degree,  an 
abjectness  and  want  of  courage,  an  insinu- 
ating and  servile  flattery." — Cumberland. 

BASIS.  Foundation.  Ground. 
Base. 

Basis  (Lat.  basis,  Gr.  Qacrii;,  that  on 
which  c  thing  stands  or  moves)  and 
Base  (Fr.  bus)  are  used  interchange- 
ably ;  but  while  Basis  always  means 
the  part  on  which  a  structure  rests. 
Base  means  what  approximates  to  this, 
or  the  lower  part  generally  Ihe 
basis  of  a  column  is  that  on  which  it 
rests.  This,  strictly  speaking,  is  hid- 
den from  view.  On  the  other  hand 
its  base  is  an  architectural  feature  of  it. 
Base  is  not  commonly  used  in  a  figu- 
rative sense,  which  is  the  case  with 
Basis  :  as  when  we  hear  of  matters 
being  set  upon  a  surer  basis. 

"  Every  plague  that  can  infest 
Society,  and  that  saps  and  worms  the  base 
Of  th'  edifice  that  policy  has  raised." 

Cowper. 
"  This  university  had  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  last  century,  the  honour  of  giving 
birth  to  a  stupendous  system  of  philosophy 
erected  by  its  disciple  Newtou  on  the  im- 
movable basis  of  experiment  and  demon- 
stration."—Porteus. 

Foundation  {ha,t.JnnJdtionein)a.nd 
Ground  (A.&. grand)  speak  forthem- 
selves.  In  architecture  Foundation  i« 
employed  of  large  and  complex  struc- 
tures. Figuratively  we  use  Basis  b« 
that  on  which  rest  Uie  proceedings  oi 


[bashful] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


151 


thought,  arj^ument,  or  tlie  transactions 
of  men,  as  being  the  principles  on  which 
they  are  conducted — as  the  basis  of  a 
conception,  a  conviction,  of  reason- 
ing, of  traffic,  of  negotiation,  and  so  on . 
Ground  expresses  the  warrant  or 
substantial  cause,  as  the  ground  of  be- 
lief, feeling,  action.  So  we  speak  of 
groundless  fears,suspicions,  jealousies, 
meaning  imaginary  ;  grounds  of  legal 
proceedings  and  the  like.  ForxDA- 
TiON  belongs  more  peculiarly  to  matters 
of  belief,  feelings,  hopes,  and  the  like, 
rather  than  matters  of  practice,  in  re- 
ference to  which  we  use  the  tenn 
Ground  or  Basis.  In  many  cases  they 
might  be  used  interchangeably,  as  we 
speak  of  groundless  or  unfounded  cla- 
mours. In  their  figurative  employment 
in  regard  to  human  interchange  of  ar- 
gumentation or  business,  Basis  is  the 
more  conventional,  Foundation  the 
more  deeply  seated.  We  may  say  that 
the  basis  of  a  transaction  is  the  pro- 
position on  which  it  is  grounded,  and 
which  furnishes  its  principle  and  the 
end  towards  which  it  is  conducted. 
It  is  necessary  tliat  this  basis  should 
itself  rest  on  sure  and  solid  founda- 
tions of  fact  or  policy,  sound  and  re- 
cognized. A  hypothesis  may  be  as- 
sumed as  the  basis  of  our  reasoning, 
and  confiiTned  by  facts  harmonizing 
with  it ;  but  hypothesis  is  generally  an 
insecure  basis  of  action. 

"  From  thence  I  draw  tlie  most  comfort- 
aljle  assurances  of  tlie  future  vigour  and  the 
ample  resources  of  t]us  great  misrepresented 
country,  anl  can  never  prevail  on  myself  to 
make  complaints  which  have  no  cause  in 
order  to  raise  hopes  which  have  no  foiaida- 
iion."— Burke. 

BASHFUL.  Modest.  Diffident. 
Coy.     Reserved.     Shy. 

Basiifulness  is  a  constitutional 
feeling,  IModesty  a  virtue,  Diffi- 
dence, except  in  specific  cases  where 
it  is  grounded  on  self-knoAv  ledge, 
an  infirmity.  Bashfulness  (to  nhnsh, 
from  O.  Fr.  e.^baliir,  tu  asioiiish)  is  ex- 
cessive or  extreme  modesty.  It  is  an 
instinctive,  almost  animal  sensation, 
though  involving  intelligence.  It  is 
not  unbecoming  in  young  persons 
of  eitlier  sex,  especially  in  the  pre- 
sence of  elders  or  superiors.  It  be- 
trays i«°"^^in  a  look  of  self-conscious 


timidity,  and  in  grown-up  persons 
is  a  defect  amounting  to  a  mental 
disease.  It  would  be  hard  to  define 
bashfulness,  especially  as  it  is  un- 
defined in  those  who  are  subject  to 
it.  Bashfulness  is  best  honoured  by 
overcoming  the  manifestations  and 
not  despising  the  emotion  of  it. 

"  Our  orators,  with  the  most  faulty 
bashfulness,  seem  impressed  rather  with 
an  awe  of  their  audience  than  with  a  just  re- 
spect for  the  truths  they  are  about  to  deliver. 
They  of  all  professions  seem  the  most  bash- 
ful who  have  the  greatest  right  to  glory  in 
their  commission." — Goldsmith. 

Modesty  (Lat.  modestiam)  is  the 
absence  of  all  tendency  to  over-esti- 
mate one's  self,  while  diffidence  (Lat. 
(iiffidentia)  is  the  positive  distrust  oi 
ourselves. 

"  Modesty  is  a  kind  of  shame  or  bashful- 
ness proceeding  from  the  sense  a  man  has 
of  his  own  defects,  compared  with  the  per- 
fections of  him  whom  he  comes  before." — 
South. 

"  There  is  a  degree  of  pain  in  modest 
diffiAence,  bnt  it  is  amply  recompensed  by 
the  glow  of  satisfaction  derived  from  the 
favourable  opinion*  of  others,  and  by  the 
cncouraicement  thus  inspired,  that  the  de- 
ficiency is  not  so  great  as  was  apprehended, 
or  too  gi'eat  to  be  surmounted." — CoGAN. 

Modesty  is  one  of  those  virtues  which 
may  be  regarded  as  lying  in  a  mean, 
the  mean  between  diMdence  and  pre- 
sumption. Modesty  is  in  some  re- 
spects very  unlike  diffidence,  for 
though  inclined  to  claim  less  than  his 
due,  and  to  accord  more  than  theii 
due  to  others,  the  modest  man  is  not 
deten-ed  from  such  efforts  in  the 
struggle  of  life  as  are  needful  to  do 
justice  to  himself,  while  diffidence,  it 
it  bo  a  habit  of  the  disposition,  leads 
to  positive  injustice  to  one's  self,  and 
one's  own  powers.  We  may  remark 
that  the  word  DiFFioEf.T  was  for- 
merly used  sometimes  objectively, 
and  as  synonymous  with  distrustful 
oJ\  doubtful  of. 

Cov  (O.  Fr.  coi,  orig.  coit ;  Lat. 
quietus)  is  a  teiTn  expressive  of  the 
reserve  of  youthful  modesty.  It  is 
that  maidenly  reserve  in  particular, 
which  combines  a  shrinking  shynes.-i 
with  the  absence  of  dislike  or  dis- 
pleasure, and  may  even  receive  ad 
vances  with  a  timid  satisfartion. 


162 


"When  the  kind    Qyni(h    wctld    coyness 

feign. 
And  hides-but  to  be  fonnd  tgain." 

DRYDEN. 

Shy  (  1  A.S.  sceoh,  askew,  ferverse, 
connected  with  the  German  sclieu, 
timorous)  is  a  terra  of  more  compre- 
hensive import.  Shyness  is  never  a 
virtue.  It  is  in  some  of  the  lower 
animals  an  instinctive  feeling  an- 
Bwering  purposes  of  self-preservation. 
It  is  therefore  allied  to  fiear  and  sus- 
picion. It  is  a  tendency  to  avoid,  aris- 
ing out  of  ignorant  distrust,  afeeling  of 
the  absence  of  the  ease  which  comos 
from  familiarity.  Hence  habituation 
to  the  unfamiliar  presence  is  its  natu- 
ral remedy,  and  may  even  lead  to 
the  opposite  extreme.  The  child 
which  begins  by  being  shy  will  some- 
times go  on  to  be  over-bold.  Yet  in 
grown-up  persons  it  assumes  a  charac- 
ter somewhat  different,  and  the  ele- 
ment of  one's  sensitiveness  orself-con- 
sciousness  issuperadded.  Hence,  so  far 
from  being  equivalent  to  modesty,  it 
is  often  in  no  small  degree  the  result 
of  a  kind  of  pride,  involved  in  the 
fear  of  not  appearing  to  advantage. 

Rf.siiuvE  (Fr.  reserve,  literally,  a 
holding  back)  is  sometimes  a  proud, 
always  a  calculating  shyness.  It  be- 
longs to  those  who  are  more  completely 
masters  of  themselves.  It  is  only  in 
its  extremes  that  reserve  is  a  fault — 
that  is,  when  it  approaches  too  nearly 
to  shyness  on  one  side,  or  pride  on 
the  other.  We  mean  no  disparage- 
ment when  we  speak  of  a  dignified  or 
prudent  reserve.  Reserve  is  a  keep- 
ing of  one's  self,  whether  sufficiently  or 
too  much,  within  bounds  of  demea- 
nour ;  where  it  is  of  the  mind,  it  is 
more  premeditated ;  where  of  the  tem- 
perament, more  involuntary. 

"Men  have  a  shj/7iess  and  jealousy 
against  such  truths  as  they  have  not  been 
acquainted  with."— MoRK. 

"  Where  is  that  ancient  seriousness  and 
resei'vedness  and  modesty  that  heretofore 
has  been  thought  not  only  essential  to  the 
•pirit  of  a  Christian,  but  natural  to  the 
temper  of  an  Englishman  ?  " — Sharp. 

BATTLE.  Combat.  Engage- 
ment.   Action. 

Battle  (Fr.  hataille)  \&  a  generic 
term.  A«  an  act,  fighting,  like  the 
term   fight  (which  is,   however,   of 


SYNONYMS  [battle] 

less  dignity),  refers  to  the  jihysical 
contests  of  individuals,  of  sniall  par- 
ties, and  of  large  armies.  In  any 
case  it  is  suggestive  of  such  fighting 
as  involves  an  issue  of  importance, 
whether  it  be  a  matter  of  personal 
right  or  political  struggle.  In  old 
'times  personal  claims  were  sometimes 
decided  by  wager  of  battle.  Persever- 
ing, independent,  and  resolute  men 
will  do  battle  for  what  they  believe 
a  righteous  cause.  Battle  is  strenuous 
and  sustained  resistance,  with  a  view 
to  the  conquest  or  destruction  of  an 
opposing  party,  even  though  it  should 
be  a  beast  and  not  a  man. 

"  The    Scipios    battled,  and   the     Gracchi 
spoke."  Dykr. 

Combat  (O.F.comfcflt?*g)is  used  with 
a  more  direct  reference  to  the  recipro- 
cal trial  of  strength,  and  is  employed 
of  small  parties  or  of  individuals,  as 
the  combat  of  the  Horatii  and  Curratii. 
A  combat  is  a  close  hand-to-hand  en- 
counter, and  draws  attention  to  the  cha- 
racteristic qualities  of  the  parties,  the 
weapons  they  use,  or  the  rules  under 
which  they  fight.  A  combat  is  a 
spectacle  to  those  looking  on.  A  com- 
bat may  be  a  portion  of  a  battle,  as  in 
a  general  battle  two  combatants  may 
single  out  each  other.  The  verb  com- 
bat is  used  directly  of  the  object  of  the 
struggle  when  it  is  used  in  a  secon- 
dary sense.  The  astute  reasoner  com- 
bats his  opponent's  position  generally, 
or  his  arguments  in  detail. 

"  What  had  I 
T'  oppose  against  such  powerful  arguments  ? 
Only  my  love  of  thee  held  long  debate 
And  combated  in  silence  all  these  reasons 
With  hard  contest."  MiLTON. 

A  fight  may  be  accidental ;  a  com- 
bat is  prearranged ;  a  fight  does  not 
imply  of  necessity  the  use  of  weapons ; 
a  combat  does. 

Engagement  (0.  F.  engager,  to 
pledge)  and  Action  (Lat.  actionem) 
stand  to  the  battle  or  the  combat  as 
the  process  of  the  thing  to  the  thing 
itself.  Engagement  is  a  favourite 
term  for  naval  fights,  and  action  is 
not  used  of  personal  encounters.  Ac- 
tion is  a  wider  tenn  than  Engage- 
ment ;  the  latter  being  the  former  so 
far  as  it  refers  onlv  to  the  struggle 
with  the  enemy.    The  verb  Enoaos 


[beam] 


might  be  employed  of  two  combatants, 
Dut  hardly  the  noun  engagement. 
1'he  action  is  spoken  of  as  decisive 
aiii  sliarp  oi  not,  the  angagement  as 
protracted  and  severe  or  not,  and,  be- 
tween equal  or  unequal  forces,  the 
battle  as  important  or  unimportant. 
Ac  r'ON  has  a  more  comprehensive  force 
than  Engagement.  In  naval  battles 
the  decks  are  cleared  for  action  before 
the  engagement  commences.  To  say 
that  the  troops  engaged  well  would 
mean  that  they  fought  well ;  that  they 
behaved  well  in  action  would  com- 
prise other  qualifications,  as  that  they 
manoeuvred  well  under  command. 

"  A  decisive  action." — Macaulay. 

"  The  battle  proved  decisive  in  favour  of 
the  house  of  York,  and  in  consequence  of 
it  Edward  was,  in  June,  1461,  crowned 
King  of  England,  There  were  killed  in 
this  engagement  36,776  men." — Hawkes. 

BEAM.  Gleam.  Glimmer.  Ray. 
Glitter.     Sparkle.     Shine. 

These  words,  not  excepting  Ray, 
are  employed  both  as  nouns  and  as 
verbs.  Their  use  as  verbs  will  be 
sufficiently  indicated  by  noticing  their 
difference  in  the  former  capacity. 
They  all  express  the  steadier  or  less 
fitful  and  violent  emissions  of  light, 
and  so  stand  contrasted  with  such 
other  synonyms  as  /tame,  glare,  Jiare, 
flash,  and  the  like. 

Beam  in  A.  S.  meant  a  tree,  post; 
and  also  (2)  a  ray  of  light:  and  so  is 
analogous,  perhaps,  to  the  Lat.  rKdhis, 
whence  Ray,  which  meant  properly  a 
staff,  or  spoke  of  a  wheel.  Beam  is 
more  nearly  allied  with  Ray  in  the 
above  list,  and  Gleam  (A.  S.  gleam,  a 
gleam),  with  Glimmer  (akin  to  gleam) 
and  Glitter  (cf.  O.  S.  glittan,  to 
shine).  The  beam  is  ordinarily  larger 
and  more  powerful  than  the  ray, 
though  not  invariably  so.  The  great 
luminaries  of  the  sun  and  moon  send 
forth  both  beams  and  rays.  Smaller 
luminous  bodies,  as  a  lamp,  send  out 
rays.  The  sun  emits  rays  whenever 
its  light  is  unobstructed :  between 
clouds  the  same  light  often  escapes  as 
a  beam.  Ray  expresses  more  directly 
than  Beam  the  notion  of  one  among  a 
number  of  lines  of  light  diverging 
from  aluminous  centre.  A^ain,  Beam 
is  never  applied  but  to  light,  while 
ray  is  also  applied  to  substances  ana- 


DI8CRIMINATED. 


xOd 


logons  to  the  spokes  of  a  wheel,  as 
for  instance,  those  which  form  a  star- 
like  pattern ;  as,  the  rays  of  the  flowers 
called  Composite,  or  as  an  order 
of  chivalry  might  consist  of  a  star 
with  an  enamelled  centre  and  dia- 
mond rays  or  points.  Gleam,  Glim- 
mer, and  Glitter  have  much  in  com- 
mon, but  Gleam  is  commonly  used  of 
light  not  very  brilliant  but  unde- 
veloped, yet  steady,  and  beginning,  as 
it  were,  to  make  itself  visible  thi-ough 
surrounding  darkness,  as  the  first 
gleams  of  the  sun  at  dawn.  Glimmer 
is  an  unsteady  gleam,  making  itself 
visible  in  a  tremulous  way,and  perhaps 
at  intervals.  Glitter  and  Sparkle 
(A.S.  spare,  spark)  are  again  much 
alike,  with  this  important  difference, 
that  Sparkle  is  properly  applied  to 
luminous  bodies,  and  Glitter  to  those 
that  are  not  so.  The  fire  sparkles, 
that  is,  rapidly  emits  minute  frag- 
ments of  light;  but  diamonds,  properly 
speaking,  do  not  sparkle,  but  glitter, 
as  they  emit  light  only  in  the  sense  of 
reflectingit.  \\  hen  wesayof  the  jewel, 
as  we  sometimes  do,  that  itsparkles.we 
lend  our  imagination  in  some  degree, 
and  think  of  it  as  what  it  is  not — a  tiny 
source  of  light.  Shine  (A.S.  scinan, 
to  shine,  glitter)  denotes  the  steady 
emission  of  light,  whether  by  inherent 
force  or  by  reflexion.  The  sun  shines 
when  its  full  flood  of  light  is  poured 
out  unobstructedly.  Shining  talents 
are  uniformly  conspicuous,  though 
they  will  exhibit  themselves  occasion 
ally  in  brilliant  efforts  and  successes 
But  Glitter  in  its  secondary  sense  ex- 
presses the  idea  of  a  false  light,  a 
brightness  which  is  above  the  inherent 
value  of  the  substance  itself.  Sparkle 
belongs  in  this  application  to  thf 
sudden  sallies  of  intellectual  bright 
ness,  as  when  conversation  is  en 
livened  by  a  sparkling  wit.  Glisten 
(allied  to  glitter)  expresses  a  fitful  but 
soft  light,  especially  as  modified  bx 
moisture.  The  deAvdrop  glistens  o. 
the  glass.     Eyes  glisten  with  tears. 

"  The  bleating  kind 
Eye  the  black  heaven,  and  next  the  glisteH 

ing  earth 
With  looks  of  dumb  despair,  then  sad  dis- 
persed. 
Dig  for  the  wither*  1  herb  tlirongh  heaps  •' 
snow."  Thomsok. 


154 


"  I  saw  a  l>eanty  from  the  sea  to  rise. 
That  all  earth  look'd  on,  and  that  earth 

all  eyes. 
It  cast  a  beam  as  when  the  cheerful  sun 
Zs  fair  j?ot  up,  and  day  some  hours  begun." 
Ben  Joxsox. 

••  Those  nncertain  glimmer ivgi^  of  the 
light  of  Nature  would  have  prepared  the 
minds  of  the  learned  for  the  reception  of 
the  full  illustration  of  this  subject  by  the 
Gospel,  had  not  the  Resurrection  been  a 
part  of  the  doctrine  therein  advanced." — 
Watsox. 
*'  Though  fainter  raptures  my  cold  heart 

inspire. 
Vet  let  me  oft  frequent  this  solemn  scene. 
Oft  to  the  abbey's  shatter'd  walls  retire, 
What  time  the  moonshine   dimly ^toms 
between,"  MiCKLE. 

♦'  Bodies  in  respect  of  light  may  be  di- 
vided into  three  sorts  :  first,  those  that 
emit  rays  of  light,  as  the  sun  and 
fixed  stars.  Secondly,  those  that  transmit 
the  rays  of  light,  as  the  air.  Thirdly,  those 
that  reflect  the  riiys  of  light,  as  iron,  earth, 
&c.  The  first  are  called  luminous,  the  se- 
cond pellucid,  the  third  opake." — LoCKE. 

"  A  reliance  on  genius,  as  it  is  called, 
without   application,   gives  a  boldness  of 
utterance  and  assertion  which  often  sets 
olf  base  metal  with  the  glitter  of  gold." — 
Kxox. 

"  She  observed  to  me  that  she  had 
divers  times  observed  the  like  alterations 
in  some  diamonds  of  hers,  which  sometimes 
would  look  more  sparklingly  than  they 
were  wont,  and  sometimes  more  dull  than 
ordinary." — BoYLE, 

"  Of  gold  shone  her  corouue."  —  R. 
Bruiwe. 

BEAT.    Stuike.     Hit. 

To  Beat  (A.  S.  bedtan)  is  an  act  of 
repetition,  meaning'  to  continue  to 
give  blows.  It  is  the  result  of  repeated 
aims  and  efforts  with  such  implements 
as  are  retained  in  the  hand,  or  with 
the  hand  itself.  It  is,  therefore,  ex- 
clusively the  act  of  an  intelligent 
agent,  voluntary  and  performed  in 
close  proximity  to  the  object.  To 
Strike  (A.  S.  strica,  a  stroke,  a 
point)  is  a  single  act,  though  it  may  be 
successively  renewed.  When  it  is  a 
voluntary  act  it  may  be  by  a  missile 
at  a  distance.  But  it  may  also  be  ac- 
cidental, 'or  purely  mechanical.  A 
missile  or  implement  aimed  at  one 
object  may  strike  another.  To  strike 
denotes  no  more  than  locomotion  end- 
ing in  contact. 

To  Hit  (cf.  Icel.  hitta,  to  hit  upoyi) 
is  to  strike  as  the  result  of  aim,  and 


SYJS^ONYMS  [beat] 

involving  the  idea  of  chances  of  miss- 
ing it.  So  we  speak  of  a  good  or 
lucky  hit.  To  beat  is  alwjiys  designed. 
To  strike  is  designed  or  accidental. 
To  hit  is  the  combined  result  of  pur- 
pose and  chance,  or  of  purpose  acting 
in  contingent  circumstances. 

♦'  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods." — Eng- 
lish Bible. 

"  They  struck  him  with  the  palms  of 
their  hands." — Ibid. 

"  Just  as  we  experience  it  in  the  flint  and 
steel.  You  may  move  them  apart  as  long 
as  you  please  to  very  little  purpose,  but  it 
is  the  hitting  and  collision  of  them  that 
must  make  thera  strike  fire." — Bkxtley. 

BEAT.     Defeat. 

As  these  words  are  used  synony- 
mously, Bkat  is  of  more  extended 
application  than  Df.feat.  Beat  re- 
gards rather  the  power  which  has 
gained  the  victory  ;  Defeat  (  0.  Fr. 
dtfait)  the  condition  to  which  the 
beaten  person  has  been  reduced.  lie 
who  is  beaten  has  fallen  under  Ihe 
power  of  his  opponent;  he  who  is 
defeated  has  been  compelled  by  supe- 
rior force  to  abandon  his  attem])t. 
Power  and  skill  beat,  but  vigilance 
may  defeat ;  that  is  to  say,  Bicat  im- 
plies a  close, wliile  Defeat  admits  also 
of  a  more  indirect  and  remote  compe- 
tition. An  open  competitor  beats; 
an  occult  cause,  an  uncalculated  force, 
and  Unforeseen  contingency,  may  de- 
feat the  best-laid  plans.  Persons  only 
are  beaten,  efforts  also  and  schemes 
are  defeated.  Unsuccessful  competi- 
tors in  a  race  are  beaten  by  the  supe- 
rior activity  of  the  winner,  and  de- 
feated as  regards  their  own  exertions 
to  win.  He  who  is  beaten  is  humi- 
liated. He  who  is  defeated  is  disap- 
pointed. 

"  He  beat  them  in  a  bloo;ly  battle.'' — 
Pkescott. 

"  Yet  Almighty  God  himself  often  com- 
plains how  in  a  manner  his  designs  were 
defeated,  his  desires  thwarted,  his  ofl'ers 
refused,  his  counsels  rejected,  his  expecta- 
tions deceived."~BARROW. 

BEATIFICATION.      Canoniza- 


The  former  (Lat.  beattficare;  bedtut, 
blessed,  and/cYcej-e,  to  make)  is  a  pri- 
vilege more  privately  granted  by  the 
Pope,  to  the  memory  of  certain  persons 


[beautiful] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


166 


to  be  regarded  nfter  death  as  saints, 
whose  hves  Iiave  been  considered  il- 
lustrious for  piety  and  miracles. 

The  latter  (Gr.  x«vovj^(w,  /  J'idge 
bi)  rule)  is  a  more  formal  and  public 
trial  of  the  merits  of  the  deceased, 
pi-evious  10  his  admission  to  the  Ca- 
lendar. This  distinction  may  seem 
partly  to  explain  the  crowd  of  names 
of  saints  which  connect  themselves 
with  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church. 
Both  acts  emanate  from  the  Pontifical 
authority  declaring  the  blessedness 
of  a  departed  person,  and  the  kind  of 
religious  veneration  to  be  paid  to  him. 
In  the  act  of  beatification,  the  Pope 

Eronounces,  as  an  individual ;  using 
is  authority  to  grant  to  private  per- 
sons or  religious  orders  the  privilege 
of  rendering  a  certain  cultus  to  the 
beatified  person,  which  is  then  pro- 
tected from  superstition  by  his  seal 
and  sanction.  In  the  act  of  canoniza- 
tion, he  acts  oflUcially  as  judge,  and 
the  Bull  of  Canonization  becomes  a 
law  of  the  Church  binding  on  all  the 
faithful. 

BEAUTIFUL.  Handsome. 
Pretty.     Lovely.     Fixe. 

Of  these.  Handsome  is  applicable 
to  persons,  to  certain  objects,  and  to 
acts  moral ;  the  rest,  both  to  persons 
and  other  objects  of  sight,  whether 
natural  or  artificial. 

Beautiful  (Fr.  beaute,  Lat.  belCi- 
tatem)  is  the  strongest  of  these,  except, 
perhaps,  Lovely,  but  neither  Beau- 
tiful, PREi"ry,  nor  Lovely  is  applic- 
able to  men,  who  are  never  permitted 
to  be  more  than  Handsome.  Treatises 
Ijave  been  written  for  the  purpose 
of  explaining  wherein  the  idea  or 
feeling  of  the  beautiful  consists.  In 
a  work  like  the  present,  we  have  to 
do  with  it  so  far  as  it  is  practically 
illustrated  by  the  use  of  the  terms. 
The  beautiful  possesses  entirely  that 
which  the  handsome,  the  pretty,  and 
the  fine  possess  in  part.  It  involves 
a  certain  softness  or  delicacy,  which 
makes  it  inapplicable  to  men.  The 
beautiful  comprises  fairness  and  excel- 
lence of  the  parts,  as  constituting  a 
whole  of  the  same  character.  Form, 
colour,  proportion,and  even  movement, 
are  included  in  it.  The  beautiful  face 
is  j»erfect  in  all  its  features,  in  com- 


plexion, and  in  symmetry.  The  beau- 
tiful landscape  is  an  assemblage  of 
admirable  objects  balanced  and  con- 
trasted in  form,  gi-ouping,  and  colour- 
ing, as  an  artist  would  desire  ;  being 
also  soft  and  striking.  The  beautifiil 
is  often  the  result  of  association  of 
ideas  in  the  mind  of  the  person.  A 
beautiful  smile,  for  instance,  is  an  as- 
sociated influence.  Yet  we  may  well 
believe  that  tliere  is  a  primitive  in- 
fluence in  form,  to  produce  that  kind 
of  emotion  which  enters  into  the  com- 
positions of  fine  art. 

"  In  like  manner  I  have  heard  it  ob- 
served by  thoughtless  people,  that  there  are 
a  few  women  possessed  of  beauty  in  compa- 
*  nson  of  tliose  who  want  it;  not  considering 
that  we  bestow  the  epithet  of  beautiful  only 
on  such  persons  as  possess  a  degree  of  beauty 
that  is  common  to  them  with  a  few." — 
Hume. 

.  The  beautiful  woman,  like  the  beau- 
tiful landscape,  is  an  assemblage  of 
admirable  objects,  yet  with  all  this 
she  may  not  be  Lev  ely.  This  implies 
the  supei-addition  to  external  beauty 
of  an  exquisite  delicacy ;  and  the  stamp 
of  those  moral  graces  of  purity  and 
tenderness,  without  which  physical 
beauty,  however  striking,  falls  short 
of  being  lovely. 

"  Beauty  is  an  over-weening  self-sufficient 
thing,  careless  of  providing  itself  any  more 
substantial  ornaments;  nay,  so  little  does 
it  consult  its  own  interests,  that  it  too  often 
defeats  itself  by  betraying  that  innocence 
which  renders  it  lovdy  and  desirable." — 
Spectator. 

Handsome  (derived  from  hand,  and 
the  tennination  -some,  like  the  German 
-sam)  is  a  term  of  the  second  class  of 
admiration.  It  meant  at  first  dex- 
terous, and,  reflexively,  handy,  and 
then  comely ;  as  expressing  nvore 
than  pretty,  and  less  than  beautiful. 
There  are  certain  associations  con- 
nected with  the  handsome,  which 
seem  a  little  arbiti*ary  and  hard  to 
account  for.  It  is  easier  to  note  them. 
For  instance,  men,  women ;  horses, 
do^s,and  other  animals ;  tiees,dresses, 
articles  of  furniture,  houses,  parks ; 
but  not  views  or  prosj)ects.  The 
Handsome  denotes  a  coinbination  of 
the  fair  or  comely  and  the  bold.  A 
slight  figure,  a  face  of  small  features, 
is  not  handsome.  It  does  not  imply 
so  strict  an  adherence  to  rule  as  beauly 


156 


SYNONYMS  [becoming] 


Without  being  regularly  beautiful,  a 
face  may  be  handsome  if  it  is  finely, 
though  not  exactly  formed.  The  term, 
when  a])plied  morally  to  actions,  re- 
tains that  second-rate  quality  which 
belongs  to  it,  as  an  epithet  of  what  is 
admirable  physically.  The  handsome 
act  is  not  of  the  highest  description, 
not  one  of  self-devotion,  or  heroic 
generosity,  but  of  liberality,  and  of 
something  more  than  fairness — a  libe- 
ral kindness  of  giving  where  less 
liberality  would  have  been  quite  con- 
sistent with  justice.  Nor,  again,  is 
Handsome  applied  physically  to  ob- 
jects of  small  size.  The  handsome 
implies  a  certain  scale  beyond  the 
Pretty  (etym.  uncertain),  which  be- 
longs to  the  little  in  form,  nor  is  the 
beauty  which  it  denotes  of  a  high 
order,  but  a  combination  of  delicacy 
and  gi-ace ;  yet,  inasmuch  as  we  do  not 
prefer  by  rule,  it  may  be  more  win- 
ning than  the  other. 

"  The  Romans  were  so  convinced  of  the 
power  of  beauty,  that  the  word  '  fortis,' 
strong  or  valiant,  signifies  likewise,  fair  or 
handsmne.'" — Fawkes. 

"  If  tall,  tht  name  of  proper  stays ; 

If  fair,  she's  pleasant  as  the  light. 

If  low,  her  prettiness  does  please." 
Cowley. 
^  Fine  (Fr.  Jin,  fine,  slender;  Lat. 
i\nitus,  finished  )  seems  to  have  taken  to 
itself  by  usage  a  force  not  originally  be- 
longing to  it:  the  fine,  being  the  slender 
or  highly  finished,  as  we  speak  of  a  fine 
line,  has  come  to  mean  also  that  which 
is  not  little,  and  implies  a  certain  degree 
of  size  and  conspicuousness.  In  short 
it  is  op])osed  to  coarse  (which  is  the 
same  as  courses  current,  or  ordinary), 
and  hence  denotes  that  which  is  no 
ordinary  thing  of  its  kind,  thus  invol- 
ving characteristic  excellences,  and 
excluding  specific  defects. 

"  The  fine  original  of  Thomas  Howard, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  with  the  staves  of  Earl 
Marshal  and  Lord  Treasurer,  from  wheni.e 
the  print  is  taken,  is  at  Leicester  House." — 
Walpolk. 

Beauty  involves  a  degree  of  fine- 
ness which  prettiness  excludes.  Soft- 
ness and  symmetry  without  size  are 
the  characteristics  of  prettiness.  A 
pretty  landscape  is  pleasing.  Beauti- 
ful scenery  is  strikingly  attractive. 
Fine  acenery  may  be  beautiful,  but 


contains  also  elements  of  the  bold 
and  grand.  Beautiful  thoughts  have 
a  loftiness  and  power  of  sentiment 
and  expression.  Fine  thoughts  are 
elevating,  and  clothed  in  choice  ex- 
pressions. Pretty  ideas  have  a  clever 
and  unsubstantial  grace,  which  fita 
them  for  versification. 

BECOMING.  Decent.  Proper. 
Seemly. 

The  Bkcoming  (of  which  the  deri- 
vation speaks  for  itself)  expresses  that 
which  is  harmoniously  graceful  or 
attractive  from  fitness.  The  becoming 
sits  well  upon  the  person.  A  becom- 
ing dress  is  congruous  with  the  height, 
appearance,  age,  and  station  of  the 
wearer.  Unbecoming  conduct  reflects 
discredit  upon  the  character  and  con- 
dition of  the  person  so  behaving. 
Modesty  is  becoming  in  youth,  gravity 
in  a  judge.  An  innocent  cheerfulness 
of  disposition  is  never  unbecoming  in 
any.  A  remark  may  be  unbecoming 
in  certain  society,  or  at  a  certain  time 
or  place,  which  might  otherwise  have 
been  made  unobjectionably.  The  be- 
coming is  always  in  external  manifes- 
tation, though  it  may  be  regulated  by 
moral  or  abstract  princij)les.  It  al- 
ways relates  to  persons. 

"  He  received  the  homage  of  the  people 
with  becoming  dignity." — Bkydoke. 

The  Decent  (  Lat.  deccre,  to  become), 
like  the  Becoming,  is  external  or  in- 
ternal. It  is  a  graver  term,  turning 
more  upon  moral  fitness.  It  has  a 
restrictive  or  negative,  rather  than  a 
positive  force.  It  is  praise  to  say  of  a 
thing  that  it  is  Becoming.  It  is  only 
right  that  it  should  be  decent.  The 
decent  is  that  species  of  the  becoming 
which  results  from  the  absence  of 
laxity  or  excess,  and  has  no  meaning 
of  the  positively  graceful.  A  person 
becomingly  dressed  is  an  agreeable 
object.  A  person  decently  clad  has 
appropriate  and  sufficient  clothing, 
and  possibly  no  more.  Decency  is 
such  a  measure  of  attention  to  moral, 
personal,  and  social  requirements,  aa 
is  demanded  by  the  rules  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  we  live.  Hence  de- 
cency is  based  upon  a  modest  defe- 
rence to  the  exactions  of  nature  and 
society,  while  a  defiant  disregard  of 
these  is  indecent. 


[bEGINNTNG]  DI8CKIMINATED. 


"As  beauty  of  body  with  an  tigreeable 
carriage  pleases  the  eye,  and  that  pleasure 
:»n8ists  in  that  we  observe  all  the  parts, 
with  a  certain  elegance,  are  proportioned  to 
each  other,  so  does  decency  of  behaviour, 
which  appears  in  our  lives,  obtain  the  ap- 
probation of  all  with  whom  we  converse 
from  the  order,  constancy,  and  moderation 
of  our  words  and  actions." — Spectator. 

Proper  (Lat.  proprius)  means  pri- 
marily, peculiarly  connected,  or  speci- 
fically belonging.  Hence  in  this  con- 
nexion it  implies  an  adaptation  to 
a  character,  person,  end,  or  purpose 
morally.  Propriety  is  moral  fitness, 
and  involves  conformity  to  a  law 
of  association.  It  is  a  principle  which 
regulates  the  minor  and  more  ordinary 
matters  of  life.  Hence  an  impropriety 
falls  short  of  a  crime,  and  is  an  offence 
against  rule,  order,  taste,  custom,  and 
the  like.  Like  Decent,  it  denotes  the 
fulfilment  of  a  standard-requirement, 
and  no  more.  It  is  a  term  of  approval 
rather  than  of  praise.  A  proper  ex- 
pression fairly  represents  its  subject, 
and  conforms  to  the  usage  of  lan- 
guage, and  has  no  blamable  signifi- 
cance ;  an  improper  expression  would 
be  the  contrary  of  these. 

"  Visitors  are  no  proper  companions  ib 
the  chamber  of  sickness." — Johnson. 

Seemly,  that  which  beseems,  or 
seems  well,  occupies  a  middle  place 
between  Deck  NT  and  Becoming, being 
more  than  the  first  and  less  than  the 
second.  As  propriety  is  a  thing  of 
rule,  seemliness  is  a  thing  of  taste ; 
the  former  belongs  to  the  nature  of 
things,  the  latter" to  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  them. 

"  I  cannot  understand  that  any  man's 
bare  perception  of  the  natural  seemliness 
of  one  action  and  unseerniiness  of  another 
should  bring  him  under  an  obligation  on 
all  occasions  to  do  the  one,  and  avoid  the 
other  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  to  the  de- 
triment of  his  fortune,  or  even  to  the  dimi- 
nution of  his  own  ease." — Bishop  Hakley. 

BEGGAR.     Mendicant. 

He  who  Begs  (prob.  A.  S.  bed-ec- 
lan,  contracted  into  beggen  :  Skeat's 
Etym.  Diet.),  though  generally  con- 
nected with  bag  into  which  the  beg- 
gar puts  alms  or  scraps  of  food,  is  so 
far  a  Beggar. 

The  Mendicant  (Lat.  mendicare, 
<o  beg)  expresses  more  formally  one 
•^hose  trade  is  begging,  as  in  the  case   \ 


157 


of  the  Mendicant  Friars  of  the  Churcb 
of  Rome, 

BEGIN.    Commence. 

Begin  (A.  S.  beginnan)  and  Com 
MENCE  (Fr.  commencer)  are  employed 
with  slight  differences.  Thus  Begin 
sometimes  refers  only  to  time  or  order, 
while  Coaimence  implies  action.  Tht 
alphabet  begins,  but  could  not  be  said 
to  commence  with  the  letter  A.  So 
to  enter  upon  a  new  state  may  be  ex- 
pressed by  Begin,  but  not  by  Com- 
mence, as  "after  walkin^^twenty  miles 
I  began  to  feel  tired."  The  same  ap- 
plies to  an  alteration  of  mind,  thought, 
or  opinion.  * '  I  begin  to  think  that  after 
all  you  are  mistaken."  Commence 
commonly  applies  as  a  verb  directly 
to  its  object,  which  is  some  work  or 
thing  to  be  done,  and  if  the  subject 
be  anything  else,  the  term  Commence 
should  be  dispensed  with.  It  is  an 
absurdity,  for  instance,  to  say  :  *'  At 
this  part  of  the  performance,  the  au- 
dience commenced  to  show  signs  of 
weariness."  The  opposite  to  begin  is 
end,  the  opposite  to  commence  is  com- 
pete. Begin  is  used  also  in  the  pe- 
cu/tiar  sense  of  being  the  first  to  do  a 
thing,  as  distinguished  from  the  act 
of  prosecution,  or  joint  action  on  the 
part  of  another.  James  is  most  to 
blame,  for  it  is  he  that  began  the 
quarrel.  Like  all  words  of  Latin 
origin  (for  the  Lat.  tivitium,  a  begin- 
ning,is  at  the  root  of  the  French  coni' 
mencer,  Lat.  com-Vn^iare),  Commence 
has  a  more  dignified  character  than 
Begin.  Formal  and  public  transac- 
tions, ceremonies,  and  the  like,  are 
said  to  commence ;  common,  and  fa- 
miliar things  to  begin. 

"  But  to  begin  that  which  never  was, 
whereof  there  was  no  example,  whereto 
there  was  no  inclination,  wherein  there 
was  no  possibility  of  that  which  it  should  be, 
is  proper  only  to  such  power  as  Thine,  the 
infinite  power  of  an  infinite  Creator."— 
Bishop  Hall. 

"  On  the  29th,  the  Queen  removed  to  St. 
James's,  passing  through  the  park,  and  took 
her  barge  at  Whitehall,  and  so  to  Rich- 
mond, in  order  to  her  progress,  which  was 
chiefly  commenced  to  meet  her  beloved,  the 
Prince  of  Spain."— Strypk. 

BEGINNING.  Commencement. 
Origin.    Original.    Rise.    Source. 

The  distinction  between  the  nouns 


158 


SYNONYMS  [BEGINNING 


Beginning  and  Commencement  is 
concurrent  with  that  between  the 
verbs  begin  and  commence,  as  given 
above.  It  follows  from  these  con- 
siderations that  Beginning  is  a  term 
more  proximately  connected  with  its 
subject  than  Commencement.  The 
beginning  of  a  thing  is  that  part  of 
it  which  is  first  in  order,  whether  of 
observation  or  action.  The  com- 
mencement of  a  thing  is  that  which 
results  in  the  thing  itself.  The  com- 
mencement of  hostilities  between  two 
nations  might  be  the  grievance  or  ex- 
citing cause  of  them ;  the  beginning 
could  only  be  the  full  overt  act  of 
fighting. 

Origin  (Lat.  (inginem)  is  used  both 
for  the  first  cause  of  a  thing,  and  also, 
with  less  propriety,  for  the  beginning 
or  earlier  part  of  it.  Original  was 
once  used  in  the  same  way,  but  has 
come  to  undergo  a  scientific  restric- 
tion— e.g.,  some  believe  the  wolf  to  be 
the  original  of  the  dog.  It  has  the 
peculiar  sense  of  type  or  earlier  form 
from  which  a  later  form  is  naturally 
or  artificially  derived.  The  original 
of  a  picture  or  a  writing  is  opposed  to 
a  copy  or  a  translation.  Hence,  origi- 
nal expresses  a  substantial  form ; 
origin  an  ideal  cause,  or  a  cause  as 
conceived  in  the  mind.  Origin  is  a 
term  which  admits  of  complex  and 
abstract  thought.  For  instance,  the 
origin  of  evil  is  a  subject  of  profound, 
and  perhaps  fruitless,  speculation. 

Rise  (Sax.  risan)  is  a  more  prac- 
tical and  familiar  term,  as  Origin  is 
more  speculative.  Among  quarrel- 
some persons  a  very  trivial  matter  will 
give  rise  to  dispute.  Rise  often  means 
that  early  portion  of  a  thing's  exis- 
tence in  which  the  origin  having  taken 
place,  the  thing  is  still  in  a  state  of 
progressive  development — as  the  his- 
toric rise,  progress,  and  decline  of  the 
Roman  Empire. 

Sou  RC  e  (  Fr.  source,  from  the  Lat.  sur- 
g'cre,  to  rise,  through  a  late  fonn,  sursa : 
Brachet)  conveys  the  additional 
idea  of  something  which  can  be  re- 
feiTed  to  as  an  origin,  whether  in  the 
mind  only,  by  way  of  account,  or 
actually,  and  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing material  results ;  aa  in  the  one 
case,  when  we  trace  an  evil  to  its  source, 


or  in  the  other  when  we  are  said  to  ex- 
haust every  source  of  pleasure;  the 
teinn  Source  thus  involving  a  conti- 
nuous supply.  Source  and  Origin, 
though  they  are  of  course  used  also 
analogously,  both  refer  to  physical  not 
logical  sequence.  A  source  of  infor- 
mation is  not  only  the  point  at  which 
our  infonnation  begins,  nor  that 
whence  it  flows  to  us,  but  also  that  to 
which,  as  to  a  spring  or  fountain,  we 
may  recur  to  draw  fresh  diaughts  of 
knowledge.  Consciousness  of  right 
is  a  source  of  fortitude — that  is,  sup- 
plies continuously  the  power  of  en- 
durance. Origin,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  not  expressive  of  continued  action 
or  operation,  so  that  it  may  possibly 
denote  no  more  than  a  cause  which 
acted  for  a  while,  and  then  passed 
away.  Families,dynasties,  discoveries, 
languages,  nations,  facts,  have  their 
origins,  which  are  the  circumstances 
to  which  the  mind  refers  as  having 
brouo^ht  them  about.  Casual  meet- 
ings have  proved  the  origins  of  friend- 
ships which  have  afterwards  been 
sources  of  much  happiness.  Gene- 
rally speaking,  the  origin  is  plain  or 
obscure,  the  source  fruitful  or  barren. 
The  origin  is  the  beginning  of  things 
which  have  sequence  or  continuity. 
The  source  is  that  kind  of  beginning 
which  produces  succession.  The  ori- 
gin gives  birth  to  what  before  had 
none.  The  source  opens  out  what 
before  it  contained  in  itself.  Every- 
thing in  its  origin  is  small  until  it 
grows.  Everything  in  its  source  is 
weak  until  it  strengthens.  It  is 
curious  knowledge  which  teaches  us 
the  origin  of  things.  It  is  practical 
wisdom  which  sends  us  to  their  source. 
It  is  the  due  consideration  of  time, 
occasion,  and  opportunity,  which  de- 
termines the  commencement  of  pro- 
ceedings. Almost  every  subject  of 
thought  or  action  of  which  the  mind 
takes  cognizance  may  be  resolved 
into  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end. 
When  we  know  the  beginning  of  a 
quarrel,  we  know  how  long  it  has 
lasted. 

"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and 
the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  waa 
God."— English  Bible. 

"  Iq  the  last  Lecture,  the  aatare  and 


[behold] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


159 


origin  of  the  Hebrew  Elegy  was  explaineil, 
the  form  and  commencement  of  that  species 
of  poetry  was  traced  into  the  solemn  dirges 
which  are  chanted  at  funerals  by  the  pro- 
fessed monruers." — LoWTH. 

"  This  mixed  system  of  opinion  and  senti- 
ment had  itsorigin  in  the  ancient  chivalry." 
— BlRKE. 

"  If  there  is  any  one  English  word  which 
is  become  virtually  literal  in  its  metaphorical 
application,  it  is  the  word  source.  Who  is  it 
that  ever  thought  of  a  spring  or  fountain 
of  water  in  speaking  of  God  as  the  source 
of  existence,  of  the  sun  as  the  source  of 
light,  and  of  land  as  one  of  the  sources  of 
natural  wealth,  or  of  sensation  and  reflexion 
as  the  only  sources,  according  to  Locke,  of 
human  knowledge?  propositions  which  it 
would  not  be  easy  to  enunciate  in  any  other 
way."— DcGALD  Stewart. 

"  O  glotonie,  full  of  cursednesse, 
O  cause  first  of  our  confusion, 
O  original  of  our  damnation  1 " 

Chaucer. 

"  All  wickedness  takes  its  rise  from  the 
heart."— Nelson. 

BEHAVIOUR.  Demeanour. 
Conduct. 

Behaviour  (A.  S.  behaibban;  for 
change  of  meaning,  see  Skeat,  Etym. 
Diet!)  refers  to  all  those  actions 
which  are  open  to  the  observation  of 
others  as  well  as  those  which  are 
B;jecifically  directed  to  others.  As 
behaviour  refers  more  especially  to 
actions,  so  Di.meanour  (Fr.  demeiier, 
to  lead  or  conduct)  refers  more  directly 
to  manners;  or  in  other  words,  Di- 
MEANOUR  regards  one's  self,  Bf.ha- 
viouR  regards  others.  A  man's  demea- 
nour may  be  a  question  of  taste,  his 
behaviour  is  a  moral  question.  He 
demeans  himself  well  who  has  self- 
respect.  He  behaves  well  who  lias 
respect  to  others.  The  two  are  very 
closely  allied,  because  all  conduct  in 
society,  whether  intended  to  do  so  or 
not,  affects  others  than  the  actor  him- 
self, at  least  indirectly.  VVJien  Queen 
Elizabeth  boxed  the  ears  of  the  Earl 
of  Essex,  her  behaviour  was  undigni- 
fied and  insulting,  and  the  proceeding 
was  too  demonstrative  to  be  a  question 
of  demeanour  only. 

"  We  are  not,  perhaps,  at  liberty  to  take 
for  granted  that  the  lives  of  the  preachers 
of  Christianity  were  as  perfect  as  tl.eir  les- 
sons, but  we  are  eatitled  to  contend  that 
the  observable  part  of  iheir  he/uiviour  must 
have  agreed  in  a  great  measure  with  the 
«latiea  which  they  taught." — Palkt. 


"  I  have  been  told  the  same  e  /en  of 
Mahometans,  with  relation  to  the  propriety 
of  their  danemiour  in  the  conventions  of 
their  erroneous  worship." — Toiler. 

As  Behaviour  belongs  to  the  minor 
morals  of  society,  so  Conduct  (L.  Lat 
co7iductus,  guard,  escort)  to  the  grave; 
questions  of  personal  life.  But  con- 
duct may  be  intellectually  tested  as 
well  as  morally.  A  man  behaves 
himself  well  or  ill ;  he  conducts  him- 
self well  or  ill,  ably  or  inefficiently. 
Behaviour  should  be  seemly,  conduct 
should  be  wise.  We  speak  of  a  man's 
behaviour  in  the  social  circle,  of  his 
conduct  in  his  family,  as  a  citizen,  or 
in  life.  Good  conduct  is  meritorious 
and  virtuous.  Good  behaviour  may 
be  natural  or  artificial.  The  con- 
duct has  relation  to  the  station  of  men's 
lives,  or  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  placed.  Good  conduct  wil5 
include  right  behaviour  as  a  part  o^ 
it,  and  a  proper  demeanour  will  flow 
necessarily  out  of  it. 

•'  Wisdom  is  no  less  necessary  in  religioas 
an  1  moral,  than  in  civil  conduct." — BX.AIE. 

BEHOLD.  See.  Look.  View. 
Eve.  Contemplate.  Regard.  Oa 
SERVE.     Perceive.     Scan. 

Behold  (A.S.  behealdan,  to  hold,  to 
observe)  denotes  a  looking  with  fixed 
observation.  We  behold  only  objects 
of  some  size  and  importance,  as  being 
worthy  of  such  fixea  observation.  It 
may  indicate  the  lowest  degree  of  it, 
and  may  be  the  result  of  accident. 
"  As  I  was  passing,  I  beheld  such  an 
one  so  engaged,"  means  little  more 
than  1  saw  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
**  I  beheld  him  with  gladness,"  implies 
more  of  such  interest,  but  the  interest 
is  independent.  No  more  is  neces- 
sarily implied  in  beholding  than  an 
attentive  looking.  It  is  a  voluntary 
act,  and  involves  a  sustained  regard, 
which  is  more  prolonged  and  serious 
than  Looking  (A.S.  locian,  to  look 
upon),  which  is  an  action  precedent  to 
Seeing.  As  soon  as  we  turn  the 
er  ?s  in  the  direction  of  an  object, 
and  before  it  has  made  a  full  and  dis- 
tinct impression  upon  the  eye.  we 
have  begun  to  look  at  it.  I  am  look- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  object  which 
you  describe,  but  I  cannot  see  it. 
The  object  of  seeing  is  not,  therefor*. 


160 


always  obtained  by  looking.  Hence 
the  term  is  used  in  tbe  general  sense 
df  presenting  an  aspect  in  a  certain 
direction,  as  when  we  say  of  a  house 
that  it  looks  to  the  north.  Distinct 
perception  of  objects  is  less  involved 
in  this  than  in  any  of  the  correspon- 
dent terms. 

"  ITieu  came  Jesus  forth,  wearing  the 
cro\Yn  of  thorns  and  the  purple  robe,  and 
Pilate  saith  unto  them :  Behold  the 
man." — English  Bible. 

"  The  emotions  produced  by  Tragedy  are 
upon  this  supposition  somewhat  analogous 
to  the  dread  we  feel  when  we  look  down  from 
the  battlement  of  a  tower." — Stewart. 

See  (A.  S.  seon)  is  the  result  of 
voluntary  or  involuntary  looking.  To 
see  involves  no  more  sustained  or 
specific  exercise  of  the  faculty  of 
vision  than  is  necessary  to  be  aware 
of  the  existence  or  proximity  of  an 
object,  and  is  therefore  applicable  to 
such  rapidly  passing  objects  as  from 
their  very  rapidity  would  not  allow  of 
being  beheld  or  looked  at.  The  flash 
of  lightning  is  only  just  seen  and  dis- 
appears. To  see  a  thing  is  to  take 
cognizance  of  it,  so  that  those  who 
have  their  eyes  open  cannot  help  see- 
ing. If  you  look  at  the  moon,  you 
may  see  its  shape.  In  a  secondary 
sense,  on  looking  at  a  question,  we 
sometimes  see  the  difficulties  with 
which  it  is  surrounded.  In  regard  to 
the  faculty  of  sight,  as  employed  in 
this  secondary  sense,  Reid  has  the 
following  remark: — 

"  It  is  not  without  reason  that  the  faculty 
of  seeing  is  looked  upon  not  only  as  more 
noble  than  the  other  senses,  but  as  having 
something  in  it  of  a  nature  superior  to 
sensation.  The  evidence  of  reason  is  called 
seeing,  not  feeling,  smelling,  or  tasting. 
Yea,  we  are  wont  to  express  the  manner  of 
the  divine  knowledge  by  seeing,  as  that  kind 
of  knowledge  which  is  most  perfect  in  us." 

"  The  organ  of  seeing  is  the  eye,  consist- 
mg  of  a  variety  of  parts  wonderfully  con- 
trived for  the  admitting  and  refracting  the 
rays  of  light,  so  that  those  that  come  from 
the  same  point  of  the  object,  and  fall  upon 
different  parts  of  the  pupil,  are  brought  to 
meet  again  at  the  bottom  of  the  eye,  where- 
by the  whole  object  is  painted  on  the  retina 
that  is  spread  there." — Locke. 

Curiosity  prompts  us  to  look,  inte- 
rest causes  us  to  behold,  and  nature 
enables  us  to  see.  When  the  person 
looks,  the  eye  sees.  As  it  has  been 
observed  that  we  may  look  without 


SYNONYMS  [behold] 

seeing,  so  it  is  also  true  that  we  may 
see  without  looking,  as  when  I  see  an 
object  in  one  direction,  though  I  am 
looking  in  another.  The  exercise  of  the 
mind  is  so  necessary  to  beholding  that 
we  speak  of  infants  as  looking,  never 
beholding,  for  the  feeling  cannot  rise 
above  curiosity.  I  sometimes  look  at 
finery,  in  which  I  have  very  little  in- 
terest. I  behold  the  forest  tree  in 
admiration  of  its  grandeur,  or  some 
spectacle  which  meets  my  view  with 
astonishment,  pity,  love,  hatred,  or 
contempt. 

To  Eye,  is  to  regard  indirectly  but 
earnestly,  as  gratifying  some  passion, 
or  as  under  the  influence  of  some  emo 
tion  or  desire  of  which  we  are  anxious 
to  give  no  manifestation.  The  lover 
eyes  his  rival's  movements  with 
jealousy,  the  envious  man  eyes  with 
envy  the  indication  of  wealth  or  great- 
ness in  another. 

"  What  but  faith,  eyeing  the  prize,  will 
quicken  us  to  run  patiently  the  race  that 
is  set  before  us." — Barrow. 

A  more  exact  and  scrutinizing  ob- 
servation is  expressed  by  Contem- 
PLATE  (Lat.  contempldri,  part,  contem- 
platus).  It  indicates  such  a  sustained 
notice  as  extends  to  the  distinctive 
nature  of  a  thing.  It  is  sometimes 
used  of  the  purely  ideal,  as  to  contem- 
plate a  possibility  or  a  project,  in 
which  case  it  has  a  force  equivalent  to 
imagine  and  intend.  Meditate  is  also 
used  in  this  sense,  and  is,  in  some  re- 
spects,a  synonym  with  Contemplate. 
In  regard  to  this,  we  may  observe 
that  we  may  contemplate  sensible 
objects,  present  and  future  things ;  but 
can  only  meditate  on  actions,  qualities, 
and  contingencies,  or  past  events. 
The  starry  heavens,  or  the  setting  or 
rising  sun,  are  fit  objects  of  contem- 
plation ;  the  attributes  of  the  Creator, 
the  ingratitudeofman,  or  his  combined 
strength  and  weakness,  his  virtues,  or 
his  successes,  are  common  subjects  of 
meditation.  As  used  in  the  sense  of 
intending.  Contemplate  bears  more 
directly  on  the  intended  action  than 
meditate.  We  contemplate  what  we 
distinctly  intend;  we  meditate  what 
we  think  we  shall  one  day  undertake. 
But  in  the  simpler  meaning  of  con- 
template,  we   have   to    recognize    a 


[belief] 


strong  action  of  the  mind.  For  further 
remarks,  see  jMeditatk. 

"  Some  few  others  sought  after  Him 
(God),  but  Aristotle  saith,  as  the  Geometer 
doth  after  a  right  line  only,  if  Ssariif  tou  a^n- 
4oo{  as  a  contemplator  of  truth  ;  but  not  as 
the  knowledge  of  it  is  any  way  useful  or 
conducible  to  the  ordering  or  bettering  of 
their  lives." — Hammoxd. 

As  we  contemplate  to  get  an  intelli- 
gent, so  we  view  or  scan  to  get  a 
general  impression.  To  Scan  (Lat. 
scundere,  to  clhnb)  is  to  take  a  rapid, 
as  to  View  (O.  Fr.  veu,  part,  of  voir) 
is  to  take  a  more  leisurely  observation. 
We  scan  curiously,  by  rapidly  noting 
one  point  after  another  ;  we  view  by 
taking  in  the  whole  at  once. 

"  Viewing  things  ou  every  side,  observing 
how  far  consequences  reach,  and  proceeding 
to  collect  and   hear  evidence,  till  reason 
saith  there  needs  no  more,  is  grievous  labour 
to  indolence  and   impatience,  and   by   no 
means  answers  the  ends  of  conceit  and  affec- 
tation."—Secker. 
"  Who,  finite,  will  attempt  to  scan 
The  works  of  Him  that's  infinitely  wise !  " 
POMFRET. 

To  Regard  (Fr.  regarder)  has  a 
moral  and  discriminative  force.  It 
implies  certain  feelings,  or  a  judgment 
accompanying  the  observation.  We 
regard  a  thing  with  pleasure,  dislike, 
satisfaction,  disgust,  and  tlie  like  ;  or 
we  regard  it  as  important  or  unim- 
portnnt,  as  an  indication  of  somethmg 
else,  or  as  likely  to  lead  to  certain 
consequences;  while  Observe  (Lat. 
bservdre)  is  to  look  at  for  tlie  purpose 
if  noting  facts  connected  with  the 
object,  its  circumstances,  or  proper- 
ties. Pehceive  (Lat.  perciptre)  ex- 
presses the  active  and  intelligent  ex- 
ercise of  the  faculty  of  sight.  We 
observe  carefully  or  superficially,  we 
perceive  distinctly  or  confusedly.  A  n 
animal  watches'  the  movements  of 
another  animal,  a  naturalist  observes 
them.  That  which  we  perceive  has 
always  some  interest  for  us.  That 
which  we  see  may  have  none  at  all. 
We  perceive  as  the  result  of  an  effort 
to  see.  Some  stars  are  too  remote  to 
be  perceived  by  the  eye.  One  sees  in 
a  foce  much,  perhaps,  to  constitute 
Deauty,  yet  may  perceive,  by  looking 
more  closely  at  it,  a  lurking  expression 
of  some  unamiable  quality.  We  view 
things   for    the   sake  of  general  im- 


DISCKIMINATED. 


161 


pressions,  we  contemplate  thorn  when 
we  supply  their  associations ;  we  ob- 
serve them  when  we  desire  to  gain  a 
distinctive  knowledge  of  them. 

"He  valued  his  religion  beyond  his  own 
safety,  and  regardtd  not  all  the  calumnies 
and  reproaches  of  his  enemies  as  long  as  he 
made  this  his  constant  exercise,  to  keep  a 
conscience  void  of  otience  towards  God,  and 
towards  men." — Stillixgfleet. 
"  But  pardon,  too,  if  zealous  for  tlie  right, 
A  street  observer  of  each  noble  flight ; 
From  the  fine  gold  I  separate  the  allay. 
And   show   how   hasty  writers  sometimes 
stray,"  Drydex. 

"Jupiter  made  all  things,  and  all  things 
whatsoever  exist  are  the  works  of  Jupiter- 
rivei-s  and  earth,  and  sea,  and  heaven,  and 
what  are  between  these  ;  and  gods  and 
men,  and  all  other  animals— whatsoever 
is  perceivable,  either  by  sense  or  by  the 
mind." — CuDWORTH. 

BELIEF.  Credit.  Trust.  Faith. 
Affiance. 

Belief  (A.  S.  ge-lufan)  is  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  fact  or  statement  as  true 
without  immediate  knowledge ;   and 
admits  of  all  degrees,  fiom  suspicion 
or  surmise  to  moral  conviction.  It  is  the 
widest  of  all  these  terms,  the  rest  being 
forms  of  belief.    Belief  is  an  assent  of 
the  understanding  to  a  thing  as  pro- 
bable or  true.     This  may  or  may  not 
be  on  logical  or  sufficient  grounds. 
Belief  is  confidence  in  a  certain  se- 
quence ofthings, whether  ideas  or  facts, 
whereby  one   phenomenon  succeeds 
another.      In   its  simplest  and  rudi- 
mentary  forms   belief  exists   in   tlie 
minds  of  irrational  animals  and  infants. 
The  philosopher  believes  that  a  cer- 
tain chemical  combination  will  pro- 
duce a  certain  effect.   The  savage  may 
believe  that  a  charm,  an  incantation, 
or  a  sacrifice  will  jiroduce  the  same 
result.     The  stag  believes  in  a  con- 
nexion between  the  glistening  brook 
and  the  satisfaction  of  his  thii-st,tliough 
he  cannot  pass  beyond  such  particular 
belief  to  siich  as  are  founded  on  gene- 
ralizations.    Belief  may  be  stated  in 
positive  or  negative  propositions,  but 
this  is  a  difference  only  of  form :  the 
mental  state  expressed  by  belief  is  one 
and  the  same.     Belief  will  affect  our 
minds  very  differently,  according  as  it 
is  an  a^su'l^(e  of  a  coming  good  or  a 
comin?  evil — the  absence  or  the  pre- 


162 


flence  of  the  desirable,  the  probability 
or  improbability  of  a  o^ain  or  a  loss,  a 
pleasure  or  a  pain.  This  belief  has  to 
do  with  human  action  and  happiness, 
which  are  only  very  remotely  con- 
nected with  such  scientific  belief  as  is 
purely  speculative,  as  for  instance  that 
the  earth  is  an  oblate  spheroid.  The 
sources  of  belief  have  been  divided 
into  three.  The  Intuitive  or  Instinc- 
tive, Personal  Experience,  and  the 
Influence  of  the  Emotions.  These  may 
be  and  generally  are  more  or  less  in- 
termixed. 

"  That  there  is  satisfactory  evidence  that 
many  professing  to  be  original  witnesses  of 
the  Christian  miracles  passed  their  lives  in 
labour,  dangers,  and  sufferings,  voluntarily 
undergone  in  attestation  of  the  accounts 
which  they  delivered,  and  solely  in  conse- 
quence of  their  belief  of  those  accounts  ;  and 
that  they  also  submitted  from  the  same 
motives  to  rules  of  conduct." — Palev. 

Credit  (Lat.  crcdtre,  part,  criditus, 
to  believe)  and  Trust  (connected  with 
true),  on  the  other  hand,  owe  their 
force  to  something  more  than  external 
facts  of  evidence.  I  give  credit  to  a 
statement  because  of  some  apparent 
worthiness  of  belief  either  in  the  thing 
itself  or  in  the  person  who  communi- 
cates it.  Trust  is  less  purely  intellec- 
tual and  more  practical  than  belief 
and  credit.  It  is,  in  short,  a  practical 
reliance  upon  a  person  or  object, 
grounded  on  abelief  that  it  is  adapted 
to,  or  worthy  of  it.  I  trust  the  phy- 
sician, his  word,  or  his  medicine.  We 
sometimes  trust  ice  that  is  not  solid, 
persons  that  are  dishonest,  opinions 
that  are  unsound. 

•'  Sith  the  ground  of  credit  is  the  credi- 
bility of  things  credited,  and  things  are 
made  credible  either  by  the  known  con- 
dition of  the  ntterer  or  by  the  manifest 
likelihood  of  truth  which  they  have  in 
themselves,  hereupon  it  riseth,  that  what- 
soever we  are  persuaded  of,  the  same  we  are 
generally  said  to  believe." — Hookkr. 

"  In  a  word,  every  man  implicitly  trusts 
nis  bodily  senses  concerning  external  ob- 
jects placed  at  a  convenient  distance,  and 
eveiy  man  may  with  as  good  a  reason  put 
even  a  greater  trust  in  the  perceptions  of 
which  he  is  conscious  in  his  own  mind." — 
Bishop  Harlky. 

Faith  (earlier  form/«i/,  O.  Yr.fei 
taxdfeid;  Lait.ficiem)is  very  likeTausT, 
^admiij^'ht  iu  many  cases  be  substituted 


SYNONYMS  [bEMOANJ 

for  it.  But  it  is  less  instinctive  and 
more  speculative.  The  child  tnists 
his  pai-ents ;  I  have  faith  in  the  efficacy 
of  a  certain  medicine.  I  have  trust  in 
God,  that  is,  I  feel  myself  safe  in  His 
hands.  I  believe  that  He  will  deal 
with  me  mercifully.  ^'  I  have  faith  in 
God  "  would  imply  this,  but  it  would 
imply  more ;  as  for  instance,  that  1  be- 
lieve what  He  tells  me  simply  because 
it  is  Himself  who  says  it.  In  order  to 
have  arrived  at  this  I  must  have  come 
to  an  antecedent  conviction  of  the  per- 
fect character  of  God.  Belief  and 
credit  are  specifically  given  on  oc- 
casions. Trust  and  faith  are  habitudes 
of  mind.  I'he  former  may  stop  with 
intellectual  assent,  the  latter  prompt 
to  action.  The  former  may  even  lead 
to  the  latter,  as  the  cause  to  the  effect, 
as  the  speculative  may  become  the 
operative.  Faith  is  always  practical. 
Belief  on  the  other  hand  may  lead  to 
no  action  at  all.  While  faith  removes 
mountains,  the  devils  believe  and 
tremble.  To  set  aside  reason  in  be- 
lieving is  credulity,  not  faith.  Men's 
beliefs  are  swayed  not  merely  by  their 
intellects,  but  by  the  logic  of  their  pre- 
judices  and  passions.  A  full  defi- 
nition of  faith  in  the  theological  sense 
is  thus  given  by  Clarke  : — 

•'  Faith  is  that  firm  belief  of  things  at 
present  not  seen,  that  conviction  upon  the 
mind  of  the  truth  of  the  promises  and 
threatenings  of  God  made  known  in  the 
Gospel,  of  the  certain  reality  of  the  rewards 
and  punishments  of  the  life  to  come,  which 
enables  a  man,  in  opposition  to  all  the  temp- 
tations of  a  corrupt  world,  to  obey  God  in 
expectation  of  an  invisible  reward  here- 
after." 

BEMOAN.  Bewail.  Lament. 
Dei'lore. 

These  are  words  expressive  of  tlie 
external  manifestation  of  sorrow.  Be- 
moan (A.  S.  hi-m(znan,  compounded  of 
the  prefix  hi-  and  m&nan,  to  rmmn) 
takes  its  complexion  from  its  etymo 
logy,  and  denotes  a  deep  and  siJjnt 
grief  too  deep  for  words.  It  belongs 
to  causes  of  permanent  son'c,sr — as  to 
bemoan  one's  hard  lot,  or  adverse  fate. 
He  who  bemoans  wh'A  has  happened 
seeks  solitude,  and  dwells  upon  the 
loss  he  has  susta-'aed  or  the  evil  that 
has  befallen  hiir,  and  upon  the  change 
which  it  has  0  ade  in  the  whole  tiflsu" 


[BENEFACTIOX]        DISCRIMINATED. 


163 


and  complexion  of  his  life.    He  gives 
himself  up  to  despondency  or  despair. 

•♦  When  a  poor-spirited  creature  that  died 
at  the  same  time  for  his  crimes  bemoaned 
himself  mimaafully,  he  rebuked  him  with 
this  question:  Is  it  no  consolation  to  such  a 
man  as  thou  to  die  with  Phocion?" — Spec- 
tator. 

Bewail  (0.  E.  be-wailen — be-,  and 
waileHy  to  wail)  expresses  a  less  pro- 
found and  more  energetic  form  of  sor- 
row, commonly  for  specific  events,  as 
such  as  to  bewail  the  loss  of  a  friend. 
He  who  bewails  makes  frequent  re- 
ference to  the  subject  of  his  grief  or 
disappointment.  It  is  unrestrained, 
and  so  far  from  seeking  solitude  would 
find  some  relief  in  uncontrolled  grief 
by  loudly  making  it  known  to  ethers. 

"  And  if  I  must  bewail  the  blessing  lost 
For  which  our  Hampdeasand  our  Sydneys 

bled, 
I  would  at  least  bewail  it  under  skies 
Milder,  among  a  people  less  austere. 
In  scenes  which  having  never  known  me 

free. 
Would  not  reproach  me  with  the  loss   I 

felt."  COWPKR. 

Lament  (Lat.  Lamentdri)  has  less 
poignancy  and  more  formality  than 
the  others.  It  applies  to  much  lighter 
causes  of  trouble,  so  that  we  may  even 
lament  the  folly  or  weakness  of  an- 
other. It  commonly  involves  strong 
regret  that  circumstances  should  be  as 
Ihey  are  when  they  might  have  been 
otherwise,  as  in  the  case  of  injudicious 
conduct  which  might  have  been  a 
voided. 

"  Thammuz  came  next  behind. 
Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allowed 
The  Syrian  damseis  to  lament  his  fate 
In  amorous  ditties  all  a  summer's  day." 
Milton. 

Deplore  (Lat.  diplorure)  is  to  feel 
or  express  great  and  deep  dissatisfac- 
tion. 
"  To  find  her  or  for  ever  to  deplore 
Her  loss."  MiLTON. 

We  lament  for  that  which  brings 
sorrow,  we  deplore  when  the  sorrow 
itself  is  reflected  upon— as  for  instance 
how  it  might  have  been  avoided,  or 
something  specifically  infelicitous  in 
the  nature  of  it.  So  for  instance  we 
lament  an  honourable,  and  deplore  a 
discreditable  misfortune.  A  father  de- 
plores his  son's  misconduct,  and  la- 


ments his  early  death.  Otner  senti- 
ments besides  mere  sorrow  are  with  us 
when  we  deplore.  We  lament  occur 
1  ences,  we  deplore  circumstances  con- 
nected with  them,  causes  which  led  to 
them,  or  the  character  which  attaches 
to  them.  To  deplore  is  to  lament  in  a 
reasoning  and  reflexive  way,  tlie  mind 
contemplating  the  nature  of  the  event 
or  act,  and  feeling  that  "  pity  'tis,  'tis 
true." 

BENEDICTION.     Blessing. 

The  Benediction  (Lat.  bentdic- 
tionem)  is  the  invocation  of  the  Bless- 
ing (A.  S.  bletsian,  to  bless).  The 
blessing  is  the  benefit  invoked.  A 
blessing  is  such  a  ^ood  thing  as  may 
be  regarded  as  an  item  in  the  general 
sum  of  human  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness ;  especially  as  conferred  by  some 
higher  person  or  power.  He  who  i» 
not  able  to  bestow  a  blessing  may,  bj 
virtue  of  his  office  or  relationship,  pro- 
nounce a  benediction. 

BENEFACTION.     Donation. 

Benefaction  (Lat.  bhitfactionen  ) 
and  Donation  (Lat.  dondtioiiem)  both 
express  the  act  of  giving  or  the  thing 
given  for  some  liberal  or  charitable 
purpose ;  but  a  donation  may  be  small 
or  large,  though  it  may  not  be  incon- 
siderable: abenefaction  is  large  enough 
to  have  a  material  eflFect  upon,  and  ta 
be  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  object. 
Hence  it  is  frequently  employed  of 
the  gift  of  money  and  lands  to  institu- 
tions by  way  of  endowment  or  perma 
nent  source  of  income.  A  very  large 
sum  of  money  given  as  a  donation, 
if  it  be  funded  so  as  to  produce  an 
annual  return,  becomes  a  benefaction. 
Donations  benefit  individuals.  Bene- 
factions augment  institutions.  Dona- 
tion is  also  used  to  mean  a  single  gift, 
as  distinct  from  subscription,  which 
often  implies  a  repeated  giving. 

*•  Here  idle  and  useless  and  therefore 
necessitous  persons  are  tau^t  the  best 
lesson,  labour,  inured  to  it,  and  tb»n  sent 
out  with  such  a  stock  of  industry  as  will  do 
them  more  real  service  than  any  other  kind 
of  benefaction."— Attkhsuby. 

"  They  had  an  opportunity  of  distinguish 
mg  themselves  from  the  lower  classes  b, 
voluntary  donations  to  the  charity  box."— 
Anecdotes  of  Bishop  Watson 


164 


BENEFICENT.  Bountiful. 

Munificent.     Generous.    Liberal. 
Benevolent. 

Beneficent  (Lat.  hentficus,  bene- 
ficent) is  a  term  denoting  hi^h  ex- 
cellence. It  denotes  largeness  of 
bounty  springing  from  the  highest 
purity  and  goodness  of  nature,  and  in 
Its  highest  form  appertains  most  ap- 
propriately to  the  Creator,  and  is  not 
confined  to  any  one  kind  of  gifts.  It 
is  the  outflow  of  great  kindness  com- 
bined with  ample  powers.  He  who, 
from  largeness  of  heart,  confers  upon 
another  some  great  advantage  is 
beneficent,  though  what  he  gives  be 
not  such  a  gift  as  diminishes  his  own 
store.  Self-denial  does  not  belong  to 
beneficence,  because  the  beneficent  is 
above  the  condition  of  suffering  from 
a  diminution  of  what  he  possesses 
when  he  bestows  upon  others.  The 
term  has  in  modern  parlance  come  to 
express  almost  restrictively  an  attri- 
bute of  the  divine  nature.  Benefi- 
cence also  gives  not  only  largely,  but 
wisely  and  well. 
"  Whose  work  is   without   labour,  whose 

designs 
No  flaw  deforms,  no  difficulty  thwarts. 
And    whose    beneficence    no    charge    ex- 
hausts." CowPER. 

Bountiful,  fall  of  bounty  (Fr. 
hoiite,  Lat.  b'6iiilatem)y  is  of  an  inferior 
kind.  Bounty  is  a  natural  liberality  of 
giving.  The  bountiful  man  takes 
pleasure  in  the  fulness  of  what  he  be- 
stows. He  thinks  little  of  the  merits  of 
the  giving,  but  to  him  the  sight  of  the 
full  measure  of  his  gifts  is  pleasant. 

"  It  is  true,  indeed,  the  direction  of  the 
public  weal  is  in  the  hands  of  a  single  per- 
son, who,  for  the  general  good,  takes  upon 
himself  to  ease  us  of  the  whole  weight  and 
care  of  government  ;  but  still  that  bounti- 
ful source  of  power  permits,  by  a  very 
generous  dispensation,  some  streams  to 
flow  down  to  us." — Melmoth,  Pliny. 

Munificent  (Lat.7wrmi/"i'cus)  stands 
to  costliness  as  Bountiful  to  amplitude 
or  quantity.  It  is  frequently  applied 
to  tne  object  given — as  a  munificent 
donation.  It  is  rather  external  than 
moral,  drawing  attention  more  to  the 
rich  quality  of  the  gift,  than  to  any 
goodness  or  beneficence  of  the  giver'; 
though  these  are  by  no  means  ex- 
cluded.    The  munificent  man  is  one 


SYNONYMS  [beneficent] 

of  lordly  liberality,  and  profusely 
grand  in  w  hat  he  gives.  Hence  muni- 
ficence may  be  either  the  natural 
manifestation  of  a  princely  liberality, 
or  it  may  be  the  product  of  ostenta- 
tion or  selfishness,  but  the  large  and 
costly  quality  of  the  gift  will,  in  either 
case,  ensure  the  term  Munificent. 
Like  the  beneficent,  the  munificent  is 
above  the  feeling  of  any  loss  in  giving 
what  he  gives.  He  who  should  give 
very  largely,  but  should  impoverish 
himself  by  so  doing,  would  be  self- 
sacrificing  rather  than  munificent ;  but 
the  munificent  man  looks  with  some 
indifference  on  the  greatness  of  his 
own  gift. 

"  The  institution  of  a  School  of  Statuary 
in  the  house  of  a  young  nobleman  (the 
Duke  of  Richmond)  of  the  first  rank, 
}-ivals  the  boasted  munificence  of  foreign 
princes." — Walpole. 

Generous  (Lat.  ffcno-osttj,  well-bom, 
generous)  differs  fi-om  the  foregoing 
in  not  relating  exclusively  to  matters 
of  external  giving.  Generosity  is  a 
mental  disposition  irrespective  of  the 
opportunities  which  may  exist  for 
exercising  it.  It  is  that  nobleness  of 
nature,  which  not  only  gives  largely 
but  is  ready  to  do  so  at  the  cost  of  sacri- 
fice to  self.  Hence  it  applies  to  for- 
giving, as  well  as  giving.  Ii  comes 
of  a  disposition  which  is  alien  to 
meannesses  of  all  kinds,  whether 
niggardliness,  malice,  or  any  other. 
Generosity  is  nearly  allied  to  magna- 
nimity. It  gives  when  it  might 
withhold ;  it  forgives  when  it  might 
punish.  It  will  accord  praise  if  due 
to  an  enemy.  It  refuses  to  take  un- 
fair advantages,  and  will  be  at  pains 
to  do  good.  It  is  a  virtue  of  an  equal, 
whom  circumstances  have  maae  a 
superior.  Hence  the  Deity,  though 
He  may  be  called  Beneficent,  Boun- 
tiful, and  even  Munificent,  could  not 
be  called  generous. 

"  All  men  affect  to  seem  generous  and  will 
say  they  scorn  to  be  base,  but  generosity  is 
W  nothing  more  seen  than  in  a  candid  esti- 
mate of  other  men's  virtues  and  good 
qualities.  To  this,  generosity  of  nature, 
generosity  of  education,  generosity  of  prin- 
ciples and  judgment  do  all  conspiringly  dis- 
pose."—Barrow. 

Liberal  (Lat.  Hfecra/is),  like  Boun- 
tiful, denotes  a  character  which,wheii 


[BE1<EV0LENTJ  DISClllxMINATEK 


165 


it  gives,  gives  largely,  but  like  Gexk- 
iious  applies  to  more  than  matters  of 
material  giving.  Liberality  is  a  ten- 
dency to  avoid  exact  circumscription, 
and  to  allow  margins  in  judgment  and 
dealing  to  the  advantage  of  others.  To 
take  a  liberal  view  of  a  case  is  so  to 
give  width  to  its  facts  and  interpreta- 
tions as  to  admit  favourable  rather 
than  to  force  unfavourable,  or  even 
exact,  and  rigid  constructions.  To  give 
liberally  is  to  avoid  calculating  what 
is  precisely  sufficient  or  exactly  just, 
and  not  to  fear  to  exceed  lines  of 
rigid  dealing  in  such  cases. 

"The  decency.then,  that  is  to  be  observed 
in  liberality  seems  to  consist  in  its  being 
performed  with  such  cheerfulness  as  may 
express  the  godlike  pleasure  that  is  to  be 
met  with  in  obliging  one's  fellow-crea- 
♦ares." — Spectator. 

Benevolent  (Lat.  hhievolens,  ivish- 
ing  well),  like  Generous,  belongs  to 
the  person  rather  than  the  act.  The 
benevolent  man  may  want  the  means 
of  being  liberal  in  matters  of  money 
or  gifts,  but  he  will  naturally  give 
when  he  can,  and  according  to  his 
means,  from  a  disposition  of  wishing 
well  to  others.  '1  he  benevolent  will 
spare  to  injure  as  well  as  be  glad  to 
benefit,  lienevolence  is  the  principle 
which  is  manifested  in  beneficence, 
but  it  may  exist  passively.  The  op- 
posite to  benevolence  is  not  niggardli- 
ness, though  the  man  who  is  not  be- 
nevolent will  be  niggardly  in  good 
offices ;  but  selfishness  or  more  posi- 
tively malevolence.  The  benevolent 
man  is  glad  of  more  happiness  in 
others  than  he  can  be  himself  the  in- 
sti'umeut  of  producing. 

"  When  our  love  or  desire  of  good  goes 
forth  to  others  it  is  termed  good-will  or 
benevolence.  Benevolence  embraces  all 
beings  capable  of  enjoying  any  portion  of 
good,  and  thus  it  becomes  universal  bene- 
volence which  manifests  itself  by  being 
pleiised  with  the  share  of  good  every  crea- 
ture enjoys,  in  a  disposition  to  increase  it, 
in  feeling  an  uneasiness  at  their  sufferings, 
and  in  the  abhorrence  of  cruelty  under 
every  disguise  or  pretext.  When  these 
dispositions  are  acting  powerfully  towards 
every  being  capable  of  enjoyment,  they  are 
called  the  benevolent  affections,  and  as  they 
become  in  those  who  indulge  them  opera- 
tive rules  of  conduct,  or  principles  of  action, 
we  speaii  or  the  benevolent  prijiciple."— 
CoGAN. 


BENEVOLENCE.  Benignity. 
Humanity.     Kindness. 

Benevolence.  ^See  *' Benevo 
lent,"  preceding  article./ 

Benignity  (Lat.  bhiigmtatem)  is  i 
less  active  quality  than  benevolence. 
Benignity  is,  as  it  were,  dormant,  or 
passive  benevolence.  It  is  a  matter 
more  of  temperament  tlian  will.  It  is 
a  tendency  to  benevolence,  but  so  far 
short  of  it  that  it  is  sometimes  applied 
metaphorically  to  other  influences 
than  the  human  will ;  as  the  benign, 
that  is,  propitious,  aspects  and  influen- 
ces of  the  sea  sons.  ^Vhen  employed  of 
persons,  benign  denotes  some  degree 
of  superiority  in  the  person.  We 
should  be  more  likely  to  speak  of  the 
benignity  of  a  rich  or  powerful  man 
than  of  a  poor  man.  Indeed,  benig- 
nity is  tantamount  to  a  benevolent  con- 
descension which  enters  more  into  it 
than  sympathy  does.  It  lies  in  aspect 
and  manner,  and  is  mild,  open,  genial, 
pleasing.  As  benevolence  is  inherent, 
so  benignity  may  be  shown  on  special 
occasions  only. 

"  In  a  thermometer  'tis  only  the  present 
and  most  sublimated  spirit  that  is  either 
contracted  or  dilated  by  the  benignity  or 
inclemency  of  the  season." — Spectator 

Humanity  (Lat.  humdiutdtem)  e^ - 
presses  an  impulse  rather  than  a  quality. 
It  is  that  specific  manifestation  of  active 
kindness  which  man  as  such  is,  or 
ought  to  be,  prompted  to  exhibit  to  his 
fellow-man,  or  to  any  living  creatures 
with  which  he  is  brought  into  con- 
tact. Humanity  stands  over  against 
special  cases  which  stand  in  need  of 
it  and  evoke  it.  The  act  of  tlie  good 
Samaritan  Avas  emphatically  an  act  of 
humanity.  Yet  humanity  is  not  so 
much  a  virtue  when  exhibited  as 
something  the  absence  of  which  is 
positively  disgraceful  and  evil.  Hu- 
manity shows  itself  in  treating  none 
with  harshness,  in  excusing  the  fiiil- 
ings,  in  supporting  the  Aveakness,  and 
in  consoling  the  sorrows  or  mitigatmg 
the  pains  of  others  when  possible. 

"  It  is  a  rule  of  equity  and  humanity 
built  upon  plain  reason,  that  rather  a 
nocent  person  should  be  permitted  to 
escape  than  an  innocent  should  be  con- 
strained to  suffer."— BakROW. 

KiNDNi-ss  (A.  S.  cyndCf  naUcral'.  i& 


166 


SYNONYMS  [bent] 


very  like  benevolence,  but  is  rather  a 
social  than  a  moral  viitue.  It  applies 
to  minor  acts  of  courtesy  and  good- 
will, for  which  benevolence  would  be 
too  serious  a  term.  "  Have  the  kind- 
ness to  do  so-and-so,"  is  a  phrase  of 
social  courtesy.  To  say  that  the  good 
Samaritan  performed  an  act  of  kind- 
ness would  be  not  untrue,  but  very 
inadequate. 

"  If  Achitophel  signify  the  brother  of  a 
fool,  the  author  of  that  poem  -will  pass 
with  his  readers  for  the  next  of  kin.  And 
perhaps  it  is  the  relation  that  makes  the 
kindness. " — D  RYDEJf . 

BENT.  Bias.  Inclination.  Turn. 
Propensity.  Tendency.  Prone- 
NESS.     Disposition. 

All  these  terms  denote  a  prepou' 
derating  influence  of  mind.  Bent 
(participle  of  bend)  applies  to  the 
will,  the  intellect,  the  affections,  or 
the  entire  nature.  As  the  force  of 
Bent  is  general  and  constant,  so  that 
of  Bias  (Fr.  biais,  a  slope  or  slant) 
is  peculiar.  A  man's  bent  is  his  dis- 
position, natural  or  acquired.  He  is 
biased  on  a  particular  occasion.  So 
far  as  he  has  a  bent,  it  will  affect  his 
thoughts,  his  occupation,  his  choice 
of  a  mode  of  life.  So  far  as  he  has  a 
bias,  he  is  swayed  in  choice,  preference 
or  judgment.  A  bias  is  like  a  lateral 
dip  in  an  inclined  plane,  or  a  weight 
introduced  into  a  ball,  which  pie- 
vents  the  judgment  from  following  an 
undeviating  course,  but  sways  it 
aside.  The  word  is  used  in  its  ety- 
mological sense  in  the  following  : — 

"  If  you  suppose  a  die  to  have  any  bias, 
however  small,  to  a  particular  side,  this  bias, 
though  perhaps  it  may  not  appear  in  a  few 
throws,  will  certainly  prevail  in  a  great 
number,  and  will  cast  the  balance  entirely 
to  that  side."— HuMK. 

"  I  am  of  opinion  there  has  not  for  these 
many  years  appeared  anything  more 
finished  of  the  kind,  if  indeed  my  great 
affection  for  him,  and  the  praises  he  be- 
stowed upon  me,  do  not  bias  my  judg- 
ment."—Mklmoth,  Plini/. 

"  It  is  the  legislative  policy  to  comply 
with  the  common  bent  of  mankind,  and 
give  it  all  the  impi-ovements  of  which  it 
is  susceptible." — Hume. 

Inclination  (Lat.  incrmdtionem)  isa 
tendency  of  the  will  to  exercise  a  cer- 
tain preference,  or  of  the  judgment 
to  adopt  a  certain  belief  or  conclusion 
rather  than  others.     Its  motive  prin- 


ciple IS  within  the  person,  as  BIA^  pro- 
ceeds externally  from  something  in 
the  case  or  circumstances.  Tempera- 
ment may  give  an  inclination,  educa- 
tion a  bias.  In  their  primary  force 
inclination  belongs  to  bodies  both  at 
rest  and  in  motion,  bias  only  to  those 
in  motion  ;  inclination  is  more  volun- 
tary and  conscious,  bias  more  uncon- 
scious and  involuntary.  Inclination 
may  lead  practically  to  strong  results, 
but  it  belongs  itself  to  tenderness  of 
the  gentler  kind. 

"  Shall  I  venture  to  say,  my  Lord,  that  m 
our  late  conversation  you  were  inclined  to 
the  party  which  you  adopted  rather  by  the 
feelings  of  your  good  nature  than  by  the 
conviction  of  your  judgment  ?  " — BuRKE. 

Propensity  (Lat.  propensuSy  inclin- 
ing towards)  is  an  unreflecting,  con- 
stitutional, or  even  animal  proneness, 
which  may  be  natural,  or  simply  the 
result  of  habit.  It  is  always  in  the 
direction  of  action  of  some  kind,  ex- 
ternal or  mental.  It  is  mostly  used 
in  an  unfavourable  sense.  We  do  not 
speak  of  a  propensity  to  virtue,  or 
noble  or  wise  actions ;  but  to  errors, 
weaknesses,  faults,  and  vices.  Incli- 
nation which  has  become  habitual  and 
energetic  through  want  of  reflexion 
and  self-control  is  Propensity.  Incli- 
nation  should  be  distinguished  from 
DisposnioN,  as  the  active  from  the 
passive.  Inclination  is  positive  ten 
dency  towards  an  object.  Disposition 
is  a  state  of  aptitude  for  it.  Inclina- 
tion has  reference  to  single  acts,  dis- 
position to  the  general  frame  of  mind. 
He  who  is  inclined  to  study  will  pro- 
bably find  a  way  for  himself  of  begin- 
ing  it.  He  who  is  disposed  to  study 
will  probably  yield  to  any  incentive 
which  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
him.  I  am  inclined  to  do  what  1  wish 
to  do.  I  am  disposed  to  do  that  to 
which  I  have  no  objection.  Inclina- 
tions are  yielded  to  or  repressed,  dis- 
positions are  cherished  or  overcome. 
The  disposition  comprehends  the 
springs  and  motives  of  many  different 
actions  ;  the  inclination  sets  in  the 
direction  of  one.  We  may  expect  that 
sooner  or  later  a  man  will  do  what  he 
is  disposed  to  do,  but  we  cannot  cal- 
culate on  his  executing  that  to  which 
he  is  inclined :  for  other  considerations 


[bequeath] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


167 


may  suggest  themselves  to  induce 
him  to  refrain  from  following  out 
that  inclination. 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  who  would 
be  true  to  himself  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a 
disposition  to  be  pleased." — Steele. 

"  For  as  this  strong  natural  propensity 
to  vice  and  impiety  cannot  possibly  con- 
sist with  the  hypothesis  of  the  soul's  coming 
just  out  of  God's  hands  pure  and  immacu- 
late, so  doth  it  most  aptly  suit  with  the 
doctrine  of  its  pre-existence." — Glanvill. 

Turn  (Fr.  tourner,  to  turn)  is  a  col- 
loquial word,  and  commonly  expresses 
an  innocent  preference  for  a  thing,  as 
suiting  the  taste,  and  indicative  of  a 
natural  aptitude  for  some  occupation 
which  is  therefore  taken  up,  being  that 
for  which  there  is  a  natural  capacity. 
As  regards  the  tendencies,  not  of  per- 
sons but  events,  the  word  Tunx  ex- 
presses such  an  alteration  in  the  course 
of  things  as  has  resulted  from  causes 
not  calculated  upon. 

"  There  is  a  very  odd  turn  of  thonght  re- 
quired for  this  sort  of  writing  (the  fairy 
way  of  writing,  as  Dryden  calls  it),  and  it 
is  impossible  Jor  a  poet  to  socceed  in  it  who 
has  not  a  particular  cast  of  fancy." — Addi- 
son. 

Tendency  (Lat.  tendh-e,  to  tend) 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  general  of  all, 
and,  on  that  account,  the  least  speci- 
fically expressive.  It  denotes  a  torce 
uniformly  operating  in  a  particular 
direction,  whether  it  be  of  a  moral  or 
a  physical  kirid,  and  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  mechanical  influence,  or  nature 
or  habit.  A  tendency  is  an  inherent 
inclination,  sufficiently  sustained  to  be 
associated  with  a  certain  result  or  end. 
Yet,  like  Propensity,  it  connects  itself 
with  unfavourable,  rather  than  desir- 
able results.  A  tendency  is  a  sustained 
turn,  as  a  turn  is  an  unforeseen  ten- 
dency. Whether  or  not  it  be  that 
movement,  spontaneous  and  unregu- 
lated, is  likely  to  go  wrong,  certain  it 
is  that  tendency  is  seldom  a  term  of 
the  fortunate.  Things  take  a  favour- 
able or  unfavourable  turn,  but  they 
have  a  bad  tendency.  We  do  not 
speak  so  often  in  common  parlance  of 
a  good  tendency.  Yet  this  is  by  no 
means  absolute,  and  the  following  is 
an  example  to  the  contrary  : — 

"  lu  every  experimental  science  there  is 
a  tendency  toward  perfection." — MacaU- 


It  will  be  observed,  however,  that 
this  is  not  a  tendency  of  circumstances, 
but  of  internal  growth  and  develop- 
ment. 

P  RON  EN  ESS  (Lat.  pronus,  inclined 
forwards)  denotes  a  moral  proclivity 
or  constitutional  tendency,  and  is  al- 
most universally  restricted  to  an  un- 
favourable sense.  It  is  that  condition 
of  an  agent  which  makes  him  pre- 
disposed to  certain  conduct.  It  is 
somewhat  like  the  leaning  of  a  body, 
which  falls  immediately  that  a  prop  or 
restraint  is  removed.  Proneness  ex- 
presses the  more  active  form  of  dispo- 
sition, yet,  like  Propensity,  though 
less  strongly,  is  a  term  of  unfavourable 
rather  than  favourable  meaning. 
JMen  are  disposed  to  virtue  and  prone 
to  vice.  Yet  this  rule  is  not  absolute. 
Pope  says — 

"  Malice  prone  the  virtues  to  defame." 
On  the  other  hand — 

"An  honest,  hearty  simplicity,  and 
proneness  to  do  all  that  a  man  knows  of 
God's  will;  is  the  ready,  certain,  and  in- 
fallible way  to  know  more  of  it."— South. 

BEQUEATH.     Devise.    Demise. 

Bequeath  (A.S.  be-civethan,  to  de- 
clare) points  to  times  anterior  to  writ- 
ten testaments,  when  property  was 
devised  by  uord  of  mouth  in  the  pre- 
sence of  witnesses.  Bequeath  is 
{)roperly  applied  to  a  gift  by  will,  or 
egacy,  that  is,  of  personal  property ; 
and  he  who  receives  it  is  called  a  lega- 
tee. But  it  is  popularly  extended,  and 
construed  by  the  Law  Courts  to  em- 
brace what  is  propei-ly  expressed  by 
Devise. 

To  Devise  (0.  Fr.  deviser,  to  be- 
queath) is  properly  used  for  the  gift  by 
M  ill  of  real  property. 

Demise  (O.  Fr  demise,  fem.  part. 
o{de(s)me  e,  to  dismiss)  is  strictly  the 
leaving  of  property  at  death  to  one 
who  has  already  a  claim  to  it  as  the 
heir.  Hence  the  term  "  demise  of  the 
Crown,"  which  is  the  ti-ansfer  at  the 
death  of  the  sovereign  of  the  kingdom 
to  the  lawful  successor.  The  idea  of 
expectancy  belongs  to  the  last,  not  to 
the  two  former. 

"  I  have  often  read  with  a  gi-eat  deal  of 
pleasure,  a  legacy  of  the  famous  Lord 
Bacon,  one  of  the  greatest  geninser  that 
our  own  or  any  country  has  protlnced  Aft«r 


168 


SYKONYMS 


[liEltliAVEJ 


having  bequeathed  Jiis  soul,  body  aud  estate 
in  the  usual  form,  he  adds, — My  name  and 
memory  1  leave  to  foreign  nations,  aud  to 
my  countrymen  after  some  time  be  passed 
over." — Tatler. 

BEREAVE.     Deprive.     Strip. 

Bereave  (A.  S.  beredjian,  be-  and 
redjian,  to  steal  or  rob)  is  so  to  take  from 
another  as  to  leave  a  feeling  of  priva- 
tion or  destitution.  The  things  of 
which  we  are  bereft  are  of  the  nature 
of  cherished  possessions. 

Devriv k( hQ.t.d'(^prwdre)  is  so  to  take 
as  to  leave  with  a  feeling,  or  in  a  con- 
dition of  incompleteness. 

Strip  (Low  Ger.  siripe,  a  stripe  or 
line,  Ger.  streif)  denotes  a  sudden, 
violent,  or  arbitrary  taking  away,  so 
as  to  leave  in  a  condition  of  destitu- 
tion. Only  sentient  creatures  are  be- 
reaved. Inanimate  substances  may  be 
deprived  or  stripped.  We  are  bereaved 
only  of  actual  and  substantial  sources 
of  comfort  or  happiness,  we  may  be 
deprived  of  what  has  only  si  specula- 
tive existence — as  hope,  opportunity 
of  action,  or  absti'act  goods.  We  are 
sti'ipped  of  what  is  attached  to  us, 
belongs  to  us,  is  worn  by  us,  or  with 
which  we  may  be  regarded  as  in- 
vested. We  are  bereft  of  comforts, 
blessings,  possessions,  deprived  of 
means,  faculties,  powers,  offices,  pri- 
vileges, and  stripped  of  anything 
without  which  we  are  bare,  naked, 
destitute.  Bereave  has  the  most 
purely  moral.  Strip  the  most  purely 
physical  force,  and  Deprive  partakes 
of  both.  In  winter  the  tree  is  stripped 
of  its  leaves.  The  widow  bemoans 
her  bereavement,  while  the  cold  de- 
prives the  first  of  it^  foliage,  and 
death  the  second  of  her  natural  pro- 
tector. It  is  power  that  bereaves,  and 
force  that  strips.  It  may  be  fraud 
that  de])rives. 

♦'  Me  have  ye  bereaved  of  my  children." 
—English  Bible. 

"  Mr.  Pym,  in  a  long-form'd  discourse, 
lamented  the  miserable  state  and  condition 
of  the  kingdom,  aggravated  all  the  parti- 
culars which   had  been  done  amiss  in  the 


government,  as  done  and  contrived  mali- 
ciously and  upon  deliberation  to  change  the 
whole  frame,  and  deprive  the  nation  of  all 
the  liberty  and  property  which  was  their 
birthright  by  the  laws  of  the  land."— Cla- 
renuox. 
"Opinions  which  at  the  time  of  the  acces- 


sion of  James,  no  clergyman  could  have 
avowed  without  imminent  risk  of  being 
stripped  of  his  gown,  were  now  the  bes: 
title  to  preferment." — MacauLAY 

BID.  Cal;.  lNvn>;  f^uwaioN. 
Cite. 

Of  these  Call  is  the  most  general 
(A.S.  ceallian).  It  is  to  raise  the  voice 
to  attract  attention.  It  is  an  act  of 
sentient  but  not  necessarily  human 
beings,  as  in  the  call  of  a  bird.  It  im- 
plies no  relation  in  particular  between 
the  parties  calling  and  called.  The 
strong  may  call  to  account,  the  weak 
call  for  help.  ]\Ietaphorically,  cir- 
cumstances may  call  for  especial 
exertion.  The  characteristic  of  a  call 
is  its  distinctness.  It  may  be  an  an- 
nouncement, a  demand,  a  request,  a 
summons,  an  invitation,  and  imper- 
sonally a  necessity  or  obligation. 

"How  often  have  I  stood 

A  rebel  to  the  skies. 

The  calls,  the  tenders  of  a  God, 

And  mercy's  loudest  cries."       WatTS. 

lb  Invite  (Lat.  inv'itdre)  is  to  cal. 
in  such  a  way  as  to  leave,  the  answer 
to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  another; 
but  it  may  be  with  or  without  spoken 
words,  as  by  a  look,  by  inarticulate 
sounds,    by  writing.     Invitation  im- 
j)liessome  degree  of  equality  between 
parties,  and  is  an  act  of  persuasion,  or 
courtesy,  or  affection.     Its  characte- 
ristic is  attractiveness,  or  an  effort  of  it; 
and  so  fine  weathej-  is  said  to  invite  to 
exercise  or  travel. 
"  Ask  of  no  angel  to  reveal  thy  fate  : 
Look  in  thy  heart,  the  mirror  of  thy  state. 
He  that  invites  will  not  the  invited  mock. 
Opening  to  all  that  do  in  earnest  knock." 
Waller. 

To  Bid  (A.S.  beodan),  and  to  Sum- 
mon (hat.  su}n7n'6nt:re,  to  retnind)  both 
imply  the  authoritative  use  of  words, 
or  other  media  of  communication  ;  but 
Bid  extends  to  action  generally,  Sum- 
mon to  the  i)articular  action  of  ap- 
pearing at  a  particular  place.  Bid  is 
imperative  and  formal ;  Summon,  offi- 
cial, legal,  or  compulsoi-y.  We  may 
bid  also  through  kindness  or  courtesy, 
as  the  host  bids  his  guest  welcome. 

"  Sir  Roger,  who  is  very  well  acquainted 
with  my  humour,  lets  me  rise  and  go  to  bed 
when  I  please,  dine  at  his  own  table,  or  in 
my  chamber,  as  I  think  fit,  sit  still  and  say 
nothing  without  bidding  me  be  merry.'  — 
Spectator. 


[bind] 

'AH  men,  both  small  and  great,  dead 
bnd  living,  shall  be  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore a  dreadful  and  impartial  tribunal,  and 
give  an  account  of  all  their  actions."— 
Sharp. 

Cite  (Fr.  cUer,  Lat.  cttare)  has  the 
particular  sense  of  to  call  by  name,  in 
which  it  is  a  synonym  with  Quote. 
But  as  compared  with  Summon,  it  ex- 
presses more  vividly  the  authority 
which  has  jurisdiction  over  persons. 
A  person  is  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore a  court,  he  is  cited  to  appear  be- 
fore a  judge  or  a  superior.  Legally, 
also,  witnesses  are  cited  to  give  evi- 
dence, pers^»3  are  summoned  to  an- 
swer charges.  It  is  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  individual  which  cites,  and  the 
authority  of  the  law  which  summons. 
Hence,  by  a  kind  of  metaphor,  Sum- 
mon is  applied  to  the  force  of  circum- 
stances, that  is,  to  such  calls  as  are 
urgent  without  being  authoritative  ; 
as  when  one  is  summoned  to  the 
country  from  town  by  important  busi- 
ness. 

"  A  Synod  was  called  by  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  the  Pope's  Legate,  to  right  the 
Bishop ;  when  the  King  was  cited  to  appear, 
who  sending  to  know  the  cause,  answer  was 
made  that  it  was  to  answer  for  his  imprison- 
ing of  Bishops  and  depriving  them  of  their 
goods,  which,  being  a  Christian  king,  he 
ought  not  to  do."— Baker,  Stephen. 

BIG.     Great.     Large. 

Big  (etym.  uncertain)  expresses 
such  size  as  gives  the  impression  of 
burdensomeness,  or  bulk,  as  a  big  box, 
or  a  big  mountain.  Like  Large,  it 
lends  itself  more  easily  than  Great  to 
express  the  existence  of  relative  or 
comparative,  but  not  actual  size,  as  an 
animal  not  sobigas  a  flea;  whileGREAT 
implies  some  degTee  of  actual  size. 
Big  can-ies  the  idea  of  physical  turgi- 
dity  and  rotundity,  as  well  as  size ; 
and  then  what  is  morally  analogous 
to  these,  the  moral  use  feeing  much 
the  less  common.  The  frog  that 
swelled  herself  out  asked  her  young 
if  she  was  bigger  than  the  ox.  In 
Buch  a  phrase  as  a  year  big  with  events, 
the  idea  is  metapliorical,  and  equiva- 
lent to  pregnant. 

"Big-honed    and    large    of   limbs,  with 
sinews  strong."  Dryden. 

Great  (A.  S.  gredt)  has  not  so 
much  of  this  abstract  force,  but  im- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


169 


plies  some  degree  of  actual  size.  As  Bio 
belongs  to  bulk,  so  Great  to  extent, 
and  Large  (Lat.  largus,  wide,  ample) 
to  width  or  capacity.  A  big  building 
is  made  of  a  great  mass  of  material ;  a 
great  building  is  lofty,  wide,  and  ex- 
tensive. A  large  building  would  hold 
a  great  number  of  persons  or  a  great 
quantity  of  goods.  Big  is  only  in- 
elegantly applied  to  nouns  expressive 
of  number,  quantity,  or  extent,  but 
belongs  to  the  subjects  of  those  quali- 
ties. We  do  not  say  a  big  number  of 
persons.  Greatness  of  circumference 
makes  things  big.  Great  is  used  of 
degree  in  a  Avay  in  which  Large  could 
not  be  so  well  used,as,I  was  greatly  dis- 
appointed or  delighted ;  and  Large  of 
quantity  where  Great  could  not  be  so 
well  used,as.  He  Avas  largely  rewarded. 
Big  is  always  physical,  except  when 
used  in  metaphor.  Great  is  also  moral 
and  applicable  to  almost  anything  that 
may  be  conceived  to  exist  in  degree, 
as,  a  great  general,  or  a  great  noise. 
Large  is  physical  when  employed 
directly  of  persons,  but  may  be 
used  morally  of  qualities.  A  large 
man  is  tall,  broad,  and  heavy ;  a  big 
man  is  excessively  or  irregularly 
large.  A  great  man  is  so  by  reason 
of  liis  talents  or  energy,  or  perhaps 
only  by  station  and  the  accidents  of 
bu-th.  Number,  quantity,  and  extent 
are  represented  as  lar^e.  Power, 
knowledge,  strength,  wisdom,  and 
such  abstract  qualities,  with  their  op- 
posites,  as  ignorance,  weakness,  and 
folly,  are  great. 

"  Greatness  of  soul  is  more  necessary  to 
make  a.  great  man  than  the  favour  of  the 
monarch,  and  the  blazonry  of  the  herald, 
and  greatness  of  soul  is  to  be  acquired  by 
converse  with  the  heroes  of  antiquity,  not 
the  fighting  heroes  only,  but  the  moral 
heroes."— Knox,  Letters. 
•'  Such   as  made  Sheba's   curious    Queen 

resort 
To  the    Zaw-hearted    Hebrew's    famous 

court.*'  Waixer. 

BIND.     Tie.     Lace. 

To  Bind  is  the  A.  S.  bindan,  to 
Tie,  the  A.  S.  tigan.  They  express 
difterent  modes  of  fastening  by  em- 
ploying long  and  flexible  material. 
Tie  is  applicable  to  involutions  and 
knots  of  the  material  itself— as  the 
string  was  tied  in  a  knot.     Bind  im- 


170 


SYNONYMS 


[bind] 


plies  the  circumvolution  of  the  bind- 
ing-material around  what  is  bound. 
The  horse  in  the  stable  is  tied  up,  but 
not  bound  up.  When  two  things  are 
tied  together,  that  which  unites  them 
is,  in  some  measure,  intermediate ; 
when  they  are  bound,  it  is  not  inter- 
mediate but  consti-ictive.  When  a 
thing  is  tied  the  whole  is  in  restraint 
as  regards  what  is  external  to  it ;  when 
they  are  bound,  the  parts  are  in  re- 
straint as  regards  one  another.  The 
insane  patient  is  bound  in  a  strait- 
waistcoat,  the  martyr  is  tied  to  the 
stake.  When  used  metaphorically — 
that  is,  morally — the  same  distinction 
prevails.  The  moral  tie  is  an  external 
restraint,  as  the  ties  of  kindred  ;  the 
bond  is  internal,  as  to  be  bound  in 
conscience.  We  are  bound  by  honour, 
we  are  tied  by  party.  Some  things 
are  tied  without  being  bound,  others 
bound  without  being  tied.  Hence  the 
force  of  the  expression — 

"  Tied  and  bound  with  the  chain  of  our 
sins." — Eng,  Liturgy. 

Lace  (O.  Fr,  las,  a  snare;  Lat. 
Wqueus')  is  to  tie  together  by  inter- 
woven strings,  which  fasten  by  con- 
necting at  several  different  points, 
especially  at  the  edges  of  a  pliable  and 
extended  material — 

"  Look,  love,  what  envious  streaks 
Do  lace  the  severing  clouds  in  yonder  east." 
Shakespeare. 

BIND.  Oblige.  Compel.  Con- 
strain.    Coerce. 

To  Bind  {see  above)  is  to  oblige  by 
the  force  of  such  circumstances  as  are 
intrinsic  to  the  individual  and  not  im- 
posed upon  him  by  the  will  and  power 
of  another,  except  in  such  cases  as 
are  purely  technical  and  legal ;  as  for 
instance,  a  bond  or  bail  to  keep  the 
peace.  1  am  bound  by  moral  obliga- 
tions, as  duty,  consistency,  honour,pio- 
mises.  I  am  bound  to  assist  my  friend 
in  his  trouble  if  I  can..  I  am  bound  in 
lionour  to  speak  the  truth,  keep  my 
word,  adhere  to  engagements,  and  to 
make  restitution  if  1  have  taken  un- 
justly or  dishonestly.  Hence  a  man 
is  his  own  judge  of  what  binds  him, 
or  may  be  bound  to  do  something 
which  he  neglects  or  refuses  to  do. 
Men  are  bound  by  manifold  ti^s  which 


they  recognize  or  feel  for  themselves, 
as  affection,  interest,  policy. 

"  Even  in  those  actions  whereby  an 
offence  may  be  occasioned  though  not  given, 
charity  binds  us  to  clear  both  our  own 
name  and  the  conscience  of  others."— 
Bishop  Hall. 

Oblige  (Lat.  o6/%are,  to  bind),  de- 
notes the  operation  of  an  external 
force,  as  of  another's  will,  but  more 
commonly  the  force  of  circumstances, 
it  is  commonly  employed  in  cases  in 
which  no  strong  opposition  of  will  in 
the  agent  is  supposed.  It  is  not  so 
strong  as  bind,  but  though  not  so 
sti'ong,  it  is  more  practical,  for,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  man  may  be  bound  to  do 
what  he  does  not,  but  that  which  he  is 
obliged  to  do  he  does.  Neither  Bind 
nor  Oblige  excludes  necessarily  the 
will  of  the  agent.  Conscience  binds. 
Prudence  and  necessity  oblige,  so  that 
that  which  obliges  may  have  the  assent 
of  the  judgment. 

"  A  man  is  said  to  be  obliged  when  he  is 
urged  by  a  violent  motive  resulting  from 
the  command  of  another.  And  from  this 
account  of  obligation  it  follows  that  we  can 
be  obliged  to  do  nothing  but  what  we  our- 
selves are  to  gain  or  lose  something  by,  for 
nothing  else  can  be  a  violent  motive  to  us." 
-  Paley. 

Compel  (Lat.  compellcre,  to  drive), 
unlike  the  former,  denotes  either  ab- 
solute opposition  of  the  will,  or  that 
it  was  powerless,  or  taken  no  account 
of.     Compulsion  may   proceed   from 
persons  or  from  circumstances,  whose 
force  we  are  unable  to  resist. 
"  Before  the  sun  has  gilt  the  skies, 
Returning  labour  bids  me  i-ise  ; 
Obedient  to  the  hunter's  horn 
He  quits  his  couch  at  early  morn  ; 
By  want  compell  'd  I  dig  the  soil ; 
His  is  a  voluntary  toil,"    Cotton's  Fables 

Constrain  (O.  Fr.  constraindre, 
Lat.  constrin^tre)  differs  from  Compel 
in  not  implying  the  same  disregard  or 
annulling  of  the  will  of  the  person. 
Compel  denotes  a  purely  external  force. 
Constraint  may  be  internal.  I  exercise 
moral  force  when  1  constrain  myself, 
and  1  lend  myself  to  moral  influences 
when  1  am  constrained — as  for  in- 
stance when,  from  a  feeling  of  com- 
passion, I  act  in  a  certain  way.  The 
piinciple  of  compulsion  is  force,  that 
of  constraint  is  motive.    But  constraiut 


[blame] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


171 


sometimes  comes  very  near  to  compul- 
sion, as  in  the  following: — 

"  Thy  sight,  which  should 
Make    out    eyes    flow    with  joy,    hearts 

dance  with  comforts. 
Constrains  them  weep."  Shakespkark. 
Coerce  (Lat.  coerclre),\ike  Compel, 
seems  to  combine  the  external  action 
of  Compel  with  the  internal  action  of 
Constrain.  Hence  the  external  force 
of  compulsion  is  simple  and  direct,  of 
coercion,  complex  and  indii'ect.  In 
coercion  a  moral  medium  is  employed 
as  a  fulcrum  for  the  lever  of  compul- 
sion. "  Vote  for  which  candidate  you 
please,  but  if  you  vote  for  B,  you 
know  the  consequences  " — this  is  coer- 
cion. In  short,  coercion  is  the  exercise 
of  any  powerful  interference  with  the 
free  exercise  of  the  will  of  another. 
Yet  it  has  a  social  character,  and  bears 
more  especially  upon  such  acts  as  men 

Eerform  not  merely  as  individuals,  but 
rought  into  contact  with  society  and 
their  fellow-men.  It  may  be  added 
that,  unlike  the  other  terms,  which 
have  only  a  positive.  Coerce  has  also 
a  negative  force,  in  which  it  is  nearly 
allied  to  restrain,  as  in  the  following: — 
"  Therefore  the  debtor  is  coerced  his  li- 
berty nntil  he  makes  payment." — Bl^kk. 

BISHOP.     Prelate.     Diocesan. 

Bishop  (Gr.  ETriVxoirof,  overseer)  de- 
notes the  spiritual  order.  The  Bishop 
is  one  of  the  Episcopal  Order  in  the 
Church,  as  distinguished  from  the 
orders  of  Priests  and  Deacons,  and  if 
there  be  any  other  inferior  orders. 

The  Prelate  (Lat.  pretf'erre,  part. 
prcJtldtHs),  denotes  the  rank  or  prefer- 
ment of  the  person. 

The  DiocF-SAN  (Gr.  JtowJiJ-j?,  a  pro- 
vince, a  diocese)  denotes  the  relation- 
ship to  a  sphere  of  jurisdiction.  In 
the  Church  of  Rome  there  are  Pre- 
lates not  in  Episcopal  orders. 

BLAME.  Censure.  Condemn. 
Reprove.  Reproach.  Upbraid. 
Reprimand.  Rebuke.  Chide.  Ani- 
madvert. Denounce.  Objurgate. 
Vituperate.     Scold. 

To  Blame  (Fr.  bldmer,  L. Lat.  blas- 
phimare)  is  simply  to  ascribe  a  fault 
to  a  person,  or  to  refer  to  him  as  the 
cause  of  something  in  itself  wrong  or 
untoward.  It  is  too  weak  to  extend 
*o  crimes.     We  do  lot  blame  persons 


for  committing  murder^  but  for  acoi- 
dents  or  injuries  when  their  occur- 
rence may  be  imputed  to  neglect,  dis- 
obedience, and  the  like.  The  idea  of 
imputing  fault  constitutes  blame. 
But  faults  consist  both  in  defect  and 
in  excess.  Kindness  is  commendable, 
but  over-indulgence  is  to  be  blamed. 
Blame  may  be  exercised  by  anyone 
towards  another,  without  distinction 
of  rank  or  rights,  and  may  extend  to 
motives  as  well  as  acts.  We  often 
blame  the  absent,  for  the  object  of 
blame  is  sometimes  not  so  much  tr 
visit  others  with  censure,  as  to  ex- 

S-ess  our  own  unfavourable  opinion, 
lame  may  be  indirect,  as  by  adopting 
one  policy  or  party,  we  inferentially 
blame  the  policy  of  the  opposite  party. 
We  may  blame  ourselves  for  what  we 
have  done  or  caused.  Where  there  has 
been  no  choice  there  can  be  no  blame. 
We  may  blame  in  secret — that  is,  in 
our  own  minds. 

"  A  wise  man  may  frequently  neglect 
praise,  even  when  he  has  best  deserved  it ; 
but  ill  all  matters  of  serious  consequence, 
he  wU  most  carefully  endeavour  so  to  re- 
gulate his  conduct  as  to  avoid  not  only 
blameworthiness,  but  as  much  as  possible 
every  imputation  of  Wame." — Smith,  A/oraZ 
Sentiments. 

To  Censure  (Lat.  censiira,  a  judg- 
ment, opinion)  is  the  formal,  open, 
or  public  expression  of  fault  by  a 
superior,  or  one  who  assumes  to  be 
so  for  the  occasion.  To  censure  is 
more  an  act  of  personal  authority  than 
to  biame,  and  is  supposed  to  take  place 
in  the  presence,  or  at  least  the  cogni- 
zance of  the  person  censured;  vehereas 
we  may  blame  the  absent  or  the  dead. 
The  conduct  may  be  blamed,  as  well 
as  the  person,  but  it  is  only  the  person 
that  is  censured.  A  certain  gravitv 
of  oftence  is  implied  in  censure  which 
seems  to  be  midway  between  light 
faults  and  heavy  crimes.  The  force 
of  blame  is  proportioned  to  its  moral 
justice  and  deserving;  but  censure  is 
supposed  to  carry  some  degree  of 
punishment  in  its  own  seventy,  and 
the  character,  moral  or  official,  of  him 
who  expresses  it.  Censure  expresses 
a  kind  of  acknowledged  right  to  ex 
presp  blame.  A  person  may  be  blamed 
for  his  good  nature,  and  censured  foi 
his  negligence. 


172 


SYNONYMS 


blame] 


"  Of  this  delicacy  Horace  is  the  best 
master.  He  appears  in  good  humour  while 
he  censures ;  and  therefore  his  censure  has 
the  more  weight,  as  supposed  to  proceed 
from  j  udgment,  not  from  passion."— Yot  nq. 

To  Condemn  (Lat.  condemndre)  ap- 
plies to  grave  ofFences  and  those  who 
commit  them.  It  is  the  solemn  pro- 
nunciation of  an  adverse  judgment, 
either  formally  and  openly,  or  in 
one's  own  mind.  He  who  condemns 
passes  an  adverse  judgment  with  the 
consciousness  that  his  expression  of 
it  will  be  followed  by  personal  conse- 
quences. Condemn  is  simple,  abso- 
lute, final.  Condemnation  implies 
that  the  time  for  extenuation,  defence, 
apology  is  passed.  Censure  or  blame 
aiay  be  modified,  condemnation  is 
complete. 

"  When  Christ  asked  the  woman, '  Hath 
no  man  coiidemned  thee  ?'  He  certainly 
spoke,  and  was  understood  by  the  woman 
to  speak  of  a  legal  and  judicial  condemna- 
tion. Otherwise  her  answer,  ♦  No  man. 
Lord,'  was  not  true.  In  every  other  sense' 
of  condemnation,  as  blame,  censure,  reproof, 
private  judgment,  and  the  like,  many  had' 
condemned  her;  all  those,  in  short,  who 
brought  her  to  Jesus."— Paley. 

Reprove  (Lat.  rtprobare)  is  more 
strictly  personal  than  any  of  the  fore- 
going, though  it  has  not  the  weight 
of  CoNUEMN.  It  is  personally  to 
express  one's  disapprobation  to  an- 
other, commonly  one's  junior  or  infe- 
rior. It  may  be  no  more  than  to 
express  it  simply  and  in  few  words, 
or  even  by  a  sign,  and  so  differs  from 
censure,  which  enters  upon  the  nature 
of  the  oflfence  or  supposed  offence. 
The  wish  to  convince  another  of  his 
fault  in  such  a  way  that  he  may  re- 
member it  as  a  warning  for  the  future 
dictates  reproof.  As  we  may  blame 
and  condemn  either  ourselves  or 
others,  so  we  censure  and  reprove 
others  only.  We  reprove  others,  not 
80  much  for  the  purpose  of  punishing 
them  as  of  awakening  and  benefitmg 
them.  Though  reproof  is  not  the 
same  thing  as  blame,  censure,  or  con- 
demnation, it  may  enter  as  an  element 
into  all  three. 

'And  as  a   bird  each   fond  endearment 

tries 
To  tempt  its  oew-fledged  offspring  to  the 

•kies. 


He 


tried  e«ch    art.  reproved   each    anil 
delay. 
Allured   to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the 
way."  Goldsmith. 

Rebuke  (Fr.  rebouquer,  to  blunt  a 
weapon  thrown :  see  Littr£,  s.  v.  rebou- 
cher)  is  more  energetic  and  less  didac- 
tic tlian  Reprove.  It  is  to  reprove  in  a 
certain  manner,  that  is,  with  sharp- 
ness, or  outspokenness.  It  implies 
some  degi-ee  of  moral  indignation  in 
the  rebuker,  and  may  be  an  indica- 
tion of  moral  courage,  as  when  an 
inferior  rebukes  a  superior,  or  one 
blames  another  to  his  face  as  not 
afraid  to  do  so.  A  rebuke  is  ad- 
ministered on  the  spur  of  the  moment 
as  a  sudden  check  upon  another. 
Reason  reproves,  impulse  rebukes. 

"  The  proud  he  tamed,  the  penitent  he 

cheer'd, 
Nor  to  rebuke  the  rich  offender  fear'd." 
Drydex. 

Reproach  (Fr.  reprocher,  Lat.  re- 
propriare,  to  bring  near,  before  the  eyes) 
differs  from  the  foregoing  in  its  whole 
tone  and  spirit.  It  is  the  reproof  of 
the  inferior,  the  suffering,  or  the 
weak.  Its  etymological  force  is  to 
bring  near  or  home  to  another  the 
fault  or  wrong  that  he  has  done.  It 
is  between  persons  related  by  some 
kind  of  tie.  The  subject  of  the  re- 
proach is  an  assumed  violation  of 
moral  obligation,  which  has  redound- 
ed to  the  injury  of  the  reproacher  or 
the  reproached,  as  a  son  might  re- 
proach his  father  with  his  own  ne- 
glected education,  or  one  reproaches 
another  with  his  neglect  of  his  own 
duty  or  interest.  According  as  the 
fault  that  has  been  committed  is  against 
one's  self  or  not,  will  be  the  nature 
and  degree  of  indignation  8r  protest 
roused  in  the  mind  against  the  object 
of  the  reproach  ;  but  in  any  case  the 
aim  is  to  raise  in  the  mind  of  another 
a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  him- 
self, ''setting  before  him  the  things 
thathe  hath  done."  Reflexion  may  lead 
one  to  reproach  one's  self,  in  which 
case  the  effect  of  reproach  is  only  infe- 
rior to  that  of  remorse.  To  be  without 
reproach  is  to  be  without  anything 
that  another  might  bring  home  to 
one's  dishonour  or  discredit. 


fBLANCnl 


DISCRIMINATED. 


175 


"  The  Chevalier  Bayard,  distinguished 
among  his  contemporaries  by  the  designa- 
tion of  '  1  he  Knight  without  fear  and  re- 
proach: "—Robertson. 

Upbraid  {A.S.upgebredan)  is  akin 
to  reproach.  It  is  to  reproach  in  a 
certain  way,  that  is,  energetically  and 
demonstratively.  One  may  reproach 
with  a  look,  but  one  upbraids  with 
earnestness  and  forcible  words.  We 
reproach  to  make  others  sorry,  we 
upbraid  to  make  them  ashamed.  He 
who  reproves  does  it  under  some  sense 
of  moral  responsibility.  He  who  up- 
braids may  possibly  do  it  to  serve  his 
own  ends,  as  in  the  follomng  : — 

"  He  discourages  the  weak,  and  weakens 
the  hands  of  the  strong,  and  by  upbraiding 
their  weakness,  tempts  them  to  turn  it  into 
rashness  or  despair."— Bishop  Taylor. 

Reprimand  (Fr.  rtprimander,  Lat. 
riprimenda,rtprima-ejtocheck:hnTRV.) 
belongs  to  such  censure  of  individuals 
as  is  expressed  by  a  superior  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty  as  such.  When 
it  is  ofificial  it  can-ies  with  it  the  cha- 
racter of  a  minor  penalty.  It  has  also 
the  character  of  official  warning,  and 
is  suggestive  of  heavier  punishment 
on  repetition  of  the  offence.  The 
father  reprimands  his  disobedient 
child,  the  master  his  servant,  the  pre- 
ceptor his  pupil,  the  commanding 
officer  his  subordinate.  We  do  not 
censure  inferiors,  nor  reprimand  su- 
periors. 

Chide  (A.  S.  cidan,  to  chide,  brawl) 
is  a  minor  and  less  dignified  upbraid- 
ing— a  finding  common  fault  in  a  clam- 
orous and  an^ry  manner.  An  appeal 
to  the  imperfect  reason  and  childish 
fears  of  the  young  is  manifested  by 
the  chiding  of  their  children  by  im- 
patient mothers.  We  chide  the  young, 
the  thoughtless,  the  self-willed. 

"  A«  children  should  be  veiy  seldom  cor- 
rected by  blows,  so  I  think  frequent,  and 
especially  passionate  chiding  of  almost  as 
ill  consequence.  It  lessens  the  authority 
of  the  parent,  and  the  respect  of  the  child." 
—Locke. 

Objurgate  (Lat.  objurgare)  is  more 
naturally  used  towards  equals,  as 
Chide  and  Scold  (Du.  schelden,  to 
scold)  towards  inferiors  and  juniors. 
Scold  has  in  it  more  of  authority  and 
harshness.    Chide  more  f  f  volubility 


and  sharpness.     Olyurgation  may  be 
conveyed  in  a  single  sentence. 

♦*  The  objurgdtary  question  of  the  Phari- 
sees."—P  ALKY. 

Vituperate  (Lat.  vitiiperdre)  con- 
veys the  idea  of  telling  censure,  or 
eloquent  scolding,  conduct  being  for- 
cibly denounced,  and  tenus  effectively 
administered. 
"  Vituperative  appellation."— Ben  Jonson. 

"  A  common  scold  (communis  rixatrix — 
for  our  Law  Latin  confines  it  to  the  femi- 
nine gender)  is  a  public  nuisance  to  her 
neighbourhood." — Blackstone. 

Animadvert  (Lat.  dnXmadverth-e) 
is  to  notice  unfavourably  and  in  the 
way  of  adverse  criticism ;  and  so  of 
necessity  applies  not  to  grave  offences 
of  morals,  but  to  matters  of  taste, 
manners,  and  measures  in  regard  to 
their  accuracy  or  propriety.  It  in- 
volves, together  with  the  censure,  an 
unfolding  of  the  objection  in  detail. 

"  If  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  or 
either  of  them  had  assuredly  a  right  to 
animadvert  on  either  of  the  Houses,  that 
branch  of  the  Legislature  so  subject  to 
animadversion  would  instantly  cease  to  be 
part  of  the  supreme  power." — Black- 
stone. 

Denounce  (Lat.  dinunciare)  ex- 
presses the  strongest  form  of  disap- 
proval. While  disapproval  may  be 
confined  to  one's  own  mind,  denun 
ciaticL  is  open  and  audible.  It  ex- 
presses not  only  the  calm  decision  of 
the  judgment,  like  condemn,  but  also 
the  further  manifestation  of  outraged 
feeling.  Yet  denunciation  is  not 
wanting  in  fonnality  and  solemnity. 
It  is  the  declaration  of  impending 
wrath,  vengeance,  or  punishment,  or 
of  an  adverse  judgment,  in  terms  of 
vehement,  yet  measured  reprobation. 
It  is  a  case  in  which  indignation 
makes  the  judge.  It  commonly  refers 
acts  to  a  standai-d,  and  individuals  to 
a  character,  so  affixing  to  them  cer- 
tain representative  designations.  I 
denounce  a  man  as  a  villain,  or  his 
conduct  as  influenced  by  evil  mo- 
tives. 

"  Denounced  for  a  heretic." — More. 

BLANCH.     Whiten.     Bleach. 
Of  these.  Whiten,  to  make  white 
(A.S.  hwit),  is  the  generic  term.     It 


174 


is  to  induce  a  whiteness  upon  a  mate- 
rial, either  by  internal  alteration,  or 
by  the  addition  of  an  external  colour- 
ing- 

To  Blanch  (Fr.  bUiiic,  white)  is  to 
make  white  or  whiten  by  an  alteration 
of  the  inherent  and  natural  coloi^ring 
matter  of  the  substance,  as  in  the 
effect  of  etiolation  produced  in  plants 
by  exclusion  of  the  sun's  rays. 

To  Bleach  (A.  S.  bldcian,  to  grow 
pale)  indicates  that  the  pi-ocess  has 
been  eft'ected  by  the  destruction  of 
the  colouring-matter  of  the  body, 
either  by  the  action  of  the  light  and 
air,  or  the  application  of  some  acid. 

BLEMISH.  Defect.  Fault. 
Flaw. 

Blemish  (O.  Fr.  blesmir,  blemir,  to 
icoundj  soil :  Skeat's  Etym.  Diet.)  is  a 
pai'tial  or  local  defect,  injury,  or  con- 
trariety which  affects  the  complete- 
ness of  the  external  aspect  of  a  thing, 
as  a  spot  of  white  on  a  horse  other- 
wise entirely  black.  So  metaphori- 
cally, a  blemish  in  character  refers  to 
reputation,  or  the  view  taken  of  it  by 
othera.  As  the  tei-m  blemish  directly 
expresses  a  fault  or  defect  in  appear- 
ance, so  it  indirectly  implies  the  con- 
trary in  the  subject  of  it.  The  blemish 
is  small  and  slight  in  itself,  and  is 
unsightly  by  reason  of  so  much  which 
is  otherwise.  Blemishes  may  be  pro- 
duced by  a  variety  of  causes,  as  na- 
ture, faulty  operation,  accident,  vio- 
lence, time. 

"  They  have  possessed  other  beauties 
which  were  conformable  to  just  criticism  ; 
and  the  force  of  these  beauties  has  been 
able  to  overpower  censure,  and  give  the 
mind  a  satisfaction  superior  to  the  disgust 
arising  from  the  blemishes." — Hume. 

Defect  (Lat.  difectus,  a  ivant)  is 
the  absence  of  what  is  required  to  con- 
stitute completeness  of  any  kind,  as  of 
form,  substance,  or  quality, or  power — 
as  e.g.,  a  defect  in  the  organization  of 
an  animal,  a  defect  of  vision,  a  defect 
in  a  work  of  art,  a  defect  in  a  mental 
estimate,  as  in  the  material  construc- 
tion of  a  thing.  Tn  regard  to  products 
and  operations,  Defect  expresses  a 
marked  degree  of  imperfection :  as  a 
blemish  mars  the  individual,  so  a  defect 
wsoses  to  fall  short  of  the  type  or  re- 


gYNONYMS  [blemish] 

cjuirements  of  the  species.  A  blemish 
in  a  painting  belongs  to  that  canvas 
or  picture,  a  defect  is  a  non-fulfilment 
of  the  rules  of  the  art. 

"And  after  all,  the  rules  of  religion  and 
virtue  which  were  drawn  up  by  these  phi- 
losophers have  been  very  imperfect  and 
defective  in  many  instances." — Watts. 

Fault  (Fr./aute)  is  a  defect  as  re- 
ferred to  human  agency,  as  a  fault  of 
perspective  in  a  painting ;  while  the 
fading  of  a  colour  under  natural  in- 
fluences is  a  blemish,  and  anythmg 
which  deteriorated  it  or  detracted  from 
its  completeness,  whether  as  a  work  of 
art  or  as  an  article  of  furniture,  would 
be  a  defect.  We  speak,  however,  of 
faults  of  commission  as  well  as  omis- 
sion. What  is  wanting  is  defective, 
what  is  ill  done  is  faulty.  In  this 
case  the  one  is  negative,  the  other 
positive.  As  fault  includes  in  its 
idea  a  relation  to  the  doer  or  maker,  so 
defect  expresses  somethmg  imperfect 
in  the  thing.  Human  imperfection 
occasions  defects  in  character  and  con- 
duct. Human  weaknesses,  tempta- 
tions, ignorance,  error,  occasion 
faults.  That  is  faulty  which  has  what 
it  ought  not  to  have,  that  is  defective 
which  has  not  what  it  ought  to  have. 
The  former  requires  coirection,  the 
latter  supply.  ^ 

"  He  who  is  gratified  with  that  which  is 
faulty  in  works  of  art  is  a  man  of  bad  taste, 
and  he  who  is  pleased  or  displeased  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  excellence  or  faultiness 
is  a  man  of  good  taste."— Beattie. 

The  term  Flaw  (A.  S.  Jloh  ;  of. 
Swedish  fiaga,  a  crack)  is  primarily 
applied  to  such  a  defect  as  affects  the 
body  or  substance  of  a  thing.  A 
flaw  in  a  picture  deteriorates  its  com- 
mercial value,  a  blemish  disfigures  i; 
as  a  work  of  art.  A  flaw  more  sti-ictlj 
belongs  to  those  things  which  owe 
their  value  to  the  quality  of  their  sub- 
stance, as  sound,  durable,  and  of  uni- 
form colour  or  brightness.  A  flaw  in 
ice  is  a  warning  to  the  skater.  A  flaw 
in  an  emerald  depreciates  its  value.  A 
flaw  in  a  document  is  metaphorical, 
and  denotes  what  is  analogous  to  the 
disruption  of  substantial  continuity  or 
completeness.  So  we  sj^eak  of  a 
"flaw  in  an  indictment,"  and  in  the 
following  • — 


^LOOD Y 


DISCRIMINATED. 


17^ 


"No;    the  decree  was  jnst  and  without    ] 

And  He  that  made  had  right  to  make  the 
law."  '  CoWPER. 

BLINK.     Wink. 

No  harder  distinction  perhaps  exists 
in  our  language  than  that  which  has 
to  be  ascertained  between  these  two 
terms.  Both  have  their  secondary  as 
well  as  primary  or  physical  significa- 
tions. Even  with  thebest  authorities 
BlixkIs  explained  byWiNK,and\y  INK 
by  Blink  ;  while  in  regard  to  their  se- 
condary use  in  the  sense  of  connivance, 
we  find  "to  blink  at,"  and  "  to  wink 
at  "  employed  in  this  sense  by  English 
classical  autliors.  The  confusion  ex- 
isting between  the  terms  seems  to  flow 
from  the  likeness  of  the  things.  To 
Blink  (A.  S.  6/ican,  tog/iffer)  may  be 
etymologically  either  to  move  twink- 
liiigly,  like  a  twinkling  star,  or  to 
close  partially  or  entirely  under  the 
effect  of  very  strong  or  sudden  light. 

As  to  the  original  meaning  of  VV  ink, 
the  A.  S.  wincian  meant  to  nod  as 
well  as  to  wink  ;  and  a  connexion  be- 
tween wink  and  wing  has  been  sug- 
gested (cf.  Dutch  wichen,  to  vibrate). 
Now  when  Shakespeare  wrote — 
"  I  have  not  slept  one  wink," 

it  is  plain  that,  first,  this  was  no  con- 
tinued but  a  fugitive  closing  of  the 
eyes  ;  and,  secondly,  that  it  was  a  clo- 
sing, not  of  one  eye  but  of  both.  We 
may  therefore  eliminate  the  possible 
supposition  that  to  wink  means  to 
shut  and  close  one  eye  merely  because 
this  is  the  common  form  of  conscious 
winking.  To  wink  is  quickly  to  close 
and  open  one  eye  or  both.  When 
Chaucer  wrote — 

"  Than  upon   him  she  keb   up  both  her 

eyne. 
And  with  a  blinke  it  came  in  till  his  thought 
That    he  sometime  her   face  before  had 

seen," 

he  no  doubt  used  the  word  in  the 
sense  of  a  quick  view,  or  glance.  Ac- 
cording to  the  glare  and  external  pres- 
sure upon  the  eye  would  be  the  close- 
ness and  continuity  of  the  blink.  So 
Sir  Thomas  More : — 

"  The  eyes  yblent 
Do  blink  ev«m  blind  with  objects  vehe- 
mer<t.* 


The  metaphorical  force  of  Blivkino^ 
then,  seems  to  be  to  shun,  to  avoid 
seeing  from  a  desire  to  evade ;  and  so 
only  indirectly  and  negatively  to  con- 
nive at.  On  the  other  hand,  Wink, 
when  used  in  this  way,  has  the  force  of 
active  connivance,  the  winking  being 
not  only  a  blinding  of  the  eye,  but 
much  more  significantly  a  purposed 
twinkling  of  it,  as  a  sign  of  recogni- 
tion, as  well  as  of  a  mind  at  once  awake 
to  what  is  going  on,  and,  as  it  were, 
purposely  asleep.  So  Gower : — 
"  Better  is  to  rvynk  than  toloke." 
So  Udal  on  Romaines  : — 

''  But  to  thentente  that  peace  and 
concord  maye  amonge  you  bee  maintained, 
and  steadfastly  abyde,  certain  thinges  must 
beo  wi/nked  at,  some  things  muste  bee  suf- 
fered, and  some  thinges  must  gently  be 
taken." 

On  the  other  hand,  winke  was  used, 
like  blink,  of  involuntary  closing  of 
the  eyes  wholly  or  partially. 

BLOCK.     JMass.     Lump. 

The  Block  (Welsh  ploc)  is  a  solid 
mass  of  uniform  material,  as  wood, 
stone,  metal,  having  one  or  more  plane 
or  approximately  plane  surfaces. 

A  Mass  (Fr.  masse)  is  a  body  of 
matter  concreted  or  collected,  whether 
of  uniform  substance  or  not ;  as  a  mass 
of  gold,  or  a  mass  of  rubbish. 

A  Lump  (allied  to  the  English 
clump  :  Wedgwood)  is  a  piece  of  mat- 
ter uniform  in  substance,  shapeless, 
and  of  no  considerable  bulk. 

BLOODY.  Sanguinary.  Blood- 
thirsty. 

Bloody  is  primarily  purely  physical 
(A.S.  hlod,  blood)  and  means  having 
blood,  consisting  of  blood,  or  more 
commonly  covered  or  stained  with 
blood.  A  bloody  coat  is  a  coat  stained 
with  blood;  bloody  deeds  involve 
shedding  of  blood.  It  is  also  a  vivio 
metaphorical  term.  A  bloody  tyrant 
is  one  who  has  destroyed  many  lives, 
and  delighted  to  do  so.  A  bloody 
period  of  history  is  pregnant  with 
wars  and  deaths. 

"When  this  great  revolution  was  at- 
tempted in  a  more  regular  mode  by  govern- 
ment, it  was  opposed  by  plots  and  seditions 
of  the  people  ;  when  by  popular  efforts,  it 
was  repressed  as  rebellion  by  the  hand  of 


il6 


power;  and fcZoody executions  often  bloodily 
returnetl,  marked  the  whole  of  its  progress 
through  all  its  stages."— BuRKE. 

Sanguinary  is  purely,  or  almost 
purely,  moral ;  and  is  an  instance  of 
the  tendency  of  Latin  words  to  ap- 
propriate secondary  meanings,  leav- 
ing the  primary  to  the  Saxon.  The 
epithet  Sanguinary  belongs  to  such 
characters  or  acts  as  tend  to  pro- 
duce the  shedding  of  Blood  (Lat. 
sanguinem),  as  a  sanguinary  disposi- 
tion, tyrant,  war. 

"  Well,  one  at  least  is  safe  ;  one  sheltered 

here 
Has  never  heard  the  sanguinriry  yell 
Of  gruel  man  exulting  in  her  woes." 

COWPER. 

Bloodthi  Rs  r  Y  is,specifically ,  the  de- 
siring and  compassing  the  effusion  of 
blood  as  an  animal  passion;  whether 
from  natural  appetite,  as  in  the  tiger, 
or,  from  ci-uelty  or  vindictiveness,  as 
in  the  tyrannical  and  unforgiving. 
The  tyrant  mightbe  called  sanguinary, 
or,  by  a  stronger  and  coarser  term, 
bloodthirsty;  but  the  tiger  is  blood- 
thirsty, not  sanguinary. 

"The  Peruvians  fought  not,  like  the 
Mexicans,  to  glut  bloodthirsty  divinities 
with  human  sacrifices."— ROBERTSON. 

BLOOM.     Blossom.     Flower. 

There  is  a  conventional  difference 
of  usage  between  these  terms.  Bloom 
( Icel.  Bl6m,  a  blossom)  being  emplo_y ed 
generally  of  flowers,  and  flowering 
shrubs.  Blossom  (A.  S.  blostma)  of 
the  flowers  of  fruit-trees.  This  dis- 
tinction is  not  absolute.  We  speak 
of  the  bloom  or  blossom  of  fruit-trees, 
but  hardly  of  the  blossom  of  the  flowers 
of  the  parterre.  Flower  (Fr.^eJu-,Lat. 
fiorem)  is  at  once  the  most  generic  and 
common,  and  also  the  more  scientific 
term.  The  little  child  delights  to 
gather  wild  flowers.  The  florist  seeks 
to  develop  their  bloom.  The  botanist 
regards  the  flower  as  that  part  of  a 
plant  which  subserves  its  reproduc- 
tion. In  their  secondary  senses 
the  bloom  symbolizes  the  freshest 
period  of  existence ;  the  blossom,  the 
opening  of  promise  and  hope ;  the 
flower,  the  choice  and  select  portion, 
that  which  shows  the  brightest  and 
the  fairest. 


SYNONYMS  [  BLOOM j 

BLOW.     Stroke.     Knock. 

Blow  (cf.  O.  Du.  hlauuen,  to  strike) 
expresses  the  violent  application  of 
one  substance  to  another.  It  may  be 
with  or  without  design.  If  we  heard 
of  a  blow  from  a  swcid,  we  should 
take  it  to  mean  the  back,  the  pommel, 
or  the  flat  side,  otherwise  it  would  be 
a  stroke  or  cut.  A  Stroke  (cf.  Ger. 
streich)  is  a  finer  and  lighter  kind  ot 
blow,  almost  requiring  an  instrument 
on  purpose.  Hence  it  follows  that 
we  very  commonly  speak  of  accidental 
blows,  hardly  ever  of  accidental 
strokes ;  for  stroke  involves  a  con- 
tinuous relative  line  of  movement,  or 
force  exercised,  even  though  it  be 
not,  as  it  commonly  is,  one  regulated 
by  design. 

"  Nor  can  it  be  meant  that  if  a  man 
should  actually  strike  us  on  one  cheek  we 
should  immediately  turn  to  him  the  other, 
and  desire  the  blow  to  be  repeated." — 
Bishop  Porteus. 

BOARD.     Plank. 

A  Board  (A.S.  bard)  is  wood  sawed 
thin,  and  of  an  equilateral  shape,  or 
nearly  so.  A  Plank  (Fr.  planche)  is 
thicker,  and  on  an  average  of  at  least 
two  inches  in  thickness.  It  is  also 
narrow,  or  of  considerable  length  in 
proportion  to  its  width.  A  Board 
may  be  of  small  dimensions  and  thin. 
The  difference  is  reflected  in  the  se- 
condary uses  of  the  words.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  ship's  planks  suggests  the 
slight  interval  wliicli  may  separate 
life  from  death.  Shipwrecked  men 
are  sometimes  saved  upon  planks.  A 
mere  plank  may  serve  for  a  bridge 
across  a  chasm.  The  ideas  whicJi 
belong  to  the  term  Board  are  of  a  dif- 
ferent character.  It  is  that  round 
which  persons  assemble  in  convivial 
or  deliberative  meetings. 

BOAST.   Vaunt.   Glory.    Brag. 

To  Boast  {\\e\.  bostio)  is  to  speak 
in  ostentatious  language,  with  a  view 
to  self-praise  or  self-exaltation.  A 
man  vam  and  mendacious  will  boast 
of  his  valorous  deeds ;  a  man  of  vul- 
garity besides,  will  boast  of  his 
wealth.  Nevertheless,  mendacity  is 
not  essentially  implied  in  boasting ; 
only  the  habit  of  drawing  things  one 
way,  that  is,  in  the  direction  of  self, 
is  injurious  to  strict  truth-speaking. 


[boisterous]        discriminated. 


177 


To  boaat  indicates  more  of  vanitj,  and 
to  vaunt  more  of  pride.  To  Vaunt  a 
thing  is  simply  to  bring  it  (perhaps 
frequently)  before  others,  as  a  matter 
of  admiration  in  oneself.  To  boast 
implies  mere  talking  about  it,  with 
that  tendency  to  a  manifestation  of 
personal  pomposity  and  exaggeration 
which  does  not  belong,  or  not  in  so 
marked  a  manner,  to  Vaunt.  It  may 
be  observed  that  there  is  less  of  false- 
hood compatible  with  vaunting  than 
with  boasting.  It  is  possible  to  boast 
of  having  done  what  one  never  did. 
We  Vaunt  (Fr.  vanter,  Lat.  vanttare) 
that  which  is  true  in  itself,  but  on 
which  we  place  an  exaggerated  value. 
To  vaunt  a  thing  is  to  put  forth  that 
as  solid  and  substantial  which  is 
really  emptiness  (Lat.  variitas). 

Brag  (prob.  from  the  same  root  as 
break,  as  to  crack  is  to  boast)  is  to 
boast  especially  of  personal  achieve- 
ments, or  at  least  otwhat  is  personal. 
A  man  may  boast  of  his  ancestors,  he 
brags  of  his  performances. 

"  Made  not  here  his  brag 
Of  '  came '  and  '  saw  '  and  overcame." 
Shakespeark. 
"The  right  hononrable  gentleman  has 
chosen  to  come  forward  with  an  nncalied- 
for  declaration  ;  he  boastingly  tells  you  that 
he    has    seen,   read,   digested,   compared 
everything ;  and  that  if  he  has  sinned,  he 
has  sinned  with   his  eyes  broad  open." — 
Burke. 

"  All  others  may  vaunt  merely  that  they 
have  vanquished  men,  but  Sergins  may 
boast  that  he  hath  conquered  and  overcome 
even  Fortune  herself."— Hoi-land,  Hiny. 

To  Glory  (O.  Yr.glorie,  Lat. g/oriaj 
glory)  in  a  thing  commonly  denotes 
an  antagonistic  view  of  the  admirable 
in  oneself,  as  if  one  were  determined 
to  vaunt  it,  whatever  estimate  others 
might  set  upon  it,  by  reason  of  the 
high  value  we  set  upon  it  ourselves. 
It  is  used  of  anythmg  which  bears 
characteristically  a  relation  to  our- 
selves, as  possessions,  reputation,  acts. 

'♦  Whose  glory  is  their  shame." — English 
Bible. 

BOATMAN.     Waterman. 

A  Boatman  is  a  general  term  for 
one  whose  trade  is  connected  with  the 
navigation  of  boats.     A   Waterman 

Elies  his  boat  for  hire,  and  is  paid  for 
is  labour  in  so  doing. 


"  As  late  the  boatman  hies  him  home." 
Pkecival. 

"They  ord€a-ed  the  watermen  to  let  fali 
their  oars  more  gently." — Dryden. 

BODY.     Corpse.     Carcase. 

Body  (A.S.  bodig),  as  taken  in  the 
sense  of  dead  body,  and  Corpse  (Lat. 
corpus,  a  body)  are  applied  to  human 
beings;  Carcase  (Fr.  carca^se)  only 
to  brutes,  except  in  disparagement. 
Body  is  used  of  the  organization 
before  as  well  as  after  death,  and  is 
applicable  to  brutes  as  well  as  men, 
Corpse  only  to  men.  Wedgewood 
identifies  the  Saxon  bodi^  with  the 
German  bottkh,  a  cask,  of  which  the 
root  is  bot,  a  lump,  protuberance,  the 
thick  part  of  anything;  so  that  the 
primary  sense  of  body  is  the  thick 
part  of  the  living  frame,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  limbs  or  lesser  divi- 
sions ;  then  the  whole  material  frame, 
as   distinguished   from    the    sentient 

Erinciple  by  which  it  is  animated, 
►ther  forms  of  the  word  carcase 
appear  in  different  languages,  with 
the  common  meaning  of  a  husk,  shell, 
or  case. 

"  The  resurrection  of  the  body."  — 
Apostles'  Creed. 

Corpse  was  further  written  corps  and 
corse.    So  Dryden  has  in  the  plural— 

"  The  hall  was  heaped  with  corps." 

"  For  where  the  carcase  is,  there  will  tlie 
eagles  be  gathered  together." — Bible. 

BOISTEROUS.  Turbulent.  Tu- 
multuous. 

These  terms  are  applied  to  human 
behaviour,  with  certain  differences. 
The  behaviour  of  an  individual  may 
be  Boisterous  (0.1!..  boistous;  Welsh, 
bwyst,  uildness),  or  the  term  may  be 
employed  of  a  number  of  persons. 
As  such,  it  denotes  violence  and  rude- 
ness of  noise  in  words  and  move- 
ments. It  refers  to  the  external  man- 
ner, and  not  to  the  mind,  and  may  pro- 
ceed from  mental condition8ofoppos"*f 
kinds,  as  one  may  be  boisterous  frc* 
indignation,  or  boisterous  in  mer 
ment.  The  boisterous  is  the  result  ot 
conflicting,  contrariant,  and  irregulai 
forces,  exerted  without  uniformitjr  or 
self-control.     In  boisterous  weather 


178 


srNONrMS 


[bold] 


the  elements  show  signs  of  variable 
commotion. 

"  On  the  contrary,  he  took  the  fact  for 
eranted,  and  so  joined  in  with  the  cry,  and 
halloo'd  it  as  boisterously  as  the  rest." — 
Stkrne. 

Tviiaui^EST  {ha,t.turbaleiitus,turha, 
tumult,  crowd)  denotes  a  disposition 
not  only  to  disorder,  but  to  insub- 
ordination. 

"  As  tliis  innocent  way  of  passing  a  leisure 
hour  is  not  only  consistent  with  a  great 
character,  but  very  graceful  in  it,  so  there 
are  two  sorts  of  people  to  whom  I  would 
most  earnestly  recommend  it.  The  first  are 
those  who  are  uneasyoutof  ^Yant  of  thought, 
the  second  are  those  who  are  so  out  of  a  tur- 
inilence  of  spirit."— Tatler. 

Tumultuous  (Lat.  tYimultuosus) 
means  inclined  to  make  a  noise  in  tur- 
bulence or  in  merriment;  buttne  eftect 
is  direct,  while  that  of  boisterous  is  un- 
intended. A  boisterous  meeting  is  led 
into  being  noisy ;  a  tumultuous  meet- 
ing is  noisy  on  purpose,  and,  when 
difficult  to  regulate,  is  turbulent.  It 
is  the  combination  of  voices  with  other 
sounds  in  confusion  and  disorder 
that  constitutes  tumult.  Tuubulent 
denotes  the  resistance  of  the  will  or 
passions;  Tumultuous  that  they  are 
confused  and  conflicting.  A  solitary 
person  may  be  turbulent ;  a  crowd  is 
tumultuous. 

"  The  workmen  accordingly  very  seldom 
derive  any  advantage  from  the  violence  of 
those  tumultuous  combinations,  which  gene- 
rally end  in  nothing  but  the  punishment 
and  ruin  of  the  ringleaders." — Adam 
Smith. 

BOLD.  Fearless.  Buave. 
Courageous.  Intrepid.  Undaunted. 
Valiant.  Gallant.  Heroic. 
DAniNO. 

Bold  (A.  S.  bald,  beald)  refers 
rather  to  the  readiness  to  meet  dan- 
ger, than  to  the  conduct  under  its 
immediate  circumstances.  So  a  man's 
conduct  in  the  lists  may  be  not  in 
unison  with  the  boldness  with  which 
he  entered  them.  Fearless  de- 
notes a  negative  state  of  mind — the 
absence  of  fear.  This  may  be  either 
from  courage  in  the  presence  of  dan- 
ger, or  from  boldness  in  being  ready 
to  encounter  it,  or  from  a  belief  that 
ao  ground  exists  for  apprehension. 
Boldness  eipressas  a  yi/a/ifi/,  fearless- 


ness a  mode  of  conduct  under  specific 
circumstances. 

•'  Ask  an  Englishman,  however,  whether 
he  is  afraid  of  death  ;  and  he  boldly  answers 
in  the  negative  ;  but  observe  his  behaviour 
in  circumstances  of  approaching  sickness, 
and  you  will  find  his  actions  give  his  as- 
sertions the  Ue,"— Goldsmith. 

"This  fearlessness  of  temper  depends 
upon  natural  constitution  as  much  as  any 
quality  we  can  possess;  for  where  the 
animal  system  is  strong  and  robust  it  i» 
easily  acquired,  but  when  the  nerves  ar« 
weak  and  extremely  sensible,  they  fall  pre- 
sently into  tremors  that  throw  the  mind  off 
the  hinges,  and  cast  a  confusion  over  her." 
— Search,  Light  of  Nature. 

Brave  (Fr.  brave)  applies  to  such 
dangers  as  come  from  living  or  active 
opponents,  whose  power  is  to  be 
dreaded,  implying  a  sustained  energy 
of  soul.  The  man  who  plunges  into 
the  sea  off  a  high  rock  is  bold,  but 
not  brave.  Yet  when  he  finds  himself 
swimming  in  a  rough  sea  he  may 
strike  out  bravely  for  the  shore.  The 
man  who  takes  a  noxious  animal  in 
his  hand  is  fearless.  The  true  knight, 
the  good  soldier,  the  spirited  lion- 
hunter,  are  brave — Pope  would  add, 
he  who  meets  death  as  he  ought — 

"Who  combats  bravely  is  not  therefore 

brave. 
He  dreads  a  death-bed  like  the  meanest 

slave." 

To  the  Courageous  man  (Fr.  cour 
rage)  belongs  that  active  fortitude 
which  is  shown  against  every  sort  of 
danger.  Courage  expresses  a  calmer 
and  more  persistent  quality  than 
bravery.  Bravery  shows  itself  in 
action,  courage  also  in  the  passive 
endurance  of  the  nearness  of  danger 
without  fear.  Bravery  too  is  against 
physical  peril,  but  we  recognize  a 
moral  courage  which  encounters  such 
trials  as  threaten  no  physical  hurt. 
Courage  is  more  in  principle,  bravery 
in  temperament.  When  courage  is 
sustained,  and  has  borne  the  test  of 
repeated  trials,  or  when  it  stands  the 
test  of  extreme  danger,  in  its  most 
appalling  forms,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Roman  w  ho  stooti  unmoved  when  ha 
was  suddenly  shown  the  form  of  an 
elephant  for  the  first  time,  it  may  be 
termed  Intrepidii  v  (Lat.  intrtptduSy 
undaunted).     As  the  courage  which 


[boldness] 


ifi  constant  is  intrepidity,  so  that 
which  is  spirited  and  adventurous  is 
Gallantry  (Fr.  galant,  worthy,  gal- 
lant), 

"  Courage"  says  Hobbes,  " in  a  large 
signification,  is  the  absence  of  fear  in  the 
presence  of  any  evil  whatsoever ;  but  in  a 
strict  and  more  common  meaning,  it  is 
contempt  of  wounds  and  death,  when  they 
oppose  a  man  on  his  way  to  his  end." 

"  That  quaUty  (valour),  which  signifies 
ao  more  than  an  intrepid  courage,  may  be 
separated  from  many  others  which  are 
good,  and  accompanied  with  many  which 
are  ill."— Dryden. 

"  As  a  friend  to  the  House  of  Brunswick, 
I  cannot  but  rejoice  in  the  personal  safety, 
and  in  the  personal  gallantry  too,  of  so 
distinguished  a  branch  of  it  (the  Duke  of 
Vork)." — Anecdotes  of  BiSHOP  Watson. 

Valiant  (Fr.  vaillant)  is  mostly  re- 
stricted to  the  courage  of  a  soldier  in 
war  or  combat,  and  is  not  so  well  ap- 
plicable to  persons  collectively,  now 
that  soldiers  act  commonly  under 
strict  orders,  except  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  when  they  may  act  singly. 
The  terms  Brave  and  Gallant  have 
almost  supplanted  the  term  Valiant, 
which  rather  reminds  us  of  the  knio^hts 
of  old.  Yet  we  should  still  speaK  of 
him  as  valiant  who  performea  some 
striking  deed  of  bravery,  or  met  any 
kind  of  danger  in  a  spirited  way. 
Valour  is  active  courage.  It  strikes 
and  strives  against  repeated  perils, 
and  bears  great  shocks  without  yield- 
ing, and  struggles  on  against  heavy 
odds.  Courage  is  impatient  to  attack. 
Valour  refuses  to  yield  or  fly.  Bravery 
exposes  life  and  courts  danger,  and 
prefers  death  to  dishonour.  As  valour 
refuses  to  retreat,  so  intrepidity  refuses 
to  be  alarmed. 

"  Who  would  not  fight  valiantly  when 
he  fights  in  the  eye  of  his  prince?"— Bishop 
Hali,. 

Undaunted  (un-,  not,  and  the  Fr. 
dompter;  Lat.  domitare,  to  tame,  or 
tubdue)  is  both  applicable  to  persons 
directly,  as  expressive  of  a  quality, 
and  is  u?«d  of  acts,  or  as  an  epithet 
of  courage  and  bravery.  Undaunted 
courage  is  that  which  sustains  itself 
in  spite  of  many  successive  terrors 
and  perils,  and  so  is  equivalent  to 
intrepidity. 

"  He  proceeded  on  in  the  performance  of 
Ul  hiB  duty,  and  prosecution  of  his  great 


DISCRIMINATED. 


17P 


designs,  with  undaunted  courage,  witn  on- 
wearied  industry,  with  undisturbed  tran- 
quillity and  satisfaction  of  mind."— Bar- 
row. 

The  Daring  court  that  which  the 
bold  are  ready  to  meet. 

"Courage  may  be  virtue  where  ths 
daring  is  extreme,  if  the  cause  be  good." — 
HoBBES. 

Heroic  (Lekt.hcrd^c lis)  in  conformity 
with  its  derivation,  leads  the  mind  to 
the  days  of  tlie  heroes,  or  the  heroic 
age,  and  so  is  tinged  with  the  notion 
of  personal  power  or  prowess,  as  well 
as  courage.  Magnanimity,  too,  finds 
its  way  in,  and  the  heroic  character  is 
one  who  does  deeds  of  valour,  not 
only  for  himself,  or  as  a  soldier  in 
service,  but  as  a  representative  man, 
the  champion  of  another  or  of  a  race. 
It  is  not  only  in  reference  to  his  bold- 
ness or  bravery  as  an  individual  that 
we  speak  of  Codes  or  of  Wallace  as  a 
hero. 

"  No  time  for  lamentation  now  ; 
Nor  much  more  cause.     Samson  hath  quit 

himself 
Like  Samson,  and  heroicly  hath  finished 
A  life  heroic,  on  his  enemies 
Fully  revenged."  MiLTOlf. 

BOLDNESS.  Assurance.  Au- 
dacity. Hardihood.  Effrontery, 
Impudence.     Shamelessness. 

In  addition  to  the  force  of  Bold  as 
a  synonym  of  courageous,  Bold  and 
Boldness  have  a  less  pronounced 
meaning,  as  referring  to  manner  and 
character  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. In  this  way.  Boldness  is 
used  to  denote  the  absence  of  shyness 
and  the  absence  of  timidity.  Accord- 
ing as  the  term  expresses  one  or  the 
other  of  these  in  a  becoming  or  un- 
becoming degree,  boldness  is,  or  is 
not,  a  commendable  quality.  Such 
boldness  as  seems  to  disregard  what 
others  regard  is  not  good.  Hence, 
a  bold  manner  in  women  and  young 
persons  is  unbecoming.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  a  good  tlnu^y  lo  upeak  the 
truth  with  boldness,  as  ii  not  to  be 
frightened  out  of  it ;  or  to  show  bold- 
ness in  the  presence  of  superiors,  if  it 
be  with  modesty ;  or  in  the  presence 
of  the  proud,  as  not  to  be  daunted 
out  of  one's  self-respect. 


180 


SIfNONYMS 


[booihI 


"  In  every  state  of  life  we  may,  with  an 
humble  boldness,  address  ourselves  to  Him 
as  to  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven." — 
Bkveridge. 

Assurance  (Fr.  sur,  Lat.  stcurus, 
sure)  is  that  kind  of  boldness  which 
betokens  confidence  in  one's  self,  one's 
powers,  or  one's  cause.  W  hen  rightly 
exercised,  and  in  right  degree,  it  is 
self-possession. 

"  On  informing  him  of  our  difficulties, and 
asking  whether  we  might  venture  across  the 
plain,  he  bid  us,  like  Csesar,  with  an  air  of 
assurance,  follow  him  and  fear  nothing." — 
Gilpin's  Tour. 

When  otherwise,  it  is  Impudence, 
or   Shamelessness.    These  last  are, 
in  fact,  correspondent  words  in  dif- 
ferent forms  (Lat.  impadentia,  in-,  not, 
and  pudens,  modest),  being  the  same 
as   the   Saxon   word    shamelessness. 
But    Impudence   is   commonly   used 
to  denote  a  jaunty  disrespect,  which, 
however  far  removed  from  a  virtue, 
is    yet    compatible    with   innocence. 
Shamelessness,  on  the  other  hand, 
commonly    denotes    an    absence    of 
shame  where  a  feeling  of  shame  is 
due.     A   high-spirited  boy  may   be 
occasionally  impudent;    a  profligate 
woman  is  often  shameless.  Audacity 
(Lat.  auddcem,  bold)  and  Hardiuood 
which  means  much  the  same  (hardy 
being  Fr.  hardi,  bold,  a  word  of  Germ, 
origin),  denote,  the  one  the  excessive 
tendency  to  venture,  the  other  the  un- 
due capacity  to  endure.    It  is  a  proof 
of  audacity  to  venture  to  an  entertain- 
ment uninvited,  and  of  hardihood  to 
endure  with  apparent  unconsciousness 
the  astonished  looks  of  the  host  and 
hostess.  EnRONTEuy(0.Fr.e///-0Hterie, 
ex,forth,frontem,  the  forehead)  is  very 
like  impudence,  but  it  is  a  step  beyond 
it.     It  is  the  exhibition  of  self  under 
circumstances  peculiarly  calling  for 
the   contiary,   as,   for  instance,   the 
asking  a  favour  of  a  person  whom 
you    have   maligned   or    injured,    or 
behaving  to  a  superior  with  the  man- 
ner of  an  equal.     In  effrontery  there 
is   implied   some    degree    of  insult, 
which,   however,   arises  not  merely 
from   the   demeanour,  but  from  the 
circumstances  of   the  case   and  the 
relation  of  the  parties.     Audacity  is 
defiant,  hardihood  is  dogged, effrontery 
is  cool. 


"Audacity  and  confidence  doth  in  civil  bo- 
siness  so  gi'eat  effects,  as  a  man  may  rea- 
sonably doubt  that  besides  the  very  daring 
and  earnestness,  and  persisting  and  impor- 
tunity, there  should  be  some  secret  binding 
and  stooping  of  other  men's  spirits  to  such 
persons," — Bacon. 

♦*  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  he  was 
the  first  who,  in  this  dialogue,  had  the 
hardihood  to  displace  J(.ason  from  the 
eminence  to  which,  by  the  unanimous  voice 
of  Dryden's  contemporaries,  he  had  most 
unjustly  been  elevated,  and  to  set  Shake- 

jeare  far  above  him."— Malone,  Life  of 


"  Can  any  one  reflect  for  a  moment  on  all 
those  claims  of  debt,  which  the  minister  ex- 
hausts himself  in  contrivances  to  augment 
with  new  usuries,  without  lifting  up  his 
hands  and  eyes  with  astonishment  at  the 
impudence  both  of  the  claim  and  of  the  ad- 
judication ?  "— BUKKK. 

"And,  how  much  that  love  might  move 
us,  to  much  and  more  that  faultiness  of 
her  mind  removed  us ;  her  beauty  being 
balanced  by  her  shamelessness." — Sidney's 
Arcadia. 

"  Vice  is  never  so  shameless  as  when  It 
pretends  to  public  spirit.  Yet  this  effrontery 
is  so  common  that  it  scandalizes  nobody." — 
Bishop  Hurd. 

BOOTH.    Tent.     Marquee. 

Booth  (Icelandic  bud,  a  booth,  shop) 
is  now  employed  to  represent  almost 
any  kind  of  shed  of  light  materials 
for  temporary  occupation.  The  booths 
of  fairs  are  open  in  front  and  closed 
at  the  back  and  sides  either  with  can- 
vas or  with  canvas  and  boarding  com- 
bined. The  Tent  (Fr.  tente,  Lat. 
tenta,  stretched  i.e.  cloth,  part,  of  ten- 
dere,  to  stretch)  is  formed  of  canvas  or 
other  material,  as  skin  or  woven  hair, 
and  stretched  over  poles  fastened  in 
the  ground  so  as  to  afford  an  entire 
enclosure  and  covering,  with  an  en- 
trance arranged  by  the  disposition  of 
the  material.  The  Marquee  (Fr. 
marquise)  is  now  used  of  the  larger, 
more  ornamental  tent  of  pleasure 
grounds,  not  used  as  a  place  of  dwell- 
ing, but  of  exhibition  or  refreshment. 

BORDER.  Boundary.  Bound. 
Frontier.  Confine.  Precinct. 
Limit.     Purlieu. 

Border  (Fr.  bordure)  is  the  outer 
edge  of  land  which  runs  alon^  that 
part  of  a  territory  which  lies  adjacent 
to  another.  It  is  applied  to  tracts  of 
size  and  importance,  as  the  '^  Border 


[B(  rder] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


lOl 


wars  "  of  England  and  Scotland. 
Rhetorically,  "  Borders,"  in  the 
plural,  is  used  for  the  land  itself. 

"  It  is  most  advisable,  vrhen  we  are  on 
the  borders  of  death,  to  provide  for  that 
state  which  lieth  just  beyond  it. "—Barrow. 

Boundary  (O.  Fr.  bonne,  boundary) 
is  the  object  on  any  one  side  which 
indicates  the  Bound  or  extreme  ex- 
tent in  circuit.  We  speak  of  the 
bounds  of  smaller  distiicts,  as  of 
parishes  or  estates;  but  we  use  the 
verb  bound  instead  of  border  in 
speaking  of  large  tracts  of  country 
and  their  geographical  position,  as  we 
say,  France  is  bounded,  not  bordered, 
on  the  east.  Bound  has  a  more  re- 
strictive force  than  boundary,  which 
is  more  purely  topographical,  while 
bound  is  frequently  emploj'ed  to  ex- 
press the  moral  limits  of  things,  as  we 
say,  "  to  exceed  the  bounds  of  modera- 
tion." 

"As  in  geometry,  of  all  lines  or  surfaces 
contained    within    the    same    bounds   the 
straight  lines  and  the  plane  surface  are  the 
shortest,  so  it  is  also  in  morality,  by  the 
right  line  of  justice,  from  the  plain  ground 
of  virtue,  a  man  soonest  will  arrive  to  any 
well-chosen  end." — Barrow. 
*'  The  world  was  ne'er  designed  for  thee  ; 
You're  like  a  passenger  below. 
That  stays  perhaps  a  night  or  so  ; 
But  still  his  native  country  lies 
Beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  skies." 

Cotton. 

The  Frontier  (Tr.frontitre)  is  a 
bound  or  boundary  line  of  one  side 
only,  which  is  regarded  as  a  front 
opposed  to  another  front.  It  must 
be  observed,  however,  that,  while 
a  boundary  may  be  an  imaginary  or 
geographical  line,  a  frontier  is  a  slip 
of  actual  country,  as  in  the  phrase 
"  towns  on  the  frontier."  It  is 
a  term  of  military  significance.  It 
may  be  remarked  that,  in  speaking 
of  entering  a  country  at  a  given 
point,  the  term  is  often  incorrectly 
used  in  the  plural :  "  we  crossed  the 
frontiers,"  instead  of  the  fi'ontier. 

"  Frontier  experience."— W,  Irving. 

Confines  (Ls,t.  con finium, a  confine, 
a  common  boundary)  is  a  word  most 
lommonly  used  of  a  point  upon  a  line 
separating  two  territories,  as,  "  the 
two  kings  met  upon  the  confines  of 
the  two  kingrtoms."  Confines  are 
confining  or  comprising  lines. 


"  The  miraculous  birth,  life,  death,  resur- 
rection, and  ascension  of  our  Lord  Jeaos 
Christ  were  all  events  which  came  to  pass 
within  the  confines  of  Judaea." — Locke. 

Precinct  (priecingtre,  part.  pr<r- 
cinctus,  to  encircle)  is  used  even  more 
loosely  than  Confines;  for,  as  Con- 
fixes is  sometimes  used  to  denote  any 
enclosed  space,  so  Precincts  has  well- 
nigh  lost  the  force  of  exact  circum- 
scription, and  denotes  little  more  than 
vicinity,  the  mind  not  resting  upon 
any  precise  boundary,  nor  perhaps 
knowing  it.  "  He  lived  within  the 
precincts  of  the  cathedral,"  that  is, 
near  it,  on  ground  belonging  to  it, 
and  in  some  way  known  as  such, 

"  The  common  vice  of  these  castle- 
builders  is  to  draw  everything  within  its 
precincts  which  they  fancy  may  contribute 
to  Its  defence  or  embellishment." — War- 
burton. 

The  vagueness  of  precincts  becomes 
yetmore  vague  in  PuRLiEus,originally 
the  outer  pai'ts  of  forest  land,  which, 
being  separated  from  it  by  perambu- 
lation {pour  allte,  O.  Fr.  pur  alee : 
VVedgewood)  were  made  free  from 
forest  laws ;  hence,  the  outer  parts  and 
undefined  environs  of  any  place  of  im- 
portance, but  more  especially  of  cities 
or  towns. 

"  If  deer  come  out  of  the  forest  mto  the 
purlieu,  the  purlieu  man  may  hunt  and  kill 
him,  provided  he  does  it  fairly  and  without 
forestalling." — Blackstonk. 

Limit  (Lat./imYtem)  has  a  restrictive 
force.  The  limits  are  those  which 
part  off,  so  that  you  may  not  pass 
them  without  transcursion  or  trans- 
gression. 

"  Nature  now,  as  fertile  as  of  old,  hath  in 
her  effects  determinate  limits  of  quantity." 
—Drayton. 

Bounds,  confines,  and  limits  are 
words  which  lend  themselves  readily 
to  moral  or  rhetorical  uses,  while 
boundary,  frontier,  precinct,  and  pur- 
lieu are  purely  territorial.  Bounds 
belong  to  moral  limitation,  confines  to 
rhetorical  contiguity,  limits  to  moral 
or  ideal  restriction.  Limits  mark  but 
do  not  in  themselves  enforce  enclosure 
or  restriction.  A  conventional  line  as 
a  parallel  of  longitude  may  be  a 
limit.  A  boundary  expresses  a  line, 
a  bound  an  obstacle. 


182 


SYNONYMS 


[bough] 


BOUGH.     Branch. 

The  Branch  (Fr.  hranche)  is  a 
hmb  of  a  tree  regarded  simply  in  its 
ramifications.  The  Bough  (A.  S. 
bog,  an  arm)  is  the  branch  invested 
with  leaves,  blossoms,  or  fruit.  The 
branches  spread  and  sometimes  vie  in 
size  with  the  parent  tree ;  they  grow 
in  gradation  from  the  lowest  to  the 
topmost,  and  furnish  resting-places 
for  birds  which  "sing  among  the 
branches."  Tlie  bough  is  leafy, 
luxuriant,  bending  with  the  weight 
of  the  ripe  fruit,  broken  off  from  the 
parent  stem,  and  used  for  festive 
decoration  or  carried  about  in  popular 
rejoicing.  The  bough  comprises  the 
leaves,  the  branch  may  be  even  con- 
trasted with  them.  The  fruitful  bough, 
rich  witli  the  foliage  of  summer  and 
the  fruit  of  autumn,  becomes  in  winter 
a  leafless  branch. 

BOUNDLESS.  Unbounded.  Un- 
limited.    Infinite. 

The  second  and  third  stand  in 
analogy  to  the  first  and  last.  The 
Unbounded  and  the  Unlimited  are 
tl50se  things  which  have  no  bounds 
or  limits  in  fact ;  the  Boundless 
and  the  Infinite  (Lat.  infinihis,  in-, 
not,  and  finis,  an  end)  are  those  which 
have  none  in  nature,  or  possibility,  or 
our  conception,  or  vision.  Neverthe- 
less, that  which  is  boundless  in  nature 
may  be  regarded  as  unbounded  in 
fact,  and  the  infinite  in  nature  as 
unlimited  in  fact. 

"  Is  there  a  temple  of  the  Deity 

Except    earth,    sea,  and  air,   yon   eznre 

pole; 
And  chief  his  holiest  shnne  the  virtuous 

soul? 
Where'er  the  eye  can  pierce,  the  feet  can 

move. 
Tills  wide,  this  boundless  univeree  is  Jove." 
Lyttelton,  Cato's  Speech. 

"  To  thee,  immortal  maid,  from  this  blessed 

hour. 
O'er  time    and    fame   I    give    unbounded 

power. 
Thou  from  oblivion  shalt  the  hero  save, 
Shalt  raise,  revere,  immortalize  the  brave." 
CONGREVK. 

"  Some  of  them  told  us  that  the  power  of 
the  king  is  unlimited,  and  that  the  life  and 
property  of  the  subject  is  at  his  disposal," — 
Cook's  Voyages. 


"Infinite  knowledge  is  the  foundation  <rf 
all, 

"Infinite  goodness  is  the  author  and  movw 
of  all, 

" /n/fm<e  wisdom  is  the  contriver  and  di- 
rector of  all, 

"  And  infinite  power  executes  all." 

Sharp. 

BRACE.     Couple. 

To  Brace  (O,  Fr.  b^-ace,  the  distance 
betueen  extended  arms;  Lat.  brdchia; 
Fr.  bras,  an  arm,)  is  to  bind  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  additional  strength. 
To  Couple  (Lat.  cdpulare)  is  to  bino 
or  tie  in  any  way  for  the  purpose  oi 
union. 

"  And  ever  at  hand    a    drum    is    ready 
braced."  Shakespeare. 

"  Some  independent  ideas,  of  no  alliance 
to  one  another,  are  by  education,  custom, 
and  the  constant  din  of  their  party,  so 
cojipled  in  their  minds  that  they  always  ap- 
pear there  together." — LoCEE. 

BRACE.    Couple.    Pair. 

A  Pair  (Lat.  pUres,  pi.  equal)  must 
have  some  similarity  of  nature,  which 
is  the  cause  of  its  being  so  naturally, 
or  the  occasion  of  its  being  made  so. 
A  Couple  requires  the  same,  but  is 
more  promiscuous ;  any  two  of  such 
things  constituting  a  couple,  if  they 
are  brought  into  union  ;  while  pair 
often  denotes  two  which  are  such 
that  the  one  is  the  complement  of  the 
other :  a  couple  of  eggs,  but  a  pair  of 
gloves.  Brace  (see  verb)  is  used  of 
those  things  in  which  it  is  requisite  to 
their  completeness  that  they  should  be 
two  in  number.  It  is  never  applied 
seriously  to  persons.  It  is  a  technical 
term  among  sportsmen. 

'•  The  king,  who  was  then  at  Newmarket, 
heard  of  it,  and  was  pleased  merrily  and 
graciously  to  say  he  could  not  be  there 
himself,  but  would  send  them  a  brace  of 
bucks." — Spectator. 

"  Scarce  any  couple  come  together  but 
their  nuptials  are  declared  in  the  newspaper 
with  encomiums  on  each  party." — John- 
son. 

The  term  pair  was  in  Old  English 
not  restricted  to  two  things,  but  was 
applicable  to  many  of  equal  or  like 
sort ;  the  term  pair  being  of  the  same 
meaning  as  the  word  peer;  but  ap- 
plicable to  things  as  well  as  persons 
So  a  '*  paire  of  cards  "  for  ft  pack^ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


[break] 


"There  Baucis  and   Philemon  liv'd,   and 

there 
Had  liv'd  long  married,  and  a  happy  pair." 
Dryden,  Ovid. 

BRANDISH.    Flourish.  Wiei.d. 

Brandish  (connected  with  O.  Fr. 
brand,  a  sivord)  retains  its  etymological 
character.  It  is  to  flourish  like  a 
weapon.  When  Locke  speaks  of 
•'  brandishing  syllogisms,  the  idea  of 
argumentative  weapons  is  still  re- 
tained. It  is  an  action  of  hostility, 
defiance,  or  ra^e. 

Flourish  {I r.Jleurirjto flourish)  is 
to  make  bold,  sweeping,  and  fantasti- 
cal movements  with  the  hand  or  some- 
thing contained  in  it.  It  is  an  action 
of  parade,  triumph,  bravado,  skill. 
Calligraphers  delight  in  flourishes  of 
the  pen,  and  some  orators  and  rheto- 
ricians in  flourishes  of  metaphor. 

Wield  (A.  S.  wealdan,  to  sway)  is 
indicative  of  greater  weight  in  the 
object,  and  greater  power  in  the  per- 
son. Tlie  knight  brandishes  his  sword, 
the  magician  waves  or  flourishes  his 
wand,  the  giant  wields  his  club. 

BREACH.  Break.   Gap.    Chasm. 

Breach  and  Break  are  connected. 
Break  is  used  for  any  cessation  of 
continuity,  Breach  only  when  it  is  a 
disruption  caused  by  violence.  In 
deciphering  imperfect  manuscripts  we 
fretjuently  come  upon  breaks.  The 
artillery  may  make  a  breach  in  the 
fortifications  ;  or,  figuratively,  an  un- 
toward circumstance  producing  mis- 
understanding may  make  abroach  in  an 
old  friendship.  A  break  may  be  slight 
both  in  appearance  and  consequences, 
a  breach  is  always  considerable  and 
serious.  A  brea'k  may  be  in  a  thin 
line,  a  breach  is  in  a  solid  mass.  A 
thing  may  be  broken  without  perfect 
discontinuity  of  parts,  a  breach  in- 
volves a  gaping  separation  of  them. 

•♦  For  he  that  openeth  the  waters  but  a 
little,  knoweth  not  how  great  a  ireacA  they 
will  make  at  length."— SpELMAN. 

"  Considering  probably  how  ranch  Homer 
had  been  disfigured  by  the  arbitrary  com- 
pilers of  his  works,  Virgil  by  his  will  ob- 
liged Tuvca  and  Varrus  to  add  nothing,  nor 
so  much  as  fill  up  the  breaks  he  had  left  in 
his  poem." — Walsh. 

Gap  (connected  with  gape)  is  the 
effect  of  discontinuity  regarded  simply 
in   itself,   and   without   reference   to 


/83 


its  nature  or  its  cause,  which  may  hare 
been  violence  or  not.  I  see  a  gap  in 
a  hedge.  The  gardener  neglected  to 
plant  young  slips  in  that  part.  I  see 
another.  It  has  been  caused  by  the 
inroads  of  cattle. 

"  Then  follows  an  immense  gap,  in  which 
undoubtedly  some  changes  were  made  by 
time ;  and  we  hear  little  more  of  them 
(the  Germans)  until  we  find  them  Chri»- 
tians,  and  makers  of  written  laws." — 
BURKB. 

A  Chasm  (Gr.  x^a-fjia.)  is  a  yawn- 
ing void  not  easily  filled,  and  leaving 
a  sense  of  this.  A  chasm  in  our  en- 
joyments is  a  large  deduction  which 
leaves  a  sense  of  hopeless  privation. 

"  The  whole  chasm  in  nature  from  a  plant 
to  a  man  is  filled  up  with  diverse  kinds  of 
creatures." — Addison. 

BREAK.  Rend.  Tear.  Burst. 
Crack.     Split.     Lacerate. 

These  words  all  express  a  greater 
or  less  disruption  of  continuity  ;  the 
diflference  depends  upon  the  force 
employed,  and  the  substance  it  is  em- 
ployed upon. 

To  BitEAK  (A.  S.  brecan)  implies 
the  entire  separation  of  parts  formerly 
continuous ;  the  degree  of  force  may 
be  great  or  very  slight,  as  in  the 
cases  of  a  thick  stick  or  a  piece  of 


"  He  break  my  darts  or  hurt  my  power  1  " 
Pbior. 

The  particle&  need  to  be  hard  and 
brittle.  When  they  are  soft,  tough, 
and  lentous,  they  can  only  be  Rent 
(A.  S.  hrendan,  to  rend),  as  the  beast 
of  prey  rends  the  flesh  of  his  victim. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  that 
force  which  in  breaking  is  momentary , 
in  rending  is  continuous. 

"  Lest  they  turn  again  and  rend  yon." — 
Bible. 

When  the  particles  are  lentous  and 
pliant  without  being  tough,  no  such 
force  is  needed,  and  the  substance  ia 
Torn  (A.S.  t^ran,  to  tear, rend),  a»  s 
piece  of  paper  is  torn.  Tear  has  a 
peculiar  sense  of  its  own,  in  which  i* 
signifies  merely  violently  to  sepfcnte, 

"  They  are  always  careful   to  join  to 
small  pieces  lengthwise,  which  makes  it  im- 

Eossible  to  tear  the  cloth  in  any  directiol 
ut  one."— Cook's  Voyages. 

To   Burst    (A.  S.    berstan)   is    t». 
break  suddenly,  violently,  and  with 


184 


SYKONYMS  [breed] 


more  or- less  of  explosion,  as  tlie  result 
of  a  Icrce  operating  outwards  ;  as  when 
the  steam  bursts  the  cauldion,  or  the 
giant  bursts  his  bonds.  Bursting  is 
the  final  point  of  excessive  tension, 
the  force  proceeding  from  an  internal 
point. 

"  Atoms  and  systems  into  ruin  hurl'd. 
And  now  a  bubble  bursts  and  now  a  world." 
Pope. 

To  Crack  (onomat.  word,  of  which 
there  are  many  forms),  and  to  Split 
(cf.  Du.  iplitteii)  denote  longitudinal 
or  transverse  forms  of  partial  bieakage, 
where  a  discontinuity  is  produced,  not 
extending  through  the  whole  sub- 
stance, or  not  so  complete  as  to  pro- 
duce separation  of  parts.  Anytliing 
more  than  this  is  breaking  open  ;  the 
difference  between  cracking  and  split- 
ting being  that  the  operation  of  split- 
ting follows  some  natural  or  pre-exis- 
tent  cleavage  of  the  material,  and 
cracking  does  not.  To  crack  a  nut  is 
not  to  break  it  sufficiently  to  take  out 
the  kernel  ;  if  the  nut  is  broken  into 
two  or  more  pieces  in  the  act,  this  is 
over  and  above  the  cracking. 
"  Well,  let  all  pass  and  trust  Him  who  nor 

cracks 
The  bruised  reed  nor  quencheth  smoking 

flax."  Donne. 

"  With  sounding  axes  to  the  grove  theygo. 
Fell,  split,  and  lay  the  fuel  in  a  row." 

Drtden. 

Lacerate  (Lat.  laccrare)  is  to  tear 
irregularlj'-,  so  as  to  leave  a  jogged 
outline.  It  is  now  seldom  used  but 
of  fleshy  substances,  though  of  old  it 
had  a  wider  application,  and  even  such 
substances  as  air  and  water  were  said 
to  be  lacerated. 

"  If  there  be  no  fear  oi  laceration,  pull  it 
out  the  same  way  it  went  in." — WiSEMAN, 
burgery. 

BREED.  Engender.  Procreate. 
Propagate. 

Breed  (A.  S.  brcdan,  to  nourish  or 
cherish)  is  employed  in  a  general  way 
of  anything  which  tends  to  bring 
animals  into  life,  and  so  is  employed 
not  only  directly  of  procreation  by 
parents,  but  of  any  influence  which 
tends  to  develop  animal  life,  and 
even  of  the  keeping  of  animals  for 
ihe  purpose  of  their  progeny.  To 
Engender  (Fr.  engendrer,  Lat.  i7igc- 
nUrdre)   is  to  beg«t;    to  Procreate 


(ha.t.procredre')  is  to  produce  offspring 
after  the  manner  of  either  parent.  The 
term  is  not  a  familiar  one.  To  Pro 
PAG  ate  (Lat.  pr'6pagare,  pr'dpago,  c 
layer)  is  used  of  plants  as  well  as  of 
animals,  and  means  to  treat  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  or  multiplying 
the  kind.  Breed  and  Engender  are 
often  applied  metaphorically,  the 
latter  almost  exclusively  so,  in  the 
sense  of  producing ;  as,  to  breed  ill- 
feeling,  to  engender  strife,  and  the 
like ;  where  the  result  is  seldom  or 
never  favourable  or  desirable.  Pro- 
pagate is,  in  like  manner,  employed 
in  the  sense  of  giving  currency,  as  to 
propagate  doctrines,  a  belief,  a  ru- 
mour, and  the  like.  In  their  secon- 
dary applications  we  use  the  term 
Br  eed  to  express  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  effects  by  causes,  and  Engen- 
der to  express  the  simple  relation  oi 
the  one  to  the  other,  witliout  reference 
to  immediate  or  deferred  production. 
In  this  sense  the  terms  are  purely 
moral,  not  physical  or  mechanical. 

"  In  brief,  must  it  not  follow  necessai'ily, 
that  the  earth,  which  is  the  mother  and 
breeder  of  men,  of  living  creatures  and  of 
all  plants,  shall  perish  and  be  wholly  ex- 
tinct ?  " — Holland,  Plutarch. 
"  True  it  is  that  we  have  seen  better  days. 
And  have  with  holy  bell  been  knoll'd  to 

church. 
And  sat  at  good  men's  feasts,  and  wip'd  our 

eyes 
Of  drops  that  sacred  pity  had  engendered." 
Shakespeare. 

"Poor  and  low-pitched  desires,  if  they  do 
but  mix  with  those  other  heavenly  inten- 
tions that  draw  a  man  to  this  study,  it  is 
justly  expected  that  they  should  bring  forth 
a  base-born  issue  of  divinity  ;  like  that  of 
those  imperfect  and  putrid  creatures  that 
receive  a  crawling  life  from  two  most  unnke 
procreants,  the  sun  and  mud." — Milton. 

"He  (Pythagoras)  was  the  chief  propaga- 
tor of  that  doctrine  amongst  the  Greeks 
concerning  three  hypostases  in  the  Deity," 
—  Cud  WORTH. 

BRIGHT.  Clear.  Lucid.  Lu- 
minous. Vivid.  Splendid.  Bril- 
LiANT.     Lustrous. 

Of  these.  Bright  (A.  S.  heorht) 
is  used  in  the  greatest  variety  of  mean- 
ings, signifying  shedding  light,  trans- 
mitting light,  reflecting  light;  and  so, 
metaphorically,  expresses  many  ideas 
analogous  to  the  several  properties  or 
effects  of  light,  as  vivid,  lucid,  clever, 


happy,  and  so  on.  f3ut,  as  is  usual,  the 
most  widely  generic  synonym  is  the 
least  forcible.  So  brightness  may  exist 
in  a  low  degree.  Almost  any  object 
which  is  not  dull  is  more  or  less  bright. 
"  However,  this  was  only  a  transient 
eload  ;  they  were  hid  but  a  moment,  and 
their  constellation  blazed  out  with  greater 
brightness  and  a  far  more  vigorous  influence, 
some  time  after  it  was  blown  over," — 
'  BURKK. 

|f  Clear  (Lat.  cldrus)  denotes  unob- 

structed bnghiness,  as  when  the  stars 
shine  clearly,  that  is,  without  clouds 
or  haze.  A  clear  style  of  speaking  is 
one  in  which  the  meaning  is  not  ob- 
scured by  anything  which  may  have 
r  that  tendency.     Clear  water  is  that 

t;         through  which  the  rays  of  light  pass 
t  fi-eely  and  unobstructedly.     This  ap- 

pears in  the  use  of  the  term  in  tne 
sense  of  without  obstruction,  as  to 
stand  clear  of  anything,  that  is,  to  keep 
away  fi-om  it. 

"  Then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  take  out 
the  mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye." — 
Bible. 

Lucid  {\.Kt.iucMHSylucem,  light)  is 
not  used  in  a  physical  sense,  except  in 
poetry  or  poetical  expressions ;  but  of 
speech  and  exposition,  which  are  said 
to  be  lucid,  that  is,  clear,  distinct,  in- 
telligible ;  and  in  the  phrase,  lucid 
interval,  that  is,  serene  and  undis- 
turbed by  insanity. 

"Full  to  the  margin  flowed  the  lucid 
wave." — Fawkes'  Theocritus. 

Luminous  (Lat.  luminosus)  is  em- 
ployed of  those  bodies  which  emit 
li^ht,  as  distinguished  from  those 
which  merely  transmit  or  reflect  it. 
As  used  of  style,  luminous  is  an  ad- 
vance upon  lucid.  A  lucid  speech  is 
one  of  clearness  in  diction ;  a  lumi- 
nous speech  is  one  which  is,  as  it 
were,  lighted  up  by  graces  and  illus- 
trations calculated  to  give  it  especial 
clearness  and  effect  besides. 

"  Notwthstanding  the  numerous  objec- 
tions which  have  been  made  to  the  validity 
of  his  reasonings,  none  of  his  critics  has  re- 
fused him  the  praise  of  the  most  luminous 
perspicuity."— Stewart. 

Vivid  (Lat.  vwidus,  living,  anima- 
ted) is  shining  with  a  special,  and,  as 
it  were,  living  brightness,  and  indi- 
cates the  profound  harmony  which 
3ubsist8  between  life  and  light,  no  less 


DISCRIMINATED. 


185 


than  between  darkness  and  death. 
Metaphorically,  a  vivid  imagination  is 
one  which  invests  readily  with  reality 
and  life.  As  illustrating  the  force  of 
vivid,  we  may  observe  that  unpolished 
metals,  as  not  reflecting  light,  are  said 
to  be  "  dead."  Vivid  is  a  term  of 
relation  or  degree.  It  denotes  ener- 
getic conspicuousness  in  objects  which, 
under  other  circumstances,  are  less 
distinctly  visible  or  bright.  A  vivid 
light  is  contrasted  with  an  obscure 
glimmer. 

"  A  variety  of  ideas  aflford  us  no  notion  of 
succession,  unless  we  perceive  one  come  be- 
fore the  other  ;  nor  can  it  be  imagined  that 
their  degrees  of  vividness  or  faintness  will 
do  the  job."— Search,  Light  of  Nature. 

Splendid  (Lat.  splendXdus)  denotes 
the  combination  of  grandeur  with 
brightness,  as  a  splendid  sun  or  sun- 
set, a  splendid  ceremony,  a  splendid 
orator. 

"  We  see  through  all  this  splendid  obscu- 
rity that  something  grand  is  approaching. 
The  several  shades  of  darkness  by  degrees 
give  way.  Day  comes  on  more  and  more, 
till  at  length  the  sun  rises  in  all  its  glory, 
and  opening  into  its  fullest  splendour,  sur- 
rounds the  earth  from  one  end  of  it  to  the 
other."— Gilpin. 

Brilliant  (Fr.  briller,  to  shine)  is 
shining  with  a  sparkling  brightness. 
In  brilliancy  there  is  not  only  great 
inherent  or  reflected  light,  but  the 
light  shines  with  a  changeful  and 
varied  play.  So,  metaphorically,  bril- 
liant wit. 

"  There  is  an  appearance  of  brilliancy  in 
the  pleasures  of  high  life  which  natni-ally 
dazzles  the  young." — Craig. 

LusTR0us(Lat.  lustrdre,  tolightup)ia 
a  forcible  word  conveying  the  notion 
of  mingled  light  and  brightness.  The 
term  is  not  the  less  forcible  for  being 
somewhat  antiquated,  and  might  well 
be  revived. 

"  For  the  more  lustrous  the  imagination 
is,  it  filleth  and  fixeth  the  better."— Bacon. 

BRIM.  Border.  Edge.  Margin. 
Brink.     Verge.     Rim. 

Brim  (  A .  S.  krim)  is  the  uppermost 
edge  of  any  vessel  or  hollow  space, 
containing,  or  fitted  to  contain,  fluid, 
as  the  brim  of  a  cup,  or  a  river,  and 
so  differs  from  Brink  (Dan.  brink, 
edge),  which  may,  or  may  nov  imply  a 
space  filled  with  fluid,  as  we  speak  of 
the  brink  of  the  goblet  and  the  brink  of 


18G 


the  grave  or  a  precipice.  A  brink  is, 
for  this  reason,  not  necessarily  of  a 
circular  form,  or  approaching  to  it, 
which  is  ordinarily  the  case  with 
brim  ;  for  where  we  speak  of  the  brim 
of  a  river,  it  is  rather  of  its  fcrin/c,  re- 
garded analogously  to  the  brim  of  a 
vessel,  and  so  relatively  to  its  capacity 
of  holding  water.  It  would  seem  that 
we  use  the  word  Brink  of  hollow  ves- 
sels in  relation  to  their  structure,  brim 
to  their  use.  The  brink  of  the  tankard 
is  decorated  with  flowers.  The  goblet 
is  filled  to  the  brim. 

"How  often  has  public  calamity  been 
arrested  on  the  very  brink  of  ruin  by  the 
energy  of  a  single  man !  " — BuRKE. 
So  characteristic  is  the  use  of  BniM,  as 
associated  with  the  idea  of  fulness,  that 
Dryden  employs  the  verb  to  brim, 
meaning  to  fill : — 
"This  said,    a    double    wreath    Evander 

twin'd. 
And  poplai-s  black  and  white  his  temples 

bind. 
Then  brims  his  ample  bowl." 

Border  (Fr.  bordure),  where  the 
word  is  used  to  mean  more  than 
simply  edge,  is  a  finished  and  ex- 
tended edge,  so  constituting  a  strip  or 
stripe.  It  is,  however,  extended  in- 
wards, and  may  be  occupied,  so  differ- 
ing from  Margin  (Lat.  margtnem) 
which  is  an  edge  extended  outwards 
and  unoccupied.  The  work  com- 
monly finishes  with  the  border  and 
before  the  margin.  The  Edge  (A.  S. 
ecg)  is  the  sharp  tennination  of  any 
substance  superficially,  as  the  edge  of 
a  sword.  The  Rim  (A.  S.  rima,  edge)  is 
an  unextended  biim,  as  the  brim  is 
an  extended  rim.  So  we  speak  of  the 
rim  of  a  cup,  or  the  brim,  when  we 
regard  it  as  extended  by  the  thickness 
of  the  material  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed ;  of  the  brim  of  a  hat,  as  being 
more  than  an  edge  or  rim  ;  and  of  the 
brim,  not  rim,  of  a  river,  as  being  ex- 
tended into  the  fields  adjacent.  But 
RiJM  is  a  term  more  variously  appli- 
cable than  Brim.  It  belongs  not  only 
to  the  edge  or  lip  of  hollow  vessels, 
but  to  avy  edging  which  is  of  a  sub- 
stantial character.  The  uppermost 
moulding  in  a  piece  of  architecture 
might  be  so  coloured  or  gilt  as  to  con- 
stitute an  ornamental  rim.  The  brim 
of   a    tankard,    the    rim   of  a   dish 


SYNONYMS  [bring] 

Verge  (Lat.  ter^*r«)  is  the  extreme 
border  of  anything,  regarded  in  the 
light  of  a  termination  to  an  extended 
surface,  and  a  line  of  arrival  to  one 
who  has  traversed  it.  The  idea  of 
Border  in  English  varies,  as  it  repre- 
sents the  sense  of  the  French  bord  or 
bordure ;  in  the  former  it  is  an  edge 
or  confine,  in  the  latter  it  is  an  edging^ 
an  expanded  or  artificial  edge,  as  the 
borders  of  an  ornamental  garden,  or  a 
piece  of  tapestry. 

"  They  make  broad  their  phylacteries, 
and  enlarge  the  borders  of  their  gar- 
ments."— Bible. 

"  I  should  have  thought  it  superflnons, 
had  it  been  easier  to  me  than  it  wa«,  t« 
have  interrupted  my  text,  or  crowded  my 
mnrgin  with  reference  to  every  authoi 
whose  sentiments  I  have  made  use  of." — 
Paley. 

"  Who  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword."— 
Bible.  ^ 

"  Struck    through  the    belly's    nm,    the 

warrior  lies 
Supine,  and  shades  eternal  veil  his  eyes." 
POPK. 

"  The  verge  of  the  king  in  this  respect 
extends  for  twelve  miles  round  the  king's 
palace  of  residence." — Blackstone. 
Verge  and  Margin  are,  in  some  sense, 
opposed.  The  verge  is  the  boundary 
which  limits  movements  ;  the  margin 
is  the  space  whither  movement, 
action,  or  work  does  not  extend. 
This  appears  especially  in  the  secon- 
dary uses  of  the  words.  We  speak 
of  the  verge  of  possibility,  and  oi 
leaving  a  margin  of  discretion. 

BRING.  Fetch.  Carry.  Bear. 
Convey.     Transport. 

Bring  is  A.  S.  bringan,  Fetch,  the 
A.  S.fetian,  and  Carry  is  the  O.  Fr. 
cairier,  and  connected  wijth  a  large 
tribe  of  words,  as  car,  chariot,  cargo, 
charge,  etc. 

The  idea  common  to  these  three 
words  is  transportation  from  one 
place  to  another.  They  differ  in 
some  points  of  mode  and  direction  of 
such  transportation.  First,  as  to  the 
mode ;  Bring  is  used  in  more  than  a 
physical  sense.  I  bring  a  basket,  and 
I  bring  good  or  bad  news.  Again, 
Fetch  does  not  necessitate  literal 
transportation.  I  fetch  a  loaf  from  the 
baker's,  but  I  also  fetch  a  boy  who 
will  run  an  errand  for  my  friend. 
Nor,  again,  would  Carry,  which,  lik« 


[broad] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


187 


bring,  is  applicable  to  what  is  not 
material,  as  to  carry  tidings,  he  em- 
ployed physically  of  any  small  and 
very  light  object.  I  carry  a  heavy 
bag,  and  even  an  umbrella,  but  I 
should  not  carry  a  pin  to  some  one 
who  wanted  it  upstairs,  but  simply 
take  it.  Secondly,  as  to  direction. 
Bring  denotes  motion  towards,CARRY 
motion  from,  and  Fetch  motion,  first 
from  and  then  towards,  while  Con- 
vey (O.  Fr.  conveier)  and  Transport 
(Lat.  transportare),  refer  to  any  two 
points.  To  Bear  (A.  S.  btran)  is 
simply  to  have  tlie  weight  of  some- 
thing upon  oneself,  whether  volunta- 
rily or  involuntarily  placed.  It  does 
not  necessarily  imply  motion,  which 
is  always  implied  in  carry.  So, 
A.tlas  bore,  hut  did  not  carry,  the 
world  on  his  shoulders.  Convey  and 
Transport  both  imply,  more  or  less 
distinctly,  some  route  or  destination 
for  the  carriage,  and  differ,  in  that 
Convey  applies  to  lighter  objects,even 
to  things  not  substantial,  as  to  convey 
a  message  ;  while  Transport  denotes 
matters  of  some  substantial  weight,  as 
artillery,  merchandise,  and  the  like. 
The  notion  of  an  intermediate  space 
between  two  points  is  expressed  in 
the  word  Transport,  the  notion  of  a 
point  of  destination  in  Convey. 

"What  appeared  to  me  wonderful  was 
that  none  of  the  ants  came  home  without 
bringing  something." — Addison. 

"  Those  early  wise  men  -who/etched  their 
philosophy  from  Egj-pt." — Warburtox. 

"  No  one  neglective  was 
Of  Hector's  safety ;    all  their  shields  they 

couched  about  him  close, 
Rais'd  him  from  earth,  and  giving  him  in 

their  kind  arms  repose 
From  ofiF  the  labour,  carried  him  to  his 

rich  chariot, 
And  bore  him  mourning  towards  Troy." 
Chapman's  Homer. 

"  His  lines  are  a  description  of  the  sun 
in  eclipse,  which  I  know  nothing  more  like 
than  a  brave  man  in  soitow;  who  bears  it 
as  he  should  do.  without  imploring  the  pity 
of  his  friends,  or  being  dejected  with  the 
contempt  of  his  enemies." — Tatlkr. 

"  Had  it  been  so,  we  should  naturally 
have  betaken  ourselves  to  prayer,  and 
breathed  out  our  desires  in  that  form 
wherein  they  are  most  properly  conveyed." 
—Bishop  Atterbury. 

"Their  canoe,  which  was  a  small  double 
«i«,  jnst  large  enough  to  transport  the 


whole  family  from  piace  to  place,  lay  in  a 
small  creek  near  the  huts." — Cook's  Foy- 
ages. 

BRinXE.     Fragile.     Frail. 

Brittle  (A,  S.  breotan,  to  break)  ia 
easily  broken  from  the  nntnre  of  the 
texture,  as  glass.  Fragile,  though 
etymologically  correspondent  (Lat. 
frdgilis,  easily  broken,  {Torafrangcre,  to 
break)  is  more  widely  employed  of 
things  which  are  susceptible  of  injury 
or  destruction,  though  this  be  brought 
about  in  other  ways  than  literal  break- 
age. Anything  which  is  little  calcu- 
lated to  bear  the  lapse  of  time,  or  tlie 
rough  touch,  is  fragile.  So  the  body 
of  man  may  well  be  called  fragile, 
though  not  brittle.  Frail,  which 
is  only  another  form  of  fragile^  is 
nevertheless  differently  applied.  It 
is  employed  of  the  susceptibility  to 
deterioration  of  beauty  or  moral  pu- 
rity. The  flower,  fresh  and  beautiful,  is 
yet  frail ;  and  man's  virtue  at  the  best 
is  beset  with  frailties.  Frail  is  espe- 
cially employed  of  that  which  lacks 
the  power  of  resistance  and  is  weak  as 
a  support.  The  fragile  thing  easily 
breaks,the  frail  thing  easily  gives  way. 

"  For  no  man  tabes  or  keeps  a  vow 

But  just  as  he  sees  others  do. 

Nor  are  they  obliged  to  be  so  brittle 

As  not  to  yield  and  bow  a  little." 

HUDIBRAS. 

"  Of  bodies  some  are  fragile,  and  some 
are  tough  and  not  fragile,  and  in  the  break- 
ing some  fragile  bodies  break  out  where  the 
force  is,  some  shatter  and  fly  in  many 
pieces.  Oi fragility  the  cause  is  an  impo- 
tency  to  be  extended,  and  therefore  stone 
is  more  fragile  than  metal." — Bacon. 

"  How  much  more  is  it  necessary  that 
God,  who  has  the  tenderest  concern  for  all 
His  creatures,  and  who  is  infinitely  far 
from  being  subject  to  such  passions  and 
variableness  us  frail  men  are,  should  desire 
to  be  imitated  by  His  creatures  in  those 
perfections  which  are  the  foundation  of  EDa 
own  unchangeable  happiness  !  " — Clabkb. 

BROAD.   Wide.    Large.    Thick. 

Broad  (A.S.brdd),  though  used 
often  of  extension  laterally,  in  which 
case  it  is  identical  with  Wide,  is  also 
used  of  that  which  is  extensive  every 
way,  as  the  "  broad  daylight,"  "  broad 
acres,"  or,  metaphorically,  a  broad 
and  liberal  view,  a  broad  conversation, 
meaning  such  as  assumes  too  much 
license. 
"  Whenever  she  (the  mole)  comes  apioto 


188 


troad  day,  she  might  be  iii  danger  of  being 
taken,  unless  she  were  thus  affected  by  a 
light  striking  upon  her  eye,  and  immedi- 
ately warning  lier  to  bury  herself  in  Her 
proper  element."— 5pectotor. 

Wide  (A.  S.  wid)  denotes  either 
lateral  space,  or  extension  generally ; 
a  wide  road  is  an  illustration  of  the 
latter,  a  wide  doorway  of  the  former. 
But  a  wide  doorway  is  not  only  one 
in  which  the  doorposts  or  sides  stand 
far  apart,  but  one  of  which  the  void 
is  considerable.  That  which  is  exten- 
ded in  surface  or  substance  is  best  ex- 
pressed by  BuOADjthat  which  exhibits 
extensive  vacuity  by  Wide.  A  cave 
may  have  a  narrow  or  wide  (not 
broad)  mouth  or  entrance.  Meta- 
phorically, it  means  beside  the  right 
line  or  aim,  as  "  wide  of  the  mark." 
"  We  passed  Selinus  and  the  palmy  land. 
And  widely  shun  the  Libyan  strand. 
Unsafe  for  secret  rocks  and  moving  sand." 
Dryden's  Virgil. 

Large  (Fr.  large)  is  broad  with  a 
stricter  reference  to  limits,  capacity, 
and  proportion,  and  is  therefore  less 
vague  a  word  than  broad.  Broad  and 
Wide  describe  merely  superficial  ex- 
tent or  capacity,  Large  includes  also 
that  of  solidity  and  capacity;  as.  a 
large  man,  a  large  room.  That  which 
is  of  considerable  bulk  or  capacity, 
either  absolutely  or  relatively,  may  be 
called  large. 

"  Under  the  shelter  of  a  cavern'd  rock, 
The  largest  and  the  best,  the  pirate  band 
Seized    and   prepared    a  banquet  on  the 
strand."  WiLKlE. 

Thickness  (A.  S.  thic)  expresses 
solidity  irrespective  of  the  ideas  of 
length  and  breadth.  A  short  man  or 
a  tall,  a  small  cheese,  or  a  large,  a  nar- 
row plank,  or  a  broad,  may  be  all  of 
them  thick.  The  atmosphere  in  foggy 
weather  is  thick,  that  is,  dense,  with- 
out any  regard  to  measurement. 
Nevertheless,  thickness  often  moans 
that  character  in  a  solid  body  which 
involves  a  line  comparatively  long  to 
unite  opposite  planes  or  surfaces. 

"  Nor  can  a  thought  be  conceived  to  be 
of  sucha  length,  breadth,  and  thic/cness,a,s  to 
be  hewed  and  sliced  out  into  many  pieces,  all 
which  laid  together,  as  so  many  small  chips 
thereof,  would  make  up  again  the  entire- 
tess  of  that  whole  thought." — CuDWORTH. 

BROOK.     Stream. 

The  term  Bkook  (  A.S.  broe),  as  ap- 


SYNONTMS  [brook] 

plied  to  an  inconsiderable  body  ol 
running  water,  expresses  its  shallow, 
irregular,  and  bubbling  character. 
Stream  (A.S.  stredm)  the  continuity 
and  steadiness  of  its  flow,  which  is 
compatible,  as  Brook  is  not,  with  con- 
siderable depth.  Accordingly  dif- 
ferent associations  connect  themselves 
with  the  two  terms.  The  brook  is 
lively,  fresh,  babbling,  running 
through  deep  foliage,  or  over  shin- 
ing pebbles.  It  murmurs  cool  through 
the  summer  day,  and  children  toy 
with  its  water,  or  play  upon  its 
banks.  The  stream  is  steady,  plenti- 
ful, supplying  water  for  irrigation  and 
mechanical  application.  It  is  of  local 
importance,  and,  unlike  the  brook,  can 
boast  a  name.  It  is  known  to  the 
angler,  and  forms  a  natural  boun- 
dary. 

BRUISE.       Squeeze.        Pound. 

Crush. 

To  Bruise (0.  Fr.  bruiser^  to  bieak) 
is  to  injure  by  collision,  so  as  to  de- 
sti-oy  the  superficial  continuity  or  in- 
tegrity of  paits. 

♦•  This  place  was  therefore  called  tbt 
Level's'  Leap;  and  whether  or  no  thfc 
fright  they  had  been  in,  or  the  resolution 
that  could  push  them  to  so  dreadful  a 
remedy,  or  the  bruises  which  they  often  re- 
ceived in  their  fall,  banished  all  the  tender 
sentiments  of  love,  and  gave  their  spirits 
another  turn,  those  who  had  taken  this 
leap  were  observed  never  to  relapse  into 
that  passion," — Spectator. 

To  Pound  (A.  S.  punian)  is  to 
bruise  repeatedly  till  separation  of  the 
parts  takes  place ;  which,  when  carried 
to  the  extreme,  is  pulverization  or 
trituration. 

"  Thou  art  a  sweet  drug,  and  the  mora 
thou  art  pounded  the  more  predous."— 
MlDDI^TON. 

To  Squeeze  (A.S.  cwysait,  tosqueezef 
crush)  is  to  compress  a  body  so  that 
it  is  acted  upon  by  two  or  more  forces 
from  without. 

"Which  similitude  of  them  notwithstand 
ing,  they  would  not  have  to  be  squeezed  ot 
pressed  hard," — CuDWORTH. 

To  Crush  (0,  Fr.  cruisiry  to  crash 
into  pieces)  is  to  squeeze  in  a  violent 
and  abrupt  manner,  so  that  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  parts  is  destroyed.  In- 
jurious violence  is  not  necessarily  im- 
Elied  in  squeeze ;  as  in  squeezing  th« 
and  of  a  frieud. 


[build] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


180 


"Scaliger  (Exercit.  186)  relates  that  in 
9ascony,  his  country,  there  axe  spiders  of 
hat  virnleucy  that  if  a  man  treads  upon 
.hem  to  crush  them,  the  poison  will  pass 
.hrough  the  very  soles  of  his  shoes." — 
Boyle. 

BUD.  Sprout.  Shoot.  Ger- 
minate. 

To  Bud  (one  of  a  large  family  c£ 
words,  cf.  butt,  button,  Fr.  bouter,  to 
vuth ;  see  Bracket,  s.v.  bouter)  im- 
plies the  previous  existence  of  a  de- 
veloped plant  or  tree.  It  is  to  put 
forth  the  first  young  protuberance, 
which  is  composed  of  an  aggregate 
of  leaves  or  petals,  with  the  rudiments 
of  flowers. 

"  Let  him  (the  teacher)  with  a  discreet 
and  gentle  hand  nip  or  prune  the  iiTeguiar 
shoots,  let  him  guard  and  encourage  the 
ender  buddings  of  the  understanding  till 
ley  be  raised  to  a  blossom,  and  let  him 
iindly  cherish  the  younger  fruits."  — 
Watts. 

To  Sprout  (A.  S.  sprout,  part  of 
sprytan)  is  to  come  forth  in  growth 
generally,  and  does  not  presuppose  a 
developed  plant,  inasmuch  as  the  term 
is  applicable  to  the  first  bursting  and 
growth  of  the  seed.  As  Bud  repre- 
sents the  ordinary  pushing  forth  of 
the  nascent  leaves  or  flowers,  so 
Sprout  is  commonly  used  of  their  un- 
expected gi-owth,  as  in  parts  where 
they  were  not  looked  for,  or  after 
certain  apparently  unfavourable  cir- 
cumstances, as  when  the  plant  having 
become  sickly  or  apparently  dead, 
sprouts  forth  afresh,  or  after  the  ope- 
ration of  piiining. 

"  Thns  the  heartiest  gi-atitnde,  as  I  have 
shown  in  the  proper  place  concerning  the 
purest  love,  though  bearing  the  fragrantest 
flowers,  sprouts  originally  from  the  earthy 
principle  of  self-interest."— Searcu,  Light 
of  Nature. 

To  Shoot  (A.  S.  sQeotan,  to  throw 
forth)  is  to  make  marked  and  rapid 
progress  in  growth,  and  is  applicable 
to  the  whole  plant,  or  to  any  part  of 
it  which  is  above  ground. 

"  In  a  third  sort,  the  seed  of  the  word 
takes  deeper  hold,  and  makes  very  strong 
and  promising  shoots;  but  thorns  and  bad 
weeds,  the  earlier  possessors  of  the  field, 
rise  up  and  choke  it." — Skcker. 

To  Germinate  (Lat.  germindre)  is 
applied  to  the  commencement  of  the 
growth,  the  first  sprouting  of  the 
young  plant  from  the  seed.   The  noun 


germ  is  used  with  greater  latitude  for 
that  from  which  anything  flows,  the 
rudimental  st  te  of  anything  which 
may  be  conceived  to  have  an  organic 
or  complex  existence,  as  the  germ  oi 
prosperity  or  civil  liberty,  the  genn 
of  a  thought  which  is  expanded  into 
a  literary  production. 

"  And  for  the  security  of  such  species  as 
are  produced  only  by  seed,  it  hath  endu.ed 
all  seed  with  a  lasting  vitality,  that  so  if  by 
reason  of  excessive  cold  or  drought,  or  any 
other  accident,  it  happen  not  to  germinate 
the  first  year,  it  will  continue  its  fecundity, 
I  do  not  say  two  or  three,  nor  six  or  seven, 
but  even  twenty  or  thirty  years." — Ray. 

BUFFOON.     Wit. 

The  Wit  (A.  S.  witan,  to  know),  as 
the  name  is  at  present  employed,  de- 
notes not  a  pereon  of  talent  and  leai-n- 
ing,  as  the  *'  Wits  of  Queen  Anne's 
time,"  but  one  who,  in  social  conver- 
sation, shows  a  combination  of  inge- 
nuity and  humour.  In  the  Buffoon 
(Fr.  bouffon,  It.  buffare,  to  puff  the 
cheeks  m  maJcvig  grimaces, I^itt  re  )there 
is  little  ingenuity,  and  may  be  no 
humour.  He  amuses  by  means  which 
are  external,  antics,  grimaces  (as  puflf- 
ing  out  of  his  cheeks,  according  to  his 
etymology ),postures,and mimicry.  He 
is  an  artificial  fool ;  and  while  the  wit 
is  essentially  a  master  of  common 
sense,  the  buftbon  produces  his  effects 
by  violating  it.  Men  laugh  tvith  the 
wit  and  at  the  buflToon. 

"  The  first  are  those  buffoons  that  have  a 
talent  of  mimicking  the  speech  and  behavi 
our  of  other  persons,  and  turning  all  their 
patrons,  friends,  and  acquaintance  into  ridi- 
cule."— TATI.ER. 

The  wit,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term, 
is  the  possessor  of  wit;  for  remarks  on 
which,  see  Burlesque. 

BUILD.  Construct.  Erect. 
Fabricate. 

Of  these  to  Build  (cf.  A.  S.  hold,  a 
dwelling)  is  the  most  comprehensive. 
It  implies  both  Construction  ^Lat. 
construe tionem),  and  Erection  (Lat. 
trectionem,  crigere,  to  raise  vertically). 
That  which  is  built  is  necessarily  both 
constructed  and  erected,  but  neither 
that  which  is  constructed  nor  that 
which  is  erected  is  of  necessity  built. 
To  build  is  to  put  together  after  the 
manner  of  a  house ;  hence  it  impliei 
careful  collocation  of  parts,  a  raising 


[90 


of  the  work  upwards,  and  some  degree 
at  least  of  size.  The  violin  is  construc- 
ted, the  organ  is  built.  Construction 
may  be  no  more  than  a  careful  putting 
together  with  skill  and  care,  with  a 
view  to  a  permanent  shape,  and  may 
He  a  horizontal  work.  To  Erect  is 
no  more  than  to  set  up  on  end,  as  the 
most  elaborate  cathedral  and  the 
simplest  flagstaff.  To  FABPacAXE  (Lat. 
fdhncare)  more  nearly  resembles 
construct,  but  differs  from  it  as  fol- 
lows. Construct  implies  an  organiza- 
tion or  intercollocationof  parts,  while 
Fabricate  allows  of  their  being  un- 
collocated  ;  as,  to  fabricate  woollen 
stuffs.  It  also  admits  more  largely 
the  idea  of  invention  or  design.  A 
man   constructs  a  bridge  if  he  only 

?uts  it  together  as  a  stonemason, 
lence,  the  inventive  element  in  the 
word  having  gained  prominence,  to 
fabricate  is  very  often  used  for  to  forge, 
that  is,  to  put  together  fictitiously, 
yet  with  a  pretence  of  authenticity. 
The  term  Fabricate  involves  the  idea 
of  skill,  art,  manufacture,  and  labour ; 
Construct  that  of  order,  assemblage, 
collocation,  and  disposition.  Hence  it 
is  employed  analogously  of  language 
and  thought ;  as,  to  construct  a  phrase, 
4n  argument,  or  a  system. 

"  Hence  it  is  that  the  building  of  our 
Zion  rises  no  faster  because  our  tongues  are 
livided.  Happy  were  the  Church  of  God  if 
we  all  spake  but  one  language.  Whiles  we 
iiifer  we  can  build  nothing  but  Babel.  Dif- 
ference of  tongues  caused  their  Bubel  to 
cease,  it  builds  ours." — Bishop  Hall. 

'*  The  necessity  of  doing  something,  and 
the  fear  of  doing  something,  and  the  fear  of 
undertaking  much,  sinks  the  histoi-ian  to 
a  genealogist,  the  philosopher  to  a  journalist 
of  the  weather,  and  the  mathematician  to 
a  consti-uctor  of  dials." — Rambler. 

"  Now  there  is  no  building  of  pillars,  no 
erecting  of  arches,  no  blazing  of  arms  that 
doth  more  set  forth  a  man's  name  than  doth 
the  increase  of  children."— Wilson's  ^ri  of 
Rhetoric. 

"  The  very  idea  of  the  fabrication  of  a 
new  government  is  enough  to  fill  us  with 
disgust  and  horror." — Bukke. 

BUILDER.   Architect.    Mason. 

A  Builder  {see  Build),  as  these 
terms  are  now  employed,  is  a  person 
who  in  some  way  causes  the  building  of 
houses,  whether  by  manual  labour, 
or  the  investment  or  expenditure  of 
capital.     It  is  therefore  possible  that 


SYNONYMS  [builder] 

he  may  not  be  such  by  nrofessiju. 
Commonly  the  builder  holds  an  inter- 
mediate rank  between  the  Architect 
(Gr.  ap-)(i-TSiiTa)v,  master-builder) y  who 
has  to  do  only  with  the  designs,  and 
the  Mason  (Fr.  magon),  who  has  to 
do  (inly  witli  the  labour. 

*'  The  French  builders,  clearing  away  aa 
mere  rubbish  whatever  they  found,  and,  like 
their  ornamental  gardeners,  forming  every- 
thing into  an  exact  level,  propose  to  rest  the 
whole  local  and  general  legislature  on  three 
bases  of  three  different  kinds."— Burke. 

"  We  are  by  an  architect  to  understand  a 
person  skilful  in  the  art  of  building."— 
Evelyn. 

It  is  possible  that  the  builder  and  ar- 
chitect may  deal  with  many  kinds  of 
building  materials,  but  the  mason 
works  only  in  stone. 

"  About  him  left  he  no  mason 
That  stone  could  lay."       Chaucer. 

BULK.  Size.  Magnitude. 
Greatness. 

Bulk  (Iceland,  bulk,  a  heap,  one  oi 
a  very  large  family  of  words,  having  a 
root  idea  of  swelling),  denotes  mate- 
rial magnitude,  or  the  substance  of  a 
mass,  irrespective  of  proportion,  sym- 
metry, or  anything  else. 

"That  which  is  devoid  ofbxdk  and  magni- 
tude is  likewise  devoid  of  local  motion." — 
C  UD  WOKTH. 

Size  is  abbreviated  from  assize 
(Fr.  assise,  a  setting  down,  an  arrange- 
ment of  a  plan).  In  addition  to  ita 
abstract  sense  of  magnitude,  as  the 
Size  of  a  tree,  it  has  a  relative  and 
conventional  force,  by  which  it  denotes 
classification  of  magnitudes,  as  an 
anchor  of  the  first,  second,  or  third 
size.  I  want  a  pair  of  gloves  a  size 
larger. 

•♦  He  found  here  some  cockles  of  so  enor- 
mous a  size  that  one  of  them  was  more 
than  two  men  could  eat ;  and  a  great  variety 
of  other  shell-fish." — Cook's  Voyages. 

Magnitude  is  the  Latin  equivalent 
of  the  English  Greatness.  Magni- 
tude, however,  differs  fn^m  size  in  pre- 
supposing some  amount  of  greatness. 
So  we  might  speak  of  the  size  hut  not 
of  the  magnitude  of  a  minute  insect. 
Magnitude  and  Greatness  are  appli- 
cable to  superficial  extent,  as  Bulk  ia 
not,  and  to  number,  as  Size  is  not. 
So  we  might  say,  "  Ten  is  a  greater 
number,  or  a  number  of  greater  maff- 


[burdensome]        discriminated. 


191 


nitude  than  two,"  "  a  star  of  the  first  j 
or  second  magnitude."  Magnitude 
is  to  number  what  size  is  to  quantity, 
and  is  capable  of  relative  or  conven- 
tional application ;  as  a  number  of 
small  or  less  magnitude,  but  we  could 
not  say  of  small  greatness. 

"  We  commonly  find  in  the  ambitious  man 
a  superiority  of  parts  in  some  measure  pro- 
portioned to  the  magnitude  of  his  designs." 
—Bishop  Hoesley. 

For  greatness  is  a  positive  term,  de- 
noting the  presence  of  size,  number, 
power,  nobility,  and  the  like  in  a  con- 
sider able  degree. 

"  Our  greatness  will  appear 
Then  most  conspicuous,  when  great  things 

of  small. 
Useful  of  hurtful,  prosperous  of  adverse. 
We  can  create."  MiLTON. 

BULKY.    Massive. 

The  Bulky  {see  Bulk)  exhibits 
size  without  proportion.  The  INIas- 
8IVE  (Fr.  ma&sify-ve)  exhibits  size  com- 
bined with  compactness  of  material, 
not  excluding  proportion.  A  big  port- 
manteau is  simply  bulky ;  the  columns 
of  a  Noi-maii  cathedral  are  nuissive. 
Some  inherent  value  of  the  material, 
either  natural  or  artistic,  is  implied 
in  MASsivE,none  in  Bulky.  The  latter 
is  depreciative.  The  former  a  term  of 
praise. 

"Money  is  the  best  measure  of  the 
altered  value  of  things  in  a  few  years,  be- 
cause its  vent  is  the  same,  and  its  quantity 
alters  slowly.  But  wheat  or  any  other  gi-aiu 
cannot  serve  instead  of  money,  because  of 
its  bulkiness  and  too  quick  change  of  its 
quality." — LoCKE. 

"  The  common  military  sword  is  a  heavy 
massive  weapon." — Bishop  Hokslky. 

BURDEN.     Load.     Weight. 

BuROEN  (A.  S.  hyrdeii)  is  something 
to  be  borne,  and  always  in  a  certain 
manner,  and  for  a  certain  purpose. 
It  is  to  be  transported  to  some  desti- 
nation, and  is  imposed  upon  living 
creatures.  The  Load  (A.  S. /t/arf)  is 
a  certain  quantity  of  material  imposed 
uj'on  man,  beast,  or  carriage.  We 
sj)eak  of  the  load,  not  the  burden,  of 
a  waggon,  the  load  or  burden  of  a 
beast,  but  more  commonly  the  burden 
of  a  man;  yet  the  same  thing  in  the 
oase  of  a  man  may  be  called  a  load  or 
a  burden  ;  the  former  when  regarded 
as  something  which  he  ia  charged  with 


the  responsibility  of  transporting,  the 
latter  3S  something  laid  heavily  upon 
his  shoulders.  Weight  (A.  S.  uegan, 
to  bear,  cany),  refers  simply  to  the 
pressure  of  gravitation.  It  is  used  in 
the  concrete,  as  we  speak  of  a  certain 
weight,  and  in  the  abstract,  the  weight 
of  a  thing,  or  a  thing  of  great  weight. 
In  this  way  it  is  used  relatively  to  a 
standard  or  deo;ree  of  weight ;  and  we 
might  speak  of  the  weight  of  a  burden 
or  a  load  as  being  great  or  even  slight. 

"  He  had  built  at  his  own  expense,  to 
prosecute  them,  a  strong  handsome  ship 
which  was  named  the  Bark  Ralegh,  of  two 
hundred  tons  burden." — Oldy's  Life  of 
Ealegk. 

"  Our  life's  a  Zofzif ."— Drydex. 

"  Our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a 
moment,  worketh  for  us  afar  more  excee<ling 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory." — KnglishBible. 

BURDENSOME.  Heavy. 
Weighty.     Ponderous. 

BunDENSo.ME  {see  Burden)  denotes 
that  which  is  difficult,  and  also  that 
which  is  irksome  to  carry.  A  thing 
of  slight  specific  gravity  may  be  bur- 
densome if  ue  wish  to  be  rid  of  it. 
The  term  burdensome  is  as  often,  if  not 
oftener,  em])loyed  in  a  secondary  or 
metaphorical,  as  in  the  primary  and 
literal  sense. 

"  As  exercise  becomes  tedious  and  pain- 
ful when  we  make  use  of  it  only  as  the 
means  of  health  ;  so  reading  is  apt  to  grow 
uneasy  and  burdimsume  when  we  apply  our- 
selves' to  it  only  for  our  improvement  in 
virtue.' — Tatler. 

Heavy  (^ connected  with  heave,  K.^. 
hebban),  is  that  which  is  relatively  or 
personally  weighty  {see  Weight  under 
Burden  ) ;  aa  Weighty  is  that  which 
is  in  itself  hard  to  lift.  So  a  thing 
may  be  heavy  for  a  child  to  carry 
which  may  not  be  weighty  in  itself. 
The  term  heavy  is  used  in  the  absti-act 
sense  of  possessing  weight,  irrespec- 
tively of  the  amount  of  it,  which 
appears  in  expressions  involving  com- 
parison or  degi-ee,  as  we  speak  of  one 
thing  being  not  so  heavy  as  another ; 
where  none  of  the  other  terms  could 
be  used. 

"Though  philosophy  teaches  that  no  ele- 
ment is  heavy  in  its  own  place,  yet  expe- 
rience shows  that  out  of  its  own  place  it 
pi-oves  exceedingly  burdensome."— SoVTU. 
Povt>F.nnu9    (Lat.    pondtrosus)    de- 


192 


SYNONYMS  [bURIALj 


notes  rather  what  manifests  or  gives 
the  appearance  of  being  heavy  to 
carry,  whether  we  have  anything  to 
do  with  carrying  it  or  not.  The  pon- 
derous volume  almost  deters  us  by 
its  very  appearance  from  taking  it  up. 
When  we  watch  the  movements  of  the 
elephant  we  remark  upon  his  pon- 
derous bulk.  Like  Burdensome, 
Weighty  is  more  commonly  used  in 
the  secondary  than  in  the  literal 
sense.  As  the  Burdensome  is  annoy- 
ing to  bear,  so  Weighty  is  a  term  ex- 
pressive of  combined  importance  and 
difficulty,  as  "  weighty  cares  of  office," 
"weighty  considerations."  Ponde- 
rous, on  the  other  hand,  is  not  used 
but  in  a  material,  and  generally  in  a 
somewhat  unfavourable,  sense. 

"  The  cares  of  empire  are  great,  and  the 
harden  which  lies  upon  the  shoulders  of 
irinces  very  weighty,''^ — Bishop  Atter- 
3URY. 

*'Vanbrngh  with  his  ponderous  and  un- 
meaning masses,  overwhelmed  architecture 
in  mere  masonry." — Walpouj. 

BURIAL.  Interment.  Sepul- 
ture.    Intombment. 

Burial  (A.  S.  bip-s;an,  to  bury)  is 
simply  the  covering  of  one  thing  over 
with  others,  so  as  to  conceal  it  from 
view ;  as,  to  bury  one's  face  in  one's 
aands.  As  used  in  the  above  con- 
nexion, the  burial  of  a  body  is  the 
laying  it  sufficiently  deep  in  the  earth 
to  conceal  it  from  view.  We  even 
speak  of  burial  at  sea.  The  two  appli- 
cations occur  in  the  following  : — 

"I  obsen'ed,  indeed,  that  the  present 
war  had  filled  the  church  with  many  of 
these  uninhabited  monuments,  which  had 
been  erected  to  the  memory  of  persons 
whose  bodies  were  perhaps  buried  in  the 
plains  of  Blenheim,  or  in  the  bosom  of 
the  ocean." — Spectator. 
So  characteristic  is  the  idea  of  con- 
cealment in  the  term  burii,  that  in  a 
secondary  sense  it  is  employed  in  re- 
ference to  many  things  of  which  cir- 
cumstances combine  to  prevent  the 
exhibition.  A  man  fitted  to  adorn 
society  or  to  be  eminently  useful  to  it, 
is  often  bm-ied  in  some  remote  and 
obscure  locality,  beyond  which  his 
name  is  not  heard. 

Interment  (Fr.  interrement,  Lat. 
In,  and  teira,  the  earth)  is  a  somewhat 
Doliter  word  than  buriaL  bu*  bv  its 


etymology  more  restricted  in  meaning, 
and  denoting  any  formal  ceremonial 
or  decent  placing  of  the  body  under- 
ground. We  might  say,  "  buried  like 
a  dog,"  but  we  should  be  more  likely 
to  say,  "  reverently  and  even  sumo- 
tuously  iuten-ed." 

"  Cromwell's  hearse  was  magnificent,  the 
idol  crowned,  and  (not  to  mention  all  other 
ceremonies  which  are  practised  at  royal  in- 
termetitif,  and  therefore  by  no  means  could 
be  omitted  here)  the  vast  multitude  of  spec- 
tators made  up,  as  it  uses  to  do,  no  small 
part  of  the  spectacle  itself." — CoWLEY. 

Interment  involves  the  idea  of  earth 
or  soil,  not  so  burial.  It  is  remark- 
able how  the  word  inter  has  in  Eng- 
lish literature  been  confined  to  the 
burial  of  the  dead. 

Sepulture  (Lat.  stpultura)  points 
ratter  to  the  mode  of  burial,  and  to 
the  rites  connected  with  it ;  as,  to  have 
the  "  privilege  of  sepulture,"  a  place 
of  "  royal  sepulture,"  and  the  like. 
"  The  common  rites  of  sepulture  bestow. 
To  soothe  a  father's  and  a  mother's  woe. 
Let  these   large   gifts  procure  an  urn  at 

least. 
And  Hector's  ashes  in  his  country  rest." 
POPH. 

Intombment,  as  its  name  expresses, 
is  the  burying  or  interring  in  a  tomb 
(Fr.  tombe,  L.  Lat.  tumba).  Inits  se- 
condary sense  it  is  a  metaphor  for 
placing  or  lying  in  oblivion. 
"  When  Time,  like  him   of  Qaza,  in   hi« 

wrath 
Plucking  the  pillars  that  support  the  world, 
In  Nature's  ample  ruins  lies  intombed." 
VOUKG. 

BURLESQUE.  Parody.  Satire. 
Travesty.  Caricature.  Sarcasm. 
Comedy.  Irony.  Humour.  Wit. 
Lampoon. 

These  are  only  remotely  synony- 
mous. Nevertheless  they  are  here 
given  as  such,  inasmuch  as  there  is  no 
one  which  has  not  the  qualities  of 
some  one  or  more  of  the  rest. 

Burlesque  (Fr.  burlesque,  It.  bur- 
lare,  to  ridicule)  is  a  sort  of  humour. 
It  draws  its  amusements  fiom  incon- 
gruous representation  of  character, 
and  the  placing  of  persons  in  situations 
not  proper  to  their  actual  positions  and 
circumstances  in  society.  Addison 
has  said  that  *' Burlesque  is  of  two 
kinds.       The    first   rej)r('seiits    ii)':fij 


[burlesque]  discriminated. 


193 


persons  in  the  accoutrements  of  he- 
roes, the  Dther  describes  ^eat  persons 
acting  aud  speaking  like  the  basest 
among  the  people."  Parody  (Gr. 
Wrtp»Sia),uulikeliuRLESQUE,is  a  matter 
of  words  only,  and  does  not  extend  to 
acts  or  representations  dramatical.  It 
is  the  humorous  adaptation,  by  al- 
terations here  and  there  of  an  author's 
words,  to  a  subject  very  different  fi'om 
the  original. 

"  From  some  fragments  of  the  Silh,  writ- 
ten by  Timon,  we  may  find  that  they  were 
satiric  poems,  full  of  parodies,  that  is,  of 
verses  patched  up  from  great  poets,  and 
turned  into  another  sense  than  their  author 
intended  them." — Drydex's  Juvenal. 

Travesty  (from  Ital.  travestire,  to 
disguise,  mask)  is  analogous  to  such 
disguise  by  dress  as  shall  render  ab- 
surd. Travesty  differs  from  parody 
in  that  parody  speaks  the  meaning^  put 
upon  the  words  by  the  parodist.  1  ra- 
vesty  makes  a  thing  distort  and  mis- 
represent itself.  It  puts  upon  it  a 
strange  garb,  which  is  therefore  a  dis- 
guise. 

"  Old  naturalism,  thus  travestied  in  the 
garb  of  new  religion,  his  lordship  bestows 
as  his  last  and  most  precious  legacy  on  his 
own  dear  country." — Warburton. 

It  is  the  caricature  of  literature  ;  for 
Caricature  (It.  caricntura)  is  an 
overcharged  representation,  in  which, 
while  the  general  likeness  is  preserved 
sufficiently  to  bespeak  the  original, 
certain  peculiarities  are  developed  and 
drawn  in  an  exaggerated  manner. 

"  From  all  these  hands  we  nave  such 
drafts  of  mankind  as  are  represented  in 
those  burlesque  pictures  which  the  Italians 
call  caricaturas,  where  the  art  consists  in 
preserving,  amidst  distorted  proportions, 
and  aggravated  features,  some  distinguish- 
ing likeness  of  the  person,  but  iu  such  a 
manner  as  to  transform  the  most  agreeable 
beauty  into  the  most  odious  monster." — 
Spectator. 

Comedy  (Gr.  x»juiwS.'a)  is  a  kind  of 
dramatic  composition  and  representa- 
tion of  the  light  and  amusmg  inci- 
dents or  accidents  of  common  life. 

"  Whenever  Aristotle  speaks  of  comedy, 
we  must  remember  that  he  speaks  of  the 
old  or  middle  comedy  ;  which  was  no  other 
than  what  we  should  call  farce;  and  to  which 
his  definition  of  comedy  was  adapted,  (<uM-i<n«- 
<j)«uXoT«po;v,  that  is,  as  he  explains  himself, 
an  imitation  of  ridiculous  characters." — 
Twinixg's  Aristotle,  Foetics. 


Irony  (Gr.  ufoonia,)  is  a  mode  of 
censuring  by  contraries.  It  ridicules 
by  pretendm^  to  admire,  and  con- 
demns by  feigned  approval.  The 
modern  term  irony  has  widely  de- 
parted from  the  original  Greek  'upansia, 
which  was  a  term  of  the  Socratic  phi- 
losophy, and  meant  an  understatement 
of  truth.  The  original  force,  how- 
ever, is  still  perceptible  in  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"  There  are  mixed  in  his  talk  so  many 
pleasant  ironies,  that  things  which  deserve 
the  severest  language  are  made  ridiculous 
instead  of  odious;  and  you  see  everything 
in  the  most  good-natured  aspect  it  can 
bear."—  Guardian. 

Satire  (Lat.  sKt^ra),  on  the  other 
hand,  sets  to  work  in  no  indirect 
fashion,  but  is  a  clever,  lively,  and 
sustained  description  of  the  character 
and  acts  of  persons.  It  falsifies  its 
character  and  transgresses  its  proper 
limits,  when  it  is  anything  more  than 
subservient  to  the  exposure  of  what  is 
defective,  blameworthy,  or  vicious  in 
public  administration  and  conduct,  or 
in  personal  morals. 

"Libel  and  satire  are  promiscuously  joined 
together  in  the  notions  of  the  vulgar; 
though  the  satirist  and  libeller  differ  as 
much  as  the  libeller  and  murderer.  In  the 
consideration  of  human  life,  the  satirist 
never  falls  upon  persons  who  are  not  glar- 
ingly faulty,  and  the  libeller  upon  none  but 
who  are  conspicuously  commendable," — 
latler. 

Sarcasm  (Gr.  a-apxaa-fxig,  lit.  abiiing 
ofthejiesh,  i.e.  the  lips,  in  rage;  a  sneer) 
is  that  kind  of  personal  allusion  which 
is  vented  by  indignation  or  spite.  It 
represents  the  more  virulent  aspect  of 
satire,  and  is  justifiable  only  when 
grounded  on  moral  indignation  ;  not 
at  all  when  it  issues  from  personal 
bitterness  or  ill-will. 

"  And  when  they  heard  of  tne  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  some  mocked,  &c.,  i.e., 
disputed  sarcastically  and  contumelionsly 
against  it,  that  certainly  there  was  no  such 
matter."— Hammond. 
Sarcasm  is  the  contemptuous  and  de- 
risive expression  of  uncongeniality 
with  the  character,  conduct,  belief, 
principles,  or  statements  of  another. 

Humour  is  that  species  of  wit— if 

it  be  allowed  to  be  wit  at  all,  which 

is  a  vexed  question — which  proceeds 

from  the   humour  of  a  person  (Lbt. 

o 


194 


SYNONYMS 


[burning] 


humorem,  moisture ;  according  to  the 
idea  of  the  old  physicians,  that  certain 
humours  of  the  body  called  certain 
temperaments),  and  may  <  some  ex- 
tent, as  wit  does  not,  display  itself  in 
actions  as  well  as  words.  Wit  (A.  S. 
witan,  to  know)  may  consist  in  a  single 
brilliant  thought ;  but  humour  is  con- 
tinuous and  runs  in  a  vein.  It  is  an 
equable  and  pleasing  flow  of  wit,  en- 
livening and  amusing  without  being 
of  necessity  brilliant.  The  essence 
of  wit,  in  the  modern  acceptation  of 
the  term,  consists  in  the  ready  and 
telling  appreciation  and  expression  of 
the  agreement  and  disagreement  of 
things.  It  comes  by  nature,  as  wis- 
dom comes  by  reflexion  and  expe- 
rience, and  learning  by  study  and 
labour.  Swift  drew  attention  to  the 
distinction  between  wit  and  humour, 
when  he  said  that  humour  was  "a 
talent  not  confined  to  men  of  wit  or 
learning,  for  we  observe  it  sometimes 
among  common  servants,  and  the 
meanest  of  the  people."  It  may  be 
that  wit  excites  a  lively  feeling  of 
surprise  and  gratification,  but  not  a 
smile  or  a  laugh  ;  this  is  always  implied 
in  humour. 

"  Wit,"  says  Locke,  "  lies  most  in  the  as- 
semblage of  ideas,  and  in  putting  those  to- 
gether with  quickness  and  variety  wherein 
can  be  found  any  resemblance  or  congi'uity, 
thereby  to  make  ap  pleasant  pictures  and 
agreeable  visions  in  the  fancy." 
In  short,  HuMOun  seems  to  lie  rather 
in  the  presentation  to  the  mind  of 
amusing  incongruity  or  contrast.  Wit 
in  that  of  brilliant  association  and 
comparison,  which,  however,  will 
often  include  contrast.  Goldsmith 
has  expressed  himself  very  sti-ongly 
on  the  difference.     He  says — 

"  Wit  raises  human  nature  above  its 
level,  humotcr  acts  a  conti-ary  part,  and 
equally  depresses  it.  To  expect  exalted 
humour  is  a  contradiction  in  terms." 

Lampoon  (Yr.  lampon,  a  taunt,  jeer, 
from  lampons,  let  us  drink  largely: 
LiTTK^)  is  low  personal  satire,  of 
which  the  sole  purpose  is  to  ridicule, 
pain,  and  annoy  individuals. 

"  Mr.  Betterworth,"  answei-ed  he,  "  I 
was  in  my  youth  acquainted  with  great 
lawyers,  who  knowing  my  disposition  to 
satire,  advised  me  that  if  any  scoundrel  or 
blockhead  whom  I  had  lampooned  should 
ask,  '  Are  you  the  author  of  this  paper?'  I 


should  tell  him  that  I  was  not  the  author, 
and  therefore  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Betterworth, 
that  I  am  not  the  author  of  these  lines." — 
Johnson's  Life  of  Swift. 

BURNING.  Ardent.  Fikrv. 
Hot.     ScoHciiiNG. 

Hot  (A.  S.  hat)  denotes  simply 
having  heat  in  the  physical  or  any 
analogous  sense  of  the  term  heat. 

"  Moderation  may  become  a  f&olt.  To 
be  but  warm  when  God  command*  us  to  be 
hot  is  sinful."— Feltham. 

Burning  (A.  S.  bternan,  tokiiuUe)  is 
exhibiting  heatjOr  in  any  way  or  degree 
affecting  by  heat.  When  used  morally. 
Hot  is  applied  to  the  passions.  Burn- 
ing to  the  more  active  desires ;  the 
idea  of  burning  being  the  continuous 
feeling  or  transmission  of  heat  in  a 
lively  manner.  Fire  is  hot,  but  the 
flame  burns.  So,  "a  burning  sense 
of  shame,"  "a  burning  indignation," 
but,  "  hot  anger." 

"  Cowley,  obsei'ving  the  cold  regard  of 
his  mistress's  eyes,  and  at  the  same  time 
their  power  of  producing  love  in  him,  con- 
siders them  as  ftunun^-glassesmadeofice." 
— Spectator. 

Ardent  (Lat.  ardire,  ueut.  to  burn) 
is  the  Latin  equivalent  to  the  English 
Burning,  but  is  not  so  sti-ong  a  term, 
and  is  applied  to  inclinations  as  well 
as  desires,  as  an  ardent  hope  or  am- 
bition, ardent  zeal.  Ardent  is,  unlike 
the  others,  not  used  except  poetically 
in  any  primary  or  physical  sense.  iSee 
Fervour. 

"  There  was  one  Felton,  of  a  good  family, 
but  of  an  ardent  melancholy  temper,  who 
had  served  under  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
in  the  station  of  lieutenant." — Hume. 

FiERV  is  showing  itself  like />•«, 
that  is,  tending  to  project  itself  upon 
others.  Fiery  wTath  is  that  which 
would  consume  or  injure  others  if  it 
could.  "Fiery  indignation"  is  that 
whicli  would  "  devour  the  adver- 
saries." It  is  not  steady  and  con- 
suming so  much  as  fitful  and  flash- 
ing. 

"  Legions  of  loves  with  little  wings  did  tly, 
Darting  their  deadly  arrovrsjierr/  bright." 
Spenser. 

Scorching  (O.  Fr.  escorcher,  Lat. 
excorticare,  to  flay)  denotes  a  heat 
which  aflfects  the  surface  injuriously 
or  painfully.  Scorching  passions 
would  denote  not  so  much  their  mere 


[butt] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


195 


'eat,  as  the  way  in  which  they  re- 
dounded to  the  remorse  of  those  sub- 
•ict  to  them. 

"Some  of  the  pieces  which  were  then 
hronght  from  its  repositories  appeared  to 
^ave  been  scorched  with  the  fire  which  hap- 
pened in  the  town  house  soon  after  the  bank 
was  established." — Adam  Smith. 

BURNISH.     roLisii. 

Polish  (Fr.  polir)  is  the  wider  term 
of  the  two.  It  is  to  make  smooth  and 
glossy,  usually  by  friction,  as  glass, 
marbles,  metals,  and  the  like.  liuR- 
Nisii  (0.  Fr.  burnir)  is  specifically  to 
polish  inotal  by  rubbing  with  some- 
thing hard  and  smooth.  Burnish  is 
not  used  of  anything  but  materif.l  sub- 
stances ;  Polish  lends  itself  readily  to 
secondary  applicntion;  as,  polished 
manners,  a  polished  style,  polished 
yiciety.  Burnishing  is  more  closely 
associated  with  the  original  manufac- 
ture, so  that  in  some  cases  the  pro- 
cess would  bar  ily  be  complete  with- 
out it.  Polishing  is  more  often  done 
for  a  purely  ornamental  purpose. 
Wood,  for  instance,  and  brass  are  both 
polished,  but  wood  is  not  burnished. 

BUSH.     SniiuB. 

Bush  (one  of  many  similar  words  ; 
cf.  Ger.  buschj  Fr.  bois)  meant  origi- 
nally a  wood  or  wild  place  grown  up 
in  trees.  It  is  commonly  employed 
at  present  in  this  sense  to  express 
the  wild,  uncultivated  country  occu- 
pied by  the  aborigines  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  colonial  settlements,  'fhe 
characteristic  of  the  bush  and  the 
Shrub  is  that  instead  of  growing  to 
a  considerable  height  ana  throwing 
out  ramifications,  it  is  of  short  stature, 
and  throws  out  several  stems  from  the 
same  root.  The  bush  is  thick,  close, 
and  impervious  to  the  sight ;  qualities 
which  do  not  belong  so  essentially  to 
the  shrub.  The  bush  is  as  frequently 
wild  as  cultivated ;  the  shrub  is  culti- 
vated, choice,  ornamental,  graceful, 
and  often  flowering.  Epithets  ex- 
pressive of  these  characteristics  would 
not  harmonize  with  the  term  bush. 

BUSY.  Active.  Officious.  Prag" 

MATICAL. 

Busy  (A.  S.  bystg)  means  no  more 
than  closely  employed,  except  in  the 
unfavourable  sense  of  fond  of  unduly 


employing  one's  self  with  the  concerns 
of  others  from  curiosity  or  inquisitive- 
ness.  A  person  of  inactive  habits 
may  occasionally  be  sufficiently  inte- 
rested in  anything  to  be  busy.  To  be 
busy,  whether  habitually  or  not,  is  to 
be  carefully,  sedulously,  and  absorb- 
ingly engaged  in  a  work. 

"  Despair 
Tended   the   siclr,  busiest   from  couch   to 
couch."  Milton. 

Active  (Fr.  act'if)  is  having  a  ten- 
dency to  employment  and  a  dislike  of 
remaining  idle.  Such  a  disposition, 
if  not  well  employed,  is  pretty  sure 
to  fall  into  mischief.  To  be  active 
implies  more  energy,  to  be  busy  moje 
attention.  The  actiVe  man  distributes 
his  thoughts,  the  busy  man  concen- 
trates them.  The  former  is  ready  for 
any  employment,  the  latter  dedicates 
himself  to  one  in  particular.  A  man 
may  be  active  in  disposition,  he  is 
busy  in  fact. 

"  The  seal,  being  an  active  nature,  is  al- 
ways propeadiug  to  the  exercise  of  one 
faculty  or  another." — Glanvill. 

Officious  (Lat.  officium,  office^ 
duty)  is  that  aspect  of  the  quality  of 
the  busy  man  in  the  affairs  of  otheis 
which  leads  him  to  the  superfluous 
taking  upon  himself  to  advise  or  to 
assist  them. 

"  The  miserable  Rachel  now  too  late  dis- 
covered thefatal  consequences  of  interfering 
between  husband  and  wife,  and  heartily 
reproached  herself  for  her  n/Jiciousness  in 
aggravating  his  jealousy." — Observer. 

Pragmatical  (Gr.  Tr^ay/xxriKog, 
■n^oiyfjuif  a  biishiess)  had  at  one  time 
the  meaning  of  busily  engaged.  It 
now  means  fussily  or  ofliciously  busy. 
The  pragmatical  man  exaggerate*  \^ 
the  importance  to  others  of  what  lie 
is  himself  engaged  in,  and  erects  little 
matters  into  aftaii'S  of  great  moment ; 
his  very  recreations  have  a  serious  air, 
and  it  is  only  by  some  amount  oi 
sacrifice  that  he  can  find  time  for  any. 
The  labours  and  responsibilities  of 
others  are  light  in  comparison  with 
his  own. 

"  The  fellow  grew  so  pragmatical  that 
he  took  upon  him  the  government  of  my 
whole  family."— Arbuthnot. 

BUTT.     Mark. 

The  man  who  is  a  Butt  (  Fr.  but, 
bu%  aim)  is  a  Mark  (Fr.  marque). 


196 


SYNONYMS 


[buy] 


but  the  man  who  is  a  mark  is  not 
necessarily  a  butt.  The  word  butt  is 
a  metaphor,  indicating  a  mark  for  tlie 
shafts  of  satire  or  ridicule  of  the  most 
contemptuous  nature.  A  man  may 
be  a  mark  of  envy,  but  he  is  only  a 
butt  for  ridicule. 

"  I  mean  those  honest  gentlemen  that 
are  pelted  by  men,  women,  and  children, 
by  friends  and  foes,  and  in  a  word,  stand 
as  butts  in  conversation." — Addison. 
Both  terms  are  taken  from  archery, 
the  butt  being  the  barrel,  whose 
bung  served  for  the  central  mark  in 
taking  aim. 
"  Ben.  I  aimed  so  near  when  I  supposed 

you  loved, 
Eom.  A  right  good  mark-m&n  I  and  she's 
fair  I  love."         Borneo  and  Juliet. 

BUY.     Purchase. 

To  Buy  (A.  S.  hycgan)  and  to  Pun- 
CHASE  (Fr.  pourchasser,  to  desire  and 
seek  to  obtain;  I.,  captiare,  to  chase) 
are  much  the  same,  except  that  Buy, 
being  the  simple  Saxon  terai,  is  ap- 
plied to  all  kinds  of  objects ;  Purch  ase 
has  a  somewhat  more  polite  air,  and, 
with  iiuY,  is  applicable  to  articles  of 
taste  and  value.  We  buy  vegetables 
and  purchase  jewellery.  Again,  to 
buy  is  specifically  to  give  money  ;  to 
Purchase,  being  used  more  often  than 
Buy  in  a  metaphorical  sense,  extends 
to  the  giving  or  parting  with  anything 
to  procure  something  else,  as  to ''  pur- 
chase at  the  cost  of  reputation."  Pur- 
chase in  tlie  New  Testament  is  always 
to  procure,  never  to  buy.  The  term 
Buy  wears  an  unfavourable  air,  when 
it  is  employed  of  the  procuring  by 
money  what  might  better  be  tlie  re- 
ward of  merit. 

"  The  law  presumes  that  he  who  bur/.t  an 
office  will  by  bribery,  extortion,  or  other 
unlawful  means,  make  his  purchase  good, 
U»  the  manifest  detriment  of  the  public." — 
Blacksxokk. 


0. 


CABAL.  Conspiracy.  Combi- 
nation. Plot.  Faction.  Machi- 
nation. 

Cabal  is  from  the  Hebrew  kabala, 
ft  mystic  tradition  which  it  was  pre- 


tended had  come  down  from  Aioses 
along  with  the  Jewish  law;  hence 
the  term  was  applied  to  any  asso- 
ciation which  had  a  pretended  secret. 
The  idea  of  a  cabal  ik  that  of  a  party 
or  faction  confined  to  a  few,  and  plot- 
ting in  secret  for  their  own  interests 
by  giving  a  certain  turn  to  the  course 
of  affairs,  and  getting  political  power 
and  patronage.  The  object  of  a  cabal 
is  to  aflfect  public  opinion  on  behalf 
of  tlie  intriguing  party,  and  so,  al- 
though the  plan  is  secret,  the  means 
employed  may  be  sometimes  secret, 
sometimes  open,  as  clamour.  It  car- 
ries a  political  or  quasi-political  air, 
true  to  its  original  application  in  the 
sense  of  a  cabinet  or  committee.  It 
was  a  nickname  of  the  ministry  of 
Charles  II.,  Clifford,  Ashley,  Buck- 
ingham, Arlington,  and  Lauderdale, 
the  initials  of  whose  names  spell  the 
word. 

"  Base  rivals,  who  true  wit  and  merit  hate. 
Caballing  still  against  it  with  the  great. 
Maliciously  aspire  to  gain  renown 
By  standing  up  and  pulling  othei-s  down." 
Dryden. 

A  Conspiracy  (h^t. conspiralionem, 
whicli,  unlike  conspiracy,  denoted 
good  as  well  as  evil  accord)  is  a 
secret  combination  against  some  per- 
son, ])ower,  authority,  or  legitimate 
interest.  In  its  common  occurrence 
Conspiracy  denotes  a  treasonable  at- 
tempt for  the  purpose  of  subverting  a 
dynasty,  or  re-establishing  one,  or 
generally  for  altering  tlie  political 
face  of  affairs.  It  tends  to  multiply 
its  numbers,  thus  differing  from  ca- 
bal, whicli  is  restricted.  The  term 
belongs  also  to  private  life.  Any 
agreement  to  do  what  is  prejudicial 
to  another  is  recognized  by  the  law 
as  a  conspiracy. 

*'  Catihne's  conspiraa/" — Rose's  Sallust. 

Combination  (Lat.  comb'inalionem,a 
Joining  two  by  two)  need  not  be  for  a 
bad  purpose,  though  it  is  commonly  so 
used.  It  is  an  association  of  personp 
united  for  the  purpose  of  acting  or 
resisting  in  a  matter  of  their  own  in- 
terests. It  differs  from  Cabal  in  beiu| 
more  active  than  deliberative,  and 
from  Conspiracy  in  heiuf^  open  and 
not  secret.     Social  or  professional  in- 


[cajole] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


197 


terests  are  commonly  the  basis  of 
union  and  action  in  combinations, 
and  its  work  lies  in  pushing  its  own 
demands  and  resisting  those  of  others. 
It  is  evident  that  the  term  admits  of 
Buch  a  generic  sense  as  would  include 
the  others. 

"  A  combination  of  the  most  powerful  men 
in  Rome  who  had  conspired  my  ruin."  — 
Mklmoth's  Cicero. 

A  Px.OT  (the  same  word  as  -pUitj 
i.e.  of  ground)  is  a  complicated  plan 
for  the  accomplishment  of  a  purpose 
always  evil  or  mischievous.  As  it  ex- 
presses the  plan  as  well  as  the  planner, 
a  plot  may  lie  with  a  single  person, 
though  it  commonly  involves  more 
than  one. 

"  The  tempter  may  cease  urging,  and  yet 
continue  plotting."— Sovrn. 

Faction  {Lat.factionem)  meant  an- 
ciently one  of  the  troops  in  the  games 
of  the  circus,  and  when  the  circus 
assumed  a  political  character,  the  tei-m 
came  to  mean  a  political  party.  It  is 
now  used  more  commonly  of  a  minority 
than  of  a  majority,  but  in  either  case 
denotes  a  party  acting  unscrupulously 
for  the  promotion  of  their  own  in- 
terests in  the  community. 

"  The  members  of  the  court  faction  are 
fully  indemnified  for  not  holding  places  on 
the  slippery  heights ofthe  kingdom,  not  only 
by  the  lead  in  all  affairs,  but  also  by  the 
perfect  security  in  which  they  enjoy  less 
conspicnons,  but  very  advantageous  situa- 
tions."—liuRKE. 

Unquiet,  turbulent,  jealous,  ambi- 
tious, vain  spirits  form  cabals.  Mis- 
chievous, malignant,  wicked,  and  de- 
signing spirits  form  plots.  Discon- 
tented spirits,  indocile  subjects,  and 
bad  citizens  form  conspiracies.  Social 
and  professional  grievances,  undue 
preponderance  of  power  or  wealth 
bring  about  combinations.  Restless- 
ness, combined  with  views  of  self-inte- 
rest, raises  up  factions.  A  seditious 
party  in  a  community  or  a  state  while 
It  is  as  yet  weak  and  undeveloped  is 
a  faction.  It  is  a  party  when  it  has 
established  its  claim  to  be  recognized 
as  one  of  the  powers  of  that  commu- 
nity or  state.  A  cabal  works  in- 
directly, a  plot  darkly,  a  conspiracy 
deeply  and  unscrupulously. 

A   Machination   (Lat.  mdchtnarif 


Gr.  ^r}X»v^>  a  machine)  combines  with 
the  idea  of  contrivance  and  circum- 
vention that  of  a  purpose  which  is  not 
only  selfish  but  evil— a  wicked  plot- 
ting against  the  interests  or  life  of 
another.  It  admits  even  of  treachery 
as  an  instrument  in  its  dealings.  In 
short,  its  direct  aim  is  deadly  mischief, 
and  it  adopts  any  arts  of  deception 
which  may  compass  this  end. 

"This  is  the  state  and  known  machination 
of  him  whose  true  title  is  the  accuser  of  the 
brethren."— Bishop  Hall. 

CABIN.     Hut.     Cottage. 

The  Cabin  (Welsh,  caban,  bootn, 
cabin)  belongs  to  the  very  poor  ;  the 
Hut  (Fr.  hutte)  to  the  savage,  the 
Cottage  (  A.  S.  cote,  a  cottage,  den)  to 
the  labourer.  A  cabin  is  a  miserable 
hut  or  cottage.  It  may  be  found  in  a 
town.  Cottages  are  only  in  the 
country.  The  hut  presents  the  simple 
idea  of  shelter  from  the  elements; 
the  cabin  of  extreme  povertv  anc/ 
wretchedness ;  the  cottage  of  rurjrf 
simplicity  ajid  luxuriance.  The  hut 
may  be  the  abode  of  royalty,  for  savage 
tribes  have  their  chiefs.  I'he  cot- 
tage is,  with  some  ornament  and 
cultivation,  often  an  abode  of  the 
wealthy. 

CAJOLE.     Coax.     Wheedle. 

The  idea  common  to  these  words  is 
that  of  usin^  petty  arts  of  demeanour 
to  persuade  into  something  connected 
with  a  selfish  purpose.  To  Cajole 
(Fr.  cajoler,  for  cageoler,  to  allurt  into 
a  cage  like  a  bird)  denotes  the  use  oi 
such  winning  arts,  whether  of  words, 
as  flattery,  or  more  than  words,  as 
leads  the  person  under  such  influence 
to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  another, 
even  to  some  little  loss  or  detriment 
to  himself.  To  Coax  (etym.  uncer- 
tain) expresses  the  same  thing,  but 
with  more  of  persuasiveness  and  less 
of  art.  It  is  a  more  simple-minded 
process.  The  father  may  coax  his 
child  into  doing  some  unpleasant 
thing  for  its  own  good,  and  the  child' 
may  coax  the  father  into  making  him 
some  little  present. 

Wheedle  (cf.  Ger.  wedeln,  to  wag 
the  tail)  denotes  the  reiterated  use  of 
clever  importunities  and  little  cheats, 
and,  like  Cajole,  often  baa  the  sense 


198 


of  luring  against  tlie  interest  of  the 
person  lured.  The  designing  per- 
son cajoles,  the  impudent  one  coaxes, 
the  artful  and  dishonest  one  wheedles. 

"  After  a  cajoling  dream  to  wake  in  the  ag- 
gravation of  disappointment." — Smollkt. 

The  following  gives  the  word  coax 
m  its  old  form  : — 

"  Princes  may  give  a  good  poet  such  con- 
venient countenance  and  also  benefit  as  are 
due  to  an  excellent  artificer,  though  they 
neither  kiss  nor  cokes  them."— PuLTKN- 
HAM. 

"  I  have  already  a  deed  of  settlement  of 
the  best  part  of  her  estate,  which  I  have 
icheedled  out  of  her."— CoNGRKVK. 

CALAMITY.  Disaster.  Visi- 
tation. MisFouTUNE.  Mischance. 
Mishap.  Misadventure.  Catas- 
trophe. 

Calamity  (Lat.  dtlUmitdtem,  proh. 
from  calamus, a  stalk,  as  i£ destruction  of 
crops)  is  commonly  applied  to  events 
which  produce  extensive  evil,  whether 
public  or  private,  as  a  bad  harvest,  a 
civil  war,  the  death  or  ruin  of  the  head 
of  a  family.  The  calamity  generally 
befalls  from  without,  and  is  not  a  mis- 
carriage of  plans,  but  an  independent 
visitation.  Hence  a  person  may  be 
closely  connected  with  a  calamity 
without  directly  suffering  from  it.  A 
plague  upon  a  city  is  a  calamity,  and 
xs  called  so  even  by  those  who  may 
escape  from  it. 

"  Even  when  they  are  in  prosperity  they 
ever  and  anon  feel  many  inward  stings  and 
lashes ;  but  when  any  great  affliction  or 
talamity  overtakes  them,  they  are  the  most 
poor-spirited  creatures  in  the  whole  world." 
— TiLLOTSON. 

A  Disaster  (Fr.  (/t'.sas<re,Lat.  astrum, 
a  star,  a  word  of  astrological  character) 
18  an  untoward  event  of  great  impor- 
tance coming  in  to  mar  or  ruin  a  par- 
ticular plan,  course,  or  condition  of 
things  as  incidental  to  it.  Thus, 
losses  in  ti-ade,  the  overturning  of  a 
cai-riage  on  the  road,  are  disasters. 

"  This  was  a  real  disnutcr  to  ns,  as  by  re- 
tarding us  half  a  day  it  broke  the  chain  of 
onr  stages,  and  laid  us  under  the  disagree- 
able necessity  of  stopping  each  ensuing 
night  at  a  vRry  bad  inn."— Swinburnk's 
ISpain. 

MiSFORTUNh  is  the  widestj  though 
BOt  specifically  the  strongest  in  mean- 
ing. Anything  which  is  an  untoward 


SYNONYMS  [calamity] 

event  is  a  misfortune.  Calamities  and 
disasters  are  misfortunes,  only  they 
are  more  than  ordinary  misfortunes. 
That  is  a  misfortune  which  in  any 
way  deprives  of  an  actual  or  contin- 
gent good  against  one's  will.  But 
the  term  is  by  no  means  so  serious  as 
Calamity  or  Disasi  i  r. 

•'  She  daily  exercises  her  benevolence  by 
pitying  every  misfortune  that  happens  to 
every  family  within  her  circle  of  notice."^ 
Johnson. 

VisiTAi  ION  (Lat.  msttatibnevti)  is  a 
term  used  to  denote  providential  in- 
fliction or  retribution,  and  is  implied 
to  public  and  private  afflictions,  as 
the  sudden  death  of  an  individual,  or 
the  plague  in  a  country. 

"  There  shall  not  be  left  in  thee  one  stone 
upon  another,  because  thou  knewest  not  the 
time  of  thy  visitation." — Bible. 

Mischance  and  Mishap  diflfer 
from  Misfortune  in  being  lighter. 
Misfortunes  to  individuals  are  failures 
in  business,  the  loss  of  health,  the 
being  born  of  cruel  or  over-indulgent 
parents.  Mischances  and  mishaps 
are  such  as  interrupt  employments  oi 
undertakings  untowardly.  A  slight 
diflerence,  too,  exists  between  Mis- 
cii  ANCE  and  Mishap  ;  the  mischance  is 
external  to  the  actual  employment, 
and  befalls  a  person  while  engaged  in 
it ;  a  mishap  occurs  in  the  midst  of 
the  employment  itselfl  So  mischance 
is  less  personal  than  mishap,  which 
often  wears  a  ludicrous  air.  A  sudden 
frost  on  a  hunting  day  is  a  mischance ; 
a  fall  while  hunting  is  a  mishap. 

" '  For  charity,'  replied  the  matron,  '  tell 
What   sad  niischatice  those  pretty   birds 

befell.'  — 
'  Nay,  no   mischance,'  the    savage  dame 

replied, 
'  But  want  of  wit  in  their  unerring  guide. 
And  eager   haste,  and  gaudy  hopes,  and 

giddy  pride.'"  Dkvdicn. 

'*  Ah  me  1  what  perils  do  environ 
The  man  that  meddles  with  cold  iron  I 
What  plaguy  mischiefs  and  mishaps 
Do  dog  him  still  with  after-claps!" 

Hudibras 

INIisADVENTURE  Is  the  morc  serious 
form  of  Mishap.  It  is  a  calamity 
occurring  in  the  course  of  some  deed 
or  transaction ;  as  if  in  fencing  one 
accidentally  wounded  one's  adversary. 


(calculate] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


I9y 


It  combines  more  strongly  than  ]\Iis- 
HAP  the  idea  of  the  unfortunate  with 
the  doings  and  proceedings  of  men. 

"We  seldom  or  never  find  that  any  nation 
hath  endured  so  many  misadventures  and 
miseries  as  the  Spaniards  ha^e  done  in 
their  Indian  discoreries."— Ralegh's  His- 
tory of  t/ie  World. 

Mischance  and  mishap  befall  us. 
But  -we  meet  with  or  suffer  misadven- 
tures, placing  ourselves,  as  it  were, 
within  their  reach,  and  unwittingly 
running  into  them. 

Catastrophe  (Gr.  xa.raiTToo<pfi,  an 
overturning)  is  an  event  final,  disas- 
trous, subversive.  The  calamity  is 
one  event  of  wide-spread  ill.  The 
catastrophe  is  one  event  with  manifold 
effects  of  ill.  It  is,  aa  it  were,  a  com- 
pendium of  disasters,  and  a  sum  of 
evils,  potent  in  itself  and  diversified 
in  its  effects.  It  is  in  the  same  cha- 
racter, though  with  no  necessary  sense 
of  calamity,  that  the  term  is  used 
simply  of  the  winding  up  or  dtnoue- 
ment  of  a  dramatic  plot.  It  is  then 
a  final  illustration  and  complete 
solution  of  all  difficulties,  a  practical 
termination  of  the  plan  when  all  in- 
terest is  gone  and  beyond  which  it 
were  impossible  to  continue  the  ac- 
tion. 

"At  Abingdon  he  (the  Prince  of  Orange) 
was  surprised  with  the  news  of  the  strange 
catastrophe  of  affaii-s  now  at  London— the 
King's  desei'tion,  and  the  disorders  which 
the  city  and  neighl)ourhood  of  London  were 
fallen  into."— Blkxet. 

CALCULATi:.  Reckon.  Com- 
pute. Count.  Estimate.  Enu- 
merate.    Rate. 

To  Calculate  (Lat.  calculaie,  cal- 
culus, a  pebble,  used  in  count'nii^)  is  to 
arrive  at  a  result  by  an  arithmetical 
operation  of  any  kind  ;  hence  of 
various  kinds ;  hence  also,  remoiely,  a 
calculation  may  be  formed  by  using 
one  or  more  arithmetical  processes 
in  succession  for  the  purpose  of  a 
common  result  or  product.  Calcula- 
tion goes  beyond  the  actual  and  pre- 
sent, and  may  deal  with  the  future 
and  probable.  Hence  the  result  of 
calculation  may  be  approximate  only, 
uot  exact. 

"  I  fear  this  learned  man  may  have  been 
somewhat  misinformed  by  the  navigators 
he  relies  in,  or  else  that  the  wav  of  allow- 


ing for  refractions  is  not  yet  reduced  to  a 
sufficient  certainty;  for  I  do  not  Und  by 
those  who  have  purposely  gone  to  the  top 
of  it  (Teneriffe)  that  the  mountain  is  so 
high  as  his  calculation  makes  it." — BoTLB. 

To  Reckon  (A.  S.  reccan)  is  to  tell 
one  by  one,  and  deals  only  with  mat- 
ters of  addition  and  subtraction.  It 
is  a  process  of  units  only.  It  is  to 
count  into  a  number,  rank,  or  series  ; 
hence,  analogously,  to  place  as  an  item 
in  a  moral  or  social  account,  as,  "  I 
reckon  him  among  the  aristocracy." 
Hence  the  process  of  reckoning  is 
more  straightforward,  and  the  result 
of  reckoning  more  exact  and  certain 
than  calculation,  while  it  is  less  com- 
prehensive and  varied.  Reckon  has 
the  further  character  of  bein^  relative, 
economical,  or  financial.  We  count 
for  ourselves,  we  reckon  with  others. 
In  this  way  to  reckon  is  to  calculate 
in  matters  of  common  interest.  The 
proprietor  calculates  his  expenses  of 
the  past  year,he  computes  the  probable 
outlay  of  the  coming  year,  and  per- 
haps in  each  case  he  reckons  with  his 
steward. 

"Retrospects  with  bad  reckoners  are 
troublesome  things." — Warburton. 

But  Repkon  involves  in  some  cases 
the  use  of  tlie  logical  as  well  as  the 
arithmetical  faculty  to  determine 
what  is  to  be  reckoned,  as  in  the  in- 
stance given  under  Count. 

To  Compute  (Lat.  compiitdre)  bears 
reference  to  a  sum  or  value  already 
given.  The  rising  and  setting  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  are  calculated;  but 
the  number  of  comets  that  have  been 
visible  during  the  last  thousand  years 
could  only  be  computed,  all  that  is 
likely  to"  increase  or  diminish  the 
number  being  taken- into  account; 
hence  Compute  is  more  than  an  arith- 
metical term,  and  involves  the  factors 
as  well  as  the  amount  of  numbers 
and  sums.  To  compute  is  to  form  a 
numerical  estimate,  though  it  is  ap- 
plicable to  magnitude.  In  calculation 
we  proceed  from  fixed  items  to  a  cer- 
tain result.  In  computation  we  pro- 
ceed from  variable  items  to  a  probable 
result.  In  calculation  the  goodm  ss 
of  the  result  depends  on  the  exactnew 
of  the  method,  and  the  rightness  oi 
the  anplication.    In  computation  it 


200 


SYNONIMS  [calendar] 


depends,  besides  these,  on  the  cer- 
tainty of  tlie  data. 

"  Of  time  on  all  occasions,  he  (Swift) 
was  an  excellent  computer,  and  knew  the 
minutes  required  to  every  common  opera- 
tion."—JoHNSON. 

Experience   and   analogy   are    great 
aids  in  computation. 

Count  is  etymologically  another 
form  of  compute,  but  its  signification 
IS  nearer  to  that  of  reckon.  It  is  to 
reckon  one  by  one ;  but  as  to  reckon 
is  to  enlist  in  a  number,  so  to  count 
is  simply  to  register  as  units.  So  we 
might  say,  "  I  have  counted  the 
bottles;  there  are  ninety  without 
reckoning  ten  which  are  broken." 

••  I  would  not  be  that  guilty  man. 
With  all  his  golden  store ; 

Nor  change  my  lot  with  any  wretch 
That  counts  his  thousands  o'er." 
Logan. 
In  the  secondaiy  use  of  the  terms, 
Count  stands  to  reckon  as  a  proposi- 
tion to  a  conclusion.      I  count  him 
faithful  that  endures,  that  is,  I  brin^ 
the  two  ideas  or  terms  into  unity.  **  I 
reckon    that    the    present  sufferings 
are  not  to  be  compared  to  the  glory 
that  shall  be  revealed  hereafter ; "  that 
is,   I  draw   this   deduction  (Gr.  \oyi- 

Estimate  (Lat.  (PStimare)  is  to 
compute  more  generally,  as  to  esti- 
mate the  average  or  probable  market 
value  of  goods,  distance,  and  the  like, 
in  a  rough  manner.  It  is  not  so  nu- 
merical as  Compute.  Estimate  has  to 
do  not  with  facts,  figures,  or  dimen- 
sions in  themselves,  but  in  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  ourselves  and  our  in- 
terest in  them.  We  may  compute 
the  number  of  acres  in  a  tract  of 
countiy;  we  estimate  their  saleable 
price,  and,  so  doing,  set  what  is  valu- 
able over  against  what  is  compara- 
tively or  completely  worthless. 

•'  Live  dogs  before  dead  lions  estimates." 
Daniel. 

Enumerate  (Lat.  inUmerdre)  is  to 
tell  the  number  by  expressing  the 
1  ^ems,  and  is  a  process  of  speech 
rather  than  arithmetic.  It  is  to  men- 
tion as  an  item  in  a  sum. 

"  If  the  Priest  pardons  no  sins  but  those 
which  are  enumerated,  the  penitent  will  be 
in  an  evil  condition  in  most  cases,  but  if  he 
em  and  does  pardon  those  which  are  for- 


gotten, then  the  special  enumeration  is  not 
indispensably  necessary."— Bishop  Tav 
LOR. 

To  Rate  (0.  Fr.  rate,  Lat.  rtiiuSf 
reckoned)  is  to  compute  or  estimate 
according  to  a  standard  of  proportion, 
whether  scientific  or  conventional. 

"  But  I  collect  out  of  the  Abbey  Book  of 
Burton  that  twenty-one  were  ratable  to 
two  marks  of  silver."— Camden. 

CALENDAR.     Almanack. 

The  Calendar  (Lat.  cUlendce,  the 
calends,  or  beginning  of  the  month)  gives 
the  days  of  the  months  in  numeral 
order,  and  the  days  of  the  week  with 
the  Sunday  letter,  and  marks  those 
days  which  are  held  in  ecclesiastical 
or  civil  importance. 

The  Almanack  ('L.  h^H.almanachus: 
Bracket  ;  probably,  but  by  no  means 
certainly,  of  Arabic  derivation)  ex- 
tends to  astronomical  and  meteoro- 
logical information,  and  may  even  ven- 
ture upon  astrological  predictions. 

CALL.     Invoke.     Evoke. 

These  terms  express  in  common  the 
action  of  the  voice  exercised  by  one 
sentient  being  upon  another.  Call 
(see  Bid)  is  the  most  general.  Call 
mny  be  inarticulate.  The  bird  calls 
its  mate.  Men  call  other  men  or 
animals  more  or  less  tamed  or  domesti- 
cated by  whom  they  are  surrounded  ; 
that  is,  who  inhabit  the  same  earth  as 
themselves. 

We  Evoke  (Lat.  tvocare,  to  call 
forth  )  infernal  spirits,  or  spirits  of  the 
departed,  whose  abode  is  supposed  to 
be  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth. 

We  Invoke  (Lat.  invocare,  to  call 
on)  the  Deity,  or  saints,  or  celestial  in- 
telligences, as  living  in  heaven,  or  be- 
lieved to  have  power  or  influence  over 
the  earth  and  men.  One  calls  by 
some  short  method,  as  a  sound,  a  name, 
and  by  analogy,  a  sign  or  gesture. 
One  evokes  by  charms,  incantations, 
mystic  acts  and  words.  One  invokes 
by  vows  and  prayers.  Poets  still  in- 
voke Apollo  and  the  Muses  to  aid 
them  m  the  efforts  and  flights  of  their 
imagination  after  the  manner  of  the 
poets  of  classic  antiquity.  He  who 
invokes  does  it  for  help  or  succour 
as  an  inferior.  He  who  evokes  does 
it  as  possessing  some  power  and 
authority,  though  it  may  be  for  sue* 


[calm] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


201 


cour,  also  in  giving  sujiernalural  in- 
formation. In  invocation  the  subject 
is  definite  and  certain.  In  evocation 
it  is  uncertain  ;  but  in  invocation  the 
power  is  weak,  in  evocation  strong. 
Invocation  has  a  weaker  force  than 
Invoke,  and  sometimes  means  little 
more  than  a  formal  calling  of  atten- 
tion, or  an  address. 

CALM.  Sth.l.  Quiet.  Serene. 
Tranquil.  Peaceful.  Placid. 
Settled.     Composed.     Collected. 

These  terms  are  all  applicable  to 
the  elements  of  nature.  Calm  is  ap- 
plied to  the  air  and  the  sea.  It  is  a 
relative  term,  denoting  the  absence  of 
perturbation ;  a  calm  air  is  one  which 
is  not  stormy,  a  calm  sea  one  which  is 
not  rough.  In  its  secondary  sense, 
calm,  as  applied  to  the  feelings,  mind, 
or  conduct,  denotes  the  absence  of 
excitement  under  circumstances  calcu- 
lated to  produce  it,  and  is  commonly 
a  praiseworthy  feature  of  character. 
Yet  not  invariably  so,  for  it  is  not  good 
to  endure  or  witness  calmly  what  is 
cruel  or  painful  or  miserable  to  others. 

"  The  Seventh  Book  (of  Paradise  Lost) 
affects  the  imagination  like  the  ocean  in  a 
calm,  and  fills  the  mind  of  the  reader  with- 
out producing  in  it  anything  like  tumult  or 
agitation." — Spectator. 

Still  (A.  S.  stille)  denotes  the  ab- 
sence of  movement  and  of  the  sound 
which  accompanies  it.  The  night  is 
still  when  no  sounds  are  heard.  It 
expresses  not  merely  the  absence  of 
sound  and  motion,  but  a  state  which 
is,  as  it  were,  poised  between  past 
and  future  activity.  That  which  is 
still  may  be  regarded  as  having 
settled  into  quiet,  and  as  having 
the  capability  to  be  exercised  at  any 
moment,  of  being  again  aroused.  It 
■£,  as  it  were,  a  fixed  and  established 
«tate  of  the  silent  or  the  motionless. 

••  The  subtle  spoiler  of  the  beaver  kind. 
Far    off,   perhaps,   where  ancient    alders 

shade 
The  deep  still  pool,  within  some  hollow 

trunk 
Contrives  his  wicker  couch." 

SoMKRViLK  Chase. 

Quiet  (Lat.  quietus)  denotes  rather 
ftn  habitual  than  a  passing  state; 
yet,  according  to  present  usage,  it 
IS  more  applicable  generally  to  the 


external  circumstances  of  life  than 
to  temper  or  manners ;  when  em- 
ployed of  these  it  would  rather  im- 
ply a  silent  and  retiring  disposition. 
"  I  long  to  lead  a  quiet  life,"  would 
mean  a  life  of  retirement  from  the 
busy  occupations  and  cares  of  life.  A 
quiet  mind  is  an  unharassed  mind ; 
yet  quiet  does  not  of  necessity  involve 
happiness,  for  there  is  a  quiet  of  com 
pulsion,   of  a  swoon,    of  death.     A 

?[uiet  mind  is  rather  a  qualification 
or  a  virtuous  life,  than  a  virtue  in 
itself. 

"  Thus  leave 
Thee,  native  soil,  these  happy  walks  and 

shades. 
Fit  haunt  of  gods  ?  where  I  had  hope  to 

spend 
Quiet,  though  sad,  the  respite  of  that  day 
That  must  be  mortal  to  us  both." 

Milton. 

Serene  (Lat.  serhius)  is  used  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  denotes  the  union 
of  calmness  and  clearness.  A  dark 
night,  however  still,  would  not  be 
called  serene. 

"  The  place  is  sickly  to  them  because 
they  come  out  of  a  countiy  which  never 
hath  any  rain  or  fogs,  but  enjoys  a  constant 
serenity" — Dampier's  Voyages. 

When  employed  in  a  moral  sense,  it 
denotes  that  quiet  which  comes  from 
within,  as  the  result  of  such  causes 
as  a  bright  religious  hope,  the  ab- 
sence of  disturbing  passions,  and  the' 
peace  of  conscience.  It  expresses 
the  highest  and  holiest  calm  of  the 
soul. 

*'  Wherefore  the  preferableness  of  virtue 
does  not  arise  so  much  from  the  transport* 
she  occasions,  as  from  the  calm  serenity  and 
steady  complacence  of  mind  she  ensures." — 
Search,  Light  of  Nature. 

Tranquil  (Lat.  fra/j^uiZ/us)  denotes 
freedom  from  commotion  or  agitation 
of  any  kind.  It  means  more  than 
Still  and  Quiet,  for  these  denote  the 
external  condition  only,  while  Tran- 
quil implies  also  the  effect  produced 
on  the  senses  and  mind  of  the  observer, 
which  are  correspondently  affected 
with  a  sense  of  quiet. 

*•  The  celebrated  tranquillitp  of  the  Paci- 
fic Ocean."— Anson. 

Yet  Tranquil  essentially  denotes 
little  more  than  the  absence  of  any 
source    of   discomposure   or   distur- 


202 


SYNONYMS 


[calm] 


bance.  In  this  way  it  is  applied  to 
the  condition  of  communities  and 
collections  of  persons  with  more 
force  and  propriety  than  any  other 
of  these  epithets,  which  belong-  more 
naturally  to  individuals.  A  tran- 
quil state  of  society.  The  tranquil- 
lity of  the  country.  It  was  a  very 
tranquil  meeting.  To  be  tranquil  is 
to  be  without  inquietude ;  one  is  tran- 
quil by  virtue  of  the  situation  in  which 
one  finds  one's  self.  Tranquillity  im- 
plies a  sort  of  indiffei'ence  to  events 
which  renders  the  mind  unassailable 
by  them.  The  hero,  calm  in  the 
midst  of  danger,  is  not  called  tran- 
quil. The  woods  are  tranquil  when 
no  breeze  stirs  the  leaves.  The  air 
is  calm  when  no  storm  agitates  it. 

*'  Oh  now  for  ever 
Farewell  the  tranquil  mind,  farewell  con- 
tent ' "  Shakespeare, 

Peaceful,  as  the  word  denotes,  is 
full  of  peace,  that  is,  not  entirely  free 
from  sounds,  but  free  from  loud  and 

i'arring  sounds.  Nature  is  not  the 
ess  but  the  more  peaceful  when 
certain  soothing  sights  and  sounds, 
such  as  the  smoke  of  the  cottage 
hearth,  or  the  tinkling  of  sheep-bells, 
meet  the  eye  and  ear.  The  epithet 
is  better  applied  to  the  scenes  than  to 
the  elements  of  Nature. 

"  Still  as   the  peaceful  walks  of  ancient 

night. 
Silent  as  are  the  lamps  that  burn  in  tombs." 
Shakespeare. 

As  applied  to  the  person  and  dis- 
position, it  denotes  not  only  a  state 
but  an  habitual  tendency.  A  peaceful 
disposition  is  one  which  loves  peace 
m  relation  to  others,  and  dislikes  and 
avoi  ds  occasions  of  quarrel.  A  peace- 
ful atmosphere  in  the  natural  and 
ihe  moral  world  is  one  in  which 
there  is  no  strife  nf  warring  elements. 
Tranquillity  is  in  one's  self,  peace  is  in 
relation  to  others  or  the  world.  One 
has  tranquil  possession  of  one's  lot 
when  one  is  perfectly  content  with  it; 
ne  has  peaceful  possession  of  it  when 
no  stranger  deprives  us  of  it. 

"  Our   loved  earth,  where  peacefully  we 

slept, 
4nd  far  from  heaven  quiet  possession  kept." 
DnvDEN. 


Pt.acid  (Lat.  plttcuius')  denotes  an 
unruffled  calmness  which  has  a  -pleas- 
ing and  cheering  effect.  The  night 
may  be  still  and  tranquil,  but  not 
placid,  if  it  is  dark.  Tranquil  and 
gloomy  are  compatible  epithets,  not 
gloomy  and  placid.  The  surface  of 
the  lake  in  the  still  summer  night  is 
placid.  Placid  denotes  more  than 
peaceful.  One  may  be  peaceful  on  prin- 
ciple, but  persons  are  placid  by  nature. 
Accordingly  it  often  comes  of  compa- 
rative insensibility,  and  of  a  nature 
constitutionally  wanting  in  fervour. 
It  is  very  often  employed  of  the  face  ; 
as,  a  placid  countenance,  a  placid 
smile.  It  is  the  serene  of  common- 
place. 

"  Placid  and  soothing  is  the  remem- 
brance of  a  life  passed  with  quiet,  inno- 
cence, and  elegance." — Steele. 

Settled  (A.  S.  settan,  to  set)  is  a 
term  which  bears  reference  to  past 
commotion,  and  denotes  the  return  to 
a  state  of  calm  which  is  likelj-  to  con- 
tinue. When  used  of  persons,  it  re- 
fers to  the  judgment,  determination, 
and  plans  of  life. 

"  It  is  true  that  a  weighty  settled  sorrow 
is  of  that  force,  that  besides  the  contraction 
of  the  spirits,  it  will  work  upon  the  radical 
moisture,  and  dry  it  up  so  that  the  hair  can 
have  no  moisture  at  the  root."—  HoWELL 

Composed  (Lat.  componere,  part. 
compusYius)  and  Cor.r.KCTED  (Lat.  colti- 
gtre,  part,  collectus)  are  not  used  of 
the  life  or  character,  and  seldom  of 
the  countenance,  but  almost  always 
of  the  air  or  manner.  Composure 
bears  reference  to  the  thoughts  and 
feelings,  collectedness  to  action.  Tho 
person  who  is  composed  retains  or  has 
recovered  his  self-possession  after 
some  period  of,  or  in  spite  of,  some 
inducement  to  over-excitement ;  he 
who  is  collected  has,  as  the  term  de- 
notes, gathered  up  his  feelings  and 
thoughts,  and  recovered  them  from  a 
state  of  distraction,  and  is  prepared  to 
act  with  delibei-ation. 

"  Collected  in  his  strength,  and  like  a  rock 
Poised  on  his  base,  Mezentius   stood  tho 
shock."  Drypkn. 

"  In  this  hnrry,  one  running  one  way, 
another  running  another  way,  a  man  was 
seen  walking  before  the  door  »ery  com- 


[calumny] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


203 


poscdly  withoot  a  hat ;  whereupon,  one 
crying  ont,  '  Here  is  the  fellow  that  killed 
the  Duke  !'  npon  which  others  ran  thither, 
everybody  asking  which  is  he  ?  to  which 
the  man  without  the  hat  very  composedly 
answered,  '  I  am  he.'  " — Clarkxdon. 

CALUMNY.  Aspersion.  Detrac- 
tion. Defamation.  Slander.  Libel. 
Reviling.  Vilification.  Traduce- 
ment. 

Calumny  (Lat.  ctlhimnia)  is  that 
evil-speaking  whicli  is  based  in  any 
degree  on  what  the  speaker  knows  to 
be  false,  whether  it  be  a  crime  or  an 
offence.  The  calumniator  is  both  a 
former  and  a  propagator  of  evil  report 
against  another,  and  aims  at  doing 
him  an  injury. 

•*  For  calumvy  will  sear 
Virtue  itself."  Shakespeark. 

Aspersion  (Lat.  aspersioiiem ,  a 
sprinkling)  is  like  the  bespattering  a 
pei-son  with  foul  water.  It  brings  no 
definite  charge,  but  seeks  by  any 
means  to  convey  an  unfavourable  im- 
pression morallv  of  the  character  and 
conduct  of  another.  The  etymological 
force  is  preserved  by  Dryden  : — 
"  1  will  not  leave  thee  liable  to  scorn, 
But  vindicate  thy  honour  from  that  wretch 
Who  would  by  base  aspersions  blot  thy 
virtue." 

Detraction  (Lat.  detractidnem,  a 
drawing  away)  is  that  mode  of  cheap- 
ening another  in  public  or  private 
estimation  which  consists  in  granting 
facts  as  to  his  character,  but  inter])ret- 
ing  them  so  as  to  diminish  or  contra- 
dict favourable  inferences,  as  when  we 
attribute  his  acts  of  giving  to  motives 
of  ostentation.  It  comes  of  cynical 
views  and  estimates  of  human  life 
and  motives,  or  from  specific  jealousy 
and  envy.  It  is  of  wider  application 
tlian  moral  or  personal  character.  It 
consists  in  lowering  the  moral  and 
sometimes  even  the  mate  /ial  value  or 
pretensions  of  anything ;  as,  when  we 
deti'act  from  personal  merit,  from  the 
excellence  of  an  act,  or  the  value  or 
merit  of  a  work  of  art.  Unlike  the  rest, 
detraction  commonly  furnishes  a  pre- 
sumption it!  a  person's  favour.  Ex- 
cellence or  merit  must  exist  or  be 
credited  before  there  could  be  room 
for  attempts  to  lower  it  in  the  esti- 
mation of  others. 


"If  any  shall  detract  from  a  lady's  cha- 
racter, unless  she  be  absent,  the  said  detrac- 
fress  shall  be  forthwith  ordered  to  the  lowest 
place  of  the  room." — Addison. 

Defamation  (Lat.  dtfdmatus,  dif 
honoured)  is  essentially  public;  it  it 
the  spreading  far  and  wide  what  is 
injurious  to  the  reputation  of  persons. 
It  is  positive  as  deti'action  is  nega- 
tive. 

"Their  aim  is  only  men's  defamation, 
not  their  reformation,  since  they  proclaim 
men's  vices  unto  others,  not  lay  them  open 
to  themselves," — Prynne, 

Slander  (O.  Fr.  esclandrcy  con- 
nected with  seanddlum)  difiers  from 
Defamation  in  being  not  only  public 
but  also  secret  and  underhanded. 
The  slanderer  is  not  so  inventive  as 
the  calumniator. 

"  Whether  we  speak  evil  of  a  man  to  hit 
face  or  behind  his  back  ;  the  former  way 
indeed  seems  to  be  the  most  generous,  but 
yet  is  a  great  fault,  and  that  which  we  call 
reviling.  The  latter  is  more  mean  and  base, 
and  that  which  we  call  slander  or  back 
biting."— TiLLOTSON. 

Reviling  (Lat.  v'dis,  cheap,  loorth- 
less)  is  eloquent  defamation  or  slan- 
der, the  copious  use  of  opprobrious 
or  contemptuous  language.  Vilifi- 
cation is  irom  the  same  root,  but  re- 
viling is  direct,  vilification  indirect. 
We  revile  a  person  to  his  face ;  we 
vilify  him  or  his  character  gene- 
rally in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  To 
vilify  is  simply  to  cheapen  down  to 
vileness,  and  therefore  is  applicable 
to  anything,  and  not  restricted  to 
persons  who  have  a  character  of 
goodness  or  a  reputation  for  excel- 
lence. 

"  Believe  it  that  can,  while  he  is  labour 
ing  to  destroy  the  best,  the  only  complete 
system  of  morality  that  ever  yet  appeared, 
and  to  vilify  that  Book  which  so  truly 
places  the  whole  of  religon  in  doing  good." 
— Waterland, 

Libel  is  written  slander  or  defama- 
tion (Lat,/i'6e//M5,  a  little  book).  Origi- 
nally a  libel  was  a  document.  So  the 
phrase  of  the  present  version  of  the 
Scriptures,  "a  writing  of  divorce- 
ment," stood  in  Wycliffe's  version, 
"  a  libel  of  forsaking."  It  is  now  any 
kind  of  published  defamation,  whether 
in  print,  by  pictures,  or  any  other 
such  representations. 


i;04 


SYNONYMS  [cant] 


*  We  have  in  a  tibel :  1,  the  writing; 
2,  tlie  communication,  called  by  lawyers 
the  pablication ;  3,  the  application  to  per- 
sons and  facts  ;  4,  the  intent  and  tendency; 
5,   the    matter  —  diminution   of   fame." — 

BURKK. 

Traducement  is  literally  the  lead- 
ing along  as  a  public  spectacle  (Lat. 
tradncere)  and  so  the  holding  up  to 
public  disparagement.  It  involves 
some  degree,  as  of  publicity  in  the 
pi'ocess,  80  of  importance  or  promi- 
nence in  the  thing  or  person  ti-a- 
duced.  It  is  not  confined  to  personal 
character.  Forms,  ceremonies,  insti- 
tutions, customs,  may  be  traduced. 
"  Who  libel  senates  and  traduce  the  great. 
Measure  the  public  good  by  private  hate." 
Yaldkn. 

CANT.     StANG.    Jargon. 

Caut  {ha,t.  cantdre,  to  sing).  It  is 
tlie  language  of  thieves  and  beggars, 
not  intelligible  to  others  than  their 
associates;  then  the  peculiar  termi- 
nology of  any  profession,  and  finally, 
with  a  more  restricted  application,  the 
reiteration  of  religious  phraseology. 

Jargon  {Fr.  jargon,  gibberish)  is 
op  plied  sometimes  to  the  chattering 
ol  birds.     So  Gower  : — 

"  But  she  withal  no  word  may  sowne 

But  chitre  and  as  a  hird  jargow7ie." 
Hence,  figuratively,  unintelligible  re- 
iteration of  phrases.  So  the  leading 
idea  in  Cant  is  the  exclusive  and  pro- 
fessional stamp  of  the  phraseology, 
in  Jaroon  sometimes  the  same,  but 
also  the  characterless  nature  of  the 
words  used  ;  the  sjime  tei-ms  or  idioms 
striking  the  ear  with  monotonous  per- 
sistency, and  possessing  a  value  with 
those  who  employ  them  which  is  not 
appreciated  by  others,  as,  "  the  jar- 
gon of  the  schools." 

Slang  is  from  the  Norse  slenja,  to 
Aingj  or  slings  totiing  insulting  words. 
From  this  sense  ^  it  has  departed  till 
It  has  taken  to  itself  so  many  acces- 
sary ideas  as  to  render  the  thing 
called  slang  a  very  complex  matter. 
It  so  far  resembles  Cant  and  Jargon 
as  to  be  characterized  by  reiteration, 
and  an  exclusive  or  class  phraseology. 
But  it  involves  also  an  element  of 
humour,  and  of  playful  rebellion 
against  the  ordinary  rules  and  so- 
brieties of  the  language  in  its  normal 
ase. 


CAPRICE.  Humour.  Whim. 
Freak.  Fancy.  Fickleness.  Va- 
riableness. Chanoeableness.  Va- 
gary. 

Caprice  (Fr.  caprice,  thought  by 
ftome  to  be  from  Lat.  caprum,  a  goat, 
as  it  were,  a  fantastical  goat-leap)  is 
employed  both  of  the  quality  and  of 
what  manifests  the  quality,  that  is,  an 
act  of  caprice.  Caprice  is  the  acting 
on  the  slightest  preference  of  the  mo- 
ment, ancl  from  one  moment  to  an- 
other without  such  choice  as  is  founded 
on  deliberation.  It  manifests  itself 
in  abrupt  changes  of  feeling,  opinion, 
or  action. 

Humour  (Lat.  humorem,  moisture  ; 
for  explanation  of  the  word  Humour, 
see  Burlesque)  is  the  indulgence  of 
one's  temper  or  mood  at  any  time,  and 
making  that  the  principle  of  action. 
Humour  may  differ  at  diflferent  times, 
but  caprice  is  ever  variable.  Caprice 
may  be  a  matter  of  imagination  and 
fancy,  but  humour  is  an  actual  sen- 
sation. Humour  allows  feeling  to 
usurp  the  place  of  will,  while  caprice 
substitutes  fancy.  The  three  tei-ms, 
humour,  fancy,  and  caprice,  denote 
generally  a  passing  lively  feeling; 
but  caprice  and  humour  belong  more 
to  the  character,  fancy  to  passing  cir- 
cumstances. Humour  is  quite  as  com- 
patible with  sadness  as  with  its  con- 
trary. The  coquette  has  her  caprices ; 
the  hypochondriac,  the  tyrant,  the 
imperious  man,  his  humours;  the 
child,  or  the  childish,  his  fancies. 

"  Upon  his  right  hand  was  Industry, 
with  a  lamp  burning  before  her,  and  on  his 
left  Caprice,  with  a  monkey  sitting  on  her 
shoulder." — Spectator. 
"  You'll  ask  me  why  I  rather  choose  to  have 
A  weight  of  carrion  flesh  than  to  receive 
Three  thousand  ducats.      I'll  not  answer 

that. 
But  say,  it  is  my  humour." 

Shakespearb. 

Whim  (compare  Welsh  chwim,  a 
brisk  motion  :  Wedgwood)  differafrom 
Caprice  and  Humour,  as  not  express- 
ing any  quality  or  temper  of  mind, 
but  something  external.  We  call  that 
a  whim  which  seems  to  have  no  better 
account  than  peraonal  eccentricity. 

"  Let  every  man  enjoy  his  whim. 

What's  he  to  me,  or  I  to  him  ?" 

Churchill 


[CAPTI0U8] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


205 


A  Freak  (A.  S.  free,  bold,  rash: 
Skeat's  Etym.  Diet.;  cf.  Ger.  frech, 
taucy)  is  a  humorous,  or,  at  least, 
lively  display  of  personal  eccentricity, 
a  meiTy  whim. 

"  For  many  of  their  actions  and  (ipinions 
were  rery  wUd  freaks  of  fancy  and  humour, 
and  wonld  cain  men  in  these  days  (as  fool- 
ish and  bad  as  they  are)  no  better  name 
than  of  lanaticks  and  bedlams." — Qlax- 
VILL. 

A  Fantasy  (Fr.  fanlasie,  Gr. 
pavTlia-ia)  Of  Fancy  is  the  product  of 
an  eccentric  or  unregulated  imagina- 
tion. It  has  to  do,  in  this  sense,  with 
matters  of  possession  and  enjoyment 
or  pleasure  or  with  their  opposites, 
and  not  with  the  treatment  of  other 
persons,  like  Humour,  and  Caprice, 
though  others  may  be  affected  by  our 
fancies.  It  invests  objects,  without 
exact  attention  or  inquiry,  with  sup- 
posed chai'ms  or  otherwise. 
"  I  dare  not  force  afFection,  or  presume 
To  censure  her  discretion,  that  looks  on  me 
As  a  weak  man,  and  not  her  f ana/' s  idol." 

ilASSINGER. 

Fickleness,  variableness,  and 
changeableness  apply  to  human  dis- 
position, with  these  differences : 
Fickleness  (A.  S.  Jicol,  vacillating) 
belongs  rather  to  the  disposition,  tlie 
others  to  the  temper  and  mood.  As 
Variableness  and  Ciiangeableness 
ai"e  used  of  weather,  so  they  are  used 
analogously  of  that  which  belongs  to 
manner  and  behaviour ;  variableness 
of  mood,  and  changeableness  of  hu- 
mour. But  fickleness  is  more  deeply 
seated.  It  is  that  inconstancy  of  mind 
and  taste  which  shows  itself  in  incon- 
stant preferences  and  attachments. 

"  When  he  (Lucas)  came  to  the  English, 
he  painted  a  naked  man  with  cloth  of  dif- 
ferent sorts  lying  by  him,  and  a  pair  of 
shears,  as  a  satire  on  our  fickleness  in 
fashions." — WalpoLE. 

"  An  eternal  and  unchangeable  cause 
producing  a  changeable  and  temporary 
effect.  "—Ralegh. 

"But  alas!  though  the  just  grounds  of 
my  joy  be  steady,  yet  my  weak  disposition 
is  subject  to  variableness." — Bishop  Haxl. 

A  Vagary  (Lat.  vdgari,  to  wander) 
is  a  wandering  thought,  a  whimsical 
purpose,  a  fantastic,  unsubstantial,  in- 
consecutive imagination.  It  is  a  men- 
•al,  not  a  moral  inconstancy,  a  caprice 


of  the  mind,  a  pleasurable  stroll  of 
the  fancy,  which,  however,  may  show 
itself  in  outward  act ;  a  leaving  of  the 
beaten  path  of  ordinary  conduct  foi 
an  indulgence  in  the  unfamiliar. 
"  A  most  extravagant  vagary" 
Beaumoxt  and  Fletcher, 

CAPTIOUS.  Cavilling.  Cen- 
sorious.    Carping. 

Captious  (Lat.  captiosiis,  captions, 
sophistical)  denotes  an  aptness  to  catch 
at  faults.  Another  meaning  has  flowed 
out  of  this — difficult  to  suit,  and  so 
peevish.  It  is  an  epithet  of  the  dis- 
position. It  comes  of  a  mind  trained 
in  exact  habits  of  thought  combined 
with  an  impatience  of  error.  It  is 
applied  to  matters  of  taste  and  exact 
learning.  It  is  therefore  sometimes 
a  fault  of  the  disposition  purely,  some- 
times of  the  mind  and  disposition 
combined.  In  the  latter  sense  it  is 
thus  employed  by  Stillingfleet : — 

"  What  design  can  the  wit  of  man  pitch 
upon  in  a  capttuus  and  suspicious  age,  that 
will  not  meet  with  objections  from  those 
that  have  a  mind  to  cavil  ?" 

Captiousness,  as  defined  by  Locke,  is 
of  the  former  kind,  although  the  ex- 
cessive tendency  to  find  fault  is  com- 
mon to  both — in  the  latter,  fault  in 
itself,  in  the  former,  fault  by  which 
we  are  personally  affected. 

"  Captiousness,"  says  he,  "  is  another 
fault  opposite  to  civility,  not  only  because 
it  often  protluces  misbecoming  and  provok- 
ing expressions  and  carriage,  hut  because 
it  is  a  tacit  accusation  and  reproach  of  some 
incivility  taken  notice  of  in  those  we  are 
angry  with." 

Censorious  (Lat.  censorius,  belong- 
ing to  a  censor,  a  controller  of  morals) 
has  a  gi-aver  meaning,  and  expresses 
a  disposition  which  tends  to  find  se- 
rious fault,  and  to  administer  reproof; 
whether  on  such  matters  as  the  Cap- 
tious, or  on  the  subject  of  morals  and 
conduct,  more  especially  the  latter. 
It  comes  of  an  austere  and  dogmatical 
spirit. 

"  They  are  both  very  requisite  in  a  vir- 
tuous mind,  to  keep  out  melancholy  for  the 
many  serious  thoughts  it  is  engaged  in.  and 
to  hinder  its  natural  hatred  of  vice  from 
souring  into  severity  and  cerwortotwnei*." — 
Spectator. 

"But  Colotes,  like  a  sycophant,  cavilling 
at  him  and  catching  at  his  words,  withour 


206 


STNONiTMS  [captivate  I 


regard  of  the  matter,  not  arguing  against 
his  reasons,  indeed,  but  in  words  only,  af- 
firmeth  flatly  that  Parmenides  overthrow- 
eth  all  things  in  one  word  by  supposing  that 
all  is  one."— HoLLAifi),  Pluturcfi. 

"  Lay  aside,  therefore,  a  carpmg  spirit, 
and. read  even  an  adversary  with  attention 
and  diligence,  with  an  honest  design  to  find 
out  his  true  meaning.  Do  not  snatch  at 
little  la,pses  and  appearances  of  mistake  in 
opposition  to  his  declared  and  avowed 
meaning." — Watts. 

Cavilling  is  the  carping  of  argument, 
carping  the  cavilling  of  ill-temper. 

Cavilling  (Lat.  cuvillari,  lo  cen- 
sure, to  quibble)  implies  a  tendency  to 
captious  argument,  to  start  frivolous 
objections,  and  find  fault  without  good 
reason.  Carping  (Lat.  c^^-^ere,  to 
pick  or  pluck)  springs  from  ill-nature, 
and  so  vents  itself  upon  the  most  wel- 
come objects  to  such  a  nature,  namely, 
the  words  and  actions  of  other  per- 
sons, as  well  as  their  statements. 

CAPTIVATE.  Enchant.  Charm. 
Fascinate.     Enrapture.    Enslave. 

To  Captivate  (Lat.  captrvare,  lo 
take  captive)  and  to  Fascinate  (Lat. 
fascmare,  Gr.  ^airxaivetv)  express 
something  more  strong  than  '*  to  at- 
tract." They  denote  such  a  power  of 
attraction  as  exerts  itself  over  the 
will  of  the  person  affected,  and  draws 
it  away  from  other  objects.  A  capti- 
vating person,  or  a  captivating  pur- 
suit, is  that  which  draws  one  from 
other  persons  and  other  pursuits  by  a 
strong  influence,  leading  the  person, 
as  it  were,  captive.  A  captivating 
landscape  is  one  which  aiTests  our 
progress  to  stop  and  admire  it,  so 
charming  us  as  to  induce  a  feeling  of 
regi'et  at  turning  our  backs  upon  it. 
Captivation  may  or  may  not,  there- 
fore, be  the  result  of  design;  or  it 
may  be,  as  exercised  by  a  woman  of 
the  world,  the  combined  result  of 
nature  and  art.  There  is  always  a 
more  or  less  unfavourable  air  about 
the  teiTK  captivate,  inasmuch  as  it  de- 
notes some  degree  of  influence  exer- 
cised to  the  diminution  of  perfect 
liberty  of  thought  or  action.  The 
undemranding  as  well  as  the  taste 
may  be  captivated. 

••  No  small  part  of  oar  servitude  lies  in 


the  captivation  of  our  understanding,  sueh 
as  that  we  cannot  see  ourselves  captive." — 
Bishop  Hall. 

Fascination  is  the  exti-eme  of  captiva- 
tion, when  the  person  lies,  as  it  were, 
spell-bound  under  some  influence  of 
attraction.  This  may  be  external  or 
personal  beauty  or  manners,  or  an 
exti-eme  feeling  of  interest ;  as,  a  fasci- 
nating employment,  which  so  absorbs 
the  attention  as  to  leave  no  room  for 
interest  in  anything  else.  The  fasci- 
nating acts  through  the  faculty  of 
sight,  and  exerts  a  power  upon  indi- 
viduals, owing  to  their  peculiar  sus- 
ceptibilities, which  is  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  intrinsic  claims  of  the 
object  to  admiration  and  regard.     It 

3uickens  the  vision  morbidly  in  some 
irections,    and    bandages    the  eyes 
also. 

"  Some,  to  the  ftiscinat ion  of  a  name 
Surrender  judgment  hood-winked." 

Cow  PER. 

Another  aspect  of  captivate  is  de- 
veloped by  the  word  Enslave,  lite- 
rally to  make  a  slave  of.  As  to  cap- 
tivate, in  one  sense,  is  to  bring  into 
captivity,  so  to  enslave  is  to  brin^ 
into  slavery.  Thiere  is  the  same  dit- 
ference,  therefore,  as  between  those 
two.  The  captive  is  simply  in  his 
captor's  power.  The  slave  does  his 
owner's  bidding,  and  has  surrendered 
or  been  deprived  of  the  independent 
exercise  of  his  own  will  to  do  another's 
bidding. 

"Sensual  pleasure  is  a  great  abuse  to 
the  spirit  of  a  man,  being  a  kind  of  fasci- 
nation or  witchcraft,  blinding  the  under- 
standing and  enslaving  the  will." — Bishop 
Taylor. 

Enchant  (Fr.  enchanter,  Lat.  in- 
cantare)  and  Charm  (Fr.  clianner, 
from  char  me,  Lat.  carmen,  an  incan- 
tation) have  a  close  resemblance  both 
in  derivation  and  application.  To 
Enchant  is  a  livelier  word  than  to 
Charm.  We  are  charmed  with  what  ea  - 
gages  the  senses  and  gratifies  the  tas  (e, 
as  beautiful  scenery,  sweet  music, 
engaging  conversation  and  manners. 
The  term  is  even  used  as  synoiiymoui 
with  delight,  as,  ''I  was  charmed 
to  hear  such  news."  We  are  enchanted 
by  what  so  charms  the  senses  as  to 
afi'ect  the  imagination,  to  carry  us  out 


[CAPTIVITY] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


207 


of  common  thoughts  and  common  life, 
and  perhaps  place  us  as  in  a  fairy  land 
of  thought.  ENRAPTURii  (Lat.  raphe, 
to  seize;  part,  raptus)  denotes  a  dclio^ht 
beyond  measure,  when  we  are  beside 
ourselves,  and  transported  by  enjoy- 
ment. 'VVhen  we  are  enchanted  we 
are  taken  out  of  ourselves;  when 
charmed  it  is  by  some  object  which, 
insinuating  itself  into  the  mind,  acts 
like  those  magical  charms,  those  love 
philtres,  and  the  like,  which  are  sup- 
posed to  produce  in  us  effects  which 
we  imagine  to  be  natural,  and  which 
make  us  feel  their  power  without 
being  aware  of  their  presence.  Cus- 
tom, which  L/amiliarizes  all  things, 
destroys  enchantment.  Reflexion  may 
even  dissipate  it  at  once.  But  both 
fiimiliarity  and  reflexion  may  seem  to 
prolong  charms  which  will  bear  the 
t"st  of  the  judgment  and  of  criticism. 
There  is  always  a  little  of  surprise 
mixed  with  enchantment.  Affection 
comes  in  and  takes  part  with  senti- 
ment in  the  case  of  the  object  which 
charms  us.  In  rapture,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  unrest;  and,  so  far 
from  bearing  the  test  of  reflexion,  the 
very  use  of  reflexion  shows  that  it  is 
passing  away. 

"  We  all  promise  ourselves  great  pleasure 
in  our  journey  homewards,  and  we  have 
great  reason  to  believe  it  will  be  enchaut- 
ingly  pleasant."— Sir  W.  Jones. 

"  Such  a  lovely  image  and  representation 
of  the  true  virtue,  as  Plato  said,  could  not 
but  charm  men  with  the  strongest  degree 
of  love  and  admiration  possible."— Clarke. 

"  Explore  thy  heart,  that,  roused  by  glory's 

name. 
Pants   all    enraptured,  with    the    mighty 

charm."  Beattie. 

CAPTIVITY.  Confinement.  Im- 
prisonment. Incarceration.  Bond- 
age. Slavery.  Immuring.  Ser- 
vitude. 

Captivity  (Lat.  capiinitdtem)  is  the 
state  of  a  captive,  that  is,  of  one  who 
has  been  deprived  of  his  liberty  by 
another,  however  honourable,  liberal, 
or  wide  the  restrictions  of  such  cap- 
tivity may  be.  The  captive  monarch 
is  not  the  less  a  captive  because  he  is 
placed  by  his  courteous  captor  at  his 
nght  hand  on  horseback  or  at  table. 
The  bird  is  not  the  less  a  captive  for 


the  size  of  the  cage.  The  term  is  re- 
stricted to  such  command  over  the 
persons  of  others  as  results  from  suc- 
cessful war.  So  every  captive  is  » 
prisoner,  but  every  prisoner  (those, 
for  instance,  in  the  gaols)  isnotcallecf 
a  captive.  A  distinction  is  made  in 
the  English  Litany,  which  prays  for 
"  all  prisoners  and  captives. 

*'  Myself  my  sepulchre,  a  moving  grave. 

Buried,  yet  not  exempt 

By  privilege  of  death  and  burial 

From   woi-st    of   other    evils,    pains,    an-l 

wrongs. 
But  made  hereby  obnoxious  more 
To  all  the  miseries  of  life. 
Life  in  captivity 
Among  inhuman  foes."  MiLTON. 

Confinement  (ljB,t.  conf  vie,  or  con- 
f'mium,  a  boundary)  is  a  wider  term 
than  Captivity,  as  it  denotes  other 
kinds  of  restriction  than  that  of  the 
captive.  A  person  may  be  confined 
to  the  house  by  sickness.  It  is  the 
abridgment  of  personal  liberty  for  any 
cause  or  by  any  sort  of  force.  As  ap- 
plied to  persons,  it  may  be  partial,  as 
it  may  be  said,  "  his  hands  were  con- 
fined, the  rest  of  his  body  was  free." 

"  I  thank  the  Almighty  I  am  now  all  col- 
lected in  myself;  and  thongh  my  person  is 
in  covfinement,  my  mind  can  expatiate  on 
ample  and  useful  subjects  with  all  the  free- 
dom imaginable." — Johnson,  Life  of 
Savage. 

Imprisonment  (Fr.  prison,  prendre; 
-  part.  prt5,fofa/c^)  is  confinement  within 
walls,  which  is  the  literal  meaning  of 
Immure  (Lat.  in,  and  murus,  a  wall)  ; 
but  Immure  is  a  narrower  imprison- 
ment, in  which  the  stony  captivity 
presses  closely  on  all  sides.  Imprison 
most  commonly  denotes  the  involun- 
tary confinement  of  one  by  another,  Im- 
mure the  mere  fact  of  close  confine- 
ment, irrespective  of  any  coercion 
which  has  produced  it ;  so,  to  live  im- 
mured in  the  walls  of  a  convent  may 
be  a  voluntary  act.  Imprisonment  is 
a  narrowing  of  the  state  of  captivity. 
The  bird  which  is  taken  captive  in  the 
hand  is  afterwards  imprisoned  in  the 
cage.  Captivity  and  imprisonment 
both  deprive  of  some  degree  of  per- 
sonal liberty,  but  not  of  civil  rights, 
which  takes  place  in  bondage  and 
slavery.     The  fair  one  does  not  takp 


208 


SYNONYMS 


CAPTUKEj 


her  lover  prisoner,  but  captive,  and 
vet  sometimes  succeeds  in  making  him 
her  slave.  The  term  "  prisoner  of 
war  "  does  not  necessarily  imply  con- 
finement in  a  prison.  He" is  generally 
a  captive  rather  than  a  prisoner. 

"  It  is  but  six  or  seven  years  since  a 
clergyman  of  the  name  of  Malony,  a  man 
of  morals,  neither  gnilty,  nor  accused  of 
anything  noxious  to  the  State,  was  con- 
demned to  perpetual  imprisonme7it  for  exer- 
cising the  functions  of  his  religion." — 
BuRKK. 
"  For  six  long  years  immured,  the  captive 

knight 
Had  dragged  his  chains  and  scarcely  seen  the 
light."  Drydkn. 

Incarceration  (Lat.  career,  a  pri- 
son) is  an  ecjuivalent  of  Latin  form  for 
the  more  directly  French  form  Im- 
prison, but  denotes  an  ignominious 
imprisonment,  such  as  that'ofprisoners 
in  a  gaol,  with  as  little  as  possible  of 
personal  liberty.  So  Imprison  admits 
more  possible  freedom  than  Incarce- 
rate, and  Incarcerate  than  Immure. 

"  It  (the  doctrine  of  pre-existence)  sup- 
poseth  the  descent  into  these  bodies  to  be  a 
culpable  lapse  from  a  higher  and  better 
state  of  life,  and  this  to  be  a  state  of  incar- 
ceration for  former  delinquencies." — Glan- 
VILL. 

Bondage  (a  state  of  being  hound), 
Slavery  (Fr.  escbve),  and  Servi- 
tude (Lat.  servithdo,  from  servire,  to 
terve  as  a  slave),  all  denote  the  sub- 
jection of  the  person  to  superior 
restrictive  power.  The  terms  increase 
in  force  in  the  following  order  :  ser- 
vitude, slavery,  bondage.  Servitude 
is  simply  compulsory  service  to  a 
master.  So  the  term  is  even  some- 
times employed  of  free  and  honour- 
able service,  in  reference  to  any  com- 
pulsory terms  connected  with  it. 
British  naval  officers  will  speak  of 
their  period  of  servitude,  by  which 
they  mean  their  service  as  regards  a 
certain  term  which  they  are  bound  to 
complete ;  and  domestic  service  is 
often  so  termed. 

"A  hundred  were  Spaniards,  everyone 
well  mounted  upon  his  horse,  the  rest  were 
Indians  running  as  dogs  at  their  heels,  and 
in  the  most  miserable  bondage." — Sir 
Francis  Drake. 

"  Beauty  of  every  kind  is  formed  to  al- 
lure, and  there  is  this  peculiar  advantage 
in  eontemy)lating  the  beauties  of  vegetable 


nature,  that  we  may  permit  our  hearts  tc 
be  captivated  by  thera  without  apprehen 
siou  of  any  dangerous  or  dishonourable  ser- 
vitude."—K^OX. 

Slavery  begins  where  servitude  ends. 
It  is  that  sort  of  compulsory  life  ot 
labour  which  depends  upon  the  will 
of  another — the  master  owning  the 
servant  as  a  chattel.  But  even  slavery 
has  its  degrees ;  and  the  ancient 
Romans  had  learned  slaves  who  were 
honourably  treated  as  literary  com- 
panions of  their  masters.  Bondage 
is  the  extreme  aspect  of  slavery,  when 
the  slave  has  become,  as  it  were,  a 
beast  of  burden,  and  works,  it  may  be 
under  the  lash,  as  the  captive  Israelites 
did  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  Fr.  esclave 
is  from  the  L.  Lat.  sclavus,  s[avus,a  Sla- 
vonian ;  originally  applied  only  to 
Charlemagne's  Slavonian  prisoners, 
who  were  reduced  to  slavery ;  and 
after  the  tenth  century  used  in  a 
general  sense,  without  distinction  of 
nationality.     Brachet. 

CAPTURE.     Seizure.     Prize. 

Captur E  ( Lat.  captura,  fi-om  cUpert^ 
to  take)  and  Seizure  (Fr.  saisir)  are 
used  both  of  the  process  and  the  object. 
The  process  of  capture  involves  art  as 
well  as  force,  while  seizure  is  effected 
by  force  alone.  A  strong  town  may 
be  captured  after  a  prolonged  siege  by 
a  powerful  army,  or  a  little  bird  may 
be  captured  in  a  bird-trap.  The  high- 
wayman seizes  the  person  or  the  pro- 
perty of  the  traveller.  Prize  (Fr. 
prise,  a  taking,  a  prize)  relates  only  to 
the  object  taken  and  its  value  to  the 
taker.  It  is  the  result  of  competitive 
effort,  as  in  the  galleon  laden  with 
gold,  the  slave-ship,  or  the  award  oi 
the  schoolboy,  or  student.  The  term 
prize,  is,  however,  sometimes  used  to 
express  merely  a  thing  of  value,  how- 
ever obtained — as  a  prize  in  a  lottery, 
or  "  I  was  walking  along  the  road, 
and  I  picked  up  an  unexpected  prize.'- 
The  idea  is  something  taken  which  is 
of  value,  and  the  word  is  by  some 
thought  to  be  another  form  of  price 
(Lat.  prctium). 

"  This  was  very  happy  for  him  ;  for  in  a 
very  few  years,  being  concerned  in  several 
captures,  he  brought  home  with  him  hn 
estate  of  about  twelve  thousand  pe-nnda." — 
Guardinn 


[cauriaoe] 


-iSCRIMlNATED. 


209 


"  The  Indians,  having  perceived  by  our 
tidzure  <  f  the  bark  the  night  before  that  we 
were  er.emies,  immediately  fled  into  the 
"-oudy  parts  of  the  island." — Anson. 

"Our  inheritances  are  become  a  prize 
/or  disputation." — BuKKK. 

The  capture  is  commonly  either  an 
object  having  life,  or  something  taken 
in  spite  of  voluntary  efforts  of  resis- 
tance. The  seizure  is  commonly  of 
lifeless  objects,  as  contraband  goods. 
The  prize  is  commonly,  also,  an  in- 
animate object,  except  where  the  per- 
son vrho  constitutes  the  prize  is  so  re- 
garded simply  for  the  ransom  or  other 
mdirect  advantage,  and  value. 

CARESS.     Fondle. 

Caress  (Fr.  caresse,  haX.  cams, dear) 
is  the  expression  of  tender  feeling  by 
words  and  actions.  Fondle  (from 
fond,  i.e.  vifatuated)  is  the  expres- 
sion of  weak  or  childish  tenderness, 
and  is  confined  to  actions. 

"  The  King  of  France  used  him  (the  Dcke 
of  Buckingham)  in  so  particular  a  manner, 
knowing  his  vanity,  and  caressed  him  to 
snch  a  degree,  that  he  went  without  reserve 
into  the  interests  of  France." — BuRNKT. 

"  Each  time  enjoined  her  penance  mild. 
And  fondled  on  her  like  a  child."     Gay. 

CARGO.  Freight.  Lading. 
Burden. 

Cargo  (cf.  Span,  cargo  and  carga, 
and  L.  Lat.  carricare,  to  load,  charge) 
IS  a  ship-load,  and  in  English  law 
means  all  that  is  carried  by  a  vessel, 
except  live  persons  and  animals. 

"  To  different  lands,  for  different  sins  we 

roam, 
And,    richly  freighted,  bring    our    cargo 

hjme."  Churchill. 

Freight  is  a  later  form  of  fraught 
(Swed.  frakta,  to  fraught,  freight, 
Skeat,  Etyin.  Diet.), that  with  which 
a  vessel  is  fraught  for  transportation. 
As  regards  floating  vessels,  the  cargo 
and  the  freight  are  the  same  thing, 
viewed  differently,  the  freight  being 
the  cargo  as  viewed  for  transportation. 
But  freight  is  also  used  of  material  of 
land  carriage.  Again,  the  E  a  ding 
(connected  with  bad)  is  the  freight 
regarded  in  its  weight  and  quantity, 
of  which  consideration  is  taken  by 
formal  record  and  registration. 


♦•  Some  were  made  prize,    while    othetc, 

burnt  and  rent. 
With  their  rich  lading  to  the  bottom  went." 
Waxler. 
Burden  {see  Burden),  in  nautical 
matters  is  the  capacity  of  a  ship,  which 
is  ascertained  by  measurement,  ana 
determined  by  the  builder,  as  ?  vessel 
of  so  many  tons  burden.  In  this  way 
burden  denotes  not  an  actual  load,  but 
an  abstract  capacity. 

"He  had  built  at  his  own  expense  to 
prosecute  them,  a  strong,  handsome  ship, 
which  was  named  the  bark  Ralegh,  of  two 
hundred  ton  burden." — Oldy'S  Life  oj 
lialegh. 

CARRIAGE.    Gait.  Walk.    De- 

rORTMENT. 

Carriage  is  seldom  used  now  ir 
any  other  than  the  physical  sense, 
the  metaphorical  one  of  conduct  being 
almost  obsolete.  It  denotes  the  ha- 
bitual mode  of  carrying  the  body, 
mainly,  but  not  exclusively,  while  in 
motion.  A  graceful  or  ungraceful 
carriage  may  be  shown  while  sitting 
at  table.  It  would  sound  antiquated 
to  use  the  word  as  Clarendon  did  : — 

"  He  advised  the  new  govern  our  to  have 
80  much  discretion  in  hiscarriage,  that  there 
might  be  no  notice  taken  of  the  exe:  "ise  of 
his  religion." 

The  word  is  one  of  formality,  and  is 
best  employed  of  tlie  bearing  of  per- 
sons on  public  occasions,  where  some 
degree  of  personal  dignity  is  de- 
manded. 

"  His  gallant  carrifige." — Stirling. 

Perhaps  modern  use  would  be  best 
satisfied  by  the  term  bearing. 

Gait  (another  form  of  0.  E.  gate,  a 
tvaif)  is  the  manner  of  the  walk  as  to 
the  movements  of  the  lep  and  feet 
alone ;  as,  a  shambling  gait. 

"  He  had  very  narrow  snouiders,  and  no 
calf;  B.nd  his  gait  might  be  more  properly 
called  hopping  than  walking." — Fielding. 

The  term  is  one  wanting  in  dignitj'. 
We  should  say  an  awkward,  not  a 
majestic  gait. 

Walk  (perhaps  A.  S.  wealcan^  to 
roll)  is  the  manner  of  progress,  taking 
the  movements  of  the  whole  body  into 
account.  This  use  is  conversational 
and  modern. 


210 


aTNONYMS 


[CASEj 


"  In  length  of  train  descends  her  sweeping 

gown, 
And   by   her  graceful  walk  the  Queen   of 

Love  is  known."  Drydkn. 

D  EPORTM  ent(  Fr.deportemenf  )refers 
to  the  whole  use  and  moA^ement  of  the 
body,as  gi'aceful  or  ungTaceful,suitable 
or  unsuitable.  It  is  the  carriage  of  the 
body  as  regards  social  requirements 
&nd  regulations.  Yet  we  should 
Bpeak  of  a  person's  carriage  in  public, 
of  his  deportment  in  private  life. 

"The  coldness  of  his  temper  and  the 
gi-avity  of  his  deportment  carried  him  safe 
through  many  difficulties." — SwiFT. 

CASE.     Cause. 

The  Case  (Fr.  cas,  Lat.  casus,  cli- 
dh-e^  to  fall)  is  a  matter  of  fact,  and  the 
Cause  (Lat.  causa)  is  matter  of  ques- 
tion. This  distinction  is  not  the  less 
Bound  because  the  case  may  be  diffe- 
rently stated.  Ihe  case  is  learnt,  the 
cause  is  decided.  We  state  the  case, 
and  defend  the  cause.  In  the  process 
of  a  cause,  cases  are  often  cited  as 
precedents. 

"  Yet  on  his  way  (no  signs  of  grace, 
For  folks  in  fear  are  apt  to  pray) 
To  Phoebus  he  preferred  his  case. 
And  begged  his  aid  that  dreadful  day." 
Gray. 
•♦  Plead  Thou  my  cause." — Book  of  Psalms. 
CASH.     Money.    Specie.     Coin. 
Money    {Juno    M^nita,   at   whose 
temple  money  was  coined  at  Rome  ; 
whence  mint)  is  employed  for  any- 
thing which  is  used  as  a  circulating 
medium.   In  some  parts  of  Africa,  for 
instance,  shells  are  used  as  money. 

"  To  prevent  such  abuses,  to  facilitate  ex- 
changes, and  thereby  to  encourage  all  sorts 
of  industry  and  commerce,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  in  all  countries  that  have  made 
any  considerable  advances  towards  im- 
provement, to  affix  a  certain  stamp  upon 
certain  quantities  of  such  particular  metals 
as  were  in  those  countries  commonly  made 
use  of  to  purchase  goods.  Hence  the  origin 
of  coined  money,  and  of  those  public  offices 
called  mints."— Adam  Smith. 

Cash  (O.Fr. casse, Lat.  capsa,achest) 
is  ready  money,  that  is,  coin,  in  dis- 
tinction to  anything  the  value  of  which 
depends  on  credit.  The  following 
quotation  will  show  that  there  was  a 
time  when  the  English  cash,  like  the 
French  caisse,  was  employed  of  the 
bank  or  place  where  the  ca»h  waa 
stored : — 


"  So,  as  this  bank  is  properly  a  genera 
cash,  wheie  every  man  lodges  his  money 
because  he  esteems  it  safer  and  easiei-  paid 
in  and  out  than  if  it  were  in  his  coifers  a» 
home." — Sir  W.  Temple. 

The  word,  however,  is  used  in  ou 
own  sense  by  Shakespeare  and  Mil 
ton. 

*'  Or  as  a  thief,  bent  to  unhoard  the  cash 
Of  some  rich  burgher,   whose  substantial 

doors. 
Cross-barred  and  bol  ted  fast,  fear  no  assault. 
In  at  the  window  climbs,  or  o'er  the  tiles." 
Paradise  Lost. 

Specie  (abl.  of  Lat.  species,  shape, 
form)  is  money  of  stamped  coin,  but 
is  not  necessarily  ready  money,  as  it 
may  exist  in  the  coinage  of  a  foreign 
country. 

"  There  was  in  the  splendour  of  the 
Roman  Empire  a  less  quantity  of  current 
species  in   Europe  than  there  is  now." — 

GiBBOX. 

Coin  (O.  Fr.  coin;  Lat.  ciineus,  a 
stamp  upon  a  coin,  a  coin)  is  a  specific 
fabrication  of  a  certain  metal,  weight, 
value,  and  authenticity  regarded  in  its 
current  capacity  and  representative 
value,  and  also  in  its  historical  con- 
nexion. In  the  latter  only  is  it  re- 
garded by  the  numismatist,  the  con- 
noisseur or  collector  of  coins. 

"  Your  coming,  friends,  revives  me,  for  1 

learn 
Now  of  my  own  experience,  not  by  talk. 
How  counterfeit  a  coin  they  are  who  friends 
Bear  in  their  superscription."    Milton. 

CASUAL.  Accidental.  Inci- 
dental. Contingent.  Occasional. 
Fortuitous. 

Casual  (Lat.  cdsudlis,  cUdtre,  to  be- 
fall) is  applied  to  such  occurrences 
as,  coming  by  chance,  have  no  imme- 
diate consequences  beyond  themselves. 
The  casual  is  the  accidental  combined 
with  the  unimportant.  A  casual  ob- 
server is  simply  a  man  who  happens 
to  look  on ;  a  casual  remark  is  one 
which  happens  to  be  made.  The 
casual  is,  as  it  were,  a  solitary  link, 
and  not  a  concatenation  of  cause  and 
effect.  In  short,  the  trivial  is  an 
element  in  the  casual,  although  it 
often  happens  that  seeming  trifles 
are  followed  by  important  conse- 
quences. 

"  Casual  breaks  in  the  generftl  system." 
— W.  iRvrsa. 


[catalogue]  discriminated. 


211 


It  is  hardly  stronger  than  Occa- 
sional, "which  it  much  resembk^s  in 
meaning,  as  occasional  is  derived  from 
tlie  same  root  (Lat.  occdsionem,  ccidere, 
to  full  out) ;  but  Occasional  excludes 
to  a  greater  extent  tlie  idea  of  chance. 
Moreover,  the  casual  may  occur  once, 
the  occasional  more  than  once.  How- 
ever trivial  may  be  the  casual  circum- 
stance, it  was  unexpected ;  whereas 
the  occasional  is  often  expected,  and 
is  generally  known;  thus  differing 
fi-om  the  recurrent  or  periodic,  which 
are  specijicafty  known,  as  "  he  paid  us 
occasional  visits  during  his  stay  in  the 
neighbourhood."  That  which  is  re- 
current without  being  regular  is  oc- 
casional. 

"  This  time  I  conld  not  spend  in  idleness. 
I  therefore  very  willingly  set  myself  to 
translate  my  ocra^tonoT  meditations  into 
Latin." — BiSHOP  Hall. 

Accidental  (another  form  of  Lat. 
cddire,  acctdere,  to  happen)  is  a  more 
serious  word,  and  denotes  an  effect 
sufficiently  important  to  lead  the  mind 
to  speculate  on  the  cause  which  pi-o- 
duced  it.  A  thing  may  be  regarded  as 
accidental  which  in  any  way  happens 
by  chance,  as  distinguished  from  de- 
sign.    (<S«e  Chance.) 

"  Civil  society  was  instituted  either  with 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  all  the  good  of 
every  kind  it  was  even  accidentally  capable 
of  producing,  or  only  of  some  cei'tain  good 
which  the  institutoi-s,  unconcerned  with 
and  unattentive  to  any  other,  had  in  A-iew." 
— Warburton. 

Incidental  (another  form  of  Lat. 
cltdere,  incidere,  to  fall  upon,  to  happen) 
combines  the  idea  of  the  casual  with 
that  of  relation,  appropriateness,  or 
conformit}'.  An  incidental  circum- 
stance in  a  voyage  is  one  which  so 
befalls  as  to  run  up  into  the  general 
count  and  story  of  it.  Incidental  ex- 
penses in  an  account  are  those  which 
could  not  be  exactly  calculated  be- 
forehand, but,  nevertheless,  legiti- 
mately or  necessarily  connect  them- 
selves with  it.  Hence  the  term  is 
sometimes  used  in  the  sense  of  natu- 
rally concomitant,  as  the  anxieties 
incidental  to  high  office. 

"  But  there  is  a  wide  difference  between 
supposing  the  violence  offered  to  them  to  be 
the  direct  and  proper  purpose  of  the  act  and 
the  incidental  effect  of  it." — Bishop  Huri>. 


Contingent  (Lat.  contingaCf  t« 
touch  on,  or  to  come  to  pass)  denotes  a 
union  of  certainty  and  uncertainty,  or 
the  'certain  effect  of  an  uncertain  or 
unknown  cause  ;  such  as  are  logically 
expressed  in  a  hypothetical  proposi- 
tion, as  "  if  the  skies  fall,  we  shall 
catch  larks."  Our  catching  larks  is, 
so  far,  contingent  upou  the  skies 
falling. 

"  Perhaps  the  beauty  of  the  world  re 
quireth  (though  we  know  it  not)  that  some 
agents  should  work  without  deliberation 
(which  his  lordship  calls  necessary  agents), 
and  some  agents  with  deliberation  (and 
these  both  he  and  I  call  free  agents),  and 
that  some  agents  should  work  and  we  not 
know  how  (and  their  effect  we  call  contin 
gents)."— BoB^TSS. 

Fortuitous  (Lat.  fortuitus;  fors, 
chance)  is  commonly  employed,  when 
the  subject  is  one  of  union,  aggrega- 
tion, or  combination;  as,  the  "fortui- 
tous concourse  of  atoms ;  "  a  fortui- 
tous union  of  causes  produced  such 
and  such  an  effect,  that  is,  two  or  more 
independent  causes  happened  to 
produce  an  effect  in  common.  The 
difference  between  the  terms.  Acci- 
dentally and  Fortuitously,  seems 
to  be  as  follows : — 

That  happens  accidentally  which  is 
brought  on  by  causes  foreign  to  the 
nature  of  the  thing  itself,  and  so 
sometimes  by  hazard.  That  which 
happens  fortuitously  has  to  be  simply 
accounted  for  by  chance.  Snow  is 
accidentally  but  not  fortuitously  white. 
That  which  is  accidental  is  often 
alterable  at  will.  That  which  has 
happened  fortuitously  is  an  extraordi- 
nary event  which  could  not  have  been 
anticipated,  because  it  springs  from 
causes  absolutely  unknown. 

"  The  old  stale  pretence  of  the  atheists, 
that  things  were  first  made  fortuitously, 
and  afterwards  their  usefulness  was  ob- 
served and  discovered."— Ray. 

CATALOGUE.  List.  Roll. 
Register.     Inventory. 

Catalogue  (Lat.  cdtdl'dgus,  an 
enumeration,  from  the  Greek KetraXoyoi) 
is  more  than  List  (  Fr.  liste,  an  edging 
or  selvage  ;  a  list  or  roll ;  so  A.  S.  list), 
which  IS  a  narrow  and  long  enumera- 
tion of  only  just  such  words  or  names 
as  are  necessary  to  specify  the  indi- 


212 


viduals  or  items.  Catalogue  gives 
some  particulars  connected  with  each. 
So  a  list  of  books  would  be  no  more 
than  a  bare  enumeration  of  them  or 
the  names  of  their  authors.  A  cata- 
logue of  books  would  give  also  sue. 
points  as  the  number  of  volumes  in 
each  work,  the  binding,  place  of  pub- 
lication, and  the  like. 

"  Every  man  is  ready  to  give  in  a  loiig 
catalogue  of  those  virtues  and  good  qualities 
he  exj)ects  to  find  in  the  person  of  a  friend, 
but  very  few  of  us  are  careful  to  cultivate 
them  in  ourselves." — Spectator. 

*'  Yes,  'tis  the  list 

Of  those  that  claim  their  oflSces  this  day 

By  the  custom  of  the  coronation," 

Shakespeare. 

A  Roll  {Yr.rCle;  Lat.  rof ft/as)  is 
the  same  as  List  ;  but,  as  List  is  ap- 
plicable to  an  enumeration  of  articles, 
lloLL  is  a  list  of  names  of  persons  only. 

"  These  signs  have  marked  me  exti-aordi- 

nary, 
And  all  the  courses  of  my  life  do  show 
I  am  not  iv  the  roll  of  common  men.'' 

Shakespeare. 

A  Register  (Fr.  regislre ;  orig. 
from  Lat.  rcgesta,  things  recorded)  is 
a  record  of  persons  and  transactions 
connected  with  tliem,  given  with  some 
fulness  of  detail,  and  according  to  a 
prescribed  form;  as,  a  parish  register  of 
births,  deaths,  or  marriages.  Milton 
uses  the  term  regest : — 

"  Others  of  later  time  have  sought  to 
?rt  him   (Arth 
cathedral  regests. 

"  They  seem  to  have  registered  his  say- 
ings with  wonderful  fidelity,  but  not  always 
m  the  order  in  which  they  come  from  him." 
—Bishop  Hoksley. 


igh 
assert  him   (Arthur)  by  old  legends  and 


The  Inventory  (\^^t.  inventarium) 
was  originally  a  list  of  the  goods, 
chattels,  and  sometimes  real  estate  of 
a  deceased  person  ;  afterwards,  any 
catalogue  of  movables. 

"  There,  take  an  inveJitory  of  all  I  have 
To  the  last  penny."  Shakespeark. 

CATCH.  Seize.  Snatch.  Grasp. 
Gripe.     Clutch.     Grapple. 

To  Catch  (0.  Fr.  cachier ;  Lat. 
cap.iare,  to  mtch,  chase)  is  to  use  such 
effort  as  shall  arrest  tht  movement  of 
an  object  and  gain-  p  Dssession  of  it. 
The  effort  may  be  indirectly  made, 
as  when  a  bird  is  co  Jght  in  a  snare. 


SYN  ^NYMS  [catch' 

It  is  an  act  of  some  force,  but  more  skill 
and  quickness. 

To  Seize  (Fr.  saisir)  is  to  lay  hold  by 
force  and  retain  possession.  The  thing 
seized  may  be  stationary  or  in  motion. 

To  Snatch  (perhaps  onomatop. 
cf.  snack)  is  to  seize  by  a  rapid  and 
sudden  effort  for  thepurpose  of  appro- 
priation, as  seize  is  for  detention. 

To  Ghasp  (A.  S.  grdpian,  to  seize) 
is  to  continue  to  hold  with  a  strong 
hold  or  embrace,  for  the  purpose  of 
detaining,  or  from  fear  of  losing.  It 
is  also  employed  of  comprehension  by 
the  intellect. 

To  Gripe  (connected  with  grasp, 
grope,  &;c.)  is  to  gi-asp  with  a  squeeze 
or  pinch  ;  and,  in  its  secondary  sense, 
to  keep  tight,  out  of  avarice. 

"  So  saying,  he  caught  him  up,  and  withont 

wing 
Of  Hippogrif,  bore  through  the  air  sublime 
Over  the  wilderness  and  o'er  the  plain." 
Milton. 

Catch  and  Seize  have  both  a  recog- 
nized secondary  meaning ;  the  formei 
applying  to  mental  deception  or  en- 
snarement,  the  latter  to  the  influence 
of  emotion,  as — 

"Admiration  seized 
All    heaven,   what    this    might   mean   or 
whither  tend."  Milton. 

"  These  are  the  agonies  but  of  one  single 
person  whom  death  snatches  away  in  the 
midst  of  his  years,  his  pleasures,  and  his 
hopes."— Stilling  fleet. 

"  Let  the  readmgbe  pleasant  and  striking, 
and  the  memory  will  grasp  and  retain  all 
that  is  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  valuable 
improvement." — Knox. 

"  The  sacrilegiousgir/TJe  of  those  execrable 
wretches."— Burke. 

To  Clutch  (cf.  Scotch  cleik,clek,  to 
hook,  to  snatch  ;  and  ?  A.  S.  gelecccan,  t» 
catch)   indicates  a  convulsive  grasp 
i   from  a  desire  to  acquire,  possess,  re- 
i   tain,  or  make  use  of.     We  snatch  what 
is  to  some  extent,  separate  from  us ; 
I   we  may  clutch  what  is   already  be- 
neath our  grasp,  as  the  hand  clutches 
tlie  dagger. 

To  Grapple  (Fr.  grappillcr,  grappe , 
orig.  a  hook)  is  to  seize  with  a  hooked 
grasp,  as  with  the  bent  finger,  or  a 
curved  instrument. 

"  Clutching  at  the  phantoms  of  the  stocV 
market "  BANCROri'. 


DISCRIMINATED 


[cautious] 


"The  arms  of  York 
To  grapple  with  the  Honse  of  Lancaster  " 
Shakespeare. 

To  grapple  involves  some  counter- 
active power  with  which  the  grappling 
contends. 

CAUSTIC.     SATinicAL.     Biting. 

The  Caustic  temper  (Gr.  xau<rT<5t6f 
from  y.ctitiyf  to  burn  :  Lat.  caust^cus)  is 
that  which  infuses  into  its  expressions 
a  certain  sharp  and  penetrating  spite ; 
the  Biting  temper  is  that  which  at- 
tacks and  tears;  the  Satirical  (Lat. 
sUtMcus)  is  that  which  takes  pleasure 
in  exercising' itself  on  matters  which 
merit  blame  or  ridicule.  The  satirical 
spirit  has  a  keen  eye  for  what  is  bad 
or  wrong,  and  exhibits  it  in  the  most 
striking  light.  The  caustic  spirit 
finds  out  the  weak  part,  and  infuses 
into  it  its  poison.  The  biting  spirit 
lacerates  wherever  it  has  an  oppor- 
tunity. Vice  and  absurdity  alone 
have  anything  to  fear  from  satire. 
Weakness,  imbecility,  and  simplicity 
are  the  prey  of  the  caustic.  Virtue 
itself  is  not  safe  from  the  biter.  The 
satirical  Jpirit  is  compounded  of 
humour  and  bitterness.  The  caustic 
tone  is  wit  or  humour  affected  with 
malignity.  The  biting  spirit  is  indis- 
criminately censorious  and  unfeeling. 
The  weapons  of  satire  are  sometimes 
vehemence,  sometimes  a  lively  and 
bitter  pleasantry ;  of  the  caustic  style, 
irony,  and  a  pleasantry  which  is  calm, 
fine,  and  telling ;  of  the  biting  tone, 
force  and  bluntness  rather  than 
sharpness.  Satire  falls  upon  persons 
and  their  manners  ;  the  others  are 
exclusively  personal.  The  biting 
style  often  serves  the  cause  of  hatred 
and  uncharitableness,  attacking 
the  character  and  reputation.  The 
caustic  is  more  innocent,  dealing 
with  oddities  and  absurdities;  the 
satirical  may  even  take  the  side  of 
offended  virtue,  reason,  and  sobriety, 
'n  public  morals.  Satire  is  directed 
to  what  is  apparent,  conspicuous,  or 
publicly  known  ;  causticity  to  what 
IB  half  revealed  or  exhibited,  and 
biting  to  what  is  hidden,  of  which  it 
seeks  to  raise  suspicion,  and  sometimes 
irill  assume  what  does  not  exist. 


213 


CAUTIOUS.  Careful.  Wary. 
Circumspect.   Prudent.    Discreet, 

Cautious  (Lat.  cautus,  part,  of 
cclvtre,  to  take  heed)  expresses  the  cha- 
racter which  realizes  the  constant 
possibility  of  danger  whether  in  phy- 
sical or  moral  things.  It  is  Pru- 
dence in  regard  to  danger  in  particu- 
lar. It  is  apt  to  become  excessive, 
and  is  then  over-timidity,  and  caution 
may  be  either  wise  or  weak. 

"  And  yet  these  same  cautious  and  nuick 
sighted  gentlemen  ean  wink  and  swallow 
down  this  sottish  opinion  about  percipient 
atoms  which  exceeds  in  incredibility  all  the 
fictions  of  /Ksop's  fables." — Bentley. 

Prudence,  on  the  other  hand  (Lat. 
prhdenlia,  for  provldentia),  is  active 
and  positive,  while  Caution  is  nega- 
tive, with  a  frequent  tendency  to  in- 
action. While  Caution  only  deters 
from  the  dangerous.  Prudence 
prompts  to  the  desirable,  if  it  be  safe. 

"  Prudence  is  goodly  wisdom  in  knowing 
of  things."— Chaucer. 

Discreet  (Lat.  discriliiSj  from  dis- 
cenierey  to  distinguish)  involves  the 
natural  aptitude  to  discern  between 
good  and  evil,  truth  and  falsehood, 
and,  on  a  lower  scale,  the  desirable 
and  the  undesirable.  As  prudence  is 
the  quality  which  enables  us  to  pierce 
probabilities,  and  to  act  accordingly, 
so  discretion  has  to  do  with  facts  and 
circumstances  present  and  before  us. 
The  prudent  man  prepares  for  what 
is  coming;  the  discreet  man  judges 
of  present  affairs.  It  is  prudfent  to 
provide  against  bad  weather;  it  is 
discreet  not  to  allude  to  an  offensive 
subject. 

"  He  will  guide  his  words  with  discretion." 
—Bible. 

Careful  (having  care)  expresses 
what  is  expressed  by  cautious,  and 
more  besides.  The  careful  persor 
has  before  him  a  sense  of  danger, 
error,  or  failure,  and,  so  far,  he  is 
cautious ;  but  care  proceeds  also  from 
interest,  zeal,  personal  attachment 
toward  others.  The  parent  is  cau- 
tious who  tries  to  keep  his  child  out 
of  harm  which  is  likely  to  beset  him  ; 
but  he  is  careful  even  when  he  is  not 
thinking  of  danger,  as  in  his  training 
and    education    generally.     Caution 


214 


avoids  doing  me  wrong  thing ;  care- 
fulness seeks  also  rig-htly  to  do  the 
right.  Caution  is  principally  con- 
cerned with  possible  error,  danger, 
loss,  or  failure ;  careful  with  present 
needs,  actions  and  duties. 

"  Jehoiada  then  occupied  the  priesthood, 
an  honourable,  wise,  and  religious  man. 
To  his  carefulness  it  may  be  ascribed  that 
the  state  of  the  church  was  in  some  slender 
sort  upheld  in  those  unhappy  times." — 
Ralegh,  History  of  the  World. 
"  Then  judge  yourself,  and  prove  your  man 
As  circumspectly  as  you  can ; 

And  having  made  election. 
Beware  no  negligence  of  yours, 
finch  as  a  friend  but  ill  endures, 

Enfeeble  his  affection."  CowPKR. 

Wary  and  CincuMt^PECT  are  closely 
allied  ;  but  wary  (A.  S.  waer,  aware) 
is  applicable  to  the  vigilant  cunning 
of  mere  animal  self-preservation,  while 
circumspect  belongs  to  the  higher 
matters  of  prudential  conduct  and 
morality  (Lat.  circumspictre,  to  look 
around).  An  animal  might  be  said  to 
be  wary,  that  is,  to  hav^e  an  instinctive 
sense  of  danger;  but  only  a  moral 
and  reasoning  being  could  be  circum- 
spect. Wariness  is  rendered  neces- 
sary by  the  special  probability  of  loss 
or  danger,  wliile  caution  and  cir- 
cumspection are  needed  generally. 
One  ought  to  be  circumspect  in  all 
one's  dealings.  One  needs  be  wary 
in  dealing  with  dishonest  and  design- 
ing persons.  Yet  circumspection  im- 
plies possibility  of  those  lesser  dangers 
which  come  from  the  thoughtless  deal- 
ing with  persons.  Circumspection 
saves  us  from  social  blunders  which 
may  redound  more  or  less  to  our  in- 
convenience or  detriment.  It  belongs 
principally  to  discourse.  One  is 
specially  bound,  for  instance,  to  be 
circumspect  in  talking  in  the  presence 
of  strangers,  or  upon  certain  subjects, 
as  religion  and  politics,as  being  matters 
on  which  people  think  and  feel  diffe- 
rently, so  that  offence  might  be  easily 
given. 

"  The  bear  hunts  them  by  scent  till  he 
comes  in  sight,  when  he  advances  warily, 
keeping  above  them,  and  concealing  himself 
among  the  rocks  as  he  makes  his  approaches, 
till  he  gets  immediately  over  them  and  nigh 
enough  for  the  purpose."— Cook's  Voyages. 

CAV^E.     Cavehn.     Grotto. 
The  idea  of  a  C  a  v  e  (  Fr.  cave ;  Lat, 


SYNONYMS  [cave] 


cftvus,  hollow)  is  a  deep  lateral  hollow 
in  the  rock  or  earth,  involving  those 
of  darkness  and  depth  to  the  pro- 
foundest  degree. 

The  Cavern  (Lat. Cfifverna)  conveys 
these  ideas  in  a  less  degree.  It  ex- 
presses that  of  vast  concavity,  and  of 
cover,  enclosure,  and  shelter. 

The  Grotto  (which  is  from  the  L. 
iuat.grnpta  ;  Lat.  crijpta,  and  so  allied 
to  crypt;  Gr.  xsuittoV,  hidden)  is  not 
BO  dark  and  deep  as  the  cave,  nor  so 
vast  as  the  cavern.  Instead  of  the 
repulsive  aspect  of  the  cave  or  cavern, 
it  lias  its  use  and  attractions  as  a  place 
of  rustic  retreat.  There  are  natural 
as  well  as  artificial  grottos.  The  cave 
is  for  the  wild  beast,  the  cavern  for 
robbers,  the  grotto  for  those  who  seek 
a  cool  retreat  and  resting-place. 

CAVITY.  Hoi.Low.  Hole. 
Concavity.  Perfoiiation.  Bore. 
Excavation.     Orifice. 

Every  Hole  (A.  S.  hoi,  a  cave)  is  a 
Hollow  and  a  Cavity  (Lat.  cdvitd- 
tem)y  but  every  hollow  or  every  cavity 
is  not  a  hole.  Hole  is  generic,  a  deep 
hollow,  in  which  the  cavity  communi- 
cates externally  by  a  comparatively 
narrow  or  small  aperture,  or  a  per- 
foration through  a  solid  body.  Hollow 
is  the  interior  part  of  a  hollow  body 
excavated  by  nature  or  by  art,  as  the 
hollow  of  a  nut.  Where  the  cavity 
communicates  externally  by  two  aper- 
tures, it  is  a  Perforation  (J ^Sit. perj)i- 
rare,  to  bore  through).  A  Concavity 
(Lat.  concUv'itdtem)  is  a  slight  super- 
ficial cavity,  as  in  the  eye-glasses 
called  concave.  An  Excavation 
(Lat.  excttvdtionem)  is  a  hollow,  more 
or  less  deep,  which  has  been  formed 
out  of  a  solid  mass  by  some  living  or 
mechanical  agency.  The  term  perfo- 
ration is  sometimes  used  for  that  which 
penetrates  but  does  not  pierce  through 
a  substance.  This  is  better  expressed 
by  Bore,  as  the  bore  o^  a  gun  (A.  S. 
borian,  to  bore).  Bore  is,  however, 
used  in  the  same  way  also,  as  to  bore 
a  tunnel  through  a  mount;iin.  A 
perfoiation  is,  in  this  caPO,  a  lighter 
thing  than  a  bore,  which  denotes  the 
laborious  piercing  on  a  large  scale  of 
solid  masses  or  materials.  A  thin 
sheet  of  paper  might  be  p:  rfor,  ted, 


[cede] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


215 


not  bored.  We  should  not  speak  of 
the  tunnel  above  mentioned,  as  a  per- 
foration, though  here  and  there  the 
sea,  we  might  say,  has  perforated  the 
rocks.  An  Orifice  {Lat.dnJIcinm. an 
opening)  is  an  opening  which  re- 
sembles the  mouth  in  form  and  use, 
as  the  orifice  of  a  tube  or  a  flower, 
open  outwardly  and  closed  within. 

"  Jehoiada  the  priest  took  a  cliest,  and 
bored  a  hole  in  the  lid  of  it." — Bible. 

"  Upon  weighing  the  heart  in  my  hand  I 
found  it  to  be  extremely  light,  and  tonse- 
qnently  very  hollow,  which  I  did  not  wonder 
at,  when  npon  looking  inside  of  it  I  saw 
multitudes  of  cells  and  cariYiCS  running  one 
within  another." — Spectator. 

Cavity  is  more  a  term  of  descriptive 
science  than  Hole,  and  is,  of  course, 
also  essentially  distinct  from  Hole  in 
the  sense  of  perforation. 

"  Look  upon  the  outside  of  a  dome,  your 
eye  half  surrounds  it;  look  up  into  the  in- 
side, and  at  one  glance  you  have  ail  the  pro- 
spect of  it.  The  entire  concavity  falls  into 
your  eye  at  once." — Spectator. 

"  Herein  may  be  perceived  slendei*  per- 

{'orations,  at  which  may  be  expressed   a 
lack  foeculent  matter." — Brown's  Vulgar 
Errors. 

"  The  appearance,  therefore,  of  the  dry 
land  was  by  the  excavation  of  certain  sinus 
and  tracts  of  the  earth,  and  exaggerating 
and  lifting  up  other  parts  of  the  terrestrial 
matters,  and  by  this  means  the  water  sub- 
sided into  those  cavernsand  valleys  prepared 
for  its  reception." — Hale. 

CEASE.  Discontinue.  Termi- 
nate. 

To  Cease  (I,at.  cessare),  when  used 
as  a  transitive  verb,  is  to  put  a  stop 
to,  or  bring  to  an  end  simply ;  when 
as  an  intransitive  verb,  it  means  in  the 
same  way  simply  to  come  to  an  end. 
The  sound  ceased.  It  is  more  com- 
monly used  in  the  intransitive  way. 
As  a  transitive  verb,  it  implies  a  former 
course  of  operative  action,  which  is 
voluntarily  terminated  by  the  agent. 
This  notion  belongs  also  to  Discon- 
tinue (0.  Fr.  discontimier).  The 
wind  ceases  to  blow,  the  man  cease* 
talking,  and  discontinues  his  work. 
Between  the  transitive  Cease  and  Dis- 
continue there  exist  some  shades  of 
difference.  One  ceases  by  abandon- 
ing; one  discontinues  by  interrupt- 
ing* one  ceases  an  operation  of  any 
kind,  aa  to  cease  chattering  ;  one  dis- 


continues a  set  practice  or  process. 
To  cease  involves  a  more  direct  act 
than  discontinue.  I  cease  working 
when  I  feel  wearied  by  it.  In  the 
other,  a  casual  interruption  may  have 
compelled  me  to  discontinue  it. 

"  Cease  to  do  evil,  learn  to  do  well."-  - 
BibU. 

ToTermis  Art.  {Lat.  terminal  e,  to  set 
bounds)  is  to  discontinue  at  the  ulti- 
mate point,  and  so  often  means  to 
bring  to  an  appointed  end,  when  the 
thing  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  go 
farther.  Hence  the  word  is  charac- 
teristically employed  of  discussion  and 
dispute.  It  involves  the  interposition 
of  power  and  authority,  and  stands 
opposed  to  prolongation.  The  verb 
tei-minate  is  used  also  intransitively, 
in  which  case  it  means  to  come  to  n 
stop,  to  meet  with  a  boundary,  oi 
something  which  causes  cessation. 
Both  in  its  transitive  and  inti-ansitive 
applications,  terminate  presupposes 
some  considerable  antecedent  prolon- 
gation, a  protraction  in  the  subject. 
One  may  cease  doing  that  which  has 
employed  one  for  a  very  short  while, 
one  terminates  what  has  been  long, 
often  unduly,  continued. 

"The  thought  that  our  existence  termi- 
nates with  this  life  doth  naturally  check  the 
soul  in  anygenerouspnrsnit." — Berkeley. 

"  I  wish  that  milder  love  or  death. 
That  ends  our  miseries  with  onr  breath, 

Would  my  affections  terminate  ; 
For  to  my  soul,  deprived  of  peace, 
It  is  a  torment  worse  than  these 

Thus  wretchedly  to  love  and  hate." 

Cotton. 

CEDE.  Concede.  Yield.  Grant. 

To  Cede  (Lat.  cedtre)  is  to  ^iveup 
in  a  formal  manner,  and  with  reference 
to  recognized  rights  and  claims  on 
either  side,  as  a  nation  cedes  a  terri- 
tory under  treaty  to  another  nation. 
It  is  a  tribute  to  the  claims  of  justice, 
an  act  of  dignity  and  right  combined. 
Political  rights,  as  well  as  territory, 
are  said  to  be  ceded. 

To  Concede,  which  is  a  compound 
form  of  the  above,  is  to  give  up  with 
an  implication  of  a  power  to  withhold. 
It  is  more  commonly  used  in  matters 
of  debate  or  claim.  It  is,  therefore, 
an  act  of  discretion  or  courtesy,  or 
anything  short  of  absolute  compulsion. 


216 


SYNONYMS 


[celeb  KATE] 


Yield  (A.  S.  yldan,  to  delay)  is  to 
give  up  under  some  degree  of  pressure 
at  least,  if  not  absolute  compulsion. 

To  Grant  (0.  Ft.  graunter)  is  to 
give  voluntarily,  or  upon  petition, 
but  not  upon  coercion  or  compulsion. 
It  denotes  freedom  and  liberality  in 
giving  or  giving  up. 

The  whole  island  (St.  Christopher)  was 
ceded  in  sovereignty  to  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht."— 
Grainger. 

"  The  first  is  petitio  principii,  which 
fallacy  is  committed  where  that  is  assumed 
as  a  principle  to  prove  another  thing  which 
is  not  conceded  as  true  in  itself."— Brown's 
Vulgar  Errors, 

"The  fourth  disposition  for  peace— an 
yieldableness  upon  sight  of  clearer  truths." 
—Bishop  Hall. 

"  Both  sides  being  desirers,  and  neither 
granters,  they  broke  off  the  conference." — 
Sidney's  Arcciaui. 

CELEBRATi:.    CoMMEMonATE. 

To  Celebrate  (Lat.  celebrdre)  is  to 
extol  or  honour  in  a  solemn  manner. 
It  is  used  of  persons,  deeds,  events, 
and  days  or  seasons. 

To  Commemorate  (Lat.  coinman'6- 
rdre)  is  to  recall  in  a  solemn  manner. 
Hence  it  follows  that  we  celebrate  what 
is  marked,  striking,  illustrious.  We 
commemorate  what  is  dear  and  inte- 
resting to  us.  The  same  things,  from 
different  points  of  view,  may  often  be 
said  to  be  both  celebrated  and  com- 
memorated. We  commemorate  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  when  we  mark  the 
day  on  which  it  comes  round  in  some 
special  manner.  We  celebrate  it  when 
we  treat  it  as  an  illustrious  day  with 
festivities,  public  demonstrations, 
panegyric  speeches,  and  the  like. 
The  birthday  of  the  member  of  a  family 
is  annually  commemorated  by  some 
little  observance  of  the  day  ;  but  the 
event  is  not  illustrious  enough  to  be 
celebrated.  Hence,  too,  events  of 
importance  and  interest,  but  of  a 
melancholy  character,  such  as  the 
death  of  a  great  or  beloved  person, 
would  be  commemorated,  not  cele- 
brated. It  will  be  observed  from  this 
that  Celebrate  refers  to  what  is  past 
and  to  what  is  present.  Commemorate 
only  to  what  is  past. 

"  It  may  happen  in  the  various  combina- 
tions of  life,  that  a  good  man  may  receive 


favours  from  one  who  nolwithstaading  his 
accidental  beneficence  cannot  be  justly  pro- 
posed to  the  imitation  of  others,  and  whom 
therefore  he  must  find  some  other  way  of 
rewarding  than  by  public  celebrations." — 
Bambler. 

"  You  will  pardon  me,  I  hope,  for  speak- 
ing in  this  advantaget;us  manner  of  my  own 
conduct;  but  as  you  advise  me  to  alleviate 
my  present  uneasiness  by  a  retrospect  of 
my  past  actions,  I  will  confess  that  in  thus 
commemorating  them  I  find  great  consola 
tion." — Melmoth,  Cicero. 


Form. 


Rite. 


CEREMONY. 
Observance. 

All  these  terms  relate  to  the  solemn, 
prescribed,  and  public  acts  of  society. 
Form  (Lat. /bnna)  is  the  most  gene- 
ric. Form  means  generally  a  definite 
and  prescribed  mode  of  doing  a  thing 
in  any  transaction  of  life,  and  applies 
to  many  matters  which  are  not  con- 
nected with  social  intercourse  and 
manners,  or  have  a  character  of  puD- 
licity  ;  as,  a  form  of  returns  for  regis- 
tration. 

"  Many  that  vehemently  oppose  forms 
are  the  greatest  formalists." — Glanvill. 

A  Ceremony  (Lat.  C(£,rimdnia)  is 
such  a  form  as  regulates  public  trans- 
actions, or  the  demeanour  of  indivi- 
duals in  cases  where  any  degree  of 
respect  has  to  be  shown,  whether  in 
mutual  civility  and  propriety,  or  re- 
ligious devotion. 

"  Not  to  use  ceremonies  at  all  is  to  teach 
others  not  to  use  them  again,  and  so  di- 
minish respect  to  himself:  especially  they 
are  not  to  be  omitted  to  strangers  and 
formal  natures.  But  the  dwelling  upon 
them  and  exalting  them  above  the  moon 
is  not  only  tedious,  but  doth  diminish  the 
faith  and  credit  of  him  that  speaks." — 
Bacon. 

Rite  (Lat.  r'ltus)  is  a  ceremony  of 
a  peculiarly  solemn  or  sacredly  im- 
portant character,  which  is  of  a  reli- 
gious or  gravely  political  nature. 

"  It  IS  very  plain  that  baptism,  which  is 
by  all  acknowledged  to  be  the  rite  of  ini- 
tiating us  into  Christianity,  is  in  Sci-ipture 
declared  to  be  the  rite  whereby  we  are  en- 
tered and  admitted  into  the  Church." — 
Sharp. 

Observance  (Lat.  ob&ervantia)  is, 
like  Rite,  of  a  religious  character ;  but 
as  a  rite  is  performed  by  public  and  re- 
sponsible officers,  observances  may  be 
kept  by  individuals,  and  even  in  pn 


[CHALLENGE]  DISCRIMINATED 

vate,  as  "some  persons  are  strict  in 
the  observance  of  Lent."  Hence  the 
term  relates  more  commonly  to  the 
customs  and  times  of  observance,  as 
the  observance  of  a  sabbath,  than  to 
the  objects  of  it.  We  should  say,  not 
the  observance,  but  the  commemoration 
of  Christ's  resurrection ;  on  the  other 
hand,  Easter  Day  is  observed.  An 
observance  is  rather  a  way  of  acting 
than  a  formal,  ceremonial,  or  definite 
act.  Hence  we  speak  of  observing 
a  strict  silence. 


2i: 


"  Since  the  obligation  npon  Christians  to 
ormply  \rith  the  religious  observance  vf 
Snnday  arises  from  the  public  uses  of  the 
institution  and  the  authority  of  the  apos- 
tolic practice,  the  manner  of  obsennng  it 
ought  to  be  that  which  best  fulfils  these 
uses  and  conforms  the  nearest  to  this  prac- 
tice."—Pale  Y. 

CHAFE.     Fret.     Gall.     Rub. 

CHAFE(Fr.c/!flu/fer,  L.  L&t.  cKllfdre, 
contr.  from  cdlejactre),  like  Fret  and 
Gall,  is  used  metaphorically.  It  is  to 
excite  heat  in  the  mind,  as  physical 
heat  or  irritation  is  excited  by  friction. 
It  is  commonly  employed  of  the  ex- 
citement of  feelings  of  irritation,  vexa- 
tion, annoyance,  or  petty  anger. 

To  Fret  (A.  S. /refan,  i.e.  for -ex an, 
to  eat  away)  is  used  of  small  irritations, 
which  produce  their  effect  by  their 
continuance  and  repetition,  and  sad- 
den the  spirits. 

Gall  (O.  Fr.  galler,  to  rub,  scratch) 
is  used  of  such  vexations  as  have  a 
humiliating  effect,  or,  as  it  were, 
wound  the  pride.  Rub  is  no  more 
than  friction,  which  may  be  whole- 
some and  needful,  or  galling  and 
vexatious,  according  tocircumstances. 
It  is  seldom  used,  except  in  the  literal 
sense,  though  the  noun  rub  is  some- 
times employed  of  the  rough  contacts 
of  society.  It  is  employed,  unlike 
the  others,  of  the  person  suffering,  as 
well  as  the  annoyance  suffered ;  that 
is,  the  annoyance  is  said  to  chafe,  or 
the  person  to  chafe  against  the  \nnoy- 
ance. 

"The  inward  chafinas  and  agitations  of 
his  struggling  soul.  — South. 

"  Fret  not  thyself  because  of  the  un- 
godly."—i?ooA  of  Psalms. 

"The  necks  of  mortal  men  having  been 
pever  before  galled  with  the  yoke  of  foreign 


dominion,  nor  havmg  had  experience  of  f.h»» 
most  miserable  and  detested  condition  of 
living  in  slavery." — Ralegh. 

"  And  these  are  wonderfu.ly  busy  and 
active  to  throw  rubs  and  stumbling-block* 
in  our  way."— Sharp. 

CHALLENGE.  Brave.  Defy. 
Dare.     Canvass. 

Challenge  (0.  Fr.  chalonge,  Lat. 
cHlumnia)  is  to  provoke  or  summon  to 
answer  for  something,  and  therefore 
can  only  be  properlii  used  of  personal 
adversaries.  It  is  a  call  to  combat, 
which  must  be  appreciated  by  two 
persons.  It  is  a  rhetorical  analogy 
to  speak  of  ClHillengvtg  danger.  To 
challenge  is  always  in  words,  unless 
some  significant  act  be  performed 
which  has  the  expressiveness  of  words; 
as,  to  throw  down  a  gauntlet. 

Brave  <^Fr.  brave)  is  to  meet  with 
courage  an  opposing  danger  or  force, 
whether  living  or  not,  and  whether 
initiated  by  words  or  not.  It  belongs 
to  physical  and  moral  courage.  To 
('efy  and  to  dare,  when  used  as  active 
verbs,  have  this  difference.  To  Defy 
a  person  to  do  a  thing  (  Fr.  defer)  im- 
plies the  expression  of  your  own  cheap 
estimate  of  his  efforts.'  To  Dare  him 
to  do  it  (A.  S.  dyrran)  is  lo  put  him 
on  his  own  courage  or  resources,  with 
an  implied  notion  that  he  will  think 
better  than  make  the  attempt.  The 
original  idea  of  reproach,  as  lying  at 
the  bottom  of  Challenge,  sui-vives  in 
the  phrase,  *'  to  challenge  the  truth  of 
a  statement,"  that  is,  to  call  it  out  as 
untrue,  with  a  view  to  combat  it. 

"  Vet  I  am  far  from  thinking  this  tender- 
ness universally  necessary  ;  for  he  that 
writes  maybe  considered  as  a  general  chal- 
lenger whom  every  one  has  a  right  to  at- 
tack."— Rambler. 

"  Face  not  me,  thou  hast  braved  many 
men  :  brave  not  me.  I  will  neither  be 
faced  nor  ftrr/red"— SHAKESPEARE. 
The  radical  meaning  of  defy  (L.  Lat. 
difidare)  is  to  reject  affiance,  i.e., 
faith  given;  hence  to  proclaim  hos- 
tility, or  to  renounce.  So  Sir  T. 
^V'}att's  oration — 

"  What  word  gave  I  unto  thee.  Mason  ? 
What  message  ?  I  defy  all  familiarity  and 
friendship  betwixt  us.     Say  thy  worst." 

"  What !  is  Brutus  sick. 
And  will  he  steal  out  of  his  wholesome  bed 
To  dare  the  vile  confJigion  of  the  night?" 
ShakespeaRS. 


218 


SYNONYMS 


[championJ 


To  Canvass,  bears  a  close  similarity 
in  application  to  Challenge,  when 
used  of  statements.  It  is  a  curious 
word  in  itself.  Canvas  (Fr.  canebas) 
IS  the  Lat.  cannabis,  hemp,  then 
woven  hemp;  then  again,  as  such 
a  material  was  employed  as  a  strainer, 
to  canvas  a  matter  bore  the  mean- 
ing of  the  analogous  verb  to  sift ; 
that  is  to  separate  carefully  the  com- 
ponent parts  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  of  what  the  matter  was  com- 
posed, or  what  it  amounted  to,  ex- 
amining it  to  the  very  grounds. 

"  An  opinion  that  we  are  likely  soon  to 
canvas."— Sm  W.  Hamtltoi^. 

It  is  a  stop  in  advance  of  Challengk. 
For  to  challenge  is  simply  to  call  in 
question,  to  canvass  is  to  proceed  with 
tne  question  and  discuss  it. 

CHAMPION.      Heuo.      Comba- 

TANT. 

A  Champion  (0.  Fr.  champion,  L. 
Lat.  campibnem,  a  man  of  thejield)  is 
one  who  is  ready  singly  to  contend  on 
behalf  of  another  or  a  cause,  primarily 
in  physical  combat,  secondarily  in  any 
kind  of  effort  or  contest ;  as,  a  cham- 
pion in  the  cause  of  liberty,  religious 
freedom,  political  equality,  and  the 
like. 

"  In  a  battle  every  man  should  fight  as 
if  he  were  the  single  champion  ;  in  jirepa- 
rations  for  war  every  man  should  think  as 
if  the  UiSt  event  depended  on  his  own 
counsel."— /rf^er. 

Hero  (Lat.  hiros)  expresses  a  man 
of  distinguished  valour  or  daring, 
whether  as  a  champion,  combatant, 
soldier,  or  man  of  adventure.  The 
champion  is  ready  to  fight;  the  hero 
has  fought,  and  has  perhaps  retired 
to  live  a  life  of  peace,  and  enjoy  the 
reputation  of  his  deeds. 

"  The  most  magnanimous  hero  of  the 
Qeld  will  earnestly  solicit  the  aid  of  a  phy- 
sician on  a  bed  of  sit-kness," — CoQAN. 

A  Combatant  (Fr.  combatant,  part, 
of  0.  Fr.  combatre,  to  fight)  is  a  hand- 
to-hand  fighter  in  a  personal  engage- 
ment. The  term  is  hai-dly  applicable 
to  regular  and  disciplined  fighting  of 
aimies  on  the  modern  field  of  battle, 
•.ndividual  soldiers  in  action  are  not 
called  combatants. 


"  To  have  the  correal  ended  by  parting 
the  combatants."— Sovru. 

CHANCE.  Accident.  Fortune. 
Hazard.     Probability. 

Chance  (Fr.  chance,  L.  Lac.  cdden- 
tia)  is  a  befalling.  It  is  used,  as  was 
observed  under  Accident,  in  two  dis- 
tinct though  closely  associated  mean- 
ings ;  either,  1,  to  express  the  absence 
of  assignable  cause,  or,  2,  the  absence 
of  design.  An  instance  of  the  former 
is,  "  By  chance  the  tyrant  that  morn- 
ing was  in  a  good  humour;"  an  iiv- 
stance  of  the  latter  would  be,  '^  I 
aimed  at  the  red  ball,  and  bv  chance 
I  struck  the  white  one  also.'  In  the 
former  case  no  cause  can  be  specified, 
though  of  course  some  cause  existed; 
in  the  latter  the  cause  might  be  dis- 
tinctly seen  and  observ&d,  but  the 
effect  was  not  tlie  result  designed. 

"  It  is  not,  I  say,  merely  in  a  pious  man- 
ner of  expression  that  the  Scripture  thus 
ascribes  every  event  to  the  providence  of 
God,  but  it  is  strictly  and  philosophically 
true  in-nature  and  reason  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  chance  or  accident ;  it  being 
evident  that  these  words  do  not  signify 
anything  really  existing,  anything  that  is 
truly  an  agent  or  the  cause  of  any  event, 
but  they  signify  merely  men's  ignorance  of 
the  real  and  immediate  cause." — CLARKE. 

Accident  (Lat.  acctdere,  to  befall) 
is  relative,  as  Chance  is  absolute.  Ac- 
cident is  chance  in  some  effect  pro- 
duced. In  chance  the  abstract  may 
not  have  become  the  concrete,  as  when 
we  say,  "  Yes,  but  what  if  it  should 
chance  to  turn  out  differently  I "  or, 
"  There  is  a  chance  of  its  turning  out 
differently  ;  "  but  an  accident  is  his- 
torical and  actual.  Hence  it  follows 
that  accident  is  very  often  partial 
chance,  in  which  chance  and  design 
are  blended;  yet  the  effect  was  not 
designed.  Such  would  be  the  cha- 
racter of  the  remark,  "  He  wounded 
him  by  accident  in  fencing."  There 
is  a  complexion  of  the  untoward  in 
the  word  accident ;  if  the  contrary  i«i 
meant,  we  add  a  word,  as  a  lucky 
accident. 

"  Place,  riches,  favour — 
Prizes  of  accident  as  oft  as  merit." 
Shakkspkarb 

Fortune  (^Lat.  fort  una)  is  chance 
or  accident  am  they  regard  human  life 


[change] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


219 


and  its  hopes,  employments,  and  un- 
dertakings, for  good  or  evil,  success 
or  failure.  Chance  has  nothing  in  it 
either  of  order  or  design.  One  does 
not  impersonate  it,  nor  attribute  to  it 
knowledge  or  will.  Fortune  forms 
plans,  but  without  choice.  One  at- 
tributes to  it  a  will  without  discern- 
ment, and  says  that  she  has  fi-eaks, 
or  acts  blindfold. 
"  Fortune  a  goddess  is  to  fools  alone  ; 
The  wise  are  always  masters  of  their  own." 
Drydex. 

Hazard  (Fr.  hasard,  which  origi- 
nally meantao'ameaf  dice.  See Littre, 
Diet.,  and  also  Supp.)  is  the  operation 
of  chance  so  far  as  man  voluntarily 
laces  himself  within  the  range  of  it, 
and  leans  to  an  unfavourable  issue. 
We  speak  of  the  chance  of  success,  as 
well  as  failure  or  defeat ;  of  the  hazard 
of  defeat,  but  not  of  victory.  JNIen 
will  often  hazard  the  loss  of  a  lesser 
good,  for  the  chance  of  a  greater,  or 
what  they  may  esteem  to  be  such. 

"  I  am  always  willing  to  run  some  luizard 
of  being  tedious,  in  order  to  be  sure  that  I 
am  pei-spicuous." — Adam  Smith. 

Probability  (Lat.  pr'bhabWitatem) 
partakes  of  the  mixed  nature  of  cer- 
tainty and  chance.  It  is  founded 
upon  the  doctrine  that  "  like  causes 
produce  like  effects."  The  chance  or 
uncertainty  is  represented  by  the 
question, "  Are  the  causes  in  the  pre- 
sent case  sufficiently  like  to  past  ex- 
perience?"   \i  80,  the  thing  is  pro- 

"  As  demonsti-ation  is  the  showmg  the 
agreement  or  disagreement  of  two  ideas  by 
the  intervention  of  one  or  moi'e  proofs 
which  have  a  constant,  immutable,  and 
visible  eonucxion  one  with  another ;  so 
prolxibility  is  nothing  but  the  appearance 
of  such  an  agreement  or  disagreement,  by 
the  intervention  of  proofs  whose  connexion 
is  not  constant  or  immutable,  or  at  least  is 
not  perceived  to  be  so,  but  is  or  appears  for 
the  most  part  to  be  so,  and  is  enough  to 
induce  the  mind  to  judge  the  propos-tion  to 
be  true  or  false  rather  than  the  contrary." 
—Locke. 

CHANGE.  Alter.  Vary.  Con- 
vert. 

Change  (^Fv.chanser),  which  is  ge- 
neric, as  also  the  other  two  of  these 
synonyms,  is  employed  both  as  a 
transitive  and  an  intransitive  verb. 
'«ed  transitively,  to  change  a  thing  is 


to  put  anothei  in  its  p.ace.  lliia  loss 
of  identity  is  not  expressed  by  the 
intransitive  form;  as,  he  changes  eveiy 
day.  To  Alter  (L.  Lat.  altcrdre)  is 
to  preserve  the  identity  while  we 
change  some  portion  of  it,  or  some 
property  of  it,  as  its  shape  or  colour. 
To  Vary  (Lat.  vdriare)  is  to  cause  a 
thing  to  differ  at  different  times,  or 
one  portion  of  it  to  differ  from  another. 
A  lady  varies  her  appearance  when 
she  frequently  changes  her  dress. 
Even  where  the  same  things  are  re- 
ferred to,  Change  is  a  stronger  term 
than  A  lter  ;  the  most  trivial  removal 
or  substitution  of  detail  alters  a  thing, 
yet  the  change  may  be  almost  imper- 
ceptible. In  this  case  changes  are 
alterations  of  a  considerable  character. 
In  some  particular  connexions  these 
distinctive  forces  are  very  perceptible. 
We  alter  our  opinions  when  they  be- 
come in  some  respects  not  what  we 
used  to  hold ;  we  change  them  when 
we  abandon  them  altogether,  and 
adopt  others  in  their  stead.  We  should 
be  said  to  vary  a  statement  if  we  mad« 
it  in  different  fonns  at  different  times, 
to  alter  it  if  we  made  the  change  but 
once.  To  Convert  (Lat.  converiire) 
is  to  transmute  or  change  from  one 
thm^  to  another.  Such  a  change  may 
be  either  internal  and  substantive,  or 
external  and  relative,  as  wine  may  be 
converted  into  vinegar,  or  a  walking- 
stick  into  a  weapon  of  defence. 

"  That  still  lessens. 
The  sorrow,  and  converts  it  nigh  to  joy." 

MiLTOX. 

"  I  would  not  exclude  altcrntion  neither, 
but  even  when  1  cknnged  it  should  be  to 
preserve." — Burke. 
"Whether  shall  we  profess  some  trade  or 

skUl, 
Or  shall  we  vary  our  device  at  will  ?" 

Spenser. 

CHANGE.  Variation.  Variety. 
Alteration. 

Change  marks  the  passage  from 
one  state  to  another.  Variation  the 
rapid  passage  through  many  succes- 
sive states;  Variety  the  existence 
of  many  individuals  of  the  same 
species,  under  conditions  partly  like, 
and  partly  different.  Alieration  is 
the  changed  state  of  an  individual. 
The  two  former  are  in  action  or  move- 


220 


taent,  tho  latter  is  in  essence  or  nature. 
A  certain  rose  may  change  in  colour 
as  it  grows.  Such  a  change  may  be 
regarded  as  an  alteration  of  colour, 
as  regards  the  individual  rose,  or  a 
variation  from  the  standard  or  com- 
mon colour  of  the  kind.  Variety 
would  be  found  in  different  roses,  or 
in  different  parts  of  the  same  rose. 

CHARACTER.     Letter. 

Character  is  to  LfirrEn  (Lat,  fi- 
itra)  as  genus  to  species.  Every  let- 
ter is  a  character,  but  every  character 
is  not  a  letter.  Character  embraces 
other  distinctive  signs  stamped  or  en- 
graved. We  might  speak  of  hiero- 
glyphic characters,  or  the  characters 
of  snort-hand,  which  nevertheless  are 
:aot  letters.  A  letter  is  a  component 
jart  of  the  common  alphabet  of  any 
anguage. 

"Almost  all  the  men  had  their  names 
'.raced  upon  their  arms  in  indelible  cha- 
ractersofa  black  colour." — Cook's  Voyages. 

"  The  essence  of  letters  doth  consist  in 
their  power  or  proper  sound,  which  may 
be  naturally  fixed  and  stated  from  the 
manner  of  forming  them  by  the  instru- 
ments of  speech,  and  either  is  or  should  be 
the  same  in  all  languages." — Wilkins. 

CHARACTER.  Reputation. 
Credit. 

In  this  connexion  Character  is 
used  of  the  whole  complex  constitu- 
tion of  a  man's  personal  qualities.  It 
therefore  exists  anterior  to  and  inde- 
pendent of  his  reputation.  A  common 
character  has  no  reputation  at  all. 
When  used  of  the  personal  stamp  as 
regarded  by  others,  it  still  differs  some- 
what fi'om  reputation.  It  is  moral, 
while  reputation  extends  to  other 
qualities.  A  man  has  a  character  for 
honesty  or  dishonesty ;  he  has  hardly 
a  character  for  talent ;  in  this  case  we 
should  use  Reputation  (Lat.  rtpiita- 
tidnem),  because  the  mental  qualities 
of  a  person  are  not  that  aspect  of  his 
nature  which  passes  comironly  before 
the  world  for  judgment.  His  moral 
qualities  affect  his  friends  and  con- 
nexions, his  intellectual  qualities  affect 
'timself.  Credit  is  that  trustworthi- 
cess  which  is  based  upon  what  is 
.nown  of  character  (Lat.  cridtre,  to 

ust),  and  relates  both  to  right  eon- 


srNONYMs  [character] 

duct  and  the  truth  of  propositions. 
Credit  may  be  given  on  specific  occa- 
sions only ;  character  and  reputation 
are  permanent.  Character  is  borne, 
reputation  acquired,  credit  given.  Re- 
putation is  more  than  ordinary ;  cha- 
racter and  credit  belong  to  ordinaiy 
deeds,  conduct,  and  persons,  unless 
some  specific  epithet  is  added. 

*'  He  will  represent  to  him  as  often,  with 
as  much  zeal  as  you  or  I  should,  the  vir- 
tues of  his  ancestors,  and  what  a  gloriona 
weight  of  illustrious  characters  he  has  to 
support."— Melmoth,  Cicero. 

"  lieputation  is  the  greatest  engine  bj 
which  those  who  are  possessed  of  power  must 
make  that  power  serviceable  to  the  ends 
and  uses  of  government." — Atterbuky. 

"  If  the  Gospel  and  the  Apostles  may  be 
credited,  no  man  can  be  a  Chi-istian  with- 
out charity,  and  without  that  faith  which 
works  not  by  force,  but  by  lore." — LoCKE. 

CHARACTER.  Stamp.  Nature. 
Kind.  Sort.  Assortment.  Species. 
Genus.  Form.  Cast.  Order.  Air 
Mould.     Shape. 

Character  in  this  sense  is  pur- 
posely va^ue.  It  is  that  view  of  the 
nature  which  is  external  and  strikes 
the  natural  eye  or  the  eye  of  the  mind 
as  being  of  a  certain  order.  A  land- 
scape of  a  banen  character  is  one  in 
which  certain  broad  features  of  bar- 
renness predominate,  so  as  to  affect 
the  whole.  This  is  character,  in  the 
sense  of  outline  or  general  configura- 
tion, as  it  strikes  the  eye  at  a  single 
glance. 

'*  Let  a  man  think  what  multitudes  of 
those  among  whom  he  dwells  are  totally 
ignorant  of  his  name  and  character." — 
Blair. 

That  is,  generally,  what  manner  of 
man  he  is.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
verb  characterize  has  rather  the  sensa 
of  affixing  by  words  an  appropriate 
mark  upon  a  thing  or  person,  as : — 

"  You  roust  know,  sir,  that  I  am  one  of 
that  spef-ies  of  women  whom  you  have  cha- 
racterized under  the  name  of  jilts." — Spec- 
tator. 

Stamp  (Ger.  stampfen)  is  that  gene- 
ral impression  which  a  thing  gives  us 
of  itself :  it  is  in  English  what  cha- 
racter (vapaxTw/),  impress,  stamp)  is  in 
Greek.  Tt  is  used  also  in  detail,  as  we 
speak  of  a  stamp  of  nobility  in  per- 
sonal appearance.  The  verb  to  stamp 
is  in   its  secondary  sense  moral — to 


[citaracter] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


221 


«fl&x  a  moral  character,  or  at  least  a 
distinctive  one ;  to  characterize  is 
rather  logical  and  definitive.  Circum- 
stances may  stamp  a  man,  words  cha- 
racterize him. 

"  A  young  maid  truly  of  the  finest  stamp 
of  beauty."— Sidney,  Arcadia. 

Nature  (Lat.  nuiura)  is  a  word  of 
wider  meaning,  embracing  all  tliat 
makes  a  thing  to  be  what  it  is,  its 
essence  or  definition,  its  properties, 
forais,  tendencies,  faculties,  qualities, 
and  the  like. 

"  Nature,  then,  according  to  the  opinion 
of  Aristotle,  is  the  beginning  of  motion  and 
rest,  in  that  thing  wherein  it  is  properly 
and  principally,  not  by  accident ;  for  all 
things  to  be  seen  (which  are  done  neither 
by  fortune  nor  by  necessity,  and  are  not 
divine,  nor  have  any  such  efficient  cause)  are 
called  material,  sis  having  a  proper  and  pe- 
culiar nature  of  their  own." — Holland, 
Plutarch. 

Kind  (A.  S.  cynd')  is  the  nature 
according  to  its  place  in  creation, 
while  Sort  (  Fr.  sorte)  denotes  mere 
assemblage  on  vague  principles  of 
similarity  without  any  natural  affinity ; 
as,  a  certain  kind  of  animal,  a  certain 
sort  of  coat.  When  things  of  a  sort 
are  collected  for  the  purpose  of  being 
more  conveniently  dealt  with  as  such, 
it  is  called  an  Assortment.  It  is, 
however,  possible  that  any  parcel  of 
things  may  have  a  natural  affinity, 
but  it  is  not  simply  as  having  it  that 
they  are  sorted. 

"  Some  of  you,  on  pure  instinct  of  nature, 
Are  led  by  kind  to  admire  your  fellow- 
creature."  Dryden. 
"  Shell-fish  have  been  by  some  of  the  an- 
sients  compared  and  sorted  with  insects." — 
Bacon. 

"  An  adjective  is  by  nature  a  general,  and 
in  some  measure  an  abstract  word,  and  ne- 
cessarily presupposes  the  idea  of  a  certain 
species  or  assortment  of  things  to  all  of  which 
it  is  equally  applicable." — Smith,  Forma- 
tion oj  Languages. 

Species  and  Genus  are  Latin  scien- 
tific, and  may  perhaps  be  considered 
correlative,  terms.  In  Aristote- 
lian logic,  the  genus  is  the  higher 
species,  that  is,  the  species  which  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  abstract  or  su- 
{)reme  genus;  while  species  is  the 
ower  genus,  or  that  which  approaches 
>nparer  to  the  individual.    So  the  same 


may  be  genus  or  species  according  to 
its  relative  position  in  the  scale. 

"  In  the  defining  of  words,  which  is  no- 
thing but  declaring  their  .signification,  we 
make  use  of  the<7eMJW,  or  next  general  word 
which  comprehends  it," — LoCKE. 

Not  that  this  is  the  whole  process  ot 
logical  definition,  for  to  the  genus  has 
to  be  added  the  differentia  or  distinc- 
tive property. 

FoR.M  (Leit.  foiTna)  is  a  particular 
mode  of  manifestation  in  anything 
which  is  wont  to  manifest  itself  under 
several  like  or  cognate  manifestations, 
as  the  same  or  different  form  of  hat, 
the  same  or  diflferent  form  of  address, 
the  same  or  different  form  of  speech. 
"  Of  bodies  changed  to  various  forms  I 
sing."  Dryden's  Ovid. 

Cast  (Dan.  kaste,  to  throw)  is  used 
almost  in  the  same  way  as  Mould 
(Fr.  monle,  Lat.  mMYdtis^ ',  but  we 
commonly  apply  Cast  to  what  is  per- 
sonal in  countenance,  character,  ap- 
})earance,  and  Mould  when  we  enter- 
tain the  idea  not  only  of  shape  or  im- 
pression on  ourselves,  but  of  formative 
origin.  The  two  are  often  associated 
in  the  same  phrase ;  as,  to  be  cast  in  % 
different  mould. 

"  The  business  men  are  chiefly  conversan 
in  does  not  only  give  a  certain  cast  or  turt 
io  their  minds,  but  is  very  often  apparent  ir 
their  outward  behaviour  and  some  of  thf 
most  indifiei-ent  actions  of  their  lives."— 
Spectator. 

"  My  Sonne,  if  thon  of  such  a  molde 
Art  made,  now  tell  me  pleine  thy  shrift." 
GoWER. 

Order  (Fr.  ordre)  denotes  com- 
monly not  only  the  characteristic 
nature  and  kind,  but  a  reference  to  a 
scale ;  as  we  speak  of  a  high  or  low 
order.  The  notion  conveyed  by  such  an 
expression  as  a  thing  of  the  same  or  a 
different  order,  is  partly  scientific  and 
partly  not.  The  word  order  in  scientific 
classification  commonly  means  a  group 
of  allied  individuals  more  comprehen- 
sive than  the  genus.  The  temi  is  em- 
ployed to  represent  a  class  or  com- 
munity, which  is  bound  together  by 
common  rights,  privileges,  similarity 
of  occupation,  and  object,  being  so  re- 
cognized by  society  or  the  State ;  as, 
the  order  of  Priests  or  Jesuits,  the 
monastic  order,  or  Benedictine  order. 
As  employed  conventionally,  the  term 


222 


SYNONYMS         [characteristic] 


implies    relative    dignity,    value,    or 

worth. 
"  Men  shnlde  it  in  the  prestes  find, 
Their  order  is  of  so  high  a  kynde." 

GOWER. 

Air  (Fr.  air,  Lat.  atr ;  bo  splrttus 
means  dupositicn)  signifies  sucli  a 
manifestation  of  character  as  is  made 
involuntarily.  It  is  applied  both  to 
persons  and  analogously  to  things ;  as 
we  say,  such  and  such  a  theory  wears 
an  intelligible  air,  by  which  we  mean 
to  grant  that  there  may  be  something 
in  it  accordant  with  truth  and  common 
sense,  if  it  wei'e  worth  while  to  exa- 
mine it. 

"  It  is  certain  that  married  persons  who 
are  possessed  with  a  mutual  esteem,  not 
only  cratch  the  air  and  way  of  talk  from  one 
another,  but  fall  into  the  same  traces  of 
thinking  and  liking," — Spectator. 

Shape  (A.  S.  yerh  sceapian)  is  sim- 
ply such  external  form  or  configura- 
tion as  belongs  or  may  be  conceived 
to  belong  to  anything.  It  differs  from 
form  in  this  character  of  externality. 
The  fonn  of  a  thmg  results  from  the 
relative  aggregation  of  its  parts,  both 
internal  and  external,  that  is,  its  so- 
lidity as  well  as  its  surface.  Shape 
refers  to  the  superficies,  but  not  the 
substance.  The  form  includes  length, 
breadth,  and  thickness;  the  shape  is 
only  what  meets  the  eye.  This  aiffe- 
rence  appears  more  strongly  in  the 
verbs  than  the  nouns :  to  form  a  thing 
is  as  it  were  to  create  it.  God  formed, 
not  merely  shaped,  man  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground.  Nature  forms  the 
marble,  man  shapes  the  block.  He 
may  also  be  said  to  form  the  statue, 
because  he  actually  makes  it ;  as  such, 
it  did  not  exist  before.  To  form  in- 
volves the  use  and  preparation  of 
materials ;  to  shape  may  be  no  more 
than  to  give  them  a  contour  super- 
ficially. 

••  And  eke  his  garment  to  be  thereto  meet. 
He  wilfully  did  cut,  and  shape  anew." 

Spenser. 

CHARACTERISTIC.      Distino 

TIVE. 

Characteristic  (Gr.  p^SpaxT^p,  an 
engraved  mark)  is  employed  of  that 
which  illustrates  or  represents  the 
character  in  a  telling  way ;  Distinc- 
tive (Lat.  divtingucre,  part,  disiinctui) 
ei  that  wbich  so  marks  a  thing  as  tc 


separate  it  from  others.  That  is  cha- 
racteristic, which  leads  the  mind  to 
associate  the  person  or  object  at  once 
with  the  class  to  which  he  belongs,  or 
the  nature  which  he  bears.  That  is 
distinctive,  which  prevents  the  mind 
from  confounding  such  person  or  ob- 
ject with  other  classes,  or  investing 
them  with  other  natures  than  tlieir 
own.  The  distinctive  puts  back  what 
is  strange,  alien,  unlike ;  the  charac- 
teristic brings  forward  what  is  native, 
natural,  proper.  Characteristic  has  a 
positive.  Distinctive anegative force. 
Distinctive  is  a  graver  word  than 
characteristic.  Distinctive  belongs  to 
the  inherent  nature  and  properties  of 
things.  Char  ACT  eristic  to  our  impres- 
sions about  them  and  the  general  way 
in  which  they  strike  us.  That  which 
is  distinctive  marks  the  properties  of 
the  class,  that  which  is  characteristic 
expresses  the  peculiarities  of  the  in- 
dividual. 

CHARGE.  Accuse.  Impeach. 
Arraign.     Criminate.     Indict. 

Of  these  Charge  (Fr.  charger,  to 
bad)  is  the  most  generic.  It  is  to  lay 
upon  a  person  a  burden,  hence  speci- 
fically of  imputed  guilt ;  and  this  either 
formally  or  legally,  or  generally  and 
morally.  Hence  it  refers  to  many 
things  which  are  not  of  the  specific 
nature  of  crimes ;  thus,  a  dereliction 
of  duty,  or  dishonesty,  or  a  Avant  of 
fidelity  to  one's  self,  may  be  the  object 
of  a  charge.  "  I  charge  him  with 
having  indolently  let  slip  many  occa- 
sions of  improving  his  condition.'* 
There  is  another  use  of  the  term  in 
which  the  burden  laid  is  one  of  re- 
sponsibility, without  any  connexion 
with  the  imputation  of  fault  or  crime. 
It  is  a  word  of  solemn  adjuration,  and 
of  ordinary  commission.  I  charge 
another  with  a  message,  or  I  charge 
him  to  speak  the  truth. 

"  Men  do  not  pick  quarrels  with  their 
friends,  and  therefore  when  we  find  any 
charging  the  Scripture  with  obscurity  and 
imperfection.we  have  reason  to  believe  they 
have  no  comfort  from  it." — SiiLLlNa- 
FLEET. 

Accuse  (Lat.  accusdre)  refers  to 
failings,  faults,  or  crimes  by  whicb 
others  are  injured.  It  also  impIie^ 
more   than   a  mere   mouth-to-moutb 


[charge] 


imputation ;  it  is  formal  and  public. 
I  may  charade  a  man  with  a  crime  be- 
tween myself  and  him,  but  if  I  accuse 
him  of  it,  I  make  the  charge  more  or 
less  a  matter  of  publicity.  It  is  also 
more  strict  and  technical  th  an  Cii  a  rg  e  . 
I  charge  a  person  with  anything  that 
he  has  wrongly  committed  or  omitted. 
The  subject  of  accusation  is  commonly 
a  distinct  offence,  bearing  a  distinct 
name ;  as,  theft,  slander,  murder.  Cri- 
minate (Lat.  cfimindre,  and  -ri )  is  yet 
stronger.  It  is  to  bring  against  an- 
other a  charge  in  such  a  way  that  he 
finds  himself  compelled  to  deal  with 
the  matter  as  personal  and  imminent. 
Circumstances  may  criminate,  while 
only  persons  charge  or  accuse.  Cni- 
MiNATE  has  a  stronger  relation  to  tne 
state  of  the  person.  A  man  criminated 
feels  himself  placed  in  the  position  of 
a  g^-ave  offender. 

"  Their  thoughts  the  meanwhile  accusing 
or  else  excusing  one  another." — Bible. 

"  To  criminate  with  the  heavy  and  un- 
grounded charge  of  disloyalty  and  disaffec- 
tion an  uucorrupt,  independent,  and  reform- 
ing parliament." — BuRKK. 

Impeach  and  Arraign  rather  im- 
ply than  express  an  accusation  or 
charge.  Impeach  (O.  Fr.  empescher, 
prob.  Lat.  imptdicare,  to  fetter :  but  see 
Littre)  is  officially  to  charge  with 
misbehaviour  in  office,  and  may  relate 
to  anything  which  is  of  the  nature  of 
an  offence  considering  the  office  held. 
Arraign  (O,  Fr.  aranier,  L.  Lat. 
arrUlibndre)  is  to  call  to  account,  and 
is  characteristically  employed  of  the 
exercise  of  personal  power  of  judg- 
ment. It  is  to  call  personally  to  ac- 
count in  a  specific  and  summary 
manner,  and  may  be  directed  against 
a  course  of  conduct  in  an  individual  as 
well  as  specific  matters  of  misdemea- 
nour; but  Arraign  more  commonly 
relates  to  an  act.  Impeach  to  a  series 
of  acts.  Impeach  is  formal  and  official, 
A  RRAiGN  is  informal  and  personal.  A  r- 
raign  involves  a  decisive  act  of  power 
in  a  superior,  of  boldness  in  an  equal 
or  inferior ;  for  inasmuch  as  the 
essence  of  the  word  is  only  to  cite  in 
a  summary  manner  to  give  an  account, 
this  may  be  either  by  an  equal  or  in- 
ferior before  a  superior,  or  by  a  supe- 
rior before  himself.  He  who  aiTaigns, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


223 


judges  also  and  decides.  This  is  not 
the  case  with  Impeach.  In  England 
the  House  of  Commons  impeach,  and 
the  House  of  Lords  determine  the 
impeachment. 

''Censure,  which  arraigns  the  public 
actions  and  the  private  motives  of  princes, 
has  ascribed  t»  envy  a  conduct  which  might 
be  attributed  to  the  prudence  and  modera- 
tion of  Hadrian." — Gibbon. 

"  Of  these  the  representatives  of  th« 
people,  or  House  of  Commons,  cannot  pro- 
perly judge,  because  their  constituents  are 
the  parties  injured,  andean  therefore  only 
impeach.  But  before  what  court  shall  this 
impeachment  be  tried  ?  Not  before  the  or- 
dinary tribunals,  which  would  naturally  be 
swayed  by  the  authority  of  so  powerful  an 
accuser.  Reason,  therefore,  will  suggest 
that  this  branch  of  the  legislature,  which- 
represents  the  people,  must  bring  its  charge 
against  the  other  branch,  which  consists  of 
the  nobility,  who  hiive  neither  the  same  in- 
terests nor  the  same  passions  as  popular 
assemblies."— Bl,a.ckstoxk. 

"  An  indictment  is  a,  written  accusation  of 
one  or  more  persons  of  a  crime  or  misde- 
meanour preferred  to  and  presented  upon 
oath  by  a  grand  jury." — Ibid. 

Indict  (Lat.  indiccre,  part,  indicins) 
is  a  term  regulated  bv  the  form  of 
process  and  nature  of  the  offence.  In 
law,  it  is  the  peculiar  province  of  a 
grand  jury  to  'ndict,  as  it  is  of  a  houg 
of  representatives  to  impeach. 

CHARGE.  Care.  Management. 
Administration.  Control.  Go- 
vernment. 

Charge  in  this  sense  denotes  dele- 
gated care  under  circumstances  of 
responsibility.  Care  denotes  no 
more  than  time  bestowed  upon  an  ob- 
ject with  personallabouror  attention. 
To  take  care  of  a  child  is  to  keep  him 
out  of  harm's  way.  It  is  the  work  of 
solicitude  and  affection,  as  Charge  is 
of  responsibility  and  duty.  To  take 
charge  of  him  is  to  do  everything  in 
connexion  with  him  which  another 
would  require.  For  we  take  care  of 
what  is  our  own  ;  we  take  charge  of 
"what  is  another's. 

"  I  can  never  believe  that  the  repugnance 
with  which  Tiberius  took  the  charge  of  the 
government  upon  him  was  wholly  feigned." 
— C  UM  B  ERLAJf  D . 

Management  (Fr.  minagey  house- 
keepings L.  Lat.  mansionattcum)  is  the 
concurrent  control  which  regulatea 
what  has  progression  in  itself,  so  that 
it  may  operate  in  the  way  in  which  il 


224 


HYtiUNYMS 


[charlatan] 


18  designed;  as,  we  speak  of  the  man- 
agement of  a  house,  a  garden,  a 
steam-engine,  a  horse,  a  matter.  It 
implies  subjection  where  persons  are 
concerned,  as  in  the  management  of  a 
school.  ADMiNisrRATiON(Lat.  admiiiis- 
trationem)  relates  to  offices  of  power 
and  responsibility.  Administration 
takes  effect  on  men,  management  may 
belong  only  to  machines ;  administra- 
tion is  executive,  management  may 
De  manipulative.  Administration, 
however,  is  always  ministerial,  that  is, 
consists  in  putting  the  will  or  ])Ower 
of  another  in  force;  while  GoviiiiN- 
MENT  (Lat.  ghbeiiidre,  to  steer)  in- 
volves every  exercise  of  authority, 
political,  civil,  or  domestic.  The  go- 
vernment of  a  country,  when  the  term 
is  not  used  of  persons,  is  an  abiding 
and  perpetual  power ;  the  adminis- 
tration belongs  to  the  persons  who 
may  be  in  office  from  time  to  time. 
The  character  of  the  term  is  seen 
in  its  etymology.  Government  is 
literally  the  office  of  him  who  holds 
the  helm.  Its  common  acceptation  is 
the  machine  of  political  rule,  but  in 
its  wider  sense  it  exists  wherever  there 
IS  authority  on  one  side  and  depen- 
dence on  the  other.  Administration  in 
things  political  deals  with  matters  of 
the  highest  importance ;  as,  Justice,Fi- 
nance,  and  general  order.  Conthol  is 
literally,  to  verify  a  roll  by  a.  duplicate 
roll  (O.Fr.  contre-r6le),  hence  to  go- 
vern in  movement  and  action  where 
an  independent  will  and  power  exist. 
Machines  are  managed;  men,  their 
acts,  wills,  desires,  are  controlled. 

"  I  thiuk  myself  iiideVjted  to  you  beyond 
all  expression  of  gratitude  for  your  care  of 
my  dear  mother." — Johnson. 

"  Scripture  gives  something  more  than 
obscure  intimations  that  the  holy  angels 
u'fe  employed  upon  extraordinary  occasions 
in  the  affairs  of  men  and  the  management  of 
this  sublunary  world." — HoKSLEY. 

"  He  (the  Earl  of  Clarendon)  was  a  good 
chancellor,  only  a  little  too  rough,  but  very 
impartial  in  the  administration  of  justice." 
Burnet. 

•*  That  which  begins  and  actually  consti- 
tutes any  political  society  is  nothing  but  the 
eonsent  of  any  number  of  freemen  capable 
of  a  majority  to  unite  and  incorporate  into 
■uch  a  society.  And  that  is  that,  and  that 
only,  wnich  did  or  could  give  any  beginning 
to  any  lavvfol  government  in  the  world."— 
Locke. 


"  If  the  seeds  of  piety  and  virtue  be  but 
carefully  sown  at  first,  very  much  may  bt 
done  by  this  means,  even  m  the  most  de- 
praved natures,  towards  the  altering  and 
changing  of  them,  however  to  the  checking 
and  controlling  of  our  vicious  inclinations." 
— TiLLOTSON. 

CHARLATAN.  Quack.  Moun- 
tebank.    Empiric. 

Etymologically  the  Charlatan 
(Fr.  charlatan)  from  the  Italian  ciar- 
lore,  to  prate,  is  a  prater.  The  Quack, 
a  shorter  form  of  the  older  Quack- 
salver, is  a  noisy  advertiser  of  hi>s 
medicine.  The  Mountebank  is  one 
who  does  the  same  thing  upon  a  bench 
in  ])ublic,from  theltalian montimhdnco^ 
niontare  in  banco,  to  mount  on  a  bench. 
The  Empiric,  as  here  used,  means 
one  whose  skill  or  knowledge  de- 
pends on  f^xpERiENCE  (Gr.  hifx'TEipiKh, 
practice)  without  scientific  principle. 
They  express  only  different  aspects 
of  the  character  of  the  pretender 
to  skill  and  knowledge.  'Ihe  char- 
latan is  full  of  self-assurance;  the 
quack  is  likely  to  be  an  impostor; 
the  mountebank  is  the  most  demon- 
strative, and  the  empiric  the  most 
venturesome.  The  charlatan  deserves 
humiliation  ;  the  quack  exposure  ;  the 
mountebank  ridicule,  which  yet  he 
does  not  dread;  the  empiric  to  be 
taught  that  exact  knowledge  is,  in  his 
case,  not  to  be  disregarded  without 
injury  and  injustice.  {Empiricism, 
liowever,  is  also  used  sometimes  in  a 
sense  not  unfavourable,  to  mean 
knowledge  which,  although  know- 
ledge— as  e.g.  the  efiect  of  some  medi- 
cines— has  not  yet  been  shown  to  rest 
uj)on  a  scientific  basis ;  and  it  is  the 
only  one  word  which  expresses  this. ) 

CHASE.     Hunt.     Pursue. 

To  Hunt  (A.  S.  huntian)  is  to  seek 
by  close  pursuit,  by  a  search  for  ob- 
jects not  within  sight.  Chase  (Fr. 
chasser,  Lat.  captiare)  is  a  jiursuit  of 
objects  which  are  icithin  sight.  The 
fox  is  hunted  in  the  cover,  and  chased 
when  he  leaves  it.  This  distinction 
is  often  lost  sight  of ;  and  we  speak  of 
a  boy  hunting  a  butterfly,  instead  of 
chasing  it.  To  Pursue  (Fr.  pour- 
stiivre),  like  Hunt,  includes  the  idea 
of  following  after  what  is  not  withio 
sight.     A  wild  animal  is  pursued  b.y 


[chastity] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


225 


the  track  which  he  leaves ;  when  he 
catches  sight  of  his  pursuers,  he  pro- 
babl}' flies,  and  is  then  chased,  'llius 
Chase  involves  more  simply  than 
Pi'usuE  the  notion  of  driving  an  ob- 
ject before  one.  Piirsl'e,  as  it  denotes 
primarily  the  following  of  a  continuous 
course,  is  directly  applicable  to  t})e 
coui-se  itself,  as  to  pursue  a  line  of 
conduct.  One  pursues  when  one  fol- 
lows after  an  obj  ect,  in  spite  of  danger, 
difficulties,  and  obstacles,  with  sus- 
tained effort  and  energy. 

"  Now  therefore  let  not  my  blood  full  to 
the  earth  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  ;  for 
the  King  of  Israel  is  come  ont  to  seek  a  flea ; 
as  when  one  doth  himt  a  partridge  in  the 
mountains. " — Sible. 

"  The  glare  did  not  continue  long  before 
it  rained  again,  and  kept  us  from  sight  of 
each  other ;  but  if  they  had  seen  and  chiiscd 
ns,  we  were  resolved  to  run  our  baik  and 
canoes  ashore,  and  take  ourselves  to  the 
mountains." — Dampikk'S  Voyages. 
"  Impell'd  with  steps  unceasing  to  pttrsue 
Some  fleeting  good  that  mocks  me  with  the 

view. 
That,  like  the  circle  bounding  earth  and 

skies. 
Allures  from  far,  yet,  as  I  follow,  flies/' 
GOLUSMITn. 

CHASTEN.  Chastise.  Purify. 
Punish.     Correct.     Discipline. 

Of  these  the  two  first  are  formed 
from  the  Latin  castas,  chaste,  pure, 
and  the  last  from  pkry^care,  to  make 
pure.  The  term  Purify  is  applicable 
to  the  removal  of  Avhat  is  noxious  or 
impure  in  a  moral,  physical,  or  even 
ceremonial  sense,  fo  Chasten  is  to 
purify  morally  and  spiritually  by  the 
providential  visitation  of  distress  and 
affliction ;  or,  generally,  to  purify  fiom 
errors  or  faults,  as  the  effect  of  disci- 
pline. It  implies  imperfection,  but 
not  guilt. 

"Oh,  gently  on  thy  suppliant's  head. 
Dread  goddess,  lay  thy  chastening  hand ; 
Not  in  thy  Grorgon  terrors  clad. 
Nor  circled  with  the  vengeful  band. 
As  by  the  impious  thou  art  seen." 

Gray,  Hymn  to  Adversity. 

"He  chastises  and  corrects  as  to  Him 
seems  best  in  His  deep,  unsearchable,  and 
secret  judgment,  and  all  for  our  good." — 
Burton,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 

"It  was  a  received  opinion  in  the  ancient 
world  that  human  nature  had  contracted  a 
•tain  or  pollution,  and  that  not  only  parti- 
cular purifyings,  but  also  some  general 
(Huctitlcation  was  uecessu.ry  to  put  man  in 


a  capacity  of  being  restored  to  the  favoui 
of  the  Deity." — Warbubtox. 
"Yet  these,  receiving  grafts  of  other  kind. 
Or  thence  transplanted,  change  their  savage 

mind. 
Their  wildness  lose,  and  quitting  Nature's 

part. 
Obey  the  rules  and  discipline  of  art." 

Dryden,  Virgil. 

"OTjOtA,  correct  me.  but  with  judgment; 
not  in  Thine  anger,  lest  Thon  bring  me  to 
nothing." — Book  of  Cbmmon  Prayer. 

C'hastise,  on  the  other  hand,  im- 
plies specific  guilt  or  some  offence.  To 
Punish  (Lat.  pmiire)  differs  fi-om 
Chastise  in  the  object  aimed  at.  In 
the  former,  it  is  to  visit  the  offence 
upon  the  individual  offender  for  his 
own  good  in  correction  and  refonna- 
tion ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  to  satisfy 
public  justice  upon  a  member  of  a 
community.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
punishment  is  often  used  of  the  con- 
sequences of  wrong,  irrespectively  of 
any  personal  authority  exercised. 

"  I  proceed  in  the  next  place  ro  consider 
the  general  nature  of  punishments  which 
are  evils  or  inconveniences  consequent  upon 
crimes  and  misdemeanours,  being  devised, 
denounced,  and  inflicted  by  human  laws  in 
consequence  of  disobedience  or  misbe- 
haviour in  those  to  regulate  whose  conduct 
such  laws  were  respectively  made."— 
BlJlCKSTONE. 

To  Correct  (Lat.  corrighe,  sup. 
correctnm)  is,  literally,  to  set  right. 
As  used  of  punishment,  correction 
looks  no  further  tlian  to  the  indi- 
vidual fault. 

Discipline  (Lat.  disciprvia)  has  for 
its  object  the  amelioration  of  the 
whole  character,  and  the  prevention  of 
offences,  nor  does  it  imply  necessarily 
that  any  have  been  committed.  The 
purest  and  best  natures  recognize  the 
need  of  discipline  in  themselves.  Dis- 
cipline aims  at  the  removal  of  bad 
habits,  and  the  substuution  of  good 
ones,  especially  those  of  order,  regu- 
larity, and  obedience. 

CHAS'lITY.  Continence,  or 
Continency. 

Chastity  (Lat.  castttdtem)  is  the 
regulation  of  the  sexual  desires,  as 
by  marriage,  and  all  practical  rules  or 
modes  of  life  which  tend  to  it. 

Continence    (Lat.    eonthientia)  is 


226 


SYNONYMS  [cheat] 


the  absolute  refraining  from  all  such 
indulgences  under  interdiction.  Chas- 
tity is  enjoined  upon  all  Christians. 
Continence  is  enjoined,  for  instance, 
on  the  Romish  clerg:y.  Chastity  ex- 
tends to  thoughts,  conveisation,  read- 
ing, attitude,  movements,  society. 
It  is  accordingly  possible  to  be  chaste 
and  not  continent,  continent  and  not 
chaste.  Chastity  is  a  virtue  suitable 
to  all  ages  and  states,  continence  is  a 
rule  of  celibacy. 

"It  was  then  that  some  gallant  spirits, 
struck  with  a  generous  indignation  at  the 
tjTannf  of  these  miscreants,  blessed  so- 
lemnly by  the  bishop,  and  followed  by  the 
praises  and  vows  of  the  people,  sallied  forth 
to  vindicate  the  chastity  of  women,  and  to 
redress  the  wrongs  of  travellers  and  peace- 
able men."— Burke,  Abridyment  of  English 
History. 

"Such  persons  as  hare  not  the  gift  of 
continency."—Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

CHEAT.     Defraud.     Trick. 

Cheat  (a  corruption  of  escheat,  as 
reflecting  upon  the  character  of  the 
escheator)  respects  primarily  the  oain 
lo  yourself  resulting  from  fraudulent 
practice  upon  another. 

Defraud  (Lat.  defraudare)  respects 
the  loss  to  him.  Cheat  is  only  applied 
to  appropriations  of  minor  value ;  De- 
fraud to  those  of  the  largest  amount. 
Defraud  hence  regards  matters  of 
value  generally,  as  rights  and  pri- 
vileges. Cheat  usually  regards  pos- 
sessions. Cheating  implied  knavery ; 
defrauding  a  settled  plan  or  plot 
against  another's  interests. 

"  But  since  it  is  not  so  much  worth  our 
labour  to  know  how  deep  the  pit  is  into 
which  we  are  fallen  as  how  to  come  out  of 
it,  hear  rather,  I  beseech  you,  for  a  con- 
clusion, how  we  may  avoid  the  deceit  of 
heart ;  even  just  so  as  we  would  prevent 
the  nimble  feats  of  some  cheating  juggler 
— search  him,  watch  him,  trust  him  not." — 
Bishop  Hall. 

A  man  may  be  cheated  out  of  that 
which  he  is  aiming  at  obtaining ;  he 
is  only  defrauded  of  what  he  can 
claim  as  actually  his.  In  games  of 
chance  or  competition  men  often 
cheat ;  they  do  not  defraud. 

"  The  statute  mentions  only  fraudulent 
gifts  to  third  persons,  and  procuring  them 
to  be  seized  by  sham  process,  in  order  to 
defraud  creditors." — Blackstonk. 


To  Trick  (Fr.  trichei-)  is  adroitly 
to  deceive  another,  and  implies  more 
ingenuity  than  cheating.  It  does  not 
of  necessity  involve  any  appropriation 
to  one's  self,  or  any  loss  to  another,  but 
may  be  dictated  by  mischievous  at 
well  as  dishonest  motives. 

CHEER.  Animate.  Encourage. 
Enliven.  Exhu.arate.  Comfort. 
Console.     Solace. 

To  Cheer  (Fr.  chere,  counlenaiice, 
mie7i)  is  to  put  into  good  or  better 
spirits.  It  resjjects  a  previous  state 
of  mental  depression  or  despon- 
dency, and  a  change  to  a  sober  and 
quiet  satisfaction  at  an  improved  state 
of  circumstances. 

"The  Christian  is  justly  cheered  by  the 
assurance  he  has  that  there  will  come  a 
time  when  ojipressed  and  disfigured  inno- 
cency  shall  shine  forth  and  triumph,  and 
his  good  name,  as  well  as  his  body,  shall 
have  a  glorious  resurrection  even  in  the 
sight  of  nis  accusei's  and  enemies,  and  all 
those  whom  their  slanders  did  either  pre- 
vail with  or  startle." — BoYLE. 

To  Animate  (Lat.  Unimdre)  is  to 
put  life,  vitality,  or  vivacity  into ;  and 
respects  a  previous  state  of  dulness, 
sloAvness,  indifference,  or  inertness. 
It  has  an  influence  on  the  looks, 
words,  and  movements,  as  when  an 
orator  in  the  course  of  his  oration 
becomes  more  animated.  Reflexion 
cheers,  passion  animates. 

"  Wherever  we  are  foi-med  by  Nature  to 
any  active  purpose,  the  passion  which  ani- 
mates us  to  it  is  attended  with  delight  or  a 
pleasure  of  some  kind."— Burke. 

Encourage  (Fr.  eiicourager)  is  to 
give  heart ;  and  so  respects  a  previous 
state  of  comparative  diffidence  or 
irresolution.  It  implies  something 
proposed  as  an  aim  of  action,  either 
by  the  words  of  another,  or  by  the 
mind  reflecting  on  some  external 
event. 

"  Plato  would  have  women  follow  the 
camp,  to  be  spectators  and  encottragers  of 
aoble  actions." — Burton. 

Enliven  is  the  English  equivalent 
of  animate ;  but  it  is  not  so  grave  a 
word,  and  relates  to  the  minor  matters 
of  feeling  and  manner.  It  has  also 
the  meaning  of  to  quicken  what  waf 
previously  less  lively,  and  may  be 


[cheerful] 


employed  ot  purely  physical  enero^ies; 
as,  to  on  live  a  a  fire,  that  is,  to  make  it 
burn  more  brightly.  It  is  also  directly 
applicable  to  works  ot"  art  and  de- 
scriptions or  narratives. 

"  By  tin's  means  I  was  enabled  to  enliven 
the  poems  hy  various  touches  of  partial 
description." — Maso.v. 

Exhilarate  (Lat.  exlnlArhre)  de- 
notes such  cheering  as  has  a  com- 
bined effect  on  the  spirits  and  the 
bodily  frame.  It  may  come  of  a  pri- 
mary influence  on  either,  as  to  be 
exhilarated  by  good  wine  or  good 
nev.s.  It  denotes  an  effect  upon  the 
nervous  system,  and  is  thus  exclu- 
sively applicable  to  persons. 

"  The  truth  is  that  this  remedy,  like 
strong  drink  to  a  nervous  body,  enlivens 
for  a  while  by  an  unnatural  exhilaration." — 
Knox. 

Comfort  (Lat.  conforlnre,  to  make 
trong)  and  Console  (Lat.  consoldri) 
both  relate  to  relief  brought  from  pre- 
vious trouble  of  mind  through  the  aid 
of  admonition  or  reflexion  ;  but  Com- 
fort denotes  the  actual  substitution  of 
happy  thoughts  ;  while  Console  de- 
notes only  the  removal  or  diminution 
of  the  unhappy.  Comfort  and  con- 
solation address  themselves  to  the  in- 
tellectual nature. 

"  Consolation  or  comfort  are  words  which 
m  their  proper  acceptation  signify  some 
alleviation  to  that  pain  to  which  it  is  not 
in  our  power  to  afford  the  proper  and  ade- 
quate remedy.  They  imply  rather  an  aug- 
mentation of  the  power  of  bearing  than  a 
diminution  of  the  burden.  To  that  grief 
which  arises  from  a  great  loss  he  only  brings 
the  true  remedy  who  makes  his  friend's 
condition  the  same  as  before  ;  but  he  may 
be  properly  termed  a  comforter  who,  by 
persnasiou,  extenuates  the  pain  of  poverty, 
and  shows,  in  the  style  of  Hesiod,  that  half 
is  more  than  the  whole." — llambler. 

Solace  (Lat.  solatium)  differs  from 
Comfort  and  Console  in  being  never 
applied  absolutely  to  human  agents. 
A  solace  is  a  continuous  consolation 
acci-uing  from  something  impersonal, 
as  certain  modes  or  means  of  occupa- 
tion, such  as  reflexions,  employments, 
books,  or  a  person  regarded  as  a  bless- 
ing or  possesion. 

"  The  ingenious  biographer  of  the  poet 
Gray  has  informed  us  that  the  most  ap- 
proved prodactions  of  his  friend  were 
bronght  forth  soon  after  the  death  of  one 


DISCRIMINATED. 


227 


wnom  the  poet  loved,  Son-ow  led  him  to 
seek  for  solace  of  the  muse."— Knox, 
Essays. 

CHEERFUL.  Merry.  Sprightly. 
Gay.  Mirthful.  Jovial.  Lively. 
VivACiour.  Sportive.  Blithe. 
Buxom. 

Cheerful  (see  Cheer)  is  u8e.';>. 
both  of  that  which  possesses,  and  that 
which  promotes  good  spirits ;  as,  a 
cheerful  disposition,  cheerful  tidings. 
1  As  applied  to  persons.  Cheerful  de- 
notes an  liabitual  state  of  mind,  the 
natural  happiness  of  an  even  and 
contented  disposition. 

jMerry  points  to  an  occasional  and 
transient  elevation  of  spirits.  Mirth, 
which  is  the  cognate  noun  to  Merry, 
is  less  tranquil  than  cheerfulness ; 
it  requires  the  companionship  ot 
others  to  feed  upon — social  excite- 
ment and  the  noise  of  jests  and 
laughter  are  needful  for  mirth. 

'*  Whoever  has  passed  an  evening  with 
serious,  melancholy  people,  and  has  ob- 
served how  suddenly  the  conversation  was 
animated,  and  what  sprightliness  diffused 
itself  over  the  countenance,  discourse,  and 
behaviour  of  every  one  on  the  accession  of 
a  good-humoured,  lively  companion,  such 
a  one  will  easily  allow  that  cheerfulvess 
carries  great  weight  with  it,  and  naturally 
conciliates  the  good  will  of  mankind." — 
Hume. 

Sprightly  (=spirited,  {rova  spright, 
a  form  of  the  word  spirit)  is  purely  a 
personal  epithet.  Sprightliness  is  a 
constitutional  buoyancy  and  briskness 
of  mind  which  shows  itself  in  the 
bodily  movements.  It  is  in  this  ex- 
tended sense  only  becoming  in  youth, 
and  as  associated  with  beauty.  A 
sprightly  damsel,  or  a  sprightly  dame. 

"  Parents  and  schoolmasters  may  not  be 
displeased  at  unlucky  tricks  played  by  their 
lads,  as  showing  a  sagacity  and  sprightliness 
they  delight  to  behold.  Yet  they  will  not 
suffer  them  to  pass  vrith  impunity,  lest  it 
should  generate  idleness  and  other  mis- 
chiefs.'—Search. 

Gay  (Fr.  gai)  is  a  term  which 
denotes  less  of  animal  spirits,  and 
expresses  the  brightness  which  ap- 
pears outside,  in  the  appearance  or 
the  aspect  of  things  external ;  as,  a 
gay  countenance,  a  gay  dress,  gay 
plumage,  a  gay  scene.  It  combines 
the  ideas  of  cheerfulness  and  showi- 
nes8.      As  cheerfulness  is  unruffled, 


mirth  tumultuous,  sprightliness  buoy- 
ant, so  gaiety  is  characteristically 
self-indulgent.  The  lover  of  gaiety 
despises,  dislikes,  and  avoids  the 
responsibilities,  duties,  and  sobrieties 
of  existence,  and  would,  if  possible, 
ignore  its  troubles  altogether. 

"  Profane  men  stick  not,  in  the  gaiety  or 
their  hearts,  to  say  that  a  strict  piety  is 
good  for  nothing  but  to  make  the  owners  of 
it  troublesome  to  themselves  and  useless  to 
the  rest  of  the  world."— Atterbuey. 

Mirthful  is,  as  we  have  seen,  only 
another  form  of  merry ;  but  it  points 
more  specifically  to  the  laughter  and 
the  jest  and  the  fun  which  ai-e 
always  ready  to  appear  in  the  merry. 
Mirthful  is  more  demonstrative  than 
Merry,  and  involves  objects  or  sub- 
jects of  it;  while  Merry  denotes  no 
more  than  a  condition  of  the  spirits. 
The  merry  are  gay,  the  mirthful  are 
iocose  also. 

"If  great  crimes  and  great  miseries  be 
made  the  matter  of  our  mirth,  what  can  be 
the  argument  of  our  sorrow  ?  " — South. 

Jovial  is  a  term  expressive  of  a 
constitutional  habit  of  mind  and 
body.  It  meant,  literally,  born  under 
the  genial  influence  of  the  planet 
Jupiter,  and  was  opposed  to  Sat2irni7ie. 
It  denotes  a  tendency  to  sensual 
merriment,  and  a  contempt  for  the 
cares  anl  anxieties  of  life. 

"  In  pure  good  will  I  took  this_70t"i7Z  spark 
Of  Oxford,  he — a  most  egregious  clerk." 
Pope. 

TivELY  is  exhibiting  life  as  con- 
trary to  dull  or  lifeless.  It  denotes 
an  energetic  action  of  the  vital  prin- 
ciple, whether  of  the  sense  or  under- 
standing, without  of  necessity  imply- 
ing merriment  or  gaiety.  A  lively 
child  is  the  opposite  to  a  dull  child, 
brisk,  bright,  intelligent,  observant. 
Lively  conversation,  lively  move- 
ments, lively  descriptions. 

"  Every  person  Knows  how  faint  the  con- 
ception is  which  we  form  of  anything  with 
our  eyes  open  in  comparison  of  what  we  can 
form  with  our  eyes  shut,  and  that  in  propor- 
tion as  we  can  suspend  the  exercise  of  onr 
other  senses,  the  liveliness  of  oar  conception 
increafies."— Stkwakt. 

V^iVACious  (Lat.  vwdcem)  denotes 
matured  liveliness,  when  those  facul- 
ties which  nre  developed  by  afteryears 


SYNONYMS  [cheerful] 

are  seen  to  partake  of  the  same 
liveliness  of  youth.  It  indicates  a 
power  as  well  as  an  activity  of  life,  a 
capacity  of  keen  appreciation  of  ex- 
ternal things,  which  by  no  means 
implies  perpetual  merriment,  but  is 
as  ready  to  express  dissatisfaction  as 
pleasure  from  the  objects  and  experi- 
ences of  life.  The  vivacious  person 
lives,  as  it  were,  faster  and  more  fully 
than  his  opposite,  and  experiences 
more,  and  more  varied,  sensations. 
Indeed,  in  Old  English  the  word 
meant  long-lived^  or  having  a  tenacity 
to  life. 

"  He  had  great  vivacity  in  his  fancy,  as 
may  appear  by  his  inclination  to  poetry  and 
the  li\ely  illustrations  and  many  tender 
strains  in  his  contemplations." — BuRNET, 
Life  of  Hale. 

SroRTivE  is  tending  to  sporty 
which  is  practical  merriment  in  this 
case ;  so  that  the  word  contains  an 
element  of  something  bordering  on 
mockery  or  amusement  at  the  ex- 
pense of  others,  or  of  heedlessness, 
it  carries  with  it  an  air  of  unregu- 
lated play  of  mind  and  speech,  though 
not  amounting  to  wantonness  ;  but  is 
more  innocent  when  applied,  as  it 
often  is,  to  the  natural  playfulness  of 
dumb  and  especially  young  animals. 

"  If  a  history  so  circumstantiated  as  that 
is  shall  be  resolved  into  fable  or  parable,  no 
history  whatever  can  stand  secure,  but  a 
wide  door  will  be  opened  to  the  ravmgs  of 
sportive  wit  or  wanton  fancy." — Watek- 
LAND. 

Blithe  (A.  S.  blithe,  happy)  is  a 
beautiful  and  expressive  word  com- 
bining goodness  and  joyousness  of 
nature. 

Buxom  (R.  Eng.  buh-sum,  pliable, 
i->hi>dient)  is  !■  moi'e  complicated  word, 
T^r  it  has  wandered  far  from  its 
primary  intention.  It  meant  at  first 
compliant,  obedient,whether  in  regard 
to  men  or  women. 

"  Buxum.  to  the  law." — Piers  Plough 
man. 

When  it  came  to  be  applied  to 
women,  it  expressed  first  their  gentle- 
ness ;  and  thence  seems  to  have  in- 
cluded by  association  other  qualities 
little  connected  with  it,  but  attractive 
in  other  ways — as  liveliness,  healthful' 
ness,  and  bloom. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


[cherish] 

"A  parcel  of  buxom  bonny  dames,  that 
were  laughing,  singing,  dancing,  and  as 
merry  as  the  day  was  long."— Tatler. 

CHERISH.  Nourish.  Nurtiue. 
Foster.     Feed.     Foment. 

To  Cherish  (Fr.  chtvir,  from  clier^ 
dear)  is  to  ti-eat  as  dear,  or  to  hold 
dear;  hence,  to  keep  faithfully  or 
constantly.  It  is  to  treat  with  all  the 
care  and  affection  of  which  the  na- 
ture of  the  thing  cherished  is  capable. 
The  cherished  child  receives  from  its 
parent  all  that  it  can  need— food, 
warmth,  shelter,  clothing,  education, 
advice,  help.  The  cherished  hope 
is  kept,  as  it  were,  closely  and  faith- 
fully, and  guarded  against  all  in- 
fluences and  considerations  that 
might  tend  to  weaken  or  destroy  it. 
Alas,  in  this  sense  we  cherish  also 
prejudices,  errors,  and  illusions.  To 
clierish  is  to  love  with  tenderness 
and  predilection.  The  cherished 
object  is  precious  to  us.  We  feel  it 
to  be  necessary  to  our  happiness, 
perhaps  our  existence.  We  cherish 
with  affection  and  tenderness.  The 
man  in  his  ardour  loves,  the  woman 
in  her  tenderness  cherishes. 

"  He  that  comforts  my  wife  is  the  che- 
risher  of  my  flesh  and  blood."— Shake- 
speare. 

To  Nourish  (Fr.  nourrir,  Lat. 
nutr'ire)  is  to  supply  what  is  needful 
to  the  i)hysical  necessities  of  any 
growing  body,  as  a  child  or  a  plant, 
thus  differing  from  Feed  (A.  S. 
ftdaii),  which  is  strictly  used  only  of 
animals  (though,  analogously  also,  we 
speak  of  feeding  a  fire),  and  means  no 
more  than  to  give  food,  whether  i.i 
sufficient  or  insufficient  quantities.  In 
feeding  there  is  no  idea  beyond  that 
of  supplying  with  what  is  necessary 
to  support  life,  being  assimilated  into 
the  substance  of  a  growing  body.  In 
nourishing,  the  idea  is  that  of  fur- 
nishing an  organized  and  growing 
body  with  what  is  congenial  to  it, 
and  with  what  it  requii-es,  not  merely 
for  subsistence  and  growth,  but  for 
luxuriance  and  well-being. 

"  The  chyle  being  mixed  herewith  (the 
lymphia),  partly  for  its  better  conversion 

into  bloud  by  a  liquor  of  a  middle  nature 

between  them  both,  and  partly  for  its  more 

ready  adhesion  to  all  the  nourishable  parts." 

— (iRKW 


229 


"WTien,  with  the  flocks,  the'w  feeder* 
sought  the  shade."— Philips. 

To  Nurture  (from  the  same  root 
as  nourish)  is  to  train  up  with  fos- 
tering care,  and  so  implies  more 
than  the  giving  what  is  needed  for 
the  mere  development  of  the  organi- 
zation. To  nurture,  however,  is, 
after  all,  only  a  physical  act,  while 
to  cherish  is  moral,  and  involves  the 
action  of  the  affections.  We  nurture 
plants,  but  we  do  not  cherish  them, 
unless  as  associated  with  persons  or 
'  scenes,  which  give  them  an  ana- 
1  logous  place  to  that  of  children  in 
our  affections.  We  nourish  children 
by  bodily  food  ;  we  nurture  them  by 
mental  food  also. 

"  Understande,  therefore,  m  thyn  hert 
that  as  a  man  nourtereth  his  sonne,  even  so 
the  Lord  thy  God  nourtei'eth  the." — Bible, 
1551. 

Foster  (A.  ^./ostrian)  is  to  supply 
with  everything  necessary  for  the  life 
and  growth.  As  in  the  case  of  the 
_/bsfer-parent,  we  foster  things  which 
are  in  some  measure  alien  to  ourselves, 
though  we  are  interested  in  them ;  for 
instance,  how  marked  the  difference 
between  fostering  a  hope  and  cherish- 
ing a  hope  !  When  we  cherish  it,  we 
hold  it  as  closely  dear  to  us.  We 
would  not  for  the  world,  perhaps,  part 
with  it.  We  allow  all  weight  to  what 
strengthens,  we  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
what  would  deprive  us  of  it.  To  lose 
it  would  be  to  part  v\  ith  some  portion 
of  ourselves.  But  when  we  foster  a 
hope,  it  is  because  we  regard  the  good 
of  the  thing  hoped  for.  We  fostei 
objects  of  pride  and  ambition,  because 
we  want  to  gt  them.  VVe  foster  a 
feeling  of  anger  when  it  suits  our  hu- 
mour ;  we  cherish  it  when  ve  lie  in 
wait  for  the  time  of  revenge.  We 
cherish,  not  only  from  self-love,  but 
out  of  aftection  or  interest.  We  foster 
for  our  own  sake  alone.  W^e  cherish 
in  order  to  preserve.  We  foster  in 
order  to  promote,  increase,  or 
strengthen.  So  foster  is  oflen  used  in 
an  unfavourable  way  ;  as  we  say  that 
flattery  fostens  pride. 

"Stage  plays  serve  for  nothing  else  hot 
either  to  draw  men  on  by  degrees  to  idle- 
ness, or  to  foster,  to  foment  them  in  it.'  — 
Pkynnb. 


230 


SYNONYMS  [CHIEFj 


FoMF.NT  (^J^At. fitmeiitare)  is  to  cne- 
rish  by  excitement,  and  so  to  keep 
alive  an  existing  force  or  vitality.  It 
is  seldom  used  but  m  a  bad  sense,  or 
of  evil  influences.  Men  foment  by 
contributing  little  by  little  what  tends 
to  keep  up  an  energy  of  ill. 

"Exciting  s-nAfotnentbig  a  religions  re- 
oellion."— SoUTHEY. 

CHIEF.  Main.  Principal. 
Leading.     Cardinai,.     Capital. 

Chief  (Fr.  chef,  Lat.cupiit,a  head) 
retains  its  etymological  force,  and  de- 
notes priority  in  rank,  order,  or  con- 
sideration. The  chief  men  of  a  city 
are  the  highest  in  rank  and  influence. 
'Ilie  chief  topics  of  a  discourse  are  op- 
posed to  those  which  are  of  minor 
moment. 

"  What  is  man 
If  his  chief  good  and  market  of  his  time 
Be  but  to  sleep  and  feed  ?    a  beast — no 
more."  Shakespeare. 

Main  (A.  S.  mirgen,  power,  force) 
refers  to  that  which  is  the  more  potent 
or  extensive,  and  is  thus  applicable, 
as  chiefisnot,to  superiority  in  quantity 
or  size ;  as,  the  mam  bulk  of  the  army, 
the  main  pipes  of  an  organ.  Practi- 
cally, the  terms  Chief  and  Main  are 
often  interchangeable ;  so  we  might 
speak  of  the  chief  inducements,  or  the 
main  inducements  to  a  certain  line  of 
conduct;  only  the  chief  would  be  those 
to  which  are  assig-ned  a  foremost  place 
in  our  consideration  ;  the  main  would 
be  those  which  exercised  the  greatest 
influence  on  us,  or  impressed  us  most 
with  their  power.  Main  is  a  less  exact 
term  than  Chief,  not  indicating  so 
close  a  process  of  comparison  or  tlie 
result  of  an  appreciation  so  strict  and 
technical.  So  we  speak  of  the  main 
points  in  a  speech,  in  a  general  sense. 
The  main  denotes  what  belongs  to 
the  centre  or  mass,  as  distinguished 
from  parts  which  are  exterior  or  in 
detail. 

*•  There  is  scarce  any  instance  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  same  person  being  written  by 
four  different  contemporary  historians,  all 
perfectly  agreeing  in  the  main  articles,  and 
differing  only  in  a  few  minute  particulars 
of  no  moment."— PoRTEUS. 

Principal  (Lat.  principalis)  de- 
notes the  most  prominent  in  any  way, 
and  that  which  would  naturally  strike 
»he    attention    first   on   any   account 


whatever.  The  princip.'d  cities  of  a 
country  are  the  most  jjrominent ;  such 
are  ]-.ondon,  Rfanchester,  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  Bristol,  Brighton,  and 
others,  for  very  different  reasons. 
Hence  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
chief  cities  of  a  country  are  the  prin- 
cipal, for  they  may  have  a  rank  as 
signed  them  from  various  causes  by 
no  means  proportioned  to  their  pre- 
sent and  actual  influence  or  impor- 
tance. 

"  Thanketh  the  maister  of  grace  which 
of  that  good  and  al  other  is  autliour  and 
principal  doer." — Chaucer. 

Leading  is  simply  taking  the  lead. 
The  term,  therefore,  is  only  employed 
when  the  things  to  which  it  applies 
can  by  the  mind  be  regarded  as  motive, 
operative,  and  influential ;  as,  the  lead- 
ing points  of  a  case.  We  say,  the 
leading  men  in  a  community,  but  not 
the  leading  cities  of  a  country,  as  the 
mere  notion  of  priority  in  series  does 
not  express  the  force  of  leading. 

"  He  left  his  mother  a  countess  by  patent, 
which  was  a  new  leading  example." — 
WOTTON. 

Cardinal  (Lat.  cardtndlis,  from 
cardmem,  a  hinge),  literally  denoting 
that  on  which  a  thing  hinges,  ex- 
presses the  combined  ideas  of  promi- 
nence and  importance ;  but  is  a  term 
technically  restricted  to  certain  sub- 
jects, as  cardinal  virtues,  numbers, 
points  of  the  compass,  and  signs  of 
astronomy,  or  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 
The  term  denotes  })rimary  importance 
in  a  class  of  similar  things. 

"  Conscience  and  alle  cristene  and  cardi' 
nale  vertues." — Piers  Plotighman. 

Capital  (Lat.  ciipttdlis,  fromcitpnt) 
is  etymologically  equivalent  to  chief 
but,  like  cardinal,  is  technically  re- 
stricted. It  denotes  what  belongs  tc 
the  head  and  life,  and  so  is  essential. 
The  term  is  not  now  of  frequent  use  in 
this  sense,  but  is  common  in  the  sense 
of  excellent  of  its  kind.  An  indica- 
tion of  the  old  sense  of  the  term  sur- 
vives in  the  phrase  "  capital  letter." 

"  Cappitall  enemies  unto  his  grace  botfc 
in  heart  and  in  deed," — BARNES. 

CHIEFLY.    Principally.    Espe- 
cially. Particularly.  Primarily. 
Of  these.  Cm  efly  and  Principa  llt 


^choice] 


are  terms  of  relation  in  regard  to  a 
number  or  gradation,  and  therefore 
have  a  comparative  force.  Especi- 
ally, Particitlauly,  and  Primarily 
are  terms  of  relation  in  regard  to  indi- 
piaals,  and  therefore  have  a  super- 
lative force.  If  1  say,  "  Robberies 
happen  chiefly  by  night,"  1  mean  that 
of  the  number  which  take  place,  the 
majority  are  by  night.  If  I  say, 
"  Such  a  word  is  used  principally  in 
such  a  sense,"  1  mean  that  of  the 
number  of  cases  in  which  it  is  used, 
the  majority  have  this  signification. 
If  1  say,  "  Men  are  but  too  ready  to 
listen  to  adverse  rumours,  especially 
where  they  concern  their  enemies,"  I 
single  out  the  foremost  case.  So  is  it 
in  the  following  instances : — "  Water 
is  everywhere  a  blessing,  particularly 
in  hot  climates ;  "  "  The  building 
was  intended  primarily  for  a  maga- 
zine." 

'*  Search   through  this  garden,  ;eave  un- 

search'd  no  nook. 
But  chiefly  where  these  two  fair  creatures 
lodge."  Milton. 

*'  They  mistake  the  nature  of  criticism 
who  think  its  business  is  principally  to  find 
fault."— Dryden. 

"  More  especially  at  this  time,  since  it  is 
the  proper  work  of  the  day." — Suarp. 

"  This  exact  propriety  of  Virgil  I  parti- 
cularly regarded  as  a  great  part  of  his 
character." — Drydex. 

"Surely  from  all  these  places  it  is  very 
evidetit  that  it  was  primarily  the  counsel 
aa  1  the  will  of  God,  that  even  they  who 
would  not  turn,  would  not  repent  and  ac- 
cept of  salvation,  should  have  repented  and 
have  been  made  partakers  of  it."— 
Whitby. 

CHILDISH.     Puerile. 

Both  these  terms  are  employed  in 
an  unfavourable  sense  ;  that  is,  in  re- 
ference to  cases  where  the  weakness 
of  tlie  child  or  the  character  of  the  boy 
(Lat.  piier)  are  out  of  place.  No 
such  disparagement  belongs  to  the 
words  childLike  and  bouish.  Child- 
ish is  used  of  ideas,  character,  and 
conduct;  as, childish  timcies,  childish 
behaviour  :  Puerile  of  modes  of 
thought  and  judgment ;  as,  puerile  ob- 
jections in  argument.  The  one  indi- 
cates the  trifling  of  the  child,  the 
other  the  immature  weakness  of  the 
boy,  as  contrasted  with  the  weight 
and  wisdom  of  the  man.   As  Cuiliush 


DISCRIMINATED. 


231 


expresses  the  intellectual  poverty,  so 
childlike  expresses  the  moral  simpli- 
city of  a  child. 

"  We  cannot  be  so  childish  as  to  imagin* 
that  ambition  is  loc^l^  and  that  no  other  can 
be  infected  with  it  but  those  who  rale  with- 
in certain  parallels  o)  .'atitude  and  longi- 
tude."—BuRKK. 

Piers  Ploughman  used  the  term  in  the 
sense  of  childlike: — 

"  Charitie  is  a  childish  thing,  as  holi 
churche  witnesseth." 

As  at  present  employed,  that  which 
is  simplv  and  absolutely  weak  or  silly 
is  callecl  childish  ;  that  which,  though 
such,  aims  at  the  character  of  the  con- 
trary, or  is  employed  with  gravity  of 
purpose,  is  called  puerile. 

*'  The  French  have  been  notorious  for 
generations  for  their  puerile  affectation  of 
Roman  forms,  models,  and  historic  pre- 
cedents."— De  Quincey. 

CHIMERICAL.     Imaginary. 

The  Chimerical  (Gr.  x^H-^^P'^'  « 
she-goat,  a  name  given  to  afire-breath- 
ing monster  killed  by  Bellerophon)  is 
inconsistent  with  truth ;  the  Imagi- 
nary (Lat.  Ymdgindrins)  supersedes 
it.  The  imaginary,  though  it  be  iiot 
according  to  truth  of  fact,  is  often 
studiously  framed  according  to  princi- 
ples of  probability ;  the  chimerical  is 
a  heterogeneous  aggregate  of  things 
impossible  or  improbable.  An  active 
imagination  creates  the  imaginary,  a 
morbid  imagination  the  chimerical. 
Men  of  learning  and  imaginative 
power  have  framed  imaginary  conver- 
sations between  the  great  men  of  past 
times.  The  search  after  the  philoso- 
pher's stone  was  a  chimerical  project. 

CHOICE.  Option.  Preference. 
Selection.  Election.  Alterna- 
tive. 

Choice  (Fr.  choix)  denotes  the  act 
and  the  power  of  choosing  out  of  a 
number,  with  the  sense,  sometimes,  of 
judgment  in  choice,  as  when  we  say 
to  show  choice.  Every  act  of  elioice 
is  determined  by  some  motive  or  final 
purpose. 

"  This  might  have  been  avoided  by  an- 
choanug  more  to  the  west,  but  I  made  choice 
of  my  situation  for  two  reasons  ;  first  to  be 
near  the  island  we  intended  to  land  upon, 
and  secondly,  to  be  able  to  get  to  sea  wit* 
any  wind."— Cook's  Voyages. 


232 


Option  (Lat.  optionem^  optdre,  to 
choose)  is  the  right  or  power  of  choice, 
or  freedom  from  constraint  in  the  act 
of  choosing.  It  does  not  necessarily 
imply  numhers ;  so  we  say  it  is  at  my 
option  to  act  or  not.  The  optional  is 
opposed  to  the  compulsory. 

"  The  difference  between  the  employment 
of  language  in  such  cases  (in  our  specula- 
tions concerning  individuals)  and  in  onr 
■peculations  concerning  classes  or  genera, 
is,  that  in  the  former  case  the  use  of  words 
is  in  a  great  measure  optional,  whereas  ia 
the  latter  it  is  essentiallj  necessary." — 
D UG ALD  Stewart. 

Pkeference  (Fr.  prifirence,  Lat. 
prteferre,  to  prefer)  is  the  specific 
exercise  of  choice  in  reference  to  one 
or  more  objects  of  choice. 

"  I  trust  it  will  be  allowed  by  all  that 
in  every  act  of  will  there  is  an  act  of  choice ; 
that  in  everj'  volition  there  is  a  prefer- 
ence, or  a  prevailing  inclination  of  the  soul, 
whereby  the  soul  at  that  instant  is  out  of 
a  state  of  perfect  indifference  with  respect 
to  the  direct  object  of  the  volition."— Ed- 
wards, On  the  Will. 

Selection  (Lat.  sclectib>iem,scligere, 
to  choose  out)  means  much  the  same  as 
Preference  ;  but  preference  may  ex- 
press only  a  feeling,  and  always  im- 
plies personal  feeling.  Selection  is 
an  act  of  talcing  one  or  more  out  of  a 
number  upon  some  principle  of  choice 
connected  or  not  with  personal  feel- 
ing. 

"And  sure  no  little  merit  I  may  boast. 
When   such   a   man   selects   from   such    a 
host."  Dkyden. 

Eleciion  (Lat.  llectionem^  cKghe, 
to  select)  is  selection  with  a  view  to 
privilege  or  office,  and  is,  therefore?, 
applicable  only  to  persons,  while  both 
things  and  persons  may  be  selected. 
The  object  in  election  is  practically  so 
much  more  important  than  the  source, 
that  the  terra  elect  is  employed  where 
only  one  person  is  concerned,  and 
where,  therefore,  no  choice  was  possi- 
ble, as  "  only  one  candidate  j)re- 
sented  himself,  and  was  unanimously 
elected." 

"  Experience  overturns  these  airy  fab- 
rics, and  teaches  ns  that  in  a  large  society 
the  election  of  a  monarch  can  never  devolve 
to  the  wisest  or  to  the  most  numerons  part 
of  the  people."— Gibbon. 

An  Alternative  (Lat.  altenidre, 
tn  do  by  tum$)  w  a  contingent  object 


SYKOXYMS  [choke] 

of  choice,  that  is,  a  thing  which  may 
be  chosen  in  the  event  of  another  being 
rejected  or  not  chosen.  In  the  sim- 
plest sense  of  the  term,  the  term  alter- 
native is  applied  to  two  things  only ; 
yet  it  is  possible  to  regard  that  as  an 
alternative  which,  as  being  possible  or 
eligible,  is  set  over  against  many  othei 
things  regarded  collectively.  The  al- 
ternative is  commensurate  with  the 
choice,  which  may  be  one  of  appropria- 
tion, action,  or  opinion.  When  two  or 
more  things  offer  the  choice  of  one 
only,  the  term  alternative  is  applic- 
able to  the  things  in  general,  and  also 
to  the  one  chosen — to  the  former  in 
the  sense  of  a  thing  possible  to  choose, 
and  to  the  latter  in  the  sense  of  a  thing 
desirable  to  choose. 

"  There  is  something  else  than  the  mere 
alternative  of  absolute  destruction  or  nnre- 
formed  existence." — BuRKK. 

CHOKE.  Suffocate.  Smother. 
Stifle.     Strangle. 

Choke  (probably  an  imitative  word) 
is  a  general  term,  expressive  of  the 
stopping  up  of  anything  through 
which  a  free  passage  or  current  ought 
to  exist ;  so,  a  garden  or  a  river  may  be 
choked  with  weeds,  or  the  pipe  of  a 
drain  may  be  choked.  As  used  of  the 
human  body,  it  means  to  stop  the 
l)assages  of  respiration  by  the  intro- 
duction of  foreign  substances. 
"  Whose  banks  received  the  blood  of  many 

a  thousand  men. 
On  sad  Palm  Sunday  slain ;  that  Towton 

field  we  call. 
Whose  channel  quite  was  choked  with  those 
that  there  did  fall."        Drayton. 

Suffocate  is  from  the  Lat.  suj^'o- 
care  (from  sub,  under,  and  pi.  fauces^ 
the  gullet).  It  is,  therefore,  only 
applicable,  properly,  to  liviLg  beings. 
A  lire  may  be  metaphoricaUy  said  to 
be  suffocated,  that  is,  deprived  of  free 
air,  which  it  requires,  after  the  like- 
ness of  living  beings  ;  but,  at  least, 
the  river,  though  choked,  is  not  said 
to  be  suffocated  with  weeds. 

"Think  of  that,  I  that  am  as  subject  to 
heat  as  butter,  a  man  of  continual  dissolu- 
tion and  thaw,  it  was  a  miracle  to  su-apt' 
sj{^oca^«on."— Shakespeark. 

To  Stifle  (connected  wicxi  Gr. 
o-Tu^xw,  Lat,  sl'ipo,  to  compreoi ,  Fr. 
ttouff'er,  &CC.)  is  commonly  employee* 
of  the  less  gross  subEtances,  as  smoke, 


[circumscribe]      discriminated. 


233 


dust,  malaria,  introduced  into  the 
respiratory  organs,  and  interfering 
witn  their  action  in  other  ways  than 
by  mechanical  obstruction.  This  is 
not,  however,  its  exclusive  use.  In 
the  following  passage  it  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  smother : — 

"  So  he  wrapped  them,  and  entangled 
them,  keeping  down  the  feather-bed  and 
pillows  hard  unto  their  mouths,  that  within 
a  while,  smored  and  stifled,  their  breath 
failing,  they  gave  up  to  God  their  innocent 
souls,  into  the  joys  of  heaven." — Sir  T. 
MoiiE. 

To  Strangle  (Lat.  stran^iibre,  to 
choke)  is  to  stop  the  circulation  of  air 
in  tlie  respiratory  organs  by  purely 
external  and  mechanical  com])ression. 

"  First  he  (Tyndall)  was  with  a  halter 
strangled  by  the  hangman,  and  afterwards 
consumed  with  fire."— Fox,  Life  of  2yn- 
dall. 

Smother  (allied  to  obs.  smoor,  A.  S. 
smorian,  to  sn^'ocate)  is  used  of  such 
stoppage  of  air  as  is  produced  by  an 
overwhelming  mass  from  without, 
being  so  far  like  Strangle,  and  un- 
like Choke  and  Suffocate  ;  but,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  there  is  no  local 
application  of  force ;  as  when  a  person 
is  covered  by  an  avalanche,  and  so 
smothered  to  death. 

"She,  smothered  with  so  monstrous  a 
weight,  did  sink  down  under  it  to  the 
earth." — Sidney's  Arcadia. 

CHOOSE.     Prefer. 

To  Choose  (Fr.  choisir)  is  to  take 
one  thing  rather  than  another;  to 
Prefer  (Lat.  prceferre)  is  to  put  one 
thing  above  another.  One  chooses  a 
thing  for  the  purpose  of  making  use  of 
it ;  as,  a  book  to  read,  a  lodging  to 
occupy,  a  profession  to  exercise,  a 
master  to  instruct  us.  One  prefers 
the  book  wliich  is  the  most  instructive 
or  entertaining,  or  best  meets  our 
wants  at  the  time,  the  most  convenient 
lodging,  the  most  suitable  profeission, 
the  most  competent  master,  to  other 
persons  or  tilings  of  their  kind  wliich 
are  less  good  in  their  ways.  One 
cliooses  with  a  practical  object,  one 
prefers  as  an  exercise  of  speculative 
judgment.  Accordingly,  choice  is 
good  or  bad,  preference  just  or  unjust. 
A  good  choice  is  to  one's  own  benefit, 
a  right  preference  is  just  to  the  things 
or  person  preferred.     Choice  is  a  more 


external  ait  than  preference.  Hence 
we  sometimes  choose  what  in  our 
hearts  we  do  not  prefer,  or,  which  is 
the  same  thing,  prefer  what  we  do  not 
choose ;  that  is,  inclination  is  over- 
borne by  circumstances  and  practical 
necessity.  Choice  implies  deliberation 
and  a  finding  in  the  object  of  that 
quality  of  which  we  are  in  search. 
Preference  implies  formal  comparison 
and  a  recognition  or  supposition  of 
superior  excellence.  We  make  a 
choice,  and  give  the  preference.  In 
preference  a  kind  of  favour  is  bestowed 
upon  the  object,  in  choice  we  seek  to 
be  ourselves  benefited. 

CHURLISH.     Boorish. 

Hoth  these  terms  express  such  de- 
fects of  disposition  and  manners  as 
are  dependent  upon  or  analogous  to 
the  chai'acter  and  behaviour  of  the 
low-born  and  rude.  The  Churl  (A.  S. 
ceorl)  was  a  freeman  of  the  lowest 
rank.  The  Boor  (A.  S.  Gebur)  is 
literally  a  countryman  or  farmer.  The 
churlish  disposition  is  the  more  ob- 
jectionable morally,  the  boorish  the 
more  offensive  socially.  The  churlish 
j)orson  is  niggardly,  selfish,  hard, 
sour,  and  as  a  consequence  of  this  is 
wanting  in  kindness  and  courtesy. 
The  boorish  person  is  unacquainted 
with  other  ways  than  those  of  the 
farm,  the  cattle-yard,  or  the  plough. 
He  is  awkward,  illiterate,  and  rude, 
but  rather  from  want  of  a  trained 
sensibility  than  from  any  unkindliness 
of  feeling. 

circumscribe.  Inclose. 
Limit.  Bound.  Restrict.  Include. 
Environ.  Surround.  Ri^strain. 
Encircle.     Encompass.     Confine. 

To  Circumscribe  (Lat.  circum- 
scr'ibtre)  is  to  inclose  within  a  certain 
limit ;  but  the  terra  could  only  be  very 
pedantically  used  of  mere  superfici*! 
extent.  It  denotes  rather  limitation 
of  range,  movement,  action,  play  ;  as 
"his  ambition  was  circumscribed  bv 
his  poverty." 

"  Nor  circumscribed  alone 
Their  growing  virtues,  but  their  crimes 

confined, 
Forbade  to  wade  through  slaughter  to  a 

throne. 
And  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  ai^ankind.*' 
Grit. 


234 


SYNONYMS  [circumscribe] 


To  Inclose  (Lnt.  ivdhdire^  part. 
inclusus)  is,  on  the  other  hand,  purely 
ohysical,  as  a  town  within  walls,  a 
letter  in  a  cover,  lands  within  a  fence. 
The  thing  inclosed  is  hidden  or  de- 
fended by  its  inclosure. 
"Shall  one,  and    he  inclosed  within  your 

wall, 
One   rash    imprison'd    warrior,    vanquish 

all?"  Pitt's  Virgil, 

To  Limit  (Lat.  tivvttare,  I'unttem,  a 
limit)  bears  specific  reference  to  move- 
ments or  tendencies  which  are  likely 
to  pass  beyond  a  certain  number  or 
extent. 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  the 
necessity  of  limiting  the  field  of  our  exertion 
if  we  are  to  benefit  society  bj  our  laboure." 
—Stewart. 

To  Bound  denotes  not  restriction 
of  action  or  by  external  influence,  so 
much  as  the  cessation  of  extension  ; 
80,  England  is  bounded  on  all  sides  by 
the  ocean.  The  sphere  of  action  is 
bounded ;  actions  themselves  are 
limited. 

"Ye  good  distrest! 
Ye  noble  few  !  who  here  unbending  stand 
Beneath  life's  pressure,  yet  bear  up  awhile, 
And  what  your  bounded  view,  which  only 

saw 
A  little  part,  dcem'd  evil,  is  no  more." 
Thomson. 

On  the  other  hand  Restrict  (Lat. 
restringere,  part,  restricttis)  implies  the 
confinement  within  certain  limits  or 
to  a  certain  number  or  extent  of  that 
which  has  a  tendency  to  exceed  them. 
But  Restrict  differs  both  from  Limit 
and  Restrain  (another  form  of  Re- 
strict). 'I'o  restrict  is  relative,  and 
restrain  is  absolute.  We  restrain  a 
person  from  running  when  we  compel 
him  to  walk,  or,  generally,  we  restrain 
him  when  we  hold  him  from  doing 
anytliing  he  may  be  inclined  to  do;  but 
we  restrict  him  to  a  certain  pace,  or  to 
certain  limits  which  he  must  not  pass, 
or  to  the  use  of  certain  things  specified. 

"  The  common  law  of  England  indeed  is 
said  to  abhor  perpetuities,  and  they  are 
accordingly  more  restricted  there  than  in 
any  other  European  monarchy;  though 
even  England  is  not  altogether  without 
them." — Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  Nor  is  the  hand  of  the  painter  more 
restrainabU  than  the  pen  of  the  poet."— 
Brown,  Vulgar  Errors. 

For  Confine,  ne  Captivity.     To   i 


Encompass  (L.  Lat.  coinpassuSy  a 
circle)  is  to  circumscribe  a  given  space 
or  locality,  so  as  closely  to  surround 
it;  while  Surround  itself  (Fr.  sar- 
ronder)  does  not  necessarily  imjjly 
this  closeness.  A  city  may  be  encom- 
passed with  an  army,  so  that  all  ingress 
and  egress  is  prevented ;  this  is  not 
implied  in  saying  that  it  is  siirroundedf 
as,  for  instance,  by  hills.  A  question 
may  be  encompassed  with  difficulty. 

"  ISntirely  encompassed  the  enemy's  body 
of  foot."— Ludlow's  Memoirs. 

*'  But  clond  instead,  and  ever-durmg  dark, 
Surrounds  me,  from  the  cheerful  ways  «f 

men 
Cut  off."  MlI.TON. 

Include  (Lat.  incliidtre)  is  as  in- 
variably metaphysical  as  Inclose  is 
physical.  "  We  will  include  you  in 
our  party,"  means,  we  will  regard  you 
as  forming  one  of  ourselves.  A 
number,  a  designation,  a  definition, 
and  the  like,  are  the  terms  of  inclu- 
sion. 

"  Our  mayster  Christ  showeth  that  in 
fulfilling  two  of  these  commaundements 
bee  all  workes  included."— Bxb.nks. 

To  Environ  (O.  Fr,  envinmner)  is 
a  French  word,  which  is  as  nearly  aa 
possible  the  equivalent  of  the  English 
snrroundy  but  it  presupposes  some 
degree  of  magnitude,  dignity,  or  im- 
portance in  the  surrounding  things. 
\Ve  say  the  plain  is  environed  by 
mountains,  but  we  should  not  say, 
the  table  is  environed  by  chairs.  Of 
Surround  and  Environ,  we  may  ob- 
serve, that  they  do  not  denote  of 
necessity  any  restrictive  inclosure ;  for 
instance,  a  mere  circular  pattern  or 
design  might  be  said  to  surround,  as 
the  centre  is  surrounded  by  a  flowing 
border.  Nor  does  Environ  imply  a 
close,  but  rather  a  distant  surround- 
ing. 

"  Into  that  forest  far  they  thence  him  led. 
Where  was  their  dwelling  iu  a  pleasant 

glade, 
With  mountains  round  a])ont  environed, 
And  mighty  woods,  which  did  the  valley 

shade."  Spenser. 

To  Encircle,  as  its  name  desig- 
nates, implies  a  surrounding  with 
something  which  is  exactly  or  np- 
proximates  to  a  mathematical  circle , 
as  "  a   diadem  encircled  Iter  htow  ' 


circumstance]     T>ISCR1M1NATED. 


235 


It  involves  limitation  ov  circumscrip- 
tion, but  not  coercion  or  restriction. 
"Yoang  Hermes  next,  a  close-contriving 

god. 
Her  brows  encircled  with  his  serpent  rod, 
Theu  plots  and  fair  excuses  filled  her  brain." 
Parnell,  Hesiod. 
CIRCUMSTANCE.  Situation.  In- 
cident. Fact.  Event.  Occurrence. 

Circumstance  (Fr.  circonstance)  is 
literally  the  condition  of  things  sur- 
rounding an  event ;  from  -which  it 
passed  to  mean  one  of  the  things 
themselves,  and  so  generally  a  fact, 
particular,  or  incident.  A  circum- 
stance is  a  distinctive  accessary  to 
the  principal  fact  or  event.  The  cir- 
cumstance occasionally  reacts  with 
great  force  on  the  main  fact  or  event, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  ig  so  trivial  as 
to  be  practically  of  no  moment.  An 
unforeseen  circumstance  in  a  cam- 
paign may  lead  to  the  loss  of  a  battle. 
Circumstances  alter  cases  and  opinions. 

•♦  We  are  now  at  the  close  of  our  review 
of  the  three  simple  forms  of  artificial  so- 
ciety, and  we  have  shown  them,  however 
they  may  differ  in  name  or  in  some  slight 
circumstaiices ,  to  be  all  alike  in  effect — in 
effect  to  he  all  tyrannies."— BuRKE. 

It  is  in  the  plural.  Circumstances, 
that  it  has  the  character  of  a  syno- 
nym with  Situation  (Lat.  situs); 
many  relative  circumstances  inaking 
a  situation.  (Circumstances,  in  mo- 
dern English,  has  the  peculiar  mean- 
ing of  situation  us  to  worldly  ^oods.) 
"  He  found  himself  in  such  circum- 
stances," and  "  He  found  himself  in 
such  a  situation,"  woul-d  be  nearly 
equivalent  expressions,  for  the  situa- 
tion or  the  case  is  the  sum  of  the 
circumstances.  But  Situation  points 
to  a  fixed  state.  Circumstances  may 
accompany  the  varying  condition  of 
the  thing  or  person.  "  He  was  in  a 
situation  of  great  danger,"  would  be 
equivalent  to  "  He  was  in  circum- 
stances of  great  danger  ;  "  but  we 
could  hardly  say,  "  lie  pursued  his 
journey  in  a  situation  of  great  danger:  " 
in  this  case  we  should  be  compelled 
to  say,  "  under  circumstances  oi  great 
danger." 

•*  Nor  did  the  shores  and  woods  appear 
less  destitute  of  wild  fowl:  so  that  we 
hoped  to  enjoy  with  ease  what  in  our  situa- 
tion might  be  called  the  luxuries  of  life  "— 
Cook's  Voyages, 


Circumstance, Incident, and  Fact 
are  also  related  in  meaning.  So  we 
might  say,  the  circumstances,  the 
incidents,  or  the  facts  of  the  case ; 
but  Circumstance  relates  to  what  is 
accessary  to  fact,  and  forms  <%  part  or 
detail  of  it.  A  murder  is  a  fact,  the 
circumstances  of  it  are  the  parts  of  the 
fact — the  incidents  of  the  deed,  the 
details  of  its  commission,  or  anything 
remotely  connected  with  the  fact  as 
such.  An  Incident  (Fr.  incident, 
Lat.  incultre,  to  happen)  is  no  more 
than  a  befalment,  something  which 
happens  upon  another  thing,  and  is 
not  necessarily  connected  with  die 
fact  as  snchy  but  has  merely  occurred 
alon^  with  it.  A  circumstance  of  the 
murder  is  essentially  connected  with 
it ;  an  incident  of  it  may  be  such  as 
to  have  no  practical  value  in  regard 
to  it — no  close  relationship — as,  foi 
instance,  that  a  bright  rainbow 
seemed  suddenly  to  break  forth  at 
the  moment — a  thing  which  migh^ 
affect  the  imagination,  but  not  the 
evidence. 

"  Thy  incidents  perh&ps  too  thick  are  sown. 
Bat  too  much  plenty  is  thy  fault  alone." 
Dryden. 

A  Fact  (\jat. factum,  a  thing  done) 
is  a  thing  which  has  truly  taken  ])lace, 
and  may  be  of  a  complicated  nature, 
as  bein^  conceived  in  the  aggregate. 
So  the  fact  of  a  murder  is  not  a  simple, 
but  a  very  complicated  thing,  involv- 
ing all  the  numerous  particulars  of 
the  so-called  fact,  and  the  necessity  of 
exact  truth  in  all  the  particulars  so 
as  to  form  an  exact  conception  of  the 
fact. 

"It  would  have  been  absurd  to  allege  in 
preaching  to  unbelievers  &fact  which  itself 
presupposed  the  trnth  of  Christ's  mission, 
and  which  could  not  have  been  proved  with- 
out first  taking  for  granted  the  truth  of 
that  very  doctrine  in  proof  of  which  this 
jfact  was  to  have  been  alleged."— Clarke. 
The  term  fact  has  the  different  senses 
of— 1,  that  which  has  been  done  or 
has  taken  place ;  2,  truth  in  the  ab- 
stract, as  in  the  phrase,  "in  fact;" 
and  3,  the  representation  of  a  fact  in 
the  first  sense,  irrespectively  of  the 
actual  truth  of  it,  as  when  a  pleader 
is  eloquent  on  his  case,  but  wrong  in 
his  facts. 

An  Event  (Lat.  eventutf  evhiirtf  tc 


236 


SYNONYMS         [circumstantial] 


come  forth)  is  a  fact  or  occurrence  re- 
garded as  a  result  or  product  of  other 
things  ;  hence  we  speak  of  watching 
tl  event,  or  waiting  for  the  progress 
of  events.  The  term  denotes  some 
degree  of  importance. 

"  Sui-h  kind  of  things  or  events,  whether 
good  or  evil,  as  will  certainly  come  to  pass 
may  fall  under  computation,  and  be  esti- 
mated as  to  their  several  degrees,  as  well  as 
things  ])resent."— WlLKINS. 

An  Occurrence,  on  the  other  hand 
(Lat.  occurrere,  to  meet),  has  no  refe- 
rence to  any  antecedents,  but  simply 
denotes  what  meets  us  in  the  course 
of  our  lives  by  chance  or  Providence. 
It  ought,  however,  to  be  added  that 
these  terms  may  be  often  used  inter- 
changeably, according  to  the  point  of 
view  from  which  things  are  regarded. 
For  instance,  a  shower  of  rain  is  an 
event,  regarded  simply  as  a  meteoro- 
logical result.  It  is  a  fact,  as  regards 
any  question  as  to  whether  it  actually 
fell  or  not.  It  would  be  an  incident 
in  the  acaDunt  of  a  day's  sport.  It  is 
a  circumstance,  of  perhaps  vital  impor- 
tance, to  a  crop,  and  an  untoward 
occurrence  to  any  one  who,  having 
taken  no  precautions  ;  gainst  it,  was 
wetted  through  by  it.  We  speak  of 
the  facts  and  events  of  history,  and  of 
the  occuiTences  of  eve  v  day. 

"  When  fear  does  not  in  sudden  or  hazar- 
dous occurrences  discompose  his  mind,  set 
his  body  a  trembling,  and  make  him  unfit 
for  action,  or  run  away  from  it,  he  has  then 
the  courage  of  a  rational  creature." — 
Locke. 

CIRCUMSTANTIAL.  Parti- 
cular.    Minute. 

These  terms  diminish  in  force  in 
the  above  order.  A  Circumstantial 
account  would  be  one  which  gave  the 
leading  circumstances.  Particular, 
all  the  circumstances,  and  Minute 
(Lat.  minutus,  from  minuere,  to  lessen) 
the  most  trivial  as  well  as  the  most 
important. 

"  I  conceived  myself  obliged  to  set  down 
somewhat  circumstantially  not  only  the 
events  but  the  manner  of  my  trials." — 
BOYLE. 

"  Now  will  we  speak  jmrticularly  of  all, 
and  first  of  the  first,  which  he  calleth  by 
the  first  month's  name,  January." — 
Spenser. 

"  Vandyck  had  a  peculiar  genius  for  por- 
traits;   his  draperies  are  finished  with  a 


minuteness  of  truth  not  to  be  demanded  in 
historic  compositions." — Walpole. 

CIVIL.     Civic,     Municipal. 

Civil  (Lat.  c'wilis)  is  a  term  which 
relates  to  the  citizen  in  his  personal 
capacity ;  Civic  (Lat.  cMcus)  as  he  is 
a  member  of  a  municipal  body,  or 
stands  related  to  its  jurisdiction. 
Civil  rights  are  those  which  he  pos- 
sesses and  exercises  as  a  member  of 
the  community  at  large.  Such  are  the 
rights  of  mairiage,  of  will  and  bequest, 
of  inheritance.  Civil  war  is  waged  by 
one  class  or  section  of  the  community 
against  another.  Civic  honours  and 
dignities  are  frequently  the  reward  of 
commercial  industry. 

Municipal  (Lat.  muntctpalis),  a 
designation  of  Italian  towns  possess- 
ing the  right  of  Roman  citizenship, 
but  governed  by  their  own  laws,  is  a 
term  associated,  not  like  Civic  with 
the  city  generally,  but  rather  with  its 
privileges  and  administration.  Hence, 
such  an  idea  as  that  of  civic  architec- 
ture, i.e.  the  public  buildings  of  a  city, 
could  not  be  rendered  by  such  a  phrase 
as  municipal  architecture.  The  term 
civic  expresses  the  character  and  re- 
lation of  all  that  is  connected  with  the 
body  of  free  citizens;  municipal,  that 
which  is  connected  with  the  civic 
authorities  and  the  corporation  or 
governing  body  of  the  town.  Civic 
hospitality,  honours,  and  dignities. 
Municipal  rights,  authorities,  govern- 
ment, privileges,  jurisdiction. 

CIVIL.  Polite.  Obliging.  Ac- 
commodating. Courteous.  /•Com- 
plaisant.    Considerate. 

The  Civil  man  was  originally  the 
c'w'ilis,  or  one  who  fulfilled  the  duties  of 
a  c'ivis  or  citizen.  It  means  now  him 
who  is  observant  of  the  slight  ex- 
ternal courtesies  of  intercourse  be- 
tween man  and  man.  True  civility  is 
seen  in  the  demeanour  of  those  Avho 
respect  others  because  they  respect 
themselves,  and  is  as  far  removed 
from  condescension  on  the  one  side,  as 
from  servility  on  the  other. 

"  The  people  behaved  very  civilly,  show- 
ing us  everything  that  we  expressed  a  de- 
sire to  see."— Cook's  Voyages. 

The  Polite  man  (Lat.  pb/ifus,  from 
pbfii'e,  to  polish)  is  polished   in  such 


g 


claim] 


courtesies,  aud  is  of  higher  training. 
The  courtier  is  polite,  but  even  the 
rustic  may  be  civil.  Civility  is  con- 
fined to  no  class  or  grade  of  society. 
It  is  tliat  every-day  kind  of  deference 
which  befits  all,  whether  equals  or 
unequals.  Politeness  is  between 
equals,  »nd  that  in  the  society  of  the 
better-born  and  educated.  The  civil 
man  is  not  necessarily  polite.     The 

olite  is  civil,  and  something  more. 

Civility  consists  in  the  saying  and 
doing  certain  things  and  the  avoid- 
ance of  tlip  saying  and  doing  of  other 
things  according  to  conventional  rules, 
which  differ  according  to  time,  place, 
circumstance,  and  the  relation  of  per- 
sons to  each  other.  Politeness  con- 
sists in  saying  and  doing  nothing  that 
can  displease  others,  in  saying  and 
doing  all  that  may  please  them,  and 
that  with  a  certain  nobility,  ease,  and 
delicacy  of  manner  and  of  speech. 
Civility  i)romotes  mutual  respect  and 
good-will.  Both  civility  and  polite- 
ness are  the  expression  or  the  affecta- 
tion of  social  virtues,  according  as  they 
are  true  or  false.  Yet  politeness  may 
flatter  the  vices  of  otliers,  which  civility 
is  too  simple  to  do. 

"What  but  custom  conld  make  those 
salutations  polite  in  Musc-ovy  which  are 
riciiculous    in    France    or     England  ? " — 

Watts. 

The  Ohligino  man  (Lat.  ohtigare^ 
to  bind  or  oblige)  is  he  Avho  is  ready 
with  more  than  the  mere  courtesies 
of  demeanour,  and  takes  pleasure  in 
doing  some  actual  service. 

"  Gay,     modest,    artless,    beautiful,    aud 

young. 
Slow  to  resolve,  in  resolution  strong. 
To  all  obliging,  yet  reserved  to  all." 

Walsh. 

The  Accommodating  person  (see 
Acccmmodate)  is  ready  to  be  oblig- 
ing, not  in  the  way  of  granting 
favours  generally,  like  the  Obliging, 
but  in  meeting  the  particulai  or  spe- 
cific requirements  or  the  time  and  oc- 
casion in  favour  of  others,  even  at  the 
cost  of  a  little  personal  inconveni- 
ence. Though  the  epithet  is  modern 
and  conversational,  the  radical  force 
of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  following  : — 

"  It  is  an  old  observation  which  has  been 
wale  of  politicians  who  would  i-ather  iu- 


DISORIMINATED. 


237 


gratiate  themselves  with  their  sovereign 
than  promote  his  real  service,  that  they 
accommodate  their  counsels  to  his  inclina- 
tions."— Annisox. 

(For  Courteous  see  Affable.) 
Complaisant  (Fr.  complaisant)  occu- 
pies a  position  midway  between  Polite 
and  Courteous — which  are  merely 
external — and  Obliging — which  im- 
plies actual  kindness  of  nature.  Com- 
plaisance is  a  deportment  indicative  of 
a  desire  to  please,  and  therefore  best 
befits  those  who  have  superiority  or 
power  on  their  side. 

"  As  for  our  Saviour,  He  was  a  person  so 
far  from  being  morose  or  reserved  in  His 
caiTiage  or  a  lover  of  singularity,  so  far 
from  setting  up  a  way  of  conversation  of 
His  own  making,  distinct  from  the  way  He 
found  in  the  world,  that  He  was  the  must 
free,  obliging,  and  civil,  and,  if  I  durst  use 
the  word,  I  would  say  complaisant  person 
that  ever  perhaps  appeared  in  the  world." 
—Sharp. 

A  more  praisewortliy  character  is 
that  of  the  CoNsinEHATE  (Lat.  con- 
sidcrdre,  to  ohsei-ve  closely),  who  meets 
the  wants  of  others,  or  relieves  them 
of  trouble  by  placing  himself  thought- 
fully in  their  place  and  circum- 
stances. Formerly,  Considerate 
meant  thoughtful  or  deliberate. 

"  The  wisest  and  most  considerate  men 
in  the  world."— Sharp's  Sermons. 

It  bears  now  the  usual  meaning  of 
having  thoughtfor  otliers — what  would 
please  them  or  what  is  due  to  them. 
This  general  character  is  expressed  in 
the  following  use  of  the  noun  con- 
sideration : — 

"  Moses,  having  his  mind  fixed  upon  Him 
who  is  invisible,  acted  more  from  the  con' 
sideration  of  Him  whom  he  could  not  see 
than  of  him  whom  he  saw  to  be  highly  dis- 
pleased with  him,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of 
the  king,  for  he  saw  Him  who  is  invisible." 
— Stillingfleet. 

"  .^Eneas  is  patient,  considerate,  and  care- 
ful of  his  people."— Drydkx. 

CLAIM.  Demand.  Right.  Pre 
TENSION.  Privilege,  Preroga 
tive.     Requisition. 

Claim  (O.  Yr.clamer,  claimer ;  Lat. 
cldmare,  to  call  out)  is  an  advance 
upon  Demand  (Fr.  demandery  Lat. 
d'cmanddre),  being  the  assertion  of  a 
right  to  demand.  The  highwayman 
demands  the  surrender  of  the  tra- 
veller's purse,   on  which  he  has  no 


238 


SYNONYMS 


[clamour] 


claim.  The  poor  man  claims  equal 
rights  of  liberty  with  the  rich  in  a  free 
State.  Claim  supposes  an  unacknow- 
ledged right,  Demand  either  a  dis- 
puted right  or  the  absence  of  all  right, 
and  a  simple  determination  to  have. 

"  They  were  told,  in  answer  to  their 
claim  to  the  bread  earned  with  their  blood, 
that  their  services  had  not  been  rendered 
to  the  country  which  now  exists," — BuRKE. 

"  If  we  seriously  do  weigh  the  case,  we 
shall  find  that  to  reiiuire  faith  without  rea- 
son IS  to  aemavd  an  impossibility,  for  faith 
is  an  effect  of  jiersuasion,  and  pei'suasion  is 
nothing  else  but  the  application  of  some 
i-eason  to  the  mind  apt  to  draw  forth  its 
assent." — Rakkow. 

Right  (A.  S.  rihty  Lat.  rectus)  is  not, 
like  Claim  and  Demand,  developed, 
but  lies,  as  it  were,  dormant.  It  is 
the  latent  power  to  claim  or  demand 
upon  occasion, 

"Although  thei-e  be,  according  to  the 
opinion  of  some  very  great  and  judicious 
men,  a  kind  of  natural  right  in  the  noble, 
wise,  and  virtuous  to  govern  them  which 
are  of  servile  disposition,  nevertheless  for 
manifestation  of  this  their  right  and  men's 
more  peaceable  contentment  on  both  sides, 
the  assent  of  them  who  are  to  be  governp'/ 
seemeth  necessary." — Hooker 

Pretension  (Lat.  prceienncre,  to 
allege)  is  the  holding  out  the  appear- 
ance of  right  or  possession,  without 
directly  urging  it.  This  indirectness 
is  so  much  an  attribute  of  pretension, 
that  pretension  sometimes  sneaks  alto- 
gf'ther  lor  itself,  as  if  we  should  sny, 
"  lie  has  some  pretensions  to  be  con- 
jpidered  one  of  the  best  writers  of  the 
day,"  the  pretensions  being,  in  this 
case,  the  actual  merits.  Neverthe- 
Jess,  a  man's  pretensions  always  rest 
'  ujjon  his  estimate  of  himself,  or  in  the 
broadest  sense,  the  estimate  generally 
entertained  of  him :  his  claims  are  not 
thus  matters  of  opinion,  but  questions 
of  right  and  of  fact. 

"  You  see  that  an  opinion  of  merit  is  dis- 
couraged even  in  those  who  had  the  best 
pret&isions,  if  any  pi'e tensions  were  good." 
— Palev. 

Privilege  (Lat,  pr'ivUcgium)  is  a 
right,  immunity,  or  advantage  pos- 
sessed by  some,  but  not  enjoyed  by 
others. 

"  I*rivilege  in  Roman  Jurisprudence 
means  the  exen.ption  of  one  individual  from 
the  operation  of  a  law." — Mackintosh. 


"As  this  liberty  is  not  indulged  in  any 
other  government,  either  republican  or 
monarchical,  in  Holland  and  Venice  more 
than  in  France  or  Spain,  it  may  very 
naturally  give  occasion  to  the  question  how 
it  happens  that  Great  Britain  enjoys  thit 
peculiar  privilege." — Hume, 

Prerogative  (Lat.  tribus  praro- 
giitiva,  the  tribe  which  voted  first  in 
the  Comitia)  denotes  a  right  of  prece- 
dence, or  of  doing  certain  acts,  or  en- 
joying certain  privileges,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  others.  In  short,  prerogative 
is  political  peculiarity  of  privilege, 
and  analogously  such  privilege  as  is 
confined  to  one  or  a  few.  Preroga- 
tive belongs  to  personal  honours  and 
[)referments.  Privilege  regards  some 
advantage  of  interest  or  function,  and 
comes  from  the  accordance  of  pei'sons 
in  power,  or  from  the  arrangements  of 
society. 

"  The  kings  of  these  realms  enjoy  several 
powers  wherein  the  laws  have  not  inter- 
posed. So  they  can  make  war  and  peace 
without  the  consent  of  Parliament,  and  this 
is  a  great  prerogative." — SwiJFT. 

A  Rfquisition  (Lat.  rcqmrcre,  part. 
raifdaitus)  is  a  formal  demand ;  com- 
monly, therefore,  in  writing.  1 1  is  not  so 
much  a  demand  of  justice  as  one  based 
u[)on  the  authority,  influence,  respect- 
ability, or  number  of  those  who  make 
it ;  so,  a  number  of  inhabitants  in  a 
district  may  forward  a  requisition  to  a 
cei'tain  person  in  office  to  call  a  public 
meeting,  or  one  State  may  make  a 
recjuisition  to  another  to  surrendei 
a  fugitive  from  justice. 

"  Provided  the  same  requisition  be  sea- 
sonably made,  not  u])on  rash  or  precipitate 
advice." — Reliquiae,  WoTTON, 

CLAMOUR.  Cry.  Outcry.  Up- 
ROAR.  Exclamation.  Acclama- 
tion. Vociferation.  Shouting. 
Bawling.    Tumult. 

Clamol'u  (Lat.  cldmorem)  is  a 
noisy  use  of  the  voice  in  continuous 
or  reiterated  pronunciation.  In  this 
sense,  we  might  speak  of  the  clamour 
of  the  streets;  but  it  is  commonly 
employed  of  the  simultaneous  use  ot 
the  tongue  by  a  collection  of  persons 
calling  out  each  for  himself,  and  try- 
ing to  be  heard  on  his  own  account, 
above  the  voices  of  others ;  as  when 
the  crew,  on  the  eve  of  mutiny, 
clamorously  state  their  grievances. 


[CLASF] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


239 


"We  may  inucb  more  easily  think  to 
clamour  the  sun  and  stars  ont  of  their 
courses  than  to  word  the  great  Creator  of 
them  out  of  the  steady  purposes  of  His  own 
will  by  all  the  vehemence  and  loudness  of 
our  petitions."— South. 

Cry  (Fr.  crier)  is  the  sotind  of 
voices  in  articulate  or  inarticulate 
sounds  ;  as,  the  cry  of  a  bird,  the  cry^ 
of  the  salesman,  the  cry  of  joy  or  of 
^ain.  It  is  to  the  inarticulate,  espe- 
cially, that  the  word  Cry  belongs; 
«:hile  clamour  consists  necessarily  of 
words. 

"  The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness."—^i6^e. 

Oi'TCUY  is  an  expressive  and  unani- 
mous aggregate  of  cries  in  opposition 
or  protest,  as  hoots  and  yells.  It  is 
confined  to  human  beings,  and  is 
allowed  to  include  words.  Clamour 
often  asserts,  but  outcry  always  pro- 
tests. 

"When  they  cannot  out-reason  the  con 
science  they  will  out-cry  it." — South. 

Uproar  (A.  S.  riiriany  to  roar)  de- 
notes the  mass  of  confused  sound 
which  proceeds  fi-om  a  number  of 
persons  giving;  vent  to  feelings  of 
itrong  opposition. 

"  We  are  in  danger  to  be  called  in  ques- 
tion for  this  day's  uproar,  there  being  no 
cause  whereby  we  may  give  an  account  of 
this  concourse." — Bible. 

Exclamation  (Lat.  eicldmal'wnem) 
is  no  more  than  the  sudden  expression 
of  sound  or  words,  and  is  indicative 
of  joy,  grief,  surprise,  or  any  such 
emotion,  in  one  or  more. 

"  These  holy  gi'oves 
Permit   no  exclamation   'gainst    Heaven's 

will 
To  violate  their  echoes."  Mason. 

AcCLA.MAi  ION  (Lat.  acclamationem) 
is  loud  and  unanimous  exclamation  in 
favour,  and  is  opposed  to  Outcry  in 
being  expressive  of  approval,  as  Out- 
cry of  protest. 

"  An  amiable,  accomplished  prince  as- 
cends the  throne  under  the  happiest  of  all 
auspices,  the  acclamations  and  united  af- 
fections of  his  subjects."— Junius. 

Vociferation  (Lat.  vocifcrdtionem) 
is  any  vehement  and  strained  use  of 
the  voice,  and  relates  to  continuous 
and  articulate  sounds;  while  Bawl 
(iCfcl.  baiila,  to  belbw)  relates  to  in- 
tiiiculate.      When    we    say,    "  He 


bawled  out  his  speech,'*  we  mean 
that  it  had  the  effect  of  an  inarticulate 
bellowing. 

•*  The  j  udges  of  the  Areopagus  considerec 
action  and  vociferation  as  a  foolish  appea) 
to  the  external  senses,  and  unworthy  to  be 
practised  before  those  who  had  no  desi  e  of 
idle  amusement,  and  whose  only  pleasure 
was  to  discover  right." — Jdler. 
"  But  this  is  got  by  casting  pearls  to  hogs 
That  haicl  for  freedom  in  their  senseless 
moovl,"  Milton. 

SnouTixo  (shout,  "  a  parallel  form 
with  hoot :  "  Wedgwood)  is  to  voci- 
ferate for  the  sake  of  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  sound,  as  to  shout  for 
joy,  or  to  shout  in  derision.  It  com- 
monly refers  to  articulate  sounds, 
which  are  not  necessarily  words,  but 
are  formed  as  sonorous  media  for  the 
shouting,  as  "hip,  hurrah  !  " 

"  The  rest  of  the  Grecians  advanced  with 

eager  haste  and  fury,  and  in  the  beginning 

of  their  onset  gave  a  general  shout,  to  en- 

;    courage  and  animate  themselves  and  strike 

'    terror    into    their    enemies." — Potter's 

I    Antiquities. 

Tujju  IT  (  Lat.  tiiwiiltiis)  is  primarily 
commotion,  then  the  noise  and  dis- 
turbance resulting  from   it.     It   in- 
j    volves  numerous  forces  working  to- 
1    gether  to  produce  it ;  as,  the  tumult  of 
the  elements,  of  a  multitude,  of  the 
passions.      Tumult   is   not   identical 
with  clamour,  neither  does  it  exclude 
clamour.  It  is  the  confused  aggi-egate 
of  sounds  produced  by  a  multitudinous 
expression  of  discontent. 
"  Till  in  load  tumult  all  the  Greeks  arose." 
POPK. 

CLASH.     Collision. 

Clash  is  probably  onomatopoetic  ; 
compare  the  Ger.  klatschen.  The  word 
is  formed  to  express  a  discordant, 
noisy,  or  contradictory  Collision 
(Lat.  coUidere,  to  dash  together).  In- 
terests, views,  purposes,  clash  or  come 
into  collision.  Clash  is  a  purely 
rhetorical  and  conversational  term. 
The  language  of  science  would  admit 
such  a  phrase  as  the  collision  of  two 
moving  bodies ;  their  clashing  would 
be  colloquial  and  descriptive. 

CLASP.    Embrace.     Huo. 

Clasp  (O.  Eng.  clapsen,  connected 
with  A.  S.  elyppan,  to  embrace)  is  a 
union  formed  by  a  partial  closing  of 
one  object  upon  another,     Kmrrac^ 


240 


(fr.  embrasser,  en-,  in,  and  bras,  an 
arm,  of  -which  the  earlier  form  was 
brace)  is  to  surround,  and  so  hold. 
Embrace  is  only  used  of  objects  of  a 
certain  size:  the  hands  clasp, the  arms 
embrace.  Clasp  is  never  used  but  in 
a  physical  sense ;  Embuace  is  used 
in  a  secondary  or  moral.  Natural 
philosophy  embraces  many  sciences. 
"I  embrace,"  that  is  gladly  avail  my- 
self of  and  accept  "  these  conditions : " 
Shakespeaue.  The  idea  of  close  pres- 
sure is  more  expressed  in  Clasp  ; 
that  of  large  inclusion,  in  Embrace  : 
that  of  sudden  and  somewhat  violent 
pressure  in  Hug  (probably  the  same 
as  to  hedge,  which  is  the  A.  S.  hegian); 
the  mother  hugs  the  lost  child,  when 
found.  Yet,  in  the  metaphorical  use 
of  Hug  there  is  less  of  violent,  and 
more  of  close  and  continuous  pressure. 
One  hugs  some  cherished  belief:  and 
in  self-gratulation  we  are  said  to  hug 
ourselves. 

"  Age  makes  us  most  fondly  kuff  and  re- 
tain the  good  things  of  life."— Atterbuky. 

CLASS.  Order.  Rank.  De- 
gree.     ClASSU'ICATIOX.      Git.ADE. 

Class  (Lat.  ctasm)  is  a  group  of 
individuals  (both  things  and  persons) 
associated  as  having  common  charac- 
teristics. No  priority  or  posteriority 
of  rank  is  denoted  by  the  term  Class, 
though  such  difference  of  rank  may 
coexist  with  it,  as  in  the  classes  of  a 
school.  Such  are  "  the  labouring 
class,"  "  the  agricultural  class,"  "  the 
mercantile  class," 

'•  Now  God  Almighty,  by  the  inexhaus- 
tible fecundity  of  His  creative  power,  may 
have  made  innumerable  orders  and  classes 
of  rational  minds,  some  in  their  natural 
perfection  higher  than  human  souls,  others 
inferior."— BexNTLEY. 

An  Order  (Fr.  ordre,  Lat.  ordtnem) 
differs  from  a  class  in  having  peculiar 
inter-related  connexions  or  interests. 
The  term  is  applied  both  to  persons, 
as  the  order  of  Knights  Templars  ;  to 
natural  productions ;  and  to  architec- 
ture, as,  the  Corinthian  order.  In 
botany,  the  Order  is  a  group  of  allied 
individuals,  more  comprehensive  than 
a  genus.  In  zoology,  the  order  is  a 
weJl-marked  division  of  a  class,  in- 
cluding in  itself  families  and  genera. 
Rank  (Fr.  rang,  a   row,  rank),  when 


SYNONYMS  [class] 

taken  for  more  than  a  line  of  things 
or  persons  arranged,  is  the  relative 
position  of  individuals  or  classes  in 
regard  to  superiority  and  inferiority 
in  social  or  any  other  distinction  ;  as, 
an  officer  of  high  rank,  an  author  of 
high  or  low  rank,  a  man  of  rank.  De- 
gree (Fr.  degre)  is  one  of  a  series  of 
steps  in  a  graduated  scale,  and  is  of 
as  various  application  as  the  scale  it- 
self; as  when  we  speak  of  social  oi 
literary  rank,  or  of  size,  number,  quan- 
tity,excellence,goodness,  badness,  and 
80  on.  It  is  an  assignable  point  or  line 
in  any  subject-matter  which  admits 
of  higher  or  lower,  or  of  more  or  less 
within  itself.  Class  and  order  pri- 
marily express  persons ;  rank  and 
degree  primarily  express  distinctions. 

"These  are  all  virtues  of  a  meaner  ra7i/t.'' 
—Addison. 
"  Take    but  degree    away,    untwine    that 

string. 
And  hark  what  cUscord  follows ;  each  thing 

meets 
In  mere  nppugnancy."     Shakespeare. 

Classification  (Lat.  classis,  a  class, 
and  fitcere,  to  make)  is  the  art  or  result 
of  distribution  into  groups,  according 
to  some  common  relations  or  affinities. 
It  may  be  artificial,  that  is,  based  on 
principles  adopted  without  reference 
to  natural  relations,  and  possibl_y  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  them ;  or  it  majr 
be  natural,  that  is,  coincidently  with 
a  system  of  nature. 

"  It  is  for  this  reason  that  Montesqurei 
observed  very  justly  that  in  their  classifiai 
tion  of  the  citizens,  the  great  legislators  of 
antiquity  made  the  greatest  display  of  their 
powers,  and  even  soared  above  themselves." 
—Burke, 

Grade  (Lat.  grMas)  is  the  root  of 
the  worddegree,  and  has  become  almost 
identical  with  it  in  meaning,  but  not 
so  Avidely  applicable.  It  hnplies  inter- 
graduation,  wliich  degree  does  not. 
DtGREEisanindex  ofamount;  (iitADii 
a  place  or  point  of  relative  position. 
The  degree  of  crime  would  be  the  a- 
mount  of  its  inherent  criminalit)'-,  the 
grade  of  crime  would  be  the  order  and 
character  of  it. 

CLEAN.     Cleanly.     Pure. 

Clean  ( A.  S.  clkne)  is  free  from 
what  is  foul.  It  sometimes  means 
free  from  what  is  obstructive.  di»^ 
being  always  obstruction,  as  "  to  make 


[cloak 


DISCRIMINATED. 


241 


a  clean  way  for  himself  through  a 
mob."  It  is  used  in  a  moral  sense, 
as  "  to  make  a  clean  breast,"  and  in 
old  Scriptural  Enorlish,  ns  "clean 
hands  "  and  "  a  pur    heart." 

"  Every  sin,  every  ooral  irregularity, 
does  as  really  impriir  an  indelible  stain 
upon  the  soul  as  a  bit  falling  upon  the 
cleanest  paper."— South. 

Clea  -ily  exp  -esses  a  disposition  to 
the  ph\\'  cally  ci  *an. 
"  And  thu  hath  so  .  jtoxieate-;  some 
That  (to  aj^'pear  incorrigibly  mad) 
They  cleanliness  and  company  renounce 
For  lunacy  beyond  the  cure  of  art. 
With  a  long  beard  and  ten  long  dirty  naiiS 
Pass  current  for  Apollo's  livery." 

KoscoMMON,  Horace. 
Pure  (Lat.  purns)  is  used  of  the 
more  refined  substances  in  nature, 
and  of  things  moral.  As  Clean  means 
unsoiled,  so  Pure  means  uncontami- 
nated,  that  is,  fi-ee  from  heterogeneous 
matter,  especially  from  what  pollutes 
or  vitiates ;  as,  pure  metal,  water,  air; 
hence  it  has  sometimes  the  meaning 
simply  of  uncompounded,  as  pure 
sand,  that  is,  sand  and  nothing  else  ; 
pure  good-nature,  pure  mathematics, 
as  distinguished  from  applied. 

"To  the  pure  all  things  are  pure."— 
Bible. 
CLEAR.  Explain.  Develop. 
We  Clear  (Lat.  cldnis)  what  was 
obscure,  owing  to  the  bad  way  in 
which  ideas  were  presented.  We  Ex- 
plain (Lat.  exjAdnare ;  planus,  plain, 
level)  what  was  difficult  to  understand, 
inasmuch  as  the  ideas  were  not  de- 
duced the  one  from  the  other  with  suf- 
ficient directness.  We  Develop  (see 
Develop)  what  contains  many  ideas 
which  are  expressed,  but  so  wrapped 
UD  as  not  to  be  seen  at  a  glance.  The 
need  of  the  first  commonly  comes  from 
an  unskilled  exhibition  of  language 
or  subject-matter.  Hie  second  is 
supplied  by  connecting  the  thing  not 
understood  with  principles  already 
received.  The  third  is  best  performed 
by  elucidating  all  that  is  comprised  in 
a  complete  definition.  The  first  throws 
light,  the  second  facilitates  compre- 
hension, the  third  extends  knowledge. 
CLEAVE.  Stick.  Aduere. 
Cleave  (A.  S.  ciifan)  is  to  adhere 
at  all  parts  of  an  extended  surface. 
It  was  of  more  frequent  use  formerly 


than  at  present ;  being  now  more  com- 
monly employed  in  a  moral  sense  of 
personal  attachments,  or  to  the  per- 
sistent entertainment  of  hopes  and 
opinions. 

"  As  creeping  ivy  clings  to  wood  or  stone. 
And  hides  the  ruin  that  it  feeds  upon. 
So  Sophistry  cleaves  close  to  and  protects 
Sin's  rotten  trunk,  concealing  its  defects." 
COWPER. 

Adhere  (Lat.  adhaercre)  is  used  of 
n  close  and  persistent  maintenance  of 
the  same  matters.  In  its  physical 
sense,  it  implies  such  superficial  con- 
tact as  tends  naturally,  or  by  the  in- 
herent properties  of  the  substances 
themselves,  to  unite  them,  as  wax 
adheres  to  the  fingers. 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  God 
may  not  in  certain  circumstances  have 
greater  reasons  for  varying  from  His  stated 
rules  of  acting  than  for  adhering  to  them." 
—Farmer. 

Stick  (A.  S.  stican)  is  the  moat 
familiar  and  comprehensive  of  the 
three,  and  is  u^ed  as  the  others  are, 
that  is,  of  both  material  and  morai 
subjects.  In  their  secondary  mean- 
ings, as  Cleave  expresses  persis- 
tency of  affection,  and  Adhere  persis- 
tency of  principle,  so  Stick  belongs 
to  mental  application  and  resolve 

"  I  have  stuck  unto  Thy  testimonies." — 
Book  of  Psalms. 

CLOAK.  Mask.  Blind.  Veil. 
These  are  all  figurative  expressions 
for  means  employed  to  conceal  some- 
thing from  the  knowledge  of  others. 
A  Cloak  (L.  Lat.  cbca,  a  bell,  and 
from  the  resemblance,  a  cape),  being 
a  garment,  indicates  something  con- 
tinually worn,  as  it  were,  so  as  to  con- 
ceal what  is  of  the  nature  of  a  habit 
or  practice.  So  religion  may  be  em- 
ployed as  a  cloak  for  dishonesty. 

"  When  the  severity  of  manners  is  hypo- 
critical, and  assumed  us  a  cloak  to  secret 
indulgence,  it  is  one  of  the  woret  prostitu- 
tions of  religion." — BlaIR. 

Mask  (Fr.  masque,  L.  Lat.  mascluif 
a  witch  )  is  that  which  hides  the  feel- 
ings and  motives,  as  the  cloak  con- 
ceals the  conduct ;  but  a  mask  does 
more  than  conceal.  It  has  an  expres- 
sion of  its  own.  It  is  in  this  way  that 
i  malignant  feelings  are  sometimes 
masked  under  a  courteous  demeanour, 
1   treacherous  words,  and  smiles. 

R 


242 


"Thou  avt  no  rnffian,  wbo  beneath  the 

mask 
Of  social   comineire   coin'st  to  rob   their 
wealth."  Thomson. 

Blind  (A.  S.  adj.  Mind,  connected 
with  hlend,  i.e.  confuse)  denotes  that 
which  shall  so  mislead  others  as  to 
permit  certain  practices  to  be  carried 
on  unobserved,  bj  presenting  to  their 
attention  what  is  calculated  to  pre- 
clude the  idea  or  suspicion  of  them. 

"  Those  who  are  bountiful  to  crimes  will 
be  rigid  to  merit,  and  penurious  to  service. 
Their  penury  is  even  held  out  as  a  blind  and 
cover  to  their  prodigality."— Burke. 

Veil  (Lat.  vl'lum,  a  veil)  is  oftener 
used  of  wliat  deceives  one's  self,  or  ob- 
scures one's  own  vision;  as  we  speak  of 
the  veil  wliich  hides  futurity  from  view, 
the  mists  and  veils  which  rise  and  are 
spread  before  the  vision  of  the  pre- 
judiced. But  Veil  and  Cloak  differ 
from  Mask  in  that  they  are  in  them- 
selves real,  though  employed  to  con- 
ceal something  else. 

"  As  soon  as  that  mysterious  veil  which 
covers  futurity  should  be  lifted  up,  all  the 
gaiety  of  life  would  disappear." — Blair. 

CLOG.  Encumber.  Impede,  Ob- 
struct. Embarrass.  Fetter.  Re- 
tard. Prevent.  Shackle.  Hinder. 
To  Clog,  an  Old  English  word, 
is  literally  to  fasten  a  clog  on  to  the 
feet  of  animals,  to  prevent  them  from 
straying  ;  hence  to  impede  move- 
ments generally ,  whether  of  the  limbs 
or  the  mind.  It  denotes  the  presence 
of  something  heterogeneous,  obstruc- 
tive, or  against  freedom  of  action. 

"  It  was  said  that  the  king  was  alienated 
from  the  Church  of  England,  and  weary  of 
supporting  Episcopacy  in  Scotland,  and  so 
was  resolved  not  to  dog  his  government  any 
longer  with  it." — BuRKET. 

Encumber  (Fr.  encombrer,  Lat.  cii- 
miiliis,  a  heap)  denotes  that  which 
retards  by  being  superfluous,  and  is 
more  or  less  extraneous  to  the  indi- 
vidual. An  estate  is  encumbered  by 
its  own  debts ;  and  as  a  man's  move- 
ments may  be  encumbered  by  any 
kind  of  useless  weight,  even  that  of 
nis  own  garments,  so  a  mind  may  be 
encumbered  by  useless  learning. 
"  Knowledge,  a  rude  unprofitable  mass, 
The  mere  materials  with  which  wisdom 

builds. 
Till  smoothed  and  squared  and  fitted  to  its 

place. 
Does  but  encumber  whom  it  seems  t'  en- 
rich." COWPER, 


SYNONYMS  [clog] 

Impede  (Lat.  tmpMire^  lit.  lo  en- 
tangle the  feet,  pedes)  refers  net  so 
much  to  mere  movemen*  as  to  con- 
tinuous and  systematic  movement  or 
progress ;  as  to  impede  the  advance 
of  an  army,  the  growth  of  a  plant,  the 
progress  of  education,  k  implies 
some  end  or  goal  which  is  thereby 
set  farther  off. 

"  Some  error  has  been  committed  in  not 
rightly  computing  and  subducting  the  con 
trary  or  impeding  force  which  arises  from 
the  resistance  of  fluids  to  bodies  movmg 
any  way,  and  from  the  continual  contrary 
action  of  gravitation  upon  bodies  thrown 
upwards." — Clabke. 

Obstruct  (Lat.  obstruere,  part,  oh- 
itructus)  is  purely  external.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  employed  directly  of 
persons,  but  of  their  progress,  or  of 
roads,  passages,  and  the  like,  'i'he 
progress  of  a  vessel  is  impeded  by 
contrary  winds  ;  it  is  yet  worse  if  the 
entrance  into  the  harbour  at  the  end 
of  tlie  voyage  is  obstructed  by  rocks. 
"  'Tis  he  th'  obstructed  paths  of  sound  shall 

clear. 
And  bid  new  music  charm   th'  unfolding 
ear."  Pope. 

Emb A  R  RASS  (  Fr.  embarrasser)  is  pro- 
perly used  only  of  mental  impediments 
or  obstructions ;  tliat  is,  of  such  doubts, 
perplexities,  or  difficulties  in  general 
as  impede  the  exercise  of  thought, 
speech,  or  action. 

"  You  will  have  the  goodness  to  excuse 
me  if  my  real  unaffected  embarrassment 
prevents  me  from  expressing  my  gratitude 
to  you  as  I  ought." — BuRKE. 

Fetter  (literally,  a  chain  for  the 
feet)  has  commonly  the  meaning  of 
restrictive  influence  or  power,  which 
admits  a  certain  freedom  of  movement, 
but  limits  it  at  certain  points  ;  as,  to 
be  fettered  by  system.  "  He  received 
permission  fettered  by  certain  con- 
ditions." 

"  And  truly  when  they  are  balanced  to- 
gether, this  order  seemeth  more  an  infran- 
chising  than  9,  fettering  of  our  nature,  which 
without  it  seemeth  rather  bound  than  free 
in  revenge ;  such  is  the  dominion  of  oar 
irritated  passions."— Montague,  Essays. 
Shackle  (A.  S.  sceacul,  a  clog)  de- 
notes such  fettering  as  redounds  to  the 
discomfort  of  the  person,  to  ungainli- 
ness  of  movement,  and  deprivation  of 
grace  in  the  thin^  itself.  If  we  said, 
"The  tenure  of  that  fine  estate  is 
shackled  bv  some  antiquated  condi* 


[close] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


243 


tious,'  we  should  mean  that  it  was  much 
deteriorated  in  value,  and  as  it  wore 
deformed  by  them.  Commonly  speak- 
ing, persons  are  fettered  by  restric- 
tions, and  things  are  shackled  by  con- 
ditions. 

"  And  it  is  great 
To  do  that  thing  that  ends  all  other  deeds. 
That    shackles    accidents,    and    bolts    up 
change."  Shakespeare. 

Hinder  is  to  cause  to  be  behind. 

"  I  shall  distinguish  such  as  I  esteem  to 
be  hivderers  of  reformation  into  three  sorts : 
I,  antiquitariaiis  (foi*  so  I  had  rather  call 
them  than  antiquaries,  whose  labours  are 
useful  and  laudable)  ;  2,  libertines  ;  3,  poli- 
ticians ."—Mi  LTON. 

Retard  (Lat.  rctarddre)  is  to  cause 
to  be  slow  or  slower. 

"Metaphysics  not  only  succeeded  physics 
and  mythology  in  the  manner  here  observed, 
and  became  as  great  a  fund  of  superstition, 
but  they  were  carried  still  farther,  and  cor- 
••ugted  aU  real  knowledge,  as  well  as  re- 
taraea  tne  progress  ol  it.'— BoLINGBROKE. 

Prevent  (Lat.  praveiiire)  is  to  go 
before,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  stop- 
pmg.  The  difference  between  these 
three  is,  that  to  hinder  is  to  stop  en- 
tirely, but  only  temporaiily ;  to  re- 
tard is  to  stop,  but  not  entirely ;  and 
to  prevent  is  to  stop  entirely.  Retard 
necessarily  refers  to  a  thing  begun; 
thatwhich  is  Hindered  orPuEVENTED 
may  not  have  been  yet  begun.  It 
will  sometimes  require  the  interpreta- 
tion of  after-events  to  know  whether 
a  thing  be  a  hindrance  or  a  prevention. 
For  instance,  "  I  was  hindered  from 
going  out  of  the  house  yesterday  till 
the  evening  by  torrents  of  rain."  Had 
the  rain  lasted  all  day  he  would  have 
had  to  say,  "  1  was  prevented  yester- 
day by  the  rain  from  leaving  the 
house.  All  three  are  applicable  both 
to  personal  and  impersonal  influences, 
and  all  three  both  directly  to  persons 
and  their  acts,  as  also  to  the  progress 
of  either. 

"  It  is  much  easier  to  keep  ourselves  void 
■>f  resentineut  than  to  restrain  it  from  ex- 
iess  when  it  has  gained  admission.  To  use 
the  illustration  of  an  excellent  author,  we 
can  prevent  the  beginnings  of  some  things, 
whose  progress  afterwards  we  cannot  Am- 
rfer."— Holland. 

CLOSE.  Conclusion.  Termina- 
tion. Cessation.  End.  Ending. 
Extremity.     Extreme. 

Of  all  theie  synonyms,  the  simplest 


and  most  generic  is  En  d  (  A.  S.  etule), 
of  which  the  rest  may  be  regarded  as 
modifications.  End  is  applicable  to 
the  extreme  point  of  a  line,  or  any- 
thing which  is  regarded  a;  linear, 
progressive,  or  continuous,  as  the 
end  of  a  cord,  of  a  book,  of  a  story, 
of  a  life.  No  remoteness  is  implied 
in  this  beyond  the  intrinsic  remote- 
ness from  the  centre  ;  as,  to  tie  two 
ends  of  a  string  together.  It  is  also 
used  to  express  the  idea  of  result  or 
of  a  final  point,  as  produced  by  ante- 
cedent causes,  as  "  the  end  o^  these 
things  is  death,"  or  that  which  is  the 
thing  aimed  at,  or  the  purpose  for 
which  something  else  is  done,  in  which 
sense  it  is  equivalent  to  object  or 
final  cause,  as  "  he  did  it  for  private 
ends."  In  short.  End  expresses  both 
objective  and  subjective  finality. 

"  The  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world."— 
Bible. 

Close  (Fr.  adj.  c/os,  closed;  Lat. 
claudcre,  part.  cUiusus,  to  shut)  is  the 
kind  of  end  to  which  a  thing  is  re- 
garded as  naturally  tending  or  bring- 
ing itself.  The  close  of  a  book  or  a 
story  seems  brought  about  by  the 
story  or  the  book  itself,  hence  such 
phrases  as  "  coming  to  a  close," 
"  drawing  to  a  close.^' 

"  We  have  it,  it  seems,  in  our  power,  by 
the  exercise  of  one  particular  virtue,  to 
secure  a  pardon  to  ourselves  for  neglecting 
all  the  rest,  and  can  blot  out  the  remem- 
brance of  an  ill-spent  life  by  a  few  acts  of 
charity  at  the  cZo.se  of  it."— Atterbukv. 

A  Conclusion  (Lat.  conclusid7iem) 
is  etymologically  of  the  same  origin. 
A  conclusion  is  a  superimposed  close, 
anticipated  or  drawn  as  the  result  of 
a  previous  course  of  action  or  argu- 
ment. The  conclusion  of  a  contest 
is  in  those  efforts  which  bring  it  to  an 
end ;  the  conclusion  of  an  argument 
is  that  which  is  necessarily  drawn 
from  its  premises. 

"  I  will  conclude  this  i)art  with  the  speech 
of  a  counsellor  of  state." — Bacon. 

Termination  (Lat.  lermtndtionem, 
a  bounding)  is  that  kind  of  end  which 
presupposes  a  previous  course, 
whether  of  view,  of  thought,  ofwords, 
of  action  or  movement,  which  pro- 
ceeds till  it  is  stopped  by  such  a  limit 
or   boundary.     It    belongs    both    to 


244 


SYNONYMS 


[coalesce] 


Bpace  and  time,  and  refers  to  any  kind 
of  intervention ;  as,  human  agency  or 
natural  an-angements. 

"  I  had  a  mind  to  know  how  each  of  these 
roads  terminated." — Addison. 

Cessation  (Lat.  cessationem)  refers 
to  action  as  limited  or  stopped  by  some 
inherent  will,  power,  or  influence,  and 
thus  differs  from  Termination,  which 
depends  on  external  causes ;  as,  "  I 
listened  till  the  sound  ceased." 

"  A  cessation  of  all  hostilities  was  to  bepfin 
within  two  months,  and  to  continue  till  all 
was  concluded  by  a  complete  treaty  and 
ratified,  provided  the  Spanish  monarchy 
was  then  entirely  restored. "--Burnet. 

Ending  is  an  imposed  end,  or  the 
end  of  something  artificial  or  variable. 
For  instance,  we  speak  of  the  ending 
of  a  sentence  or  a  word  ;  not  of  the 
ending,  but  the  end  of  human  life.  A 
termination  is  a  fixed  ending,  as  an 
ending  is  a  variable  termination. 

"  A  perfect  kingdom  and  glorious  that 
ihall  never  ha.\eending."— Bishop  Taylob. 

Extremity  (Lat.  extrimitatem)  is 
tlie  remotest  part  of  anything  which 
has  configuration,  or  is  regarded  men- 
tally as  having  a  definite  area  or  ex- 
tent. It  differs  from  End  in  involving 
this  remoteness.  So  we  speak  of  the 
end  of  the  street,  but  the  extremity 
of  the  town,  or  the  extremities  of  the 
human  body.  The  extremity  of  dis- 
tress is  a  supposed  boundary  line  to 
the  extent  of  such  endurance.  The 
end  stands  related  to  another  end  or 
to  the  beginning ;  the  extremity  to 
the  centre.  End  presupposes  length 
and  continuity;  extremity,  internal 
arrangement  and  relative  situation  of 
parts. 

"  No  less  man  than  St.  Augustine  was 
doubtful  whether  the  extremity  of  bodily 
pain  were  not  the  gi-eatest  evil  that  human 
nature  was  capable  of  suffering." — Ray. 

Extreme  denotes  a  strained,  exag- 
gerated, undue,  oi  unnecessary  dis- 
tance or  departure  from  the  mean  or 
centre.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
word  tends  to  this  unfavourable  force, 
though  etymologically  it  is  equally 
applicable  to  favourable  applications. 
We  speak  often  enough  of  "  extreme 
folly,  but  not  of  "  extreme  wisdom." 
It  conveys  a  sort  of  censure  to  say 
of  any  one  that  he  holds  "  extreme 
opinions."     Extreme,  bowever,  may 


qualify  staLet  without  this  tendency 
which  it  has  in  t'he  case  of  habits. 
Thus  we  say  extreme  happiness,  but 
not  extreme  virtue. 

"  For  though  innovations  which  appear 
very  plausible  maybe  found, when  examined, 
very  dangerous,  and  therefore  love  of  change 
is  by  no  means  to  be  encouraged,  yet  aver- 
sion to  it  may  be  carried  to  an  extreme  also  " 
— Secker. 

COALESCE.  Amalgamate. 
Unite.     Cohere.     .Join. 

Coalesce  (Lat.  coalesctve,  to  groit 
together)  is  hardly  used  except  as  a 
scientific  term  in  its  purely  physical 
sense,  which  is  to  grow  together,  so 
that  the  particles  of  two  organizations 
shall  become  compact  and  one.  Coa- 
lition has  now  a  political  meaning, 
and  denotes  the  combination  of  dif- 
ferent persons,  parties,  or  states, 
having  diflferent  views  or  interests, 
for  a  temporary  purpose. 

"  No  coalition,  which  under  the  specious 
name  of  independency  carries  in  its  bosom 
the  unreconciled  principles  of  the  original 
discord  of  parties,  ever  was  or  will  be  an 
healing  coaiitioti." — BuRKE. 

Amalgamate  (Eng.  amalgam^  a 
compound  of  mercury  with  some  other 
metal)  denotes  the  interpenetration 
of  inorganic  particles,  as  Coalesce  of 
organic.  Amalgamation  is  the  mixing 
of  things  in  themselves  foreign,  but 
which  are  found  to  have  in  them 
sufficient  pioperties  in  common  to 
allow  of  their  union  into  one  mass. 

"  Ingratitude  is  indeed  their  four  cardinal 
virtues  compacted  and  amalgamated  into 
one." — Burke. 

Unite  (Lat.  hnire)  is  said  of  two  or 
more  things  which  are  so  joined  as  to 
present  the  appearance  of  a  sensible: 
or  visible  whole ;  if  the  union  is  abso- 
lute, then  the  individuality  of  the 
parts  or  separate  unities  is  lost ;  as,  the 
union  of  two  regiments  in  the  field 
Things  of  the  same  nature,  or  which 
can  be  brought  under  the  same  class, 
are  united  though  they  may  have 
strong  individual  differences.  Men 
and  women  (as  human  beings)  are 
united  in  marriage,  "lie  was  promj)ted 
to  the  undertaking  by  united  duty  and 
interest"  (as  motives). 

"  We  were  ignorant  that  the  time  drew 
near  when  the  squadron  would  be  separated 
never  to  unite  again,  and  that  this  d»y  ot 
our  passage  was  the  last  cheerful  day  t)v«t 


[coarse] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


245 


the  greatest  part  of  as  wonld  ever  lire  tc 
enjoy." — ^Anson. 

Cohere  (L&t.  cohatrere)  denotes  the 
internal  adherence  of  parts  recipro- 
cally, as  adherence  is  an  external 
sticking  together  of  whole  bodies  or 
substances.  In  its  metaphysical  sense, 
Cohere  means  consistently  to  hang 
together  in  subordination  to  one  prin- 
ciple or  purpose ;  as  the  several  parts 
of  a  speech,  or  a  theory,  are  said  to 
cohere. 

"  Of  all  things  there  is  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty in  retaining  numbers.  They  are  like 
grains  of  sand  which  will  not  cohere  in  the 
order  in  which  we  place  them." — Priest- 
ley. 

Join  (Yr.joindre,  Ltit.jungcre)  de- 
notes a  union  formed  by  external  as- 
sociation or  attachment,  which  in  no 
way  detracts  from  the  separate  indi- 
viduality of  the  things  joined.  Such 
joining  may  be  permanent  or  tempo- 
rnry.  Thus  many  are  joined  in 
marriage  who  are  not  united  in  heart. 
Sometimeb  the  process  ofjoining  pre- 
cedes that  of  unitin^^.  Clouds  join 
when  thev  touch ;  they  are  united 
when  their  masses  are  confounded. 
Persons  join  for  the  sake  of  com- 
panionship, or  community  of  interests. 
The  simplest  sense  of  Join  is  to  ap- 
proaoli  near  enough  to  touch,  as  two 
houses  may  be  said  to  join. 

"  There  were  reports  that  the  Emperor 
and  the  French  King  were  in  a  treaty,  and 
that  in  conclusion  they  would  join  to  make 
war  upon  the  King." — BuRNET. 

COARSE  is  only  another  form  of 
**  course,"  as  it  was  originally  written, 
so  meaning  in  course,  or  such  as  is 
commonly  to  be  met  with.  According 
as  it  is  used  in  the  literal  or  the 
metaphysical  sense,  it  associates  itself 
with  two  distinct  sets  of  synonyms,  as 
follows : — 

COARSE.   RoiGH.  Rude.  Gross. 

That  is  CoARsii  which  is  composed 
of  relatively  large  particles,  whether 
naturally,  as  a  coarse  kind  of  stone, 
or  artificially,  as  a  coarse  kind  of  linen. 
In  this  sense  it  is  opposed  to  fine,  that 
in  which  nature  or  art  has  produced  a 
subtler  texture. 

"  For  habit  it  was  anciently  sackcloth  and 
Mhes :  by  the  courseness  of  the  sackcloth 
they  ranked  themselves  as  it  were  amongst 
the  meanest  and  lowest  of  men  ;  by  ashes    I 
kud  sometimes  earth  upon  their  heads  they    ' 


made  themselves  lower  than  the  lowest  of 
the  creatures  of  God." — Mede. 

Rofon  (A.S. /iru/t)is  that  of  which 
the  particles  have  sufficient  inequa- 
lity to  be  conspicuous  to  the  eye  or 
palpable  to  the  touch :  a  rough  sea,  a 
rough  plank.  In  this  sense  it  is  op- 
posed to  smooth. 

"  While  yet  the  roughness  of  the  stone  re 

mains. 
Without  the  rising  muscles  and  the  veins." 
Drtden,  Ovid. 

Rude  (Lat.  rildis)  denotes  such  a 
sort  of  roughness  aa  belongs  to  un- 
skilled implements  or  productions. 

*•  Is  it  in  destroying  and  pulling  down  that 
skill  is  displayed  ?  The  shallowest  under- 
standing, the  rudest  hand  is  more  than  equal 
to  that  task."— Burke. 

Gross  (Fr.  s:ros,  L.  Lat.  grossus, 
thick)  differs  from  Coarse  in  notrelat- 
ing  to  the  particles  of  a  substance,  but 
to  the  effect  produced  by  the  whole 
of  it.  It  has  the  meaning  of  coarsely 
bulky,  combining  thicliness  of  tex- 
ture with  unwieldiness. 

"  The  element  immediately  next  the 
earth  in  grossTiess  is  water." — Digbt,  On 
Bodies. 

COARSE.  Rough.  Rude.  Gross. 
Uncouth.     Blunt. 

As  applied  to  the  mind  and  the 
manners.  Coarse  denotes  that  natural 
savagery  which  comes  of  movements 
and  expressions  unchecked  and  unre- 
moved  by  the  training  and  restrictions 
of  refined  society.  It  comes  of  such 
selfishness  of  demeanour  as  civiliza- 
tion tends  to  suppress.  In  this  sense 
it  is  opposed  to  refined. 

"  Already  there  appears  a  poverty  of  con- 
ception, a  coarseness  and  vulgarity  in  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  assembly  and  of  all  their 
instructoi's," — BuBKE. 

Rouen  is  applied  only  to  the  man 
ners  and  the  speech.  As  coarseness 
comes  of  the  absence  of  mental  refine- 
ment, so  roughness  comes  of  the  want 
of  polite  ti-aining,  except  in  the  case 
of  rough  speech  or  words,  which 
may  come  from  the  most  polite  on  oc- 
casions of  excitement.  Hence  rough- 
ness is  compatible,  as  coarseness  is 
not,  with  much  mental  refinement  and 
purity  of  heart.  Where,  however, 
this  latter  is  palpably  the  case,  a 
oetter  epithet  is  Blunt. 


246 


SYNONYMS  [coast] 


"A  plain,  blunt  man.'' 

Shakespeare. 
*•  Roughness  in  the  grain 
Of  British  natures."  Cowper. 

Rude  has  the  meaning  of  being 
personally  offensive  to  others  from 
roughness  of  manner.  This  may  be 
unintentional,  in  which  case  it  amounts 
to  no  more  than  omission  of  what 
polite  intercourse  requires  ;  or  inten- 
tional, in  which  case  it  is  the  disre- 
gard or  violation  of  it  in  contempt  or 
active  insult. 

"My  censures  of  some  reputed  virtuosi 
that  live  in  it  are  written  with  as  harmless 
and  friendly  designs  as  was  the  seeming 
rudmess  of  the  angel  to  St.  Peter  when  he 
struck  him  on  the  side,  and  hat'tily  roused 
him.''— Boyle. 

Gross  refers  not  to  social  but  moral 
and  mental  subjects.  The  gross  per- 
son is  he  in  whom  the  sensual  in  any 
way  predominates  ;  as,  a  gross  eater. 
It  is  opposed  to  delicate,  and  denotes 
an  unrestrained  exhibition  or  expres- 
sion of  the  animal  part  of  human 
nature. 

"Bleached  and  purified  from  the  gross- 
7tess  and  pollution  of  their  ideas." — War- 
BURTON. 

Uncouth  (A.  8.  uncuth  ;  uncouth, 
unknown).     See  Awkward. 

COAST.     Bank.     Shore. 

The  Coast  (0.  Fr.  coste,  Lat.  costa, 
a  rib,  side)  had  of  old  the  meaning  of 
a  natural  line  limiting  a  territory,  not 
being  of  necessity  a  sea-line.  After 
the  miracle  of  the  healing  of  the  de- 
moniac, the  people  of  Gadara  besought 
Jesus  that  he  would  depart  out  of 
their  coasts,  that  is,  borders.  As  now 
employed  of  the  sea-line  of  a  countiy, 
it  is  a  geographical  term,  while  Shore 
is  a  physical  term.  It  is  from  the  A.  S. 
sct'^an,  scirayi,  to  divide,  and  is  con- 
nected with  shear,  shire,  shard,  shred, 
ice.  &c.  The  shore  is  the  strip  of  land 
washed  by  the  sea;  the  coast  is  the 
line  of  rocky  indentations  laid  down 
on  the  navigator's  chart.  The  shore 
is  that  on  which  seafarers  land  ;  it  is 
barren,  flat,  or  rocky,  covered  with 
sand  or  sea-weed  ;  the  coast  is  cha- 
racteristic of  the  country,  it  is  iron- 
bound  or  affording  natural  harbours, 
and  is  the  field  of  the  marine  explorer. 
Bank  (perhaps  an  A. S.  banc,cL  bench, 
but  this,  tboi'.gh  a  probable  form,  is 


not  supported:  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.) 
is  a  mound  or  ridge  of  earth,  raised 
above  the  surrounding  level ;  whether 
contiguous  to  water,  as  a  river,  lake, 
sea,  or  not.  It  is  seldom  applied  to 
the  land  adjacent  to  the  ocean,  be- 
cause it  seldom  presents  this  appear- 
ance; but  in  a  nautical  sense  is  received 
to  denote  the  flat,  shoal,  or  shallow, 
partially  or  entirely  covered  by  the 
sea ;  as,  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 

COEVAL.  Contemporary.  Syn- 
chronous.    Commensurate. 

The  difference  of  force  between 
these  tenns  is  sufficiently  indicated 
by  their  derivations;  Coeval  being 
compounded  of  Lat.  tevum.,  an  age, 
and  Contemporary  of  tempus,  time. 
As  the  age  is  of  long  duration,  the 
term  coeval  is  employed  when  the 
sense  is  existing  in  the  same  age,  es- 
pecially if  it  be  remote  as  well  as  long, 
as,  "  Silence  coeval  with  eternity," 
"  The  building  of  such  a  pyramid  was 
coeval  with  such  a  dynasty  of  Egyp- 
tian kings."  But,  tempus  meaning 
strictly  a  portion  o\  time,  a  period,  we 
employ  the  term  contemporary  for 
synchronous  periods  that  are  shorter. 
Such  are  the  lives  of  men.  "  He  was 
contemporary  (it  would  be  absurd  to 
say  coeval)  with  meat  college." 

"  The  history  of  redemption  is  coeval  with 
that  of  the  globe  itself,  has  run  through 
every  stage  of  its  existence,  and  will  outlast 
its  utmost  duration." — Bishop  Hurd. 

"This  king  (Henry  VIII.)  was  contem- 
porary with  the  greatest  monarchs  of 
Europe,  namely  the  Emperor,  the  kings  of 
Spain  and  France." — Stry'pe. 

Although  Synchhonous  {avyx^ovoq, 
contemporaneous)  is  only  the  Greek 
equivalent  of  the  Latin  contemporary^ 
it  is  a  convenient  term  to  use  when 
nothing  more  is  intended  than  the 
simultaneity  of  two  occun-ences  as  a 
matter  of  history. 

"Sensations  are  impressed  either  at  the 
same  instant  of  time,  or  in  contiguous  suc- 
cessive instants.  Hence  it  follows  that  the 
corresponding  associations  are  either  syn- 
chronous or  successive." — Belsham. 

The  term  Commensurate  (Lat. 
co)nmensurdtus,mensiira,  a  measure)  may 
be  analogously  employed  when  the 
meaning  is  that  two  durations  synchro 
nize.     (See  Adequate.) 

"We  can,  I  think,  have  no  positi\e  idem 
of  any  space  or  duration  which  is  uot  macU 


[collateJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


247 


np  and  commensurate  to  repeated  numbers 
of  feet  or  yards,  or  days  and  years  which 
are  the  common  measures,  whereof  we  have 
the  ideas  in  our  minds,  and  whereby  we 
judge  of  the  greatness  of  these  sorts  of  quan- 
tities."— Locke. 

cognatp:.   a  mi  ED. 

As  Allied  (  Fr.  allier,  Lat.  ulUgare, 
»;  hind  together)  means  bound  bj  al- 
most any  union  or  connexion  of  inte- 
rests, as  by  marriage,  compact, 
treaty,  league,  descent ;  so  Cognate 
means  allied  by  virtue  ofa  common  de- 
scent. Both  terms  are  extended  be- 
yond the  primary  application  to  human 
relationships.  In  the  group  of  Indo- 
European  languages,  the  Welsh,  for 
instance,  and  the  Latin  are  allied. 
Single  words  are  said  to  be  cognate 
which  may  be  derived  from  the  same 
root.  That  is  cognate  which  is  allied 
in  origin. 

COHERENT.     Consistent. 

That  is  Coherent  (Lat.  clhoertre, 
to  stick  together)  which  is  connected  by 
some  relation  or  agreement  of  form, 
order,  sequence,  and  the  like.  That  is 
Consistent  (Lat.  consistcre,  to  stand 
together)  which  is  in  harmony  with 
something  external  to  itself,  with 
which  it  is  compared.  An  incoherent 
account  is  one  which  does  not  hang  to- 
gether, one  in  which  some  statements 
seem  out  of  character  with  others,  so 
that  such  statements  do  not  seem  to 
harmonize  among  themselves,  but  to  be 
possessed  offerees  which  do  not  coin- 
cide with  the  main  driftof  what  is  said. 
An  inconsistent  account  is  one  which 
contradicts  itself.  Words  are  said  to 
be  incoherent,  actions  inconsistent. 
The  coherent  presupposes  what  is 
analogous  to  organic  unity  ;  the  con- 
sistent pi-esupposes  a  unity  of  charac- 
ter, sentiment,  or  principle.  A  man's 
reasoning  is  incoherent  fi'om  want  of 
logical  power ;  it  is  inconsistent  when 
he  allows  himself  to  give  expression 
to  different  opinions  or  sentiments  in 
succession.  That  which  is  inconsis- 
tent is  mcon^ruous  and  incompatible. 
That  which  is  incoherent  is  dislocated, 
rambling,  loose,  and  ready  to  fall  to 
pieces.  Coherence  is  especially  ne- 
cessary in  naiTation  and  discourse ; 
consistency  in  giving  evidence,  in 
didactic  exhortation,  and  in  the  con- 
duct of  daily  life. 


COLD.     Frigid.      Gelid.     Cool. 

Of  these,  CoM)(A.S.  ceald)  simply 
expresses  the  absence  of  heat  in  any 
degree,  whether  pliysically  or  in  • 
metaphorical  sense  of  the  mental  feel- 
ings or  passions.  Frigid  (Lat.  /H- 
g^dtisj'r'igus,  cold)  denotes  that  which 
IS  by  nature  relatively  cold,  as  the 
Frigid  Zone.  Cool  (A.  S.  col)  de- 
notes the  lesser  degrees  of  cold,  and 
Gelid  (Lat.  giiidusy  grin,  frost)  is 
applicable  only  to  conditions  of 
natural  substances,  the  eai'h  and  the 
atmosphere.  A  cold  nature  is  wanting 
in  zeal  and  w;irm-heartedness,  re- 
served, unswayed  by  passion  or  ardour 
of  sentiment.  A  frigid  nature  com- 
municates its  coldness  by  a  distant, 
unsympathizing  manner.  A  frigid 
style  of  speaking  or  writing  is  one 
which  neither  conveys  nor  excites 
warmth  of  feeling  or  brightness  of 
thought.  Cool  is  employed  not  so 
much  of  tempei ament  (like  Cold  and 
Frigid)  as  of  the  state  of  mind  under 
certain  circumstances,  and  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  praiseworthy,  as  cold 
with  the  contrary.  So  we  say,  '*  cold 
calculation,"  ''cold  indifference," but 
*'  cool  determination  or  courage." 
When  coolness  has  an  unfavourable 
sense,  it  refers  to  specific  demeanour 
towards  others,  as  "cool  impudence." 
"  It  is  in  vain  that  we  would  coldly  gaze 
On  such  as  smile  upon  us  ;  the  heart  must 
Leap  kindly  back  to  kindness."  Byron. 
"  Then,  crushed  by  rules,  and  weakened  as 

refined. 
For  years  the  power  of  Tragedy  declined. 
From  bard  to  bard  the  frigid  caution  crept, 
Till    Declamation    roared    while     Passioq 
slept."  Johnson. 

*'  To  what  cool  cave  shall  I  descend. 

Or  to  what  gelid  fountain  bend?" 

Marvel. 

"  To  say  the  truth,  when  the  matter  cornea 
to  be  considered  impartially  and  coolly, 
their  faults  of  whatever  kind  will  admit  of 
much  alleviation." — Bishop  Hurd. 

COLLATE.     Compare. 

To  Compare  (Lat.  compdrare)  is  the 
generic  term.  To  Collate  (Lat, 
confei  re,  part,  crlldtus)  is  specific.  Col- 
lation is  a  particular  kind  of  compari- 
son not  entirely  confined  to  matters  of 
literary  criticism,  though  mostly  relat- 
ing to  these,  but  to  all  close  compai-i- 
sons  of  which  the  object  is  to  note, 
rot  general  resemblance  or  dissiiui 


248 


SYNONYMS 


[collect] 


laritj,  but  specific  points  of  agreement 
and  disagreement. 

COLLECT.  Assemble.  Mcster. 
Gather. 

To    <'-OLLECT    (J.at.    CoWigtrfif    J)f!rt. 

cnUeclus)  is  to  gather  from  ditl'erent 
places  into  one  body  or  place. 

"  Some  ritualists  say  the  collects  are 
prayers  made  among  the  people  collected  or 
gathered  togather." — Comber. 

To  Assemble  (0.  Fr,  assemhler, 
L.  Lat.  assimYilare,  to  bring  together) 
differs  from  Collect  in  being  applic- 
able only  to  persons,  and  not  to 
things. 

"  Thither  he  assembled  all  his  train." 
Milton. 
The   transitive  use   of  the  verb  has 
become  uncommon.    It  tlien  means  to 
cause  to  meet  in  the  same  place. 

To  Muster  (lit.  to  hold  an  inspec- 
tion of  troops  ;  Fr,  momtre,  monstree  ; 
Lat.  munstrdre,  to  show)  is  to  bring  by 
effort  or  by  authority  to  a  certain 
place  or  occasion.  It  differs  from  Col- 
lect and  Assemble  in  being  a})plic- 
able  to  one  as  well  as  many,  hence, 
metaphorically,  *^  to  muster  courage," 
and  from  Assemble  also,  in  being  ap- 
plicable both  to  persons  and  things. 
"  Prone  on  the   lonely  grave  of  the  dear 

man 
She  drops,  whilst  busy  meddling  memory 
In  barbarotis  successions  musters  up 
The    past    endearments    of    their    softer 
hours."  liLAlK. 

Gather  {A.  S.  gaderiaii)  has  the 
senses  of  collect  and  assemble,  and 
others  of  its  own.  As  Muster  implies 
the  point  to,  so  Gather  the  source 
from,  which  the  taking  is ;  hence 
simply  to  gather  a  flower,  which  ex- 
presses no  collection  at  all. 

"  Not  th'at  fair  field 
Of    Enna,    wheie     Proserpin,     gathering 

flowers, 
Herself  a  fairer  flower,  by  gloomy  Dis 
Was  gathered,  which   cost  Ceres  all  that 

pain 
To  seek  her  through  the  world." 

Milton. 

The  term,  like  Collect,  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  deduction  or  inference.  "  I 
gather,"  that  is,  f  infer,  "  so  and  so 
from  what  you  say."  The  expression 
of  the  English  Liturgy,  "  When  twc 
or  three  are  gathered  together,"  uus 
been  censured    as    tautology ;    it  is 


plainly  not  so.     All  gatheiing  is  not 
collective,  as  we  have  seen. 

COLOUR.  Dve.  Tinge.  Stain. 
Paint. 

To  Colour  (Lat.  colbrure)  is  simply 
to  impart  a  hue,  whether  superficially 
or  substantially,  or  both,  as  to  colour 
the  outside  of  a  house  ;  Nature  colours 
the  grass  with  green.  It  may  denote 
an  artificial  process,  or  a  process  of 
nature. 

"Vain is  the  hope  by  colouring  to  display 
The  bright  effulgence  of  the  noon-tide  ray, 
Or  paint  the  full-orbed  ruler  of  the  skies 
With  pencils  dipt  in  dull  terrestrial  dyes." 
Mason. 

Dye  (A.  S.  dedgian)  denotes  a 
purely  artificial  process,  by  which 
either  the  surface  or  the  entire  texture 
may  be  coloured;  as,  an  ivory  ball, 
which  may  be  dyed  red,  or  a  silken 
fabric. 

"Weaving  was  the  invention  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  dyeing  wool  of  the  Lydians  " 
—Holland,  Pliny. 

To  Tinge  (Lat.  tingere)  is  applied 
i  to  both  natural  and  artificial  processes, 
but  implies  a  subordinate  degree  of 
colouring;  as,  a  red  colour  may  be 
tinged  with  blue,  the  maiden's  cheek 
is  tinged  with  red. 

"  There  is  constantly  a  cheerful  grey  sky 
just  sufficient  to  screen  the  sun,  and  to  miti- 
gate the  violence  of  its  perpendicular  rays, 
without  obscuring  the  air  or  fingeing  the 
daylight  with  an  unpleasant  or  melancholy 
line." — Anson's  Voyages. 

To  Stain,  which  is  abbreviated  from 
(listain  (Fr.  desieindrey  Lat.  dis  -tin- 
guhXy  to  decorate)^  is,  properly,  to 
colour  with  :i  heterogeneous  colour, 
or  to  discolour,  as  *'  stain  the  pure 
white  with  accidental  spots."  Prom 
the  application  or  involuntary  contact 
of  foreign  colouring  inatter,or  the  idea 
of  adornment  in  distingictre,  the  term 
stain  has  come  to  mean  a  certain  kind 
of  dyeing.  In  this  way,  as  Paint  (Vr. 
pehidre,  Lat.  pingcie)  denotes  the 
covering  of  the  surface  with  a  pig- 
ment, so  Stain  and  Dye  indicate  the 
colouring  of  the  substance  itself;  and 
Si  AiN  is  said  chiefly  of  solids,  as  ivory, 
wood,  glass;  and  Dye  of  fibrous  sub- 
stances and  textile  fabrics.  Si  ain  Li 
often  used  for  the  accidental  marring 
of  one  colour  by  another. 


[command] 


DISCRIMINATED 


249 


"  See  what  reward  the  grateful  senate  yield 
For  the  lost  blood  which  stains  yon  northern 

field."  Rowe's  Lucan. 

"  True  poetry  the  painters  jower  displays  ; 
Trxxe  painting  emulates  the  poet's  lays." 
Mason. 

COME.     Arrivk. 

To  Come  (  A. S.  c?j»?a?i)  expresses  no 
move  than  to  reach  up  to  some  point, 
state,  or  condition. 

"  If  the  good  man  of  the  house  had  known 
a-t  what  hour  the  thief  would  came,  he  would 
have  watched." — Bible. 

To  Arrive  (Fr.  arnver,  L.  Lat.  ann- 
pare,  to  come  to  shore,  ad  ripain)  is  to 
come  to  a  o^iven  destination.  Periods 
of  time,  tidings,  and  events,  as  well  as 
moving  persons  or  bodies,  are  said  to 
arrive. 

"  In  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  St.  Peter, 
and  St.  James,  we  find  frequent  mention  of 
the  coming  of  our  Lord  in  terms  which,  like 
those  of  the  text,  may  at  first  seem  to  im- 
ply an  expectation  in  those  writers  of  His 
speedy  arrival." — Horsley. 

COMELY.  Graceful.    Elegant. 

Comely  (A.  S.  cymlic)  expresses 
more  than  becoming.  A  very  cheap 
thing  may, on  account  of  colour,  shape, 
»nd  the  like,  be  becoming ;  but  Com  ely 
denotes  some  degree  of  intrinsic  value. 
Comely  is  either  applied  directly  to 
the  personal  appearance,  as  a  comely 
face  or  figure ;  or  to  something  clo.sely 
connected  with  it  by  way  of  dress,  of 
personal  decoration,  or  attendant  cir- 
cumstance. But  this  latter  is  now 
well-nigh  obsolete. 

"  A  happier  and  more  comely  tune." 

Shakespeare. 

Rather  the  difference  between  Com  e  r .y 
and  Becoming  at  present  seems  to  be 
that  comely  qualifies  only  the  person  ; 
becoming  qualifies  something  which 
bears  relation  to  the  person. 
"  A  comely  creature." 

Piers  Plaughnuni. 

Graceful,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
independent  both  of  personal  relation- 
.ship  and  of  intrinsic  value.  It  de- 
notes simply  an  elegance  and  charm 
(Lat.  gratia)  of  outline  or  movement. 
The  pendent  flower,  the  statue  of  the 
Apollo  Belvedere,  the  action  of  the 
accomplished  orator,  are  graceful. 

"  Gracefulness  is  an  idea  not  very  diffe- 
rent from  beauty.  It  consists  in  much  the 
sume  things.  Gracefulness  is  an  idea  be- 
Ituging  to  posture  and  motion." — BUBKS. 


E  LEG  A. NT  (Lat.  Utgans)  denote* 
acquired  grace,  or  such  grace  as  indi- 
cates the  toucli  of  artificial  refinement. 
The  peasant  girl  may  be  comely  and 
graceful  by  nature,  but  not  elegant, 
save  so  far  as  nature  gives  to  some 
v.'hat  it  requires  art  to  develop  in 
others.  It  is  only  reflexively  that  we 
speak  of  "  elegant  furniture,"  or  au 
"elegant  classic." 

"The  natural  progress  of  the  works  0/ 
men  is  from  rudeness  to  convenience,  from 
convenience  to  elegance,  and  from  elegance 
to  nicety." — Johnson. 

COMMAND.  Order.  Injunc- 
tion.    Precept. 

Command  (Fr.  commander')  is  the 
most  general  of  these  terms.  It  gene- 
rally indicates  a  person  of  higher 
station.  We  speak  of  the  Divine 
commands,  and  commandments  of 
the  Divine  law.  The  noun  command- 
ment has  now  this  restricted  applica- 
tion. The  command  flows  from  one 
who  is  in  permanent  authority,  juris- 
diction, station,  oflftce. 

"  How  commandatory  the  apostolical 
authority  was,  is  best  discernible  by  the 
Apostle's  mandates  unto  the  churches  upon 
several  occasions,  as  to  the  Thessalonians, 
•We  comnuind  the  brethren.' "—Bishop 
Morton. 

Order  (Fr.  ordre,  Lat.  ordinem.) 
comes  from  a  i)erson  less  removed  in 
rank.  The  general  gives  commands, 
the  inferior  officers  order.  The 
master  orders,  not  commands,  his  ser- 
vant. In  Command  there  is  more  of 
power  and  dignity ;  in  Order,  more  of 
specific  energy  or  peremptoriness.  A 
command  may  be  held  permanently, 
an  order  is  given  to  be  executed  for 
the  occasion.  The  command  or  com- 
mandment is  more  general  than  the 
order.  He  who  governs,  commands  : 
he  who  causes  another  to  carry  intc 
execution,  orders.  The  general  om- 
mandsthe  army  and  orders  an  assault. 
Orders  are  given  in  some  cases  where 
no  i)ower  or  authority  of  command 
exists,  as  when  a  physician  orders  a 
certain  medicine  to  be  taken  by  his 
jiatient.  Force  may  order,  supenority 
commands.  To  command  may  be 
latent,  to  order  is  active.  A  citadel 
commands  a  town,  that  is,  could  re- 
duce or  demolish  it  if  ncce.ssary.     A 


250 


SYNONYMS 


[commercial] 


point  of  vieAv  is  called  commanding 
which  has  elevation  and  extent,  and 
so  seems  to  ^ive  the  spectator  a  supe- 
riority over  It. 

"  A  ste|)-dame,  too,  I  have,  a  cursed  she. 
Who  rules  my  henpecked  sire,  and  orders 
Die."  Dryden. 

As  command  and  order  relate  to 
specific  acts,  so  Injunction'  (Lat. 
injunction  em)  relates  rather  to  general 
conduct;  as,  an  injunction  of  secrecy, 
an  injunction  to  be  careful.  It  has 
more  of  ti)e  moral  and  less  of  the 
official  about  it.  So  that,  as  Com- 
mand and  Ohder  are  for  one's  own 
sake,  so  Injunction  may  be  entirely 
for  the  sake  of  the  other,  as  the  father 
enjoins  his  son  to  be  diligent. 

"  Though  all  duties  expressly  enjoined  are 
by  virtue  of  such  injunction  equally  neces- 
sary, yet  it  follows  not  that  they  are  in 
themselves  equally  excellent." — South. 

Pkecept  (Lat.  prceceptum)  is  com- 
monly not  addressed  to  individuals, 
but  has  a  moral  or  didactic  force, 
which  flows  not  simply,  or,  perhaps, 
not  at  all,  from  the  authority  of  the 
person,  but  from  the  inherent  wisdom 
of  the  thing  itself.  A  command,  an 
order,  or  an  injunction  may  be  old  or 
new  upon  the  occasion ;  a  precept  re- 
fers always  to  that  whicli  is  old  and 
established,  or  at  least  meant  to  be- 
come so  as  a  thing  of  lasting  obligation. 

"  Precepts  are  short — necessarily  must 
be  so— take  up  but  little  room,  and  for  that 
reason  do  not  always  strike  with  the  force 
or  leave  the  impression  which  they  ought  to 
do." — Paley. 

COMMERCIAL.     Mercantile. 

Commercial  (see  Commerce)  is 
the  widest  term,  being  sometimes 
made  to  embrace  Mercantile  (Lat. 
mercdri,  to  traffic;  mercem,  merchan- 
dize). In  that  sense  it  extends  to  the 
whole  theory  and  practice  of  com- 
merce ;  as,  a  commercial  speculation,  a 
commercial  education,  a  commercial 
people.  Mercantile  respects  the 
actual  transaction  of  business;  and, 
as  Commercial  relates  strictly  to  the 
exchange  of  commodities,  so  Mer- 
cantile relates  to  their  sale  when 
brought  to  market. 

"  Every  man  thus  lives  by  exchanging, 
or  becomes  in  some  measure  a  merchant, 
and  the  society  itself  grows  to  be  what  is 
properly  a  commercial  society." — Adam 
•jiith. 


"  Such  ia  the  happmess,  the  hope  of  which 
seduced  me  from  the  duties  and  pleasures  of 
a  mercantile  life." — Johnson, 

COMMIT.  Intrust.  Consign. 
Confide. 

These  words  have  in  common  the 
idea  of  transfen-ing  from  one's  self  to 
the  care  and  custody  of  another. 
Co.mmit  is  the  widest  term,  and  ex- 
presses no  moi-e  than  generally  the 
delivery  into  another's  charge ;  as,  to 
commit  a  case  to  an  attorney,  or  a 
felon  to  prison.  It  is  used  in  the 
general  sense  of  placing  a  thing  in 
permanent  juxtaposition,  connexion, 
or  relation  "to  another ;  as,  to  commit 
words  to  memory  or  th  oughts  to  paper. 

"  The  Lord  Chancellor,  upon  petition  or 
information,  grants  a  commission  to  inquire 
into  the  party's  state  of  mind,  and  if  he  be 
(bund  non  compos,  he  usually  commits  the 
care  of  his  person,  with  a  suitable  allowance 
for  his  maintenance,  to  some  friend,  who  is 
then  called  his  committee." — BlacKSTONE. 

To  Intrust  is  to  put  in  trust,  and 
denotes  a  higher  degree  of  confidence  ; 
as,  to  intrust  a  child  to  the  care  of  a 
friend,  or  the  friend  himself  with  the 
care  of  the  child.  Unlike  Commit,  it 
is  applicable  only  to  personal  charge. 

"  The  joy  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  whick 
they  only  are  admitted  to  who  are  carefui 
to  improve  the  talents  they  are  intrusted 
withal." — WiLKiNS. 

'J'o  Consign  (Lat.  consigndre,  to 
sign  or  seal)  is  a  more  formal  act,  im- 
plying abandonment  at  least  of  pre- 
sent responsibility,  and  a  more  com- 
plete merging  in  the  kee})ing  of 
another,  or  a  more  complete  change  of 
state ;  as,  to  consign  goods  into  the 
hands  of  an  ao;ent ;  and,  yet  more 
strongly,  though  metaphorically,  to 
consign  a  body  to  the  grave.  It  is 
only  objects,  not  duties  or  responsi- 
bilities as  in  the  case  of  Commit,  which 
are  consigned.  So  we  commit  either 
individuals,  or  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  them,  to  others,  but  we  con- 
sign the  individuals  only. 
"  Atrides,  parting  for  the  Trojan  war. 
Consigned  the  youthful  consort  to  his  care." 
Pope. 

'i'o  Confide  (Lat.  confldtre)  com- 
bines the  transfer  of  responsibility 
implied  in  Consign  with  the  assurance 
implied  in  Trust.  In  the  phrase,"  to 
confide  a  secret,"  the  responsibility  u 


[companion] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


251 


rather  shared  than  transferred.  In- 
trust regards  matters  of  action,  Con- 
fide of  knowledge  also.  It  is  because 
I  confide  in  him  that  I  intrust  him 
with  this  business.  To  confide  is  to 
feel  as  well  as  to  act ;  to  intrust  is  only 
to  act. 

"  Congress  may  unier  the  constitution 
confide  to  the  Circuit  Court  jurisdiction  of 
all  offences  against  the  United  States." — 
Story. 

COMMIT.     Perpetrate. 

As  it  relates  to  the  doing  of  deeds, 
Commit  is  used  only  in  an  unfavour- 
able and  bad  sense  ;  as,  to  commit  an 
eiTor,  a  fault,  or  a  crime.  Good 
deeds  are  never  committed. 

Perpetrate  (Lat.  perpctvure,  to 
achieve,  in  a  good  sense  or  in  a  bad 
sense  )is  in  the  same  way  restricted,but 
has  only  reference  to  grosser  errors 
or  crimes.  So  we  might  say,  "  I 
committed  a  slight  mistake;"  but  the 
terms  slight  and  mistake  would  he  in- 
compatible with  Perpetrate.  The 
tenn  is,  however,  used  of  lighter  mat- 
ters ;  as,  to  perpetrate  a  blunder,  or  a 
gross  fault  in  manners,  as  we  say  when 
we  wish  sarcastically  to  exaggerate. 
"  Lands  and  tenements  commH  no  treason." 

Dbvuen. 
•'  What  great  advancement  hast  thou  here- 
by won. 
By  being  the  instrument  to  perpetrate 
So  foul  a  deed  ?  "  Daniel. 

COMMON.   Ordinary.  Vulgar. 

Common  (Lat.  communis),  from  its 
primary  sense  of  general,  frequent, 
nas  naturally  come  to  signify  that 
which  is  cheap  from  its  frequent  oc- 
currence, and  of  no  high  or  refined 
kind.  The  terra  expresses  rather  a 
negative  idea  than  any  positive  defect 
or  objectionableness.  A  common- 
looking  person  is  one  who  has  nothing 
to  distinguish  him  from  the  mass  of 
people  about  him.  The  word  often 
means  no  more  tlian  generality  or 
frequency,  as  in  the  following : — 

"  The  commonness  and  general  long  re- 
ception of  a  doctrine  is  not  a  sufficient  argu- 
ment of  the  truth  of  it."— South. 

As  that  is  common  in  which  many 
persons  partake,  so  that  is  Ordinary 
(Fr.  ordinaire)  which  is  apt  to  meet 
us  in  the  common  order  or  succession 
of  things,  its  "  an  ordinarjr  face." 
Hence  it  <ake8  its  character  tor  praiee 


or  blame,  according  to  the  subject  with 
which  it  is  associated.  No  such  cha- 
racter belongs  to  the  phrase,  "  the 
ordinary  forms  of  law.  "  Men  of 
ordinary  judgment,"  would  mean 
whose  judgment  would  make  them 
fit  judges,  as  being  of  an  average 
goodness.  On  the  other  hand,  to  say 
of  a  book  that  it  was  an  ordinary 
performance,  Avould  express  dispa- 
ragement. In  this  disparaging  sense, 
it  indicates  what  is  not  likely  to  at- 
tract or  interest. 

"  Nature  bestowed  upon  Pythagoras  a 
form  and  person  more  than  ordinarily 
comely." —  Obsei-ver. 

Vulgar  (Lat.  vulgaris;  valgus,  the 
common  people),  though  it  had  not 
originally  this  decidedly  unfavourable 
sense,  as  in  the  old  phrase  "  vulgar," 
that  is,  common,  "  tongue,"  js  always 
now  employed  with  some  tinge  of 
depreciation,  if  not  of  actual  dispraise. 
Vulgar  reports  are  such  as  are  circu- 
lated amon^  people,  and  such  as  may 
be  su})po3ed  to  interest  them  in  parti- 
cular. In  a  stronger  sense,  vulgar 
indicates  depravation  of  taste  and 
manners.  In  its  unfavourable  sense, 
Vulgar  is  far  stronger  than  Common 
or  Ordina[iy, because  it  means  what  is 
distinctively  seen  in  common  people. 
It  belongs  exclusively  to  the  minds 
and  manners  of  men  ;  while  Common 
and  Ordinary  are  applicable  also  to 
the  course  or  nature  of  events.  We 
may  say,  generallj^,  that  which  is 
ordinary  has  in  it  nothing  dis- 
tinguished ;  that  which  is  common, 
nothing  refined  ;  that  which  is  vulgar, 
nothing  noble. 

"Verses  which  a  few  years  past  were 
thought  worthy  the  attention  of  children 
only,  or  of  the  lowest  and  rudest  orders, 
are  now  admired  for  that  artless  simplicity 
which  once  obtained  the  name  of  coarseness 
and  vulgarity." — Knox. 

COMPANION.  Associate.  Com- 
rade. Colleague.  Mate.  Partner. 

Companion  (L.  Lat.  com-pdnionem, 
from  pdnis,  bread,  originally  meaning 
a  messmate:  see  Bracket,  s.  v.  com- 
pagne)  is  a  term  which  may  be  applied 
to  any  person  who  keeps  company  with 
another  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time 
without  such  connexion  being  habi- 
tual,  or  even  of  necessity  an  equality 
between  Ihe  two.     "  All  through  my 


252 


SYISONYMS        [comparatively] 


travels  my  dog  was  mj  faithful  com- 
panion. "  There  must  be  some  degree 
of  sympathy  in  pleasure  or  pain. 

"  Alas  I  my  soul,  thou  pleasing  companion 
of  this  body,  thou  fleeting  thing  that  art 
DOW  deserting  it,  whither  art  thou  flying?" 
—Tatler, 

Associate  (Lat.  associarey  to  make  a 
companion  of)  denotes  habitual  and  vo- 
luntary companionship  on  the  ground 
of  personal  community  of  feeling. 

"The  Apostles,  and  their  associates." — 
Bishop  Porteus. 

CoMUADE  (Fv.  camarade,  Lat. 
cHmtra,  a  chamber)  is  used  of  com- 
panionsliip  in  certain  of  the  lighter 
relations  of  society,  dependent  upon 
and  subordinate  to  a  common  rule  of 
life.  So  a  comrade  is  an  associate 
who  is  not  so  purely  by  personal 
choice.  Playfellows  at  school,  or 
soldiers  of  the  same  regiment  are  com- 
rades. The  comrade  lives  with  us, 
the  companion  goes  with  us.  The 
comrade  is  more  intimate  than  the 
companion,  who  may  be  lightly  joined 
and  lightly  left. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  other  two  squad- 
rons were  calm  spectators  of  the  rout  of 
their  comrades" — Anson's  Voyages. 

Mate  (etym.  doubtful;  see  Wedg- 
wood) is  to  the  graver  relations  of  life 
what  Comrade  is  to  the  lighter,  and 
denotes  a  common  employment  in 
which  each  takes  a  part.  It  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  relation  between  two 
persons,  while  comiade  always  implies 
a  number. 

"I 
Will  way  me  to  some  wither'd  bough,  and 

there 
My  mate,  that's  never  to  be  found  again. 
Lament  till  I  am  lost."    Shakespeare. 

Colleague  (Fr.  collogue,  Lat.  col- 
liga)  is  one  who  is  united  with 
another  in  the  tenure  of  an  office,  or 
the  discharge  of  an  official  duty. 

"  Being  yet  very  young,  says  Plutarch,  I 
was  joined  in  commission  with  another  iu 
an  embassy  to  the  proconsul,  and  my  col- 
league, falling  sick,  was  forced  to  stay  be- 
hind, so  that  the  whole  business  was  trans- 
acted by  me  alone." — Drtden. 

Partner  is  commonly  one  who 
takes  part  in  a  social  community  of 
interest,  whether  grave  or  gay ;  as, 
a  partner  in  business,  a  partner  in 
the  dance,  a  partner  for  life. 


"  No  faith,  no  trust,  no  friendship,  shall  he 

known 
Among  the  jealous  partners  of  a  throne  ; 
But  he  who  reigns  shall  strive   to  reign 

alone."  RowES  Lucan. 

COMPARATIVELY.  Rela- 
tively. 

Comparatively  means  according 
to  estimate  made  by  comparison ; 
Relatively,  according  to  a  relation 
to  something  else.  The  former  is 
opposed  to  positively,  the  latter  to 
absolutely.  Comparatively  regards 
an  average,  relatively  a  standard  or 
requirement.  There  were  relatively 
few  persons  present,  that  is,  in  regard 
to  the  matter  that  liad  brought  them 
together.  There  were  comparatively 
few,  that  is,  considering  the  generality 
of  such  occasions. 

COMPARTMENT.         Depart- 

ME>'T. 

These  words,  derivatives  of  the 
Lat.  purtlrij  to  part  of,  express,  the  for- 
mer only  material  divisions,  the  latter 
divisions  of  an  abstract  kind,  as  mental, 
intellectual,  literary,  conventional. 

COMPENSATION.  Remune- 
ration. Recompense.  Amends. 
Satisfaction.  Requitat,.  Reward. 
Meed.     Guerdon. 

To  Compensate  is  to  furnish  an 
equivalent  for  any  tiling  lost  or  parted 
with  by  another  (  Lat.  competisdre,  to 
counterbalance  J  to  compensate).  It 
commonly  supposes  that  the  loss  has 
been  in  favour,  or,  in  some  way,  in 
the  cause  of  the  person  making  the 
compensation ;  but  this  is  not  essen- 
tial. So  one  might,  as  an  act  of 
charity,  give  to  a  poor  person  as  a 
compensation  for  a  loss  which  he  had 
unfortunately  sustained. 

"  Not  having  any  certain  knowledge  of  a 
future  state  of  reward  (though  the  wisest  of 
them  did  indeed  hope  for  it,  and  think  it 
highly  probable),  they  were  forced,  that 
they  might  be  consistent  with  their  own 
l)rinciples,  to  suppose  the  practice  of  virtue 
a  sufficient  reward  to  itself  in  all  cases,  and 
a  full  coinpe?isation  for  all  the  sufferings  o. 
the  world."— Clarke. 

Remuneration  (Lat.  rhnun^rdtin- 
iiem)  is  commonly  taken  in  the  specific 
sense  of  compensation  for  personal 
services  done  to  the  remunerator. 


[compensation]      discriminated. 


253 


"  Hainan  legislators  have  for  the  most 
psLTt  chosen  to  make  the  sanction  of  their 
laws  rather  vindicatory  than  remuneratory, 
or  to  consist  rather  in  punishments  than  in 
actual  particular  rewards."  — BlackSTONK. 

Recompense  and  Reward  stand 
to  each  other  in  this  relation,  that 
recompense  (Fr.  recompense)  is  a  re- 
ward equivalent  to  the  thing-  done. 
Reward  is,  literally,  that  which  re- 
gards or  is  related  to  the  thin^  (Fr. 
-e^arder,  to  keep  in  view).  An  indus- 
trious boy  at  school  is  rewarded,  not 
recompensed,  by  a  prize.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  boy  were  to  set  his 
reward  against  the  efforts  and  self- 
denial  he  had  made  and  exercised  in 
order  to  gain  his  prize,  he  might  say, 
"  I  am  well  recompensed  for  all  I 
have  done."  Reward  follows  upon 
action  or  conduct,  and  may  be  for 
good  or  bad  conduct.  In  the  former 
case  it  is  opposed  to  punishment,  in 
the  latter  it  is  identical  with  it.  Re- 
compense is  wide,  and  more  varied  on 
the  grounds  of  its  bestowal.  It  has 
less  regard  to  the  simple  merits  and 
demerits  of  the  action,  and  more  to 
the  whole  sum  of  what  it  cost,  in 
time,  effort,  and  the  like.  Yet  recom- 
pense is,  generally  speaking,  the  re- 
turn due  to  merit,  of  which  the  nature 
and  amount  are  to  be  determined  by 
equitable  considerations  and  custom. 
Remuneration  is  for  service,  recom- 
pense for  long,  assiduous,  meritorious 
service. 

"  Thou  who  hast  taught  me  to  forgive  the 

ill. 
And  recompense  as  friends  the  good  misled. 
If  mercy  be  a  precept  of  Thy  will. 
Return  that  mercy  on  Thy  servant's  head." 
Drydex. 

"  Which  good  and  evil,  pleasure  or  pain, 
attending  an  observance  or  breach  of  the 
law,  by  the  decree  of  the  law-maker,  is 
what  we  call  reward  and  punishment." — 
Locke. 

Meed  (A.  S.  med^  merit,  reward) 
is  not  a  term  of  familiar  use.  It  is  a 
reward  which  we  fairly  earn  by  our 
own  exertions;  something  bestowed 
or  rendered  in  consideration  of  merit, 
and  which  does  not,  like  Reward, 
imply  any  substantial  value,  as  the 
'*  meed  of  praise,"  but  rather  some- 
thing which  derives  its  value  from  its 
honourable  character. 


"As  he  pronounces  .astly  on  each  deed. 
Of  so  much   fame  in   heaven   expect  thy 

meed."  Milton. 

Guerdon  is  a  French  word,  and 
combines  the  two  notions  of  a  volun- 
tary gift  and  a  reward,  being  a  hybrid 
L.  Lat.  v:ider-do7iiim  ;  made  up  of  0. 
H.  G.  wider,  back  again  ;  and  tiie  Lat. 
donum,  a  gift:  see  Littue.  It  is  that 
which  is  received  and  recognized  as  a 
recompense  from  one  who  was  not 
absolutely  bound  to  recognize  the 
thing  done,  and  it  may  or  may  not  be 
of  intrinsic  value. 

"  Vei-se,  like  the  laurel,  its  immortal  meed. 
Should  be  the  guerdon  of  a  noble  deed." 
CoWPKK. 
Amends  and  Satisfaction  both  be- 
long to  cases  in  which  the  person 
complains  of  loss.  Amends  (  Fr.  amende) 
relates  rather  to  the  i\nn^,  satisfaction 
(Lat.  sdtisfactibnem)  to  the  person. 
Am  ends  restores  the  balance  of  depri- 
vation. Satisfaction  the  balance  of 
discontent.  So  we  may  make  amends 
not  only  to  persons,  but  abstractedly; 
as  we  speak  of  making  amends  for  idle- 
ness by  increased  efforts  afterwards ; 
but  satisfaction  is  purely  personal. 

"  Then  let  us  seek 
Some  safer  resolution,  which,  methinks, 
I  have  in  view,  calling  to  mind  with  heed 
Part  of  our  sentence — that  thy  seed  shall 

bruise 
The  Serpent's  head— piteous  amends." 

MiLTOX. 

"  For  the  transgressions  of  man,  man 
ought  to  make  satisfaction,  but  he  could 
not."— SHERiDAJf,  Sermons. 

Requital,  which,  like  quit  and  ac- 
quit, is  originally  from  Lat.  quies,  tit 
(something  given  to  set  the  mind  of 
the  debtor  at  rest),  is  simply  the 
giving  of  something  in  return  for 
something  done  towards  ourselves. 
This  may  be  anything  but  a  reward 
or  a  recompense.  It  is  dictated  sim- 
by  gratitude,  and  is  not  conferred, 
requital  is  of  the  fullest  possible 
value  in  the  case  of  the  truly  grateful. 
It  is  mean  or  even  injurious  in  the 
absolutely  ungrateful.  It  is  a  matter 
of  evil  for  evil  in  the  vindictive.  It 
is  simple  punishment  in  cases  where 
it  consists  of  deserved  suffering  coming 
from  those  who  have  a  right  to  infl  ict  it 

"  Every  receiver  is  debtor  to  his  bene- 
factor; he  owes  him  all  the  good  he  re- 
ceives from  him,  and  is  always  obUged  to  a 


& 


254 


thankful  ackiiowledgment.and.wheneverhe 
hath  opportunity,  toauequivalentrejUifaZ." 
— Scott,  Christian  Life. 

COMPETITION.  Emulation. 
fiiVALRv.     Ambition. 

Competition  (Lat.  comptttrey  to 
meet  together  ;  competitor,  a  rival)  is  not 
a  matter  of  feeling,  but  of  action.  It  is 
the  attempt  to  gain  something  desir- 
able with  or  against  others  who  are 
aiming  at  the  same  thing,  especially 
in  matters  of  interest  and  honour. 

"  But  they  ought  to  consider  that  when 
these  two  parts  of  religion  come  in  competi- 
tion, devotion  is  to  give  way  to  charity, 
mercy  being  better  than  sacrifice." — 
Tillotson. 

Emulation  (Lat.  eemaldtioiiem)  is  a 
matter  of  feeling,  which  often  prompts 
to  competition.  It  is  a  desire  of  ex- 
cell  ing^  and  a  natural  tendency  to 
make  efforts  in  that  direction.  It  is 
always  relative  to  others,  whom  the 
emulous  person  desires  to  equal,  imi- 
tate, or  excel.  And  in  this  way  it 
differs  from  Ambition,  which  is  not 
relative  directly  to  others  (  Lat.  anibt- 
tionem,  from  amb'ire,  to  go  about  canvass- 
ing for  ojjice).  The  emulous  person  is 
thinking  of  others  who  are  ninning 
the  same  course  ;  the  ambitious  person 
thinks  only  of  the  goal  and  the  prize, 
and  not,  except  indirectly,  of  othei's 
who  have  to  be  passed  in  the  course. 

A  noble  emulation  prevailed  among  the 
companions  to  obtain  the  first  place  in  the 
esteem  of  their  chiefs,  among  the  chiefs  to* 
acquire  the  greatest  number  of  valiant 
companions." — Gibbon. 
"  Cromwell,  I  charge  thee  flmg  away  am- 
bition : 
By  that  sin  fell  the  angels.' 

Sha.kespea.re, 

Rivalry  (Lat.  rivdlis,  one  who  uses 
a  brook,  rivus,  in  common  with  another) 
has  always  a  selfish  object.  It  con- 
sists in  trying  to  get  something  for 
one's  self  which  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
possession,  against  one  or  more  others 
who  are  trying  for  the  same  thing. 
It  does  not  aim  at  excellence  except 
as  a  means  to  acquisition.  Emulation 
denotes  concurrence,  Rivalry  denotes 
conflict.  Men  love  those  whom  they 
emulate,  but  entertain  diffeient  feel- 
ings towards  those  whom  they  rival. 
There  is  generosity  in  emulation,  and 
selfishness  in  rivalry  Emulation 
sppks  to  merit  success,  rivalry  to  ob- 


SYNONYMS  [competition] 

tain  it.  The  emulous  desires  to  sur- 
j)ass,  the  rival  would  gladly  supplant. 
Yet  rivalry  may  be  generous,  that  is, 
when  two  or  more  persons  generously 
and  honourably  strive  after  the  same 
gain. 

"Keen  contentions  and  eager  m-rtZms." — 
Jeffrey. 

COMPLAIN.  Murmur.  Repine, 
Regret. 

Complain  (0.  Fr.  complaindre,  Lat. 
■plangire,  to  heat,  strike  the  breast)  is  to 
find  fault  sadly.  More  generally,  to 
complain  is  to  express  dissatisfaction. 
It  is  plain  that  this  may  be  either  with 
the  course  of  things  themselves,  or 
with  the  conduct  of  other  persons.  A 
complaint  in  either  case  is  expressed 
openly,  and  implies  that  what  has 
befallen  one  has  been  undeserved 
or  unjust,  from  whatever  quarter  it 
may  have  come.  When  it  relates  to 
the  conduct  of  another,  it  comes  from 
a  superior,  or  from  one  who  is  suf- 
ficiently on  an  equality  to  have  a  right 
to  com])lain  to  some  superior. 
"Save  where    fi-om    yonder    ivy-mantled 

tower 
The  moping  owl  doth  to  the   moon  com- 
plain 
Of  such   as,  wandering   near  her    secret 

bower. 
Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign." 

Gray. 
Murmur  (Lat.  murmurare)  is  the 
suppressed  expression  of  discontent 
against  a  superior  power  or  the  irre- 
sistible force  of  circumstances. 

"  What  if  God,  willing  to  show  the  nches 
of  His  mercy,  calls  and  accepts  of  some  at  the 
very  last  hour  of  the  day,  and  rewards  them 
equally  with  those  that  came  in  at  first; 
have  we  anything  to  reply  against  such  a 
proceeding,  or  to  carp  at  His  justice  or  mur- 
mur at  our  brother's  felicity?" — South. 

Repine.  Unlike  Complain  and 
Murmur,  Repine  (prob.  the  Fr.  7-e- 
yoindre,  to  prick  again:  Wedgwood 
and  Latham)  implies  no  outward  ex- 
pression, but  an  inward  discontent 
which  preys  on  the  spirits,  and  relates 
to  the  general  lot  or  condition. 

'*Eepining  is  sorrow  united  with  a  de- 
gree of  resentment  against  some  superior 
agent,  where  the  mind  dares  not  to  break 
forth  into  strong  expressions  of  anger." — 
Cog  AN. 

Regret  (Fr.  regretter)  regards 
matters  of  fact,  and  denotes  sorrow 
that  something  should  hare  haDDenmi 


[complexity]         discriminated. 

as  it  has,  and  a  wish  that  it  should 
have  been  otlierwise.  It  is  used, 
like  Lamknt,  to  express  a  modified 
complaint  of  another,  but  it  is  equally 
applicable  to  one's  self.  One  may  re- 
gret one's  own  conduct,  as  well  as 
that  of  another.  The  essential  idea 
of  regret  is  that  of  looking  back  with 
dissatisfaction.  If  it  be  on  what  has 
occurred  without  ourselv^es,  then 
regret  is  sorrow;  if  it  be  connected 
with  our  own  acts,  then  regret  is 
repentance. 

"  Alike  regretted  in  the  dust  he  lies. 
Who  yields  ignobly  or  who  bravely  dies." 
Pope's  Homer 

Remonstrate  (L.  Lat.  rcnionsfra7e, 
to  show  again)  and  Expostulate  (Lat. 
expostulare,  to  require  urgently). 

These  two  much  resemble  each 
other,  inasmuch  as  they  denote  the 
complaint  of  another's  conduct,  which 
is  expanded  into reasonino;  with  him; 
butKEMONSTRATE  is  the  milder  term  of 
the  two.  The  person  who  remonstrates 
with  another  is  more  on  an  equality 
with  him  than  the  expostulator,  who 
is  in  a  superior  position,  reasons  less, 
and  dictates  more.  Remonstrances 
and  expostulations  may  be  made 
either  before  the  act  by  way  of  dis- 
suasion, or  after  it.  In  the  latter  case 
the  object  is  to  produce  an  impres- 
sion of  dissatisfaction  or  repentance. 
There  seems  to  be  a  further  difference 
in  nature  of  the  force  employed  in 
each  case.  Expostulation  is  a  more 
direct  appeal  to  the  person  himself, 
and  therefore  includes  the  employ- 
ment of  any  means  which  may  in- 
fluence him.  Remonstrance  is  rather 
an  appeal  to  the  case,  and  indu'ectly 
to  the  person's  sense  of  its  injustice, 
impropriety,  or  the  like.  They  re- 
fer exclusively  to  matters  of  right 
and  wrong,  not  to  matters  of  ti-uth 
and  falsehood,  except  so  far  as  they 
are  associated  with  or  flow  out  of 
moral  causes.  We  do  not  expostu- 
late or  remonstrate  against  ignorance 
or  false  opinions,  though  we  might 
do  so  agamst  persons  for  neglecting 
opportunities  of  fuller  or  exacter 
knowledge,  and  against  the  results  of 
this  neglect. 
**  We  mast  use  expostulation  kindly." 
8hAKESP£A.RBs 


^00 


"  It  is  the  proper  business  of  a  divine  to 
state  cases  of  coMoience,  and  to  remonstrate 
against  any  growing  corruptions  in  practice 
and  especially  in  principles."— Water- 
land. 

COMPLEXITY.  Complication 
Intbicacy.      Compounding.      Com- 

posiieness. 

Complexity  and  Complication 
are  both  derived  from  the  Lat.  compli- 
care,  to  fold  together.  Intricacy  is 
from  tricce,  trifles,  hindrances.  Com- 
plexity is  the  effect  produced  by  com- 
plication, whether  on  the  bodily  eye 
or  on  the  eye  of  the  understanding. 
t  Complication  is  a  confused  involution 
\Df  things.  Intricacy  represents  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  definite  line  ot 
thought  or  movement  on  account  of  the 
complexity  or  complication  of  things. 
In  a  wood,  in  consequence  of  the  com- 
plication of  the  foliage,  the  task  is 
one  of  complexity,  and  it  is  an  intri- 
cate matter,  to  find  the  right  path. 
Complication  is  oftener  used  of  words 
and  circumstances,  as  "complicated 
sentences,"  "  his  affairs  are  in  a  com- 
plicated state;"  Comi-lk  xrrv,  of  ideas, 
as  a  complex  proposition;  Intricate, 
of  matters  which  have  to  be  investi- 
gated, mastered,  or  understood,  as 
"an  intricate  point  of  law."  Com- 
plexity is  a  more  abstract  tenn  than 
complication,  which  is  more  specific. 
So  Complexity  ia  employed  of  the  in- 
herent tendency  of  things  to  become 
"complicated,  as  by  Burke: — 

"  Men  are  every  now  and  then  put  by 
complexity  of  human  affairs  into  strange 
situations." 

"  A  complication  of  diseases." — Macau 

L4.Y. 

"Many  who  toil  througfh  the  intricacy 
of  complicated  systems  are  insuperably  em- 
barrassed with  the  least  perplexity  in  •om- 
mon  affairs." — liambler. 

Compounding  (Lat.  componhrey  U 
put  together)  denotes  the  physical 
amalgamation  of  homogeneous  sub- 
stances, and  is  not  a  moral  term ;  ex- 
cept so  fai'  as  Compound  has  also  the 
sense  of  the  Latin  comp'ontre,  to  allax, 
(strife),  to  compound  a  difference 
(compdncre  [item), 

"  There  was  likeness  enough  in  the  fea 
tnres  of  each  manner  to  If-vour  Lucian's  aX 
tempt  in  compounding  his  new  dialogue." 


256 


SYNONYMS  [composition] 


Composite  (Lat.  componh'e,  compo- 
situs,  to  put  together)  is  a  more  artistic 
term  than  compound.  That  is  Com- 
pound whichcoHsiitsof  more  than  one 
substance,  ingredient,  or  element; 
that  is  Com  POSIT  K  into  which  they 
have  been  imported  so  as  to  constitute 
it  as  the  result  of  design.  In  the 
compound  more  than  one  thing  meets. 
In  the  composite  more  than  one  prin- 
ciple of  combination  is  exemplified. 
The  Composite  order  of  architecture 
combines  the  Ionic  and  the  Corin- 
thian. A  compound  building  might 
be  made  partly  of  brick  and  partly  of 
marble. 

"  In  this  we  shall  follow  the  order  that 
we  have  above  laid  down,  first  dividing 
speech  as  a  whole  into  its  constituent  parts, 
tiien  resolving  it  as  a  composite  into  its 
matter  and  form.'' — Harris,  Hermes. 

COMPOSITION.  MixTUHE. 
Conglomeration.     Amalgamation. 

Of  these  the  simplest  and  most  com- 
prehensive is  Mixture  (Lat.  m'n- 
tura).  It  expresses  the  interfusion  of 
particles  of  a  different  nature  into 
one  mass,  solid  or  liquid,  or  of  soluble 
with  liquid ;  and  may  be  the  result  of 
chance  or  design,  and  in  proportioned 
quantities  or  not.  It  is  used  physically 
and  analogously.  Composition  (Lat. 
compMtionem)  is  the  forming  a  whole 
(or  the  whole  so  formed)  by  a  collo- 
cation or  association  of  parts,  elements. 
or  ingredients,  designedly  and  accord 
ing  to  proportion.  Where  the  ingre- 
dients are  material,  the  term  commonly 
used  is  Compound,  although  we  speak 
in  the  abstract  of  the  composition  of  a 
l)hysical  wiiole,  as  for  instance  an  or- 
ganized body.  A  Conglomeration 
(Lat.  congl6mirationem,  a  rolling  toge- 
tlier;  glomus,  glomcris,  a  ball,  as  of  uool) 
is  iterally  a  collection  into  a  round 
mass;  while  Amalgamation,  from  a- 
malgam  (Lat.  mUlagma  ;  Gr.  [j.a.'ka.yfxa., 
a  soft  substance,  from  fxaXaacrw  to 
make  soft,  a  compound  of  mercury 
with  some  other  metal)  points  to  the 
compounding  of  various  solid  particles 
into  one  lump.  Thus  in  Mixture  the 
leading  idea  is  that  of  the  variety  or 
unlikeness  of  the  components.  In 
Composition  the  skill  and  judgment 
of  the  composer.  In  Conglomeration 
the    forced  unity  of  the    mass.     In 


Amalgamation  the  homogeneous  na- 
ture of  the  unions. 

Compound.    Complex.    (See  Com- 

PLEXn  Y.) 

As  compared  with  each  other,  these 
two  adjectives  differ  in  that,  while 
Complex  denotes  involution.  Com- 
pound only  denotes  a  more  external 
kind  of  amalgamation  or  combination. 
A  grammatical  form  may  be  com- 
pound (the  word  "compound  "  is  an 
instance  of  it),  but  it  is  not  complex. 
This  is  reserved  for  metaj)horical  use, 
as  in  the  subjoined  employment  of  it 
by  Locke. 

"  But  the  opinion  of  Buchanan  is  more 
probable,  that  the  toM-n  now  called  Dundy 
is  a  compound  word  of  Down  and  Tay." — 
SPOTSWOOD. 

"  As  these  simple  ideas  are  observed  to 
exist  in  several  combinations  united  to- 
gether, so  the  mind  has  a  power  to  consider 
several  of  them  united  together  as  one  idea, 
and  that  not  only  as  they  are  united  in  ex- 
ternal objects,  but  as  itself  has  joined  them 
Ideas  thus  made  up  of  several  simple  ones 
put  together  I  call  complex,  such  as  are 
beauty,  gratitude,  a  man,  an  army,  the 
universe." — LoCKE. 

COMPOUND.     Compose. 

These  two  words,  formed  from  the 
same  root  (Lat.  componcre),  serve  to 
represent,  the  first  the  physical,  the 
second  the  metaphysical  process. 
The  words  are  often  used  inter- 
changeably, yet  this  distinction  holds 
good.  "  Of  what  is  this  pudding  com- 
posed ?  "  is  a  ouestion  which  would 
carry  the  mind  to  the  receipt  for  it, 
and  the  intention  of  the  person  who 
made  it ;  "  Of  what  is  it  compounded  ? ' ' 
to  the  actual  ingredients  only.  So  an 
artist  composes  his  subject,  and  com- 
pounds his  colours, 

"  In  like  manner,  if  by  knowing  that 
colours  are  nothing  else  but  various  mix- 
tures of  light  and  of  darkness  in  bodies,  our 
discourse  assures  us  that  by  several  com- 
poundings  of  these  extremes,  reds,  blues, 
yellows,  greens,  and  all  other  intermediate 
colours  may  be  generated."— DlGBY. 

"  Let  me  compose 
Something  in  verse  as  well  as  prose." 

POPB 

COIvIPRISE.  Contain.  Cok 
prehend.  Include.  Embrace.  It* 
voLVE.     Imply. 

Comprise  (Fr.  compris,  from  Lat. 
com-prensus.    part,   comprehendcre)    V 


[coMruiSEj 


DISCRIMINATED. 


25: 


tlways  used  metaphysically,  that  is, 
expresses  comprenensiveness  or  in- 
clusiveness  as  appreciated  by  the 
mind.  It  is  a  term  commonly  applic- 
able to  the  individual  objects  in- 
cluded under  an  abstract  or  collective 
noun,  that  is  to  say,  to  Comprise  is  to 
include  by  the  metaphysical  force  of  a 
term.  For  instance,  we  could  not 
say,  "  Six  trees  are  comprised  in  that 
field,"  but  we  might  say,  **  Those  six 
trees  comprise  all  the  timber  on  my 
estate."  If  we  meant  to  say  that 
Walter  Scott's  works  were  part  of  the 
library  of  an  acquaintance,  we  might 
say,  "The  library  contains  or  com- 
prises Scott's  works  ;  "  but  we  should 
not  mean  quite  the  same  thing.  In 
the  former  case,  we  simply  state  that 
in  this  particular  whole  is  contained 
something  as  a  part.  In  the  latter, 
we  predicate  of  the  library  an  exten- 
siveness,  which  in  this  case  has 
proved  adequate  to  include  those  par- 
ticular works.  The  term  Comprise 
adds  to  the  idea  of  inclusion  that 
of  adequate  or  commensurate  in- 
';Iuding. 

"  Whatever  was  hy  them  decreed  either 
m  the  declaration  of  Christian  belief  or  re- 
futation of  heresy,  may  all  h^  comprised,  as 
jadicious  Hooker  well  noteth.  in  four  words, 
'  truly,  peifectly,  iiidivisibly,  distinctly,' 
ti-uly  God,  perfectly  man,  indivisibly  one 
person,  distinctly  two  natures." — Bishop 
HORNE. 

If  we  meant  to  enumerate  all  that 
was  involved  in  the  term  library,  we 
might  say  a  library  comprises  book- 
shelves as  well  as  books  ;  or,  that  book 
in  particular  is  coiiqrjsed  in  the  list. 
Contain  (Lat.  cDntinire)  denotes 
what  is  within  another  thing  as  a 
simple  matter  of  fict,  and  not  of  in- 
ference or  implication  ;  as,  the  vessel 
•contains  oil,  that  man's  writings  con- 
fiin  many  original  ideas.  There  is,  I 
jowever,  commonly  a  specific  rela- 
tionship or  community  between  the 
tiling  contained  and  that  which  con- 
tains it.  This  appears  iu  the  terai 
fonteuts,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
Comprise  or  Include  ;  for  these  latter 
may  relate  to  things  which  in  use  and 
nature  ai-e  entirely  foreign  among 
themselves.  Yet  Contain  is  generic, 
and  may  be  taken  as  the  universal  term, 
nf  which  the  rest  are  modificatioua. 


"  And  when  he  (Cranmer)  came  to  th« 
last  part  of  his  task,  he  boldly  owned  his 
books,  avowing  the  truths  in  them  con- 
tained, and  disclaimed  the  Roman  doc- 
trine."—Strype. 

Comprehend  (La,t.  comprthendcre), 
like  Comprise,  and  unlike  Contain, 
can  onl_y  be  used  metaphysically  ;  but 
it  denotes  the  extent  of  an  imposed 
term,  not  an  inherent  or  spontaneous 
force.  Comprehension  is  the  result 
of  purpose;  while  comprisal  flows 
from  the  nature  of  the  thing  compris- 
ing. Rules  comprehend  particular 
instances,  laws  comprehend  certain 
cases,  a  word  comprehends  several 
meanings.  The  character  of  Contain 
is  physical,  of  Comprise  metaphysical, 
of  Comprehend  geometrical  and  ana- 
logous. 

"  The  virtues  required  in  the  heroic 
poem,  and,  indeed,  in  all  writings  pab 
lished,  are  comprehended  all  in  this  one 
word,  discretion." — HoBBKS. 

Include  (Lat.  incliidtre)  is  meta- 
physical, while  the  physical  meaning 
is  expressed  b^  another  form  of  the 
same  word,  inclose.  It  is  to  Contain 
in  the  relation  of  the  logical  whole  to 
the  parts,  that  is,  of  the  universal  to 
the  particulai'. 

"  Our  Master  Christ  showeth  that  in  ful- 
filling two  of  these  commandments  be  all 
works  included." — Barnes. 

Emhrace  (Fr.  embrasser  ;  bras,  the 
arm)  is  a  metaphorical  term,  meaning 
to  inclose  as  if  in  the  arms.  It  is  a 
livelier  term  than  Include,  and  com- 
monly denotes  a  distant,  indirect,  or 
unexpected  including. 

"  Not  that  my  song,  in  such  a  scanty  space. 
So  large  a  subject  fully  can  embrace." 

Dryden. 

Involve  and  Imply  are  commonly 
used  of  one  particular  only.  In- 
volve (Lat.  involvere,  to  enwrap)  de- 
notes that  which  exercises  such  a 
force  upon  another  thing  as  to  draw 
it  after  itself  of  necessity.  "  Such  a 
scheme  involves  the  necessity  of  a 
large  expenditure  of  money."  Imply 
(Lat.  implicare,  to  enfold)  relates  only 
to  the  force  of  words  or  the  virtue  of 
ideas,  as  Involve  to  the  necessities  of 
things.  Imply  is  opposed  to  erp^-ess. 
An  implied  promise  is  one  fairly  to 
be  understood   or  inferred  from   tha 


2by 


S  Y  NONYMS  [conciliate] 


words  used,  though  not  reducible  to  a 
distinct  statement.  In  a  definition 
which  includes  a  certain  number  of 
ideas,  the  term  defined  implies  any- 
one because  all  of  the  included  ideas. 
Thus  murder  implies  killing,  because 
killing,  together  with  other  ideas, 
enters  into  the  definition  of  murder. 
Travelling  involves  fatigue  as  well 
as  pleasure.  An  involved  promise  is 
one  which  is  necessitated  by  what  has 
been  said  or  done.  Generally  speaking, 
words  imply,  and  circumstances  in- 
volve. If  one  thing  involves  another, 
it  so  contains  it  that  the  two  must  go 
together  by  an  indissoluble  connexion. 
War  involves  the  expenditure  of  blood 
and  treasure.  The  premises  of  a  syllo- 
gism involve  the  conclusion,  which, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  evolved  from 
them. 

"  We  cannot  demonstrate  these  things  so 
as  to  show  that  the  contrary  necessarily  in- 
volves a  contradiction." — Tillotson. 

"Where  a  maHcious  act  i«  proved,  a  mali- 
cious intention  is  implied.'' — ShkrloCK. 

CONCILIATE.  Reconcile.  Pho- 

PITIATE. 

To  CoNCJLiATii  (Lat.  concilidre)  is 
to  gain  the  aflfections  or  goodwill  of 
another  for  one's  self.  To  Reconcile 
(from  the  same  root)  is  to  restore 
others  to  goodwill.  Reconcile  has 
also  the  peculiar  sense  of  brino'ing  a 
person  into  acquiescence  with  that 
which  is  distasteful.  Reconcile  is 
used  of  persons,  while  Conciliate 
may  be  applied  to  qualities ;  as,  to  con- 
ciliate regard  and  esteem.  To  con- 
ciliate amounts,  in  some  cases,  to  re- 
conciling to  one'p  self,  for  to  conciliate 
is  to  gain  over,  and  this  may  be  one 
who  was  previously  either  indifferent 
or  an  enemy.  There  is  an  analogous 
use  of  Hkoncile  in  which  it  is  em- 
ployed in  the  sense  of  proving  con- 
gruous or  compatible  ;  as,  to  reconcile 
conduct  with  principles,  to  reconcile 
statements  or  differences.  Propi- 
tiate (l^at.  propitiare)  is  nearly  iden- 
tical with  Conciliate.  But  Conciliate 
is  to  bring  to  a  harmony  of  sentiment, 
Proi'itiai  li  to  render  actively  favour- 
able, especially  by  appeasing  wrath  or 
ill-will.  We  conciliate  equals  and 
propitiate  superiors,  especially  these 


of  great  influence  and  power.  We 
conciliate  the  judgment  and  opinions, 
we  propitiate  the  feelings  and  inclina- 
tions,  of  another.  When  we  have  con- 
ciliated him  he  thinks  better  of  us, 
when  we  have  propitiated  him  he 
feels  less  harshly  towards  us. 

*'  The  rapacity  of  his  father's  administra 
tion  had  excited  such  "uiversal  discontent, 
that  it  was  found  expecient  to  conciliate  the 
nation. "—  H  alLAM  . 

"  First  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and 
then  come  and  offer  thy  gift." — Bible. 

"  With  snch  a  sacrifice  God  is  madt 
favourable,  or  God  is  propitiate,  if  we  shali 
make  new  Englishe." — Bishop  Gardiner. 

CONCISE.  Succinct.  Con- 
densed.    Sententious. 

Concise  (Lat.  conctdh-e,  to  cut  oH 
short,  part,  concmis)  is  used  of  style 
in  speaking  or  writing,  and  means  tlj 
expression  of  much  in  a  few  words. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  was  once  in 
clined  to  be  somewhat  angry  at  the  short 
ness  of  your  letters  ;  but  I  am  now  so  well 
reconciled  to  your  concise  manner,  that  I 
condemn  my  own  as  downright  loquacity, 
and  shall  make  your  epistles  the  models  ot 
mine." — Melmoth,  Cicero. 

Succinct  (Lat.  succin^ere,  part. 
succinctiis,  to  gird  or  tuck  up)  has 
the  same  signification,  but  is  applied 
more  frequently  to  the  subject- 
matter,  while  Concise  belongs  to  the 
phraseology ;  so  we  should  say,  a  con- 
cise expression,  and  a  succinct  nar- 
rative or  style. 

"  A  strict  and  succinct  style  is  that  where 
you  can  take  away  nothing  without  losse, 
and  that  losse  to  be  manifest." — B.  JoNSON. 

Condensed  (  Lat.  condensare,  from 
densus,  close)  relates  rather  to  the 
mode  of  treatment  by  which  a  matter 
is  brought,  and,  as  it  were,  compressed 
into  a  smaller  sj)ace  than  it  might 
have  occupied. 

"  The  secret  course  pursued  at  Brussels 
and  at  Madrid  may  be  condensed  in^o  the 
usual  formula — dissimulation,  procrastina- 
tion, and  again  dissimulation." — Motley. 

The  term  bENTENTious  (Lat.  seii- 
teniia)  marks  the  style  which  aims 
at  being  short,  pithy,  and  weighty  at 
the  same  time,  as  it  every  sentence 
were  a  maxim.  The  term  formerly 
was  indicative  of  more  praise  than 
now  belongs  to  it,  when  it  would 
probably  be  used  in  the  ironical  sense 


[conduce] 


of  oracular — thai  is,  pompously  terse, 
or  magisterially  didactic.  Perhaps 
tliis  element  would  naturally  underlie 
the  term  from  the  beginning,  for  who 
is  competent  to  speak  thus  without 
turgidity  or  self-conceit?  So  Addi- 
son writes, "  ambitiously  sententious." 
On  the  other  hand,  the  tei-m  is  one  of 
pure  praise  in  the  following : — 

"  The  style  is  clear  and  strong,  short  and 
sententious,  abounding  with  antitheses, 
elegant  turns,  and  manly  strokes  of  wit." — 
Waterland. 

CONCLUSIVE.  FiVAL.  Deci- 
sive.    Ultimate. 

These  tei-ras  agree  in  expressing 
that  character  of  what  is  said  or  done 
which  leaves  no  room  for  subsequent 
modification  or  procedure.  Conclu- 
sive (Lat.  concladtrey  lo  shut  up)  is 
commonly  used  of  that  which  termi- 
nates argument  or  debate  by  its  over- 
♦vhelming  or  irresistible  force ;  as,  a 
conclusive  proof,  conclusive  evidence. 

"But  this  objection,  when  thoroughly 
examined,  will  not  be  found  by  any  means 
8o  pressing  or  conclusive  as  at  first  sight  it 
•eems." — HoBBES. 

Final  (Lat.  fmalis,  Jims,  an  end) 
is  that  which  brings  with  it  an  in- 
tentional end.  The  term  Final  is  most 
commonly  found  associated  with  the 
end  or  purpose  of  intelligent  beings, 
or  as  recognized  by  them ;  the  final 
bein^  generally  that  on  which  the 
mind  dwells  as  the  end.  Hence, 
especially,  words,  decisions,  resolves, 
and  the  like,  are  final,  as  shutting  up 
further  thought,  speech,  or  action. 
A  conclusive  answer  leaves  no  room 
for  question.  A  final  answer  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  determined  silence. 

*'  Neither  with  us  in  England  hath  there 
oeen  till  very  lately  ^nyfinal  determination 
upon  the  right  of  authors  at  the  common 
law."— Blackstonk. 

Decisive  (Lat.  dic'idire,  to  deter- 
mine) is  that  which  has  the  power  of 
prompt  and  summary  determination  ; 
as,  a  decisive  proof,  a  decisive  victory. 
The  decisive  terminates  action,  as  the 
conclusive  terminates  argument. 

"  A  decisive,  irrevocable  doom." — Batk's 
Sermons. 

Ultimate  (Lat.  ultHmaref  to  come  to 
an  end,  iUt^mus,  last)  denotes  that 
beyond  which  nothing  is  contem- 
plated or  attempted;  as  the  ultimate 


DISCEIMINATED. 


259 


triumph  of  truth  ;  so,  an  ultimate  con- 
cession is  one  which  there  is  no 
probability  of  seeing  extended  ;  ulti- 
mate truths  are  tru';hs  which  must 
be  taken  as  axioms,  being  incapable 
of  further  analysis. 

"Whence  comes  it  (the  mind)  by  that 
vast  store  which  the  busy  and  boundless 
fancy  of  man  has  painted  on  it  with  an 
almost  endless  variety  ?  whence  has  it  all 
the  materials  of  reason  and  knowledge? 
To  this  I  answer  in  one  word,  from  experi- 
ence ;  on  that  all  our  knowledge  is  founded, 
and  from  that  it  ultinuitely  derives  itself." 
—Locke. 

CONCORD.  Harmony.  Unison. 
Concert. 

Concord  (Lat.  concordia)  denotes 
the  union  of  wills  and  affections. 
"  Love    quarrels   oft   in  pleasing  concord 
end."  Milton. 

Harmony  (Gr.  ap{j.o\ta,  a  fitting 
iojuether,  musical  harmony)  is  a  con- 
tinuous concord  or  state  of  such 
agreement  manifesting  itself  exter- 
nally. A  united  family,  by  the  con- 
cord which  subsists  among  its  mem- 
bers, lives  a  life  of  domestic  hannony. 

"  In  us  both  one  soul. 
Harmony  to  behold  in  wedded  pair. 
More  grateful  than  harmonious  sounds  to 
the  ear."  Milton. 

Unison  (Lat.  hnis)!)nus;  from  iiniLs, 
one,  and  sinus,  sound)  relates  to  such 
congeniality  as  may  exist  in  the  less 
grave  matters  of  feeling  and  taste. 

"  A  work  which  warms  our  passions,  and 
hurries  us  on  with  the  rapid  vehemence  of 
its  style,  may  be  read  once  or  twice  with 
pleasure ;  but  it  is  the  more  tranquil  style 
which  is  most  frequently  in  unison  with  our 
minds." — Knox,  Essays. 

Concert  (Lat.  conilrh-e,  to  join  to- 
gether, part,  consertus)  applies  also  to 
designs  and  actions,  which  are  the 
caiTying  out  of  such  designs  : — 

*'  It  was  concerted  to  begin  the  siege  in 
March," — Burnet. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  Concert 
came  afterwards  to  be  confounded 
with  consort.    So  Spenser — 

"  For  all  that  pleasing  is  to  living  ear 
Was  there  consorted  in  one  harmony." 

CONDUCE.  Contribute.  Tend. 

Tend  (Lat.  tendtre)  is  used  of  any- 
thing likely  to  bring  about  a  result 
different  from,  yet  cognate  to,  itself; 


260 


as,  idleness  tends  to  poverty.  It 
denotes  a  relation  between  cause  and 
effect,  not  invariable,  but  variable  and 
probable,  or  such  as  partially,  if  not 
completely,  effects  a  certain  end. 

"  The  laws  of  our  religion  tend  to  the  nui- 
versal  happiness  of  mankind."— TiLLOTSON. 

Conduce  (Lat.  conduca-e,  to  profit^ 
to  serve)  expresses  more  distinctly 
than  Tend  the  separate  existence  of 
cause  and  effect.  We  sny  a  thing  is 
apt  to  tend  to  something  else,  but  we 
do  not  say,  apt  to  conduce.  It  either 
does  conduce  or  not. 

"All  agree  that  Moses'  main  end  was 
the  abolition  of  idolatry  and  preservation 
of  the  unity.  The  institution  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  shown  by  Spenser  and  others  to  be, 
of  all  the  ceremonials,  the  very  rite  most 
conducive  to  this  end." — Warburton. 

The  term  Conduce  is  employed  of  that 
which  leads  to  a  favourable  or  de- 
sirable end,  not  to  the  contrary. 
We  speak  of  things  as  conducive  to 
happiness,  not  to  misery. 

Contribute  (Lat.  contnbucre)  de- 
notes partial  causation,  which  is 
shared  with  other  things  of  like  ten- 
dency, while  one  thing  alone  may 
conduce  to  bring  about  a  result.  But 
Conduce  andCoNTRiBUTEdiffer,in  that 
Conduce  takes  effect  upon  a  possible. 
Contribute  also  upon  an  actual  and 
present  end.  That  which  conduces 
to  happiness  makes  happiness  so  far 

{»robable.  That  which  contributes  to 
lappiness  adds  to  the  actual  sum  or 
amount  of  it. 

♦'  Quoth  she,  I  grant  it  is  in  vain 
For  one  that's  basted  to  feel  pain ; 
Because  the  pangs  his  bones  endure 
Contribute  nothing  to  the  cure." 

Hudibrat. 

CONFEDERATE.    Ally. 

Confederate  (Lat.  confozdh-are,  to 
tain  by  a  league)  is  used  of  individuals 
in  a  bad  sense. 

"  He  is  the  freeman  whom  the  truth  makes 

free. 
And  all  are  slaves  besides.    There's  not  a 

chain 
Th»t  hellish  foes  confederate  for  his  harm 
Can  wind  around  him,  but  he  casts  it  off 
With  as  much  ease  as  Samson  his  green 

withes."  COWPER, 

A  confederate  State  or  Power  differs 
*ro«o  an  Ally  (Fr.  allier,  Lat.  altl- 


SYNONYMS  [CONFEDKUATEJ 


gare,  to  bind),  in  that  confederation 
may  be  permanent,  while  alliance  is 
temporary.  We  speak  of  the  "  German 
Confederation,"  and  of  the  alliance 
between  the  English  and  French  in 
the  Crimean  war.  A  n  ally  is  not  used 
of  individuals  except  in  a  jocose  way, 
or  on  a  great  scale ;  as,  one  monarch 
n)ay  be  an  ally  of  another. 

"By  this  extraordinary  and  unexpected 
success  of  his  alii/  (Gustavus),  Charles 
failed  of  the  purpose  for  which  he  framed 
the  alliance."— UuMK. 

CONFIRM.       CORROBOUATB. 

The  idea  of  giving  additional 
strength  is  common  to  both  these 
terms,  and  that  in  other  than  the 
physical  sense,  but  they  differ  in 
their  mode  of  application. 

Confirm  (Lat.  confirmare)  is  used 
both  of  the  minds  of  personc  and  oi 
thesubjects;  CoriROBORATE,only  of  the 
subjects  themselves.  My  statement 
has  been  confirmed,  or  I  am  confirmed 
in  my  belief.  Facts,  opinions,  state- 
ments are  Corroborated  (  Lat.  cor^ 
rohtrdre,  to  make  very  strong).  Gene- 
rally speaking,  to  confirm  is  to  make 
more  sure,  to  coiToborate  is  to  make 
more  strong.  When  a  statement  is 
doubtful,  it  may  be  confirmed  ;  when 
testimony  is  weak,  it  may  be  cor- 
roborated. I  am  confirmed  in  what  is 
internal  or  relative  to  myself;  in  an 
opinion,  a  conviction,  a  resolution, 
or  even  a  suspicion.  That  is  cor- 
roborated which  I  put  forth  before 
others,  and  advance  as  liable  to  doubt 
or  gainsaying. 

"That  treaty  so  prejudicial  ought  to  have 
been  remitted  rather  than  confirmed."— 
Swift. 

"  The  concurrence  of  all  corroborates  thp 
same  truth."— Taylor. 

CONFLICT.     Contest. 

Conflict  (Lat.  confiictus,  a  striking 
together)  is  used  of  any  two  opposing 
forces  in  sustained  collision,  as  the 
"conflict  of  the  elements,"  "con- 
flicting hosts." 

Contest  (Fr.  contebter,  and  Lat. 
contestdri,  to  call  to  wit7iess)  is  an  open 
and  premeditated  sti-uggle  on  the  part 
of  man  for  some  proposed  prize  or 
victory.  It  may  be  intellectual,  while 
a  conflict  is  physical,  except  when  it 
is  used  in  a  metaphorical  sense ;  as.  a 


[confront] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


261 


conflict  of  opposite  emotions  or 
cpinioas.  A  contest  is  a  strife  for 
a  common  object.  A  conflict  is  a 
violent  meeting  of  two  forces  or  in- 
dividuals. A  contest  may  be,  and 
«ften  has  been,  decided  by  a  conflict. 
in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  the  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster  were  the  con- 
tending parties,  and  the  battles  in 
which  they  en^a^ed  were  conflicts. 
A  man  may  be  defeated  in  a  contest, 
but  he  may  perish  in  a  conflict. 

"  And  whenever  the  patrons  of  liberty 
shall  give  this  advantage  to  the  enemies  of 
't,  as  much  of  that  popularity  which  the 
first  lose  the  others  will  gain,  and  so,  the 
contest  becoming  more  equal,  force  alone 
«inst  decide." — ^Warburton. 

"  The  starry  cope 
Of  heaven,  perhaps,  or  all  the  elements 
AH  least  had  gone  to  rack,  distni-b'd  and 

torn 
i^ith  violence  of  this  conflid." 

Milton. 

CONFOUND.  Confuse.  Mix. 
Blend.     Mingle. 

These  two,  Confound  and  Con- 
rusE,  may  be  regarded  as  modes  of 
the  third,  to  Mix.  To  Mix  (Lat.  mis- 
cire)  is  to  produce  or  exhibit  an  entire 
interpenetration  of  many  parts  or 
particles,  whether  homogeneous  or 
not.  In  the  mixture  the  parts  may 
absolutely  lose  their  individuality,  as 
in  liquid  substances,  or  not  abso- 
lutely, as  in  mixing  different  kinds  of 
seeds.  The  term  Mix  is  hardly  em- 
[tloyed  in  any  other  than  a  purely,  or 
almost  purely  physical  sense. 

Mingle  is  a  variation  of  mix,  and 
denotes  that  kind  of  mixture  in  which 
the  individuals  or  parts  retain  their 
individuality,  or  are  still  recognizable, 
as  when  persons  mingle  in  the  dance 
or  the  crowd. 

Blend  (A.  S.  btendini,  to  mix,  con- 
fuse; to  blind)  is  to  mix  imperfectly 
yet  harmoniously,  so  that  the  indi- 
viduality, as  in  colours,  is  discerni- 
ble, but  under  a  modified  form.  But, 
except  in  the  case  of'colours  and  sounds 
and  flavours.  Blend  is  used  of  abstract 
qualities  and  ideas.  Confound  (Lat. 
eoiifundere,  part.  conjTisus)  and  Con- 
fuse are  derived  from  different  parts 
of  the  same  Latin  verb,  but  used,  the 
former  of  more  things  than  one,  the 
latter  of  one  thing.    They  apply  to 


the  mind  and  ideas  as  well  as  to  ob- 
jects of  vision.  A  person  confuses  an 
account  when  he  gives  inverted,vague, 
or  contradictory  relations,  so  making 
it  obscure.  He  confounds  one  ac- 
count or  circumstance  with  another 
when  he  mixes  into  one  details  be- 
longing to  both.  When  we  confuse 
we  throw  into  indistinctness ;  when 
we  confound  we  falsely  identify.  In 
the  former  we  wrongly  put  one  or 
more  things  among  others;  in  the 
latter  we  substitute  them  wrongly 
J\>r  others.  Things  may  mix  or  "be 
mixed  in  almost  any  proportion ;  but 
things  mingled  with  others  are  com- 
paratively few,  or  of  smaller  quantity. 

"Our  critic  confounds  the  nature  and 
order  of  things." — Warburton. 

"But  as  he  wvote  at  second-hand  and 
from  hearsay  only  of  things  which  he  him- 
self had  not  seen,  he  is  observed  to  have 
jumbled  his  facts  together  more  coyifusedly, 
and  to  describe  them  more  inaccurately, 
than  the  rest,  who  related  them  from  their 
own  knowledge." — Middleton. 

The  following  from  Bishop  Horsley 
may  show  that  the  term  Mix  is  not 
happily  employed  but  of  material 
compounds : — 

"  Who  is  he  that  shall  determine  in  what 
proportions  the  attributes  of  justice  and 
mercy,  forbearance  and  severity,  ought  to 
be  mixed  up  in  the  character  of  the  Supreme 
Governor  of  the  universe?" 

"  Curiosity  blends  itself  more  or  less  with 
all  our  passions." — Burke. 

"  Fire  mingled  with  the  hail." — Bible. 

CONFRONT.     Face. 

To  Confront  (Fr.  confwnter ;  prob. 
from  con,  together ,  front-em,  the  fore- 
head) is  usually  personal,  implying 
two  persons  at  least ;  as,  to  confront 
one  witness  with  another ;  or,  he 
was  confi-onted  by  several  witnesses  ; 
or  the  witnesses  were  confronted  with 
one  another.  To  Face  {LKi.fdcies,  a 
face)  is  said  of  one  person  or  one  party 
which  is  ready  to  encounter  some 
specific  difficulty,  danger,  or  object 
of  fear,  not  necessarily  personal;  as 
to  face  the  enemy  or  the  storm. 
Confront  is  also  a  more  energetic 
and  positive  term  than  Face.  He  who 
faces  danger  is  ready  to  meet  its  con- 
sequences. He  who  confronts  it  has 
shoAvn  signs  of  ojiimsition,  and,  in 
some  sense,  begun  the  attack. 


262 


SYNONYMS 


[confusion] 


•'  We  fonr,  indeed,  confronted  here  with 

four 
In  Russian  habit."  Shakespeare. 

It  may  be  observed  tliat  Confront  has 
a  force  which  does  not  belong  to  Face, 
namely,  to  hring  face  to  face. 

"  A  \\&  faces  God  and  shrinks  from  men." 
-Bacon. 

CONFUSION.  Disorder.  Dis- 
turbance. Commotion.  Pertur- 
bation. 

Confusion  (Lat.  conj'uswnem)  de- 
notes that  abnormal  state  in  whicli 
things  which  ought  to  be  separate  or 
distinct  are  tumultuously,  irregularly, 
or  obscurely  mixed  together.  It  can 
only  apply,  therefore,  to  matters  in 
which  the  individuals,  parts,  or  par- 
ticles ought  to  be  distinctly  separate ; 
as,  to  the  confusion  of  voices  in  a  mob, 
or  of  a  man's  affairs,  confusion  of 
.ihought,  confusion  of  papers. 

Disorder  (Fr.  desordre)  is  the 
violation  of  order  or  aiTangement, 
and  so  takes  place  in  matters  where 
position,  location,  or  adjustment  are 
needed ;  as  in  the  tumultuous  march  of 
armies,  in  a  disorderly  crowd,  a  dis- 
ordered dress.  Confusion  necessarily 
involves  disorder;  but  there  may  be 
disorder  without  confusion.  Con- 
fusion is  of  the  whole.  Disorder  may 
be  of  the  whole  or  only  some  of  the 
parts.  Confusion  stands  to  distinct- 
ness as  disorder  to  arrangement.  So 
a  thing  may  be  disordered  in  the 
sense  of  disarranged,  without  any 
such  wrong  intermixture  of  separate 
parts  as  belongs  to  confusion.  The 
hair  of  the  head  may  be  in  disorder, 
aot  in  confusion.  Confusion  is  the 
3xtreme  of  disorder.  It  is  that  point 
where  disorder  takes  effect  upon  the 
mental  faculties.  Things  may  be 
disordered  yet  distinctly  recognizable 
as  being  out  of  place ;  but  when  things 
are  in  confusion,  thej  are  such  that  the 
mind  cannot  take  distinct  cognizance 
of  them.  An  army  in  disorder  has 
lost  its  ranks.  When  confusion  reigns 
in  it  the  soldiers  cannot  hear  the 
voice  of  their  commanders,  which, 
if  heard  and  obeyed,  might  put  an 
end  to  the  disorder.  Disorder  is 
more  external  than  confusion,  so 
that  oftentimes  the  former  is  the 
result  and  manifestation  of  the  latter. 


In  the  councils  of  a  govei-nment  con- 
fusion may  reign  for  some  time  be- 
fore public  disorder  (which  must 
sooner  or  later  be  the  case)  mani- 
fests itself  as  the  consequence.  The 
term  Confusion  is  utterly  opposed 
to  every  principle,  moral,  mental, 
or  artistic.  We  never  could  bring 
the  term  into  contact  with  anything 
otherwise  than  faulty. 

"  If  we  unbroke 
Sustain  their  onset,  little  skill'd  in  war, 
To  wheel,  to  rally,  and  renew  the  charge. 
Confusion,  havoc,  and  dismay  will  seize 
The  astonish'd  rout."  Smollett. 

*'When  you  behold  a  man's  affairs 
through  negligence  and  miscondnct  in- 
volved in  disorder,  you  naturally  conclude 
that  his  ruin  approaches." — Blair. 

"We  have  seen  that  inordinate  passiona 
are  the  great  disturbers  of  life."— Jbid. 

Disturbance  (Lat.  disturbdre,  to 
throw  vita  disorder)  is  the  violation  of 
peace  or  quiet,  physical  or  otherwise  ; 
so,  the  sea  is  often  disturbed  violently, 
but  can  never  be  thrown  into  con- 
fusion or  disorder,  having  no  distinct- 
ness or  sequence  of  parts.  Disturbance 
is  of  those  things  which,  presuma- 
bly or  desirably,  are  in  tranquil- 
lity. Commotion  (Lat.  commotmiemy 
differs  from  Disturbance  in  denoting 
the  action  of  a  multitude  of  indivi- 
duals or  parts  ;  wliile  disturbance 
may  be  of  one,  as,  "My  occupation 
was  disturbed,"  "  By  a  violent  com- 
motion of  the  elements  the  stillness  of 
the  nio-ht  was  disturbed."  Commo- 
tion adds  the  influence  of  excitement 
to  the  force  of  disturbance. 

Perturbation  fLat.  pe*turhdtio- 
nem)  not  employed  directly  of  physical 
commotion,  is  a  state  of  grievous  men- 
tal commotion  or  disquiet.  He  whose 
bodily  rest  is  broken  is  disturbed, 
he  whose  tranquillity  is  destroyed  is 
perturbed.  Communities,  like  indi- 
viduals, may  be  thrown  into  pertur- 
bation. It  is  a  confused  excitement 
of  mind  where  composure  is  right  or 
usual. 

"  If  the  main  fault  be  ia  the  affections 
through  some  sudden  passion  and  pertur- 
bance  of  mind,  either  Ijlinding,  or  corrupt- 
ing, or  outrunning  the  judgment,  us,  for  in 
stance,  fear,  anger,  desire,  or  the  like,  the 
sin  arising  from  hence,  though  perhaps 
joined  with  soma  igaoranee  and  -liJfnlneM 


[conjurk] 


DISCKIMINATED. 


263 


^thal,  yet  is  properly  a  sin  of  infirmity." — 
Sharp. 

CONFUTE.  Refuth.  Oppugn, 
Impugn.     Disprove. 

To  Confute  (Lat.  conjutare)  ap- 
plies both  to  the  arguer  and  the  argu- 
ment. It  is  to  overwhelm  by  decisive 
argument.  Refute  (Lat.  rt-futme, 
to  repel,  rebut;  not  connected  with 
conjutare)  is  to  rei>el  by  the  same 
kind  of  argument,  and  so  applies  to 
what  is  personally  alleged  against  one, 
as  charges,  calumnies,  and  the  like,  to 
which  Confute  is  not  applied  in  the 
same  sense.  When  a  thing  is  confuted, 
it  is  reduced  to  an  absurdity,  neu- 
tralized, and,  as  it  were,  annihilated. 
When  it  is  refuted,  it  remains  where 
it  was,  but  its  application  is  invali- 
dated. Confutation  deprives  of  force 
and  of  truth.  Refutation  does  not 
weaken  or  destroy,  but  repels  effec- 
tually. Opinions,  statements,  argu- 
ments, paradoxes,  fallacies  are  con- 
futed by  being,  as  it  were,  melted 
down  to  nothing.  Charges,  accusa- 
tions, insinuations,  slander,  are  refuted 
by  proving  their  relative  untruth.  Dis- 
prove is  now  never  used  of  persons, 
but  only  of  statements,  suppositions, 
and  the  like.  An  argument  is  confuted 
by  showing  its  fallacy.  Calumny  is 
refuted  by  proving  the  innocence  of 
the  calumniated  person.  A  fact  or  the 
•  assertion  of  it  is  disproved  by  showing 
it  to  be  untrue.  Oppugn  and  Impugn, 
from  Lat.  oppugnare  and  inipngndre, 
both  denote  a  hostile  attitude  in  argu- 
ment. They  both  fall  short  of  the  rest, 
in  that  they  denote  only  reasoning, 
not  conclusive  reasoning.  To  oppugn 
is  to  exercise  hostile  reasoning  against 
a  person  or  his  statements ;  while  to 
impugn  is  rather  to  call  in  question  the 
truth  of  what  he  states.  So  we  might 
perhaps  better  say,  "  He  was  publicly 
oppugned  in  the  senate,"  and,  "  The 
truth  of  hisstatementswasimpugned." 
To  Oppugn  is  a  term  of  stronger  force 
than  Impugn,  and  denotes  a  deter- 
mined and  total  opposition,  while  Im- 
pugn is  applicable  to  questions  of  de- 
tail and  lesser  moment.  "  I  have  no 
desire  to  oppugn  the  statements  you 
have  just  made,  but  pardon  me  if  I 
impugn  the  accuracy  of  one  observa- 
•ion  in  particular." 


"  They  only  read  the  gazettes  of  their 
own  writers,  so  that  everything  which  is 
called  an  answer  is  with  them  a  con/uia- 
tion," — DBYDEjf. 

"Some  of  his  blunders  seem  rather  to 
deserve  a  flogging  than  a  refutation"— 
Macaulay. 

"  They  said  the  manner  of  their  impeach- 
ment they  could  not  but  conceive  did  oppw^n 
tlie  rights  of  Parliament."— Clarendon. 

"  Unless  you  gi-ant  some  fundamental  and 
eternal  truths,  I  see  not  how  it  is  possible 
for  OS  to  confute  divers  theological  errors 
of  Pagans  and  other  infidels,  whose  rejec- 
tion of  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  does 
not  allow  us  without  indiscretion  to  im 
pugn  them  with  arguments  from  them."- 
B0YI.E. 

"That  false  supposition  I  advanced  in 
order  to  disprove  it."— Attkrbury. 

CONGRATULATE.    Felicitate. 

Felicitate  (Lat./efictfafem,  happi- 
ness) had,  of  old,  the  sense  of  to  make 
happy,  as  well  as  to  consider  or  call 
happy.  The  former  force  it  has  since 
lost.  It  differs  from  Congratulate 
(cougrdttildri)  mainly  in  the  degree  of 
force  and  sincerity.  Congratulate  is, 
therefore,  rapidly  taking  the  place  of 
Felicitat£,  inasmuch  as  we  naturally 
tend  to  give  ourselves  credit  for 
genuineness  of  motive.  FELicrrAXE  ■ 
a  word  of  formal  politeness.  Con- 
gratulate implies  a  s/iarin"'  of the joy 
produced  by  another's  good  fortune. 
Good  manners  felicitate,  a  good  heart 
or  true  friendship  congratulates.  We 
do  not  demand  the  same  warmth  in 
felicitations.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
cold  congratulation  must  be  a  forced 
one. 

"  That  fa^vning  villain's  forced  congrat*' 
Uitions." — Johnson. 

As  felicitations  are  manifestations  of 
politeness,  they  may  be  offered  where 
congratulations  might  seem  to  pre- 
sume an  equality  of  condition. 

"  I  sincerely  rejoiced  to  hear  of  your  ad 
vancement  to  the  purple ;  yet  on  these  occa- 
sions I  did  not  think  myself  warranted  to 
break  in  upon  you  either  with  my  acknow- 
ledgments or  felicitations." — Anecdotes  of 
Bishop  Watson. 

CONJURE.    Adjure. 

These  are  compounds  of  the  Latin 
verhjurdre,  to  suear.  To  Conjure  is 
to  entreat  with  solemn  earnestness,  to 
Adjure  is  to  appeal  in  the  same  way. 
One  conjures  for  one's  own  sake.  One 
adjures  for  the  sake  of  God.     When 


264 


SYNONYMS  [connect] 


Christ  was  brouglit  before  the  Higri 
Priest,  the  hitter  adjured  him  by  the 


High 
e 
living  God,  that  is,  threw  sucli  solem- 
nity into  his  appeal  as  to  give  to  the 
answer  the  cliaracter  of  being  made 
U|ion  oath.  When  remonstrance  and 
bnger  have  proved  fruitless,  the  fatlier 
conjures  his  rebellious  son  to  have  re- 
gard to  himself  for  his  parents'  sake. 
In  ordinary  conversation  we  more 
commonly  adjure  persons  to  do  some- 
thing, and  conjure  them  not  to  do  it. 
One  conjures  God  or  man.  One  ad- 
jures man  in  the  name  of  God  or  of 
justice,  honour,  pity,  home,  country, 
and  the  like.  He  who  conjures  may 
be  a  superior,  but  he  places  himself  in 
a  position  of  inferiority  by  his  very 
prayer.  He  who  adjures  may  be  in- 
ferior, but  he  fortifies  himself  by  the 
external  support  of  that  to  which  he 
appeals. 

"  Earnest  entreaties  and  serious  conjure- 
ments"  MiLTON. 

"  Caiaphas  was  not  more  malicious  than 
crafty.  What  was  in  vain  attempted  by 
witnesses  shiill  be  drawn  out  of  Christ's 
own  mouth.  What  an  accusation  could  not 
effect,  an  adjuration  shall.  "  I  adjure  thee 
by  the  living  God  that  thou  tell  us  whether 
thou  be  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God."— 
Bishop  Hall. 

CONNECT.  Combine.  Attach. 
Unite. 

Connect  (Lat.  conneclire,  to  fasten 
together)  commonly  implies  a  third 
thing  as  a  medium  whereby  two 
others  are  joined ;  as  two  houses  are 
connected  by  a  covered  way,  leading 
from  one  to  the  other,  so  we  speak  of 
things  as  closely  or  distantly,  airectly 
or  indirectly  connected.  In  this  re- 
spect it  differs  from  Unitk  (Lat. 
(imre,  part,  nriitus),  where,  if  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  united  objects  is  not, 
as  it  sometimes  is,  lost,  there  is  at  least 
a  disregard  of  the  connecting  medium. 
Attach  (  Fr.  attacker),  except  when 
used  of  affection,  commonly  implies 
the  fastening  of  the  smaller,  lighter, 
more  movable,  or  less  important,  to 
the  fixed  and  immovable,  or  at  least 
the  heavier,  less  movable,  and  more 
important.  So  the  seal  is  iiltached  to 
the  watch,  not  the  watch  to  the  seal. 
Combine  (Lat.  combinare;  con-,  to- 
gelher^  b'mi,  two  each)  is  not  used  in  a 
phjsical  sease.     ltd  motes  the  union 


or  comprehension  of  two  or  more 
things  in  some  common  principle,  or 
under  some  common  object  or  pur- 
pose ;  as,  to  combine  exercise  with  re- 
creation in  a  country  walk. 

"  A  right  opinion  is  that  which  connects 
distant  truths  by  the  shortest  train  of  in- 
termediate propositions." — Johnson. 

"  Few  painters  have  obliged  us  with  finer 
S(renes,  or  have  possessed  the  art  of  com- 
bining  wools,  lakes,  and  j'ocks  into  moi'e 
agreeable  pictures  than  G.  Poussin." — 
HuRD,  On  Horace. 

"As  our  nature  is  at  present  constituted, 
attached  by  so  many  strong  connexions  to 
the  world  of  sense,  and  enjoying  a  com- 
munication so  feeble  and  distant  with  the 
world  of  spirits,  we  need  fear  no  danger 
from  cultivating  intercourse  with  the  latter 
as  much  as  possible." — Blair. 

"This  was  the  cause  of  men's  uniting 
themselves  at  the  first  in  politic  societies, 
which  societies  could  not  be  without  govern- 
ment, nor  government  without  a  distinct 
kind  of  law  from  that  which  hath  been 
already  declared." — HooKER. 

CONQUER.  Slisdue.  Vanquish. 
OvEUCOME.   Surmount.    Subjugaie. 

Conquer  (Fr.  conqutrir,  to  acquire) 
is  applied  to  persons,  to  countries,  and 
to  things  expressive  of  difficulty  or 
opposition,  or  to  subjects  in  which 
such  difficulty  or  opposition  is  im- 
plied ;  as  David  conquered  Goliath ; 
vVilliam  1.  conquered  England;  to 
conquer  resistance,  to  conquer  evil 
passions.  It  denotes  the  placing  under - 
one's  own  power  or  control  after  a 
series  of  efforts  or  systematic  resis- 
tance. Subdue  (Lat.su6(/r/cere)is  much 
the  same,  but  points  not  so  much  to 
the  struggles  of  the  victor  as  to  the 
state  of  the  conquered  in  a  final  and 
surer  reduction.  It  applies  also  to  the 
inner  spirit.  To  Conquer  is  sometimes 
employed  in  the  simple  sense  of  getting 
the  better  of;  as,  to  conquer  one's  own 
prejudices  or  passions,  aversion,  and 
the  like.  Julius  Cajsar  conquered  the 
armies  of  Britain,  but  the  country  was 
not  in  his  time  finally  pubdued  by  the 
Romans.  I  subdue  a  strong  desire  or 
an  inveterate  habit;  1  may  conquer  a 
rising  inclination,  such  as  the  inclina- 
tion to  give  vent  to  a  sarcastic  or  angry 
expression. 

"  It  has  been  observed  of  Greece,  that 
when  it  was  subdued  by  the  Romans,  itself 
subdued  its  conquerors,  Boftened  their  savage 


[conscientious]     discriminated. 


265 


temper,  and  refined  their  manners ;  and 
afterwards,  of  the  Romans  themselves,  ttiat 
wherever  they  conqnere:!  they  in  some  de- 
gree civilized  the  world." — Law,  Theory 
of  Religion . 

Vanquish  (Fr.  va//ic?*e,  Lat.r/«cn-e, 
10  conquer)  is  used  commonly  of  com- 
bats with  a  personal  enemy. 

"Shall  a  stripling  David  gloriously  tri- 
nmpb  over  giants,  while  I  basely  am  t'a?i- 
quishcd  by  dwarf?  ?  " — Barkow. 

Subjugate  (Lat.  siibjiigdre)  is  to 
bring  under  the  yoke,  that  is,  to  conquer 
and  retain  under  continued  pressure. 
Poland  is  subjugated  by  Russia,  while 
its  spirit  remains  unsubdued.  Over- 
come and  Surmount  (Fr.  surtnonter) 
are  emploj'ed  of  continued  resistance 
from  impersonal  adversaries,  though 
Overcome  is  used  of  personal  resis- 
tance as  well.  Overcome  is  applied, 
not  only  directly  to  difficulties  and 
obstacles,  but  to  things  which  have 
the  nature  of  difficulties  and  ohstacle.?, 
as  scruples,  prejudices;  Surmount, 
directly  to  the  difficulties  and  obstacles 
themselves.  It  is  possible  to  overcome 
by  stratagem  as  by  force,  but  we  sur- 
mount by  persevering  effort. 

"  To  work  in  close  design  by  fraud  or  guile 
What  force  effected  not ;  that  he  no  less 
At  length  from  us  may  find,  who  overcomes 
By  force  hath  overcome  but  half  his  foe." 
Milton. 

"  Finding  difficulties  which  his  reason 
emnnot  surynount,  he  becomes  contemptuous 
and  •cepticai.'' — Gilpin's  Sei-mons. 

"  Could  we  view  our  own  species  from  a 
distance,  or  regard  mankind  with  the  same 
•ort  of  observation  with  which  we  read  the 
natural  history  or  remark  the  manners  of 
any  other  animal,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
human  character  which  would  more  sur- 
prise us  than  the  almost  universal  subjuga- 
tion of  strength  to  v.eakness." — Paley. 

CONQUEROR.     Victor. 

Every  Conqueror  is  a  Vicion  (  Lnt. 
lictor),  but  every  victor  is  not  a  con- 
queror, inasmuch  as  the  term  Victor  is 
employed  of  other  struggles  tlian  those 
of  war  or  personal  antagonism,  as,  for 
instance,  of  competition.  The  victors 
m  the  Olympic  games  were  not  con- 
querors, for  tiiey  did  not  make  tlieni- 
selves  masters  of  the  persons  or  terri- 
tories of  men.  An  old  form  of  the 
word  was  conqueveur,  wliich  meant 
much  the  same  as  the  present  tei-ra 


annexer,  as  appears  from  the  following 
from  Blackstone : — 

"  What  we  call  purchase,  perguistYto,  the 
feudists  called  conquests,  conquestus  or  con- 
quisitio;  both  denoting  any  means  of  ac- 
quiring an  estate  out  of  the  common  course 
of  inheritance  ;  and  this  is  still  the  proper 
phrase  in  the  law  of  Scotland,  as  it  was 
among  the  Norman  jurists,  who  styled  the 
first  purchaser  (that  is,  he  who  brought  the 
estate  into  the  family  who  at  present  owns 
it)  the  conqueror  or  conquereur,  which 
seems  to  be  all  that  was  meant  by  the  appel- 
lation which  was  given  to  William  the  Nor- 
man."— Blackstone. 

(It  may  be  well  to  warn  the  reader,  in 
case  Blackstone  should  have  meant 
to  derive  purchase  from  perquisitio — 
wliich  seems  only  too  probable — tliat 
there  is  no  etymological  connexion 
between  these  Avords,  purchase  being 
the  French  pourchasser,  to  chase  or 
seek  after,  afterwards,  specifically  to 
procure  by  money. )  In  addition  to  the 
difference  observed  above,  it  may  be 
remarked,  that  a  victor  vanquishes  in 
a  single  strife  or  contest,  a  conqueror 
gains  a  complete  success  and  subdues 
his  opponent.  Alexander  was  victor 
at  Arbela,  and  the  conqueror  of  Asia 
and  Darius. 
"  In  love  the  victors  from  the  vanquished 

fly: 
They  fly  that  wonnd,  and  they  pursue  thai 

die."  Waller. 

CONSCIENTIOUS.  Scrupulous. 

Scrupulous  (Lat.  scriiptito^sus ;  scrh' 
piiliiSy  a  grit,  or  little  stone,  which 
gives  pain  in  walking,  or  makes  the 
path  sharp;  and  so  anxiety,  scruple)  is 
in  one  way  more  comprehensive  than 
Conscientious  (Lat.  conscientia,  con- 
science), and  in  another  less  so.  If  a 
person  were  found  scrupulous  in  all 
things,  it  might  then  be  said,  that 
conscientiousness  is  one  form  or  aspect 
of  scrupulousness  ;  but  the  fact  is,  that 
scrupulousness  is  often  of  a  different 
chaiacter  from  conscientiousness.  It 
leads  men  sometimes  to  be  exact  in 
one  dii-ection,  and  to  attend  to  minute 
matters,  omitting  weightier;  as  the 
Pharisees,  according  to  the  represen- 
tations of  the  Gospel,  must  have  been 
exceedingly  scrupulous,  and  yet  un- 
conscientious also.  The  scrupulous 
man  may  be  nice  from  other  motives 
than  conscience,  as,  for  instance,  from 
politeness.       Where     scrupulousnesf 


266 


springs  from  conscience,  it  denotes 
excessive  sensibility  of  conscience 
exercised  on  unimportant  matters. 
It  is  a  morbid  respect  for  the  details 
and  minutiae  of  conduct.  The  con- 
scientious man  ti-usts  his  conscience, 
the  scrupulous  man  distrusts  it.  At 
least  such  is  the  extreme  of  scrupulous- 
ness. 

"  Let  us  consider  the  world  therefore  as 
God's  great  family,  and  ourselves  as  ser- 
vants in  that  family,  as  acting  immediately, 
whatever  our  situations  are,  under  our 
great  Master,  and  of  dischargring  the  seve- 
ral offices  which  He  hath  assigned  with  a 
conscientious  regard  to  our  duty."— Gilpin. 
•'The  scrupulousness  of  the  parents  or 
frienda  of  the  deceased  persons  deprives  us 
oftentimes  of  the  opportunities  of  anato- 
mizing the  bodies  of  men." — BoYLK. 

CONSECRATE.  Dedicate.  De- 
VOTE.    Hallow.    Vow.    Addict. 

Of  these,  the  three  former  relate  to 
a  specific  object  or  purpose  ;  the  last 
is  general  or  abstract.  To  Hallow  is 
to  regard  as  holy,  or  to  keep  as  holy ; 
as  the  name  of  God  is  hallowed,  and 
sertain  days  are  hallowed.  An  object 
of  sacred  recollection  in  the  mind  is 
aallowed,  as  "  hallowed  memories " 
3f  the  dead.  Of  old,  the  tenn  Hallow 
was  used  in  the  sense  of  the  modern 
Consecrate  by  formal  rite. 

"To  dedicate  and  halowe  the  monastery 
>f  Seynt  Denys."— Fabyan. 
It  denotes  now  the  consecration  by 
the  mind  of  the  individual. 

"  Hallowed  be  Thy  name."  —  Lord's 
Prayer. 

To  Consecrate  (Lat.  cons'tcrare)  is 
o  hallow  in  a  formal  manner  and  with 
a  purpose,  being  soaietimes  followed 
by  the  preposition  to.  It  commonly 
denotes  a  religious  act  and  ceiemony ; 
but,  by  analogy,  is  extended  to  the 
force  of  associations,  as,  "The  spot 
is  consecrated  to  me  by  the  memory  of 
aj  deceased  friend,"  or  to  reverential 
appropriation,  as  the  following  : — 

"  Think  with  yourselves  whether  it  is  not 
really  a  great  mercy  and  kindness  to  all  of 
us,  that  one  day  in  the  week  is  by  a  public 
law  consecrated  to  a  holy  rest."— Sharp. 

In  the  primary  sense  of  the  term 
things  are  consecrated  only  to  God. 

Dedicate  (Lat.  d'cdicare)  is  to  offer 
for  specific  acceptance,  or,  in  a  specific 
manner,  for  a  certain  use  or  to  a  cer- 
tain person.     It  is  a  less  sacred  term 


SYNONYMS  [CONSECKATE^ 

than  Consecrate  ;  as,  to  dedicate  n 
book  to  an  illustrious  person,  to  dedi- 
cate one's  life  to  literature. 

"  The  feast  of  the  dedication  of  cbnrchM 
was  to  be  held  every  year  on  the  first  Son' 
day  in  October  ;  but  the  feast  of  the  patroa 
of  the  Church  was  to  be  no  more  observed." 
—Burnet. 

To  Devote  (Lat.  divovh-e,  part. 
d'cvotiLs)  is  earnestly  or  exclusively  to 
give  for  a  certain  use  or  purpose,  and 
so  implies  a  continuous  dedication.  It 
implies  also  a  final  surrender  away 
from  one's  self.  This  sense'sometimes 
rises  prominently  to  the  surface,  so 
that  we  say,  to  devote  to  destruction, 
or  the  flames. 

"  Gilbert  West  settled  himself  in  a  very 
pleasant  house  at  Wickham,  in  Kent,  where 
he  devoted  himself  to  piety."— Johnson. 
In  dedicating,  the  uppermost  idea  is 
that  of  the  person  to  whose  honour  or 
use  the  thing  is  dedicated ;  in  devoting, 
the  surrender  of  the  thing  or  person 
devoted.  To  devote  canies  the  idea 
of  giving  without  reserve,  with  zeal 


the  use  and  service  of  another. 

To  Vow  (Fr.  vouer)  is  to  promise, 
declare,  or  engage  in  a  permanent  and 
irrevocable  manner,  with  strong  de- 
sire and  fixed  purpose  of  the  will.  One 
vows  eternal  love  or  gratitude.  Unlike 
the  rest,  the  action  of  vowing  regards 
the  future,  and  not  only  the  present 
time.  Addict  was  fonnerly  used,  like 
Lat.  addictus,  in  a  good  or  indifferent 
sense.  It  now  expresses  in  its  parti- 
ciple addicted  (the  only  part  of  the 
verb  in  common  use)  the  process  of 
an  evil  habituation. 

"  But  vowing  to  do  what  there  is  no  use 
of  doing  is  trifling  with  our  Creator ;  making 
unlawful  vows  is  directly  telling  him  we 
shall  disobey  him."— Seckeb. 

"  Since  his  addiction  was  to  courses  vain." 
Shakespeare. 

CONSEQUENTLY.  Accord- 
ingly. Therefore.  Wherefore. 
Then.  Hence.  Thence.  Sinck. 
Because.     As.    So. 

These  words  all  mark  the  drawing 
of  a  conclusion  from  somethino-  which 
has  been  said  as  premises.  They  are 
called  in  grammar  illative  particles,  as 
marking  an  inference,  winch  they  do 
iu  different  ways.  Therkfore  and 
Wherefore,  equivalent  to  ''^r  ihuif 


[considerations]    discriminated. 


26/ 


wid/-r  whichj  cause,  are  nearly  alike ; 
their  difference  flows  simply  from 
their  grammatical  formation.  There- 
fore points  farther  back  than  Where- 
fore, which,  being  relative,  refers 
rather  to  what  has  just  been  said, 
than  to  anything  more  remote.  We 
might  say,  "  I  find  the  proposal  at- 
tended by  this  difficulty,  and  that, 
and  the  other.  I  cannot  therefore 
accede  to  it."  Again,  "I  feared  his 
intentions,  wherefore  I  refused  to 
accompany  him."  Then  is  a  less 
emphatic  wora  '"'^r  therefore  ;  nnd 
As  or  So  less  ei.  hatic  words  for 
Because,  expressing^  the  relation 
of  cause  and  effect  in  a  less  marked 
manner.  Therefore  and  Because  are 
more  emphatically  expressions  of  rea- 
soning, and  would,  of  necessity,  occur 
in  syllogisms  and  mathematical  pro- 
positions ;  As  and  Then  are  more  col 
loquial.  Hence  and  Thence  indicate 
antecedent  reasons  ;  in  the  former 
case  less  remotely,  in  the  latter  more 
remotely, expressed.  (Grammatically 
Hence  in  oratio  recta  becomes  Thence 
in  oratio  obliqua :  as.  He  said  "the sun 
shines  :  hence  I  infer  a  fine  day ;  "  He 
said  that  the  sun  shone;  and  that  thence 
he  inferred  a  fine  day.)  Therefore  and 
Accordingly  differ,  in  that  the  former 
is  applicable  both  to  inference  and 
proof,  or,  in  other  words,  both  to 
physical  causation  and  to  the  conclu- 
sions of  argument.  So  we  might  say, 
"It  rained  last  night,  therefore  the 
ground  is  wet;"  or,  "The  ground  is 
wet,  therefore  it  rained  last  night." 
Accordingly  could  not  well  be  used 
in  this  latter  way.  Accordingly  is 
often  used  to  express  a  congruity  of 
action  or  proceeding,  while  Hence  and 
Thence  belong  to  the  rigorous  necessi- 
ties of  nature  and  logic  ;  as,  "  I  found 
a  letter  at  home  urging  me  to  write  at 
once  to  Paris.  I  wrote  accordiiiglu." 
Consequently  expresses  a  definite 
conclusion,  but  is  seldom  used  of 
logical  inferences.  It  ratlier  relates 
to  practical  proceedings  or  decisions ; 
as,  "  My  pocket  has  been  picked, 
consequently  1  have  no  money."  Be- 
cause (by  cause)  had  originally  a 
stricter  reference  to  physical  causa- 
tion. It  now  represents  the  correla- 
tire  of  the  question  why  ;  and  denotes 


physical  sequence,  logical  sequence, 
and  final  causation  or  purpose.  For 
instance,  "  Why  are  the  shadows  of 
the  afternoon  longer  than  those  of 
mid-day  1 "  "  Why  is  tJiis  line  equal 
to  that]"  "  Why  did  you  leave  the 
house?"  Since  is  less  formal  than 
Because,  and  in  its  grammatical  posi- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence, 
anticipates  the  statement  of  the  pre- 
mise or  premises  of  the  argument. 

CONSIDERATION.  Rloard. 
Account. 

There  is  a  common  force  belonj'ing  to 
these  words,  according  to  which  they 
express  a  thoughtful  way  of  dealing, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  others  rather 
than  one's  own.  We  show  Regard 
(Fr.  regarder,  to  look)  from  a  sense  of 
propriety  or  a  feeling  of  esteem.  We 
show  Consideration  (see  Conside- 
rate) to  external  qualities  in  others; 
as,  some  condition  or  distinction, 
to  which  it  is  a  duty  to  exhibit  respect, 
and  the  absence  of  which  respect 
would  indicate  in  us  a  want  of  right 
feeling  or  politeness,  or  a  rude  igno- 
rance of  the  usages  of  good  society. 
There  are  cases  in  which  we  are  bound 
to  show  consideration  though  we  can- 
not feel  regard.  Consideration  is  due 
not  only  to  the  great,  dignified,  and 
powerful,  but  also  to  the  weak  and 
feeble.  Account  is  a  word  of  less 
clearly  defined  force,  and  needs  the 
addition  of  an  epithet  to  qualify  it.  A 
matter  is  of  little  account,  or  of  great 
account;  but  not  of  account,  simply; 
whereas  we  are  said  to  show  con- 
sideration, or  regard,  absolutely. 
Moreover,  Consideration  and  Re- 
gard have  to  do  generally  with  per- 
sons, exceptionally  with  things  :  Ac- 
count has  to  do  generally  with  things, 
exceptionally  with  persons. 

CONSIDERATIONS.  Observa- 
tions.    Reflexions.     Thoughts. 

Considerations  (Lat.  cons'idirare) 
is  a  term  of  wide  meaning.  It  de 
notes  that  action  of  the  mind  which 
takes  account  of  an  object  under  one, 
or  under  more,  or  under  all  the  aspects 
which  it  presents.  Obsekvations  (  Lat. 
observdre)  are  the  remarks  which  one 
makes  in  society  upon  circumstances, 
pioceedings,  sayings,  or  works.     Rn 


268 


SYNONYMS  [consistent] 


FLEXION  (Lat.  reflectcref  part,  re- 
fieius)  turns  commonly  on  what  con- 
cerns morals  and  the  conduct  of  life. 
Thoughts  are  more  general  and  vague, 
and  include  in  the  hroadest  way  im- 
pressions, judgment,  and  collateral 
suggestions.  If  they  are  worth  any- 
thing, observations  are  penetrating 
and  profound.  Observations  are  saga- 
cious and  sh  ewd.  Reflexions  are  prac- 
tical and  apt.  Thoughts  are  true, 
lively,  sound,  pertinent.  Considera- 
tions owe  their  excellence  to  the  mind 
which  originates  them.  Observations 
are  good  in  proportion  as  they  bring 
to  light  what  otherwise  might  have 
escaped  us,  reject  what  is  unworthy, 
and  select  what  is  worthy  of  remark  ; 
reflexions,  in  proportion  as  they  pro- 
ceed upon  sure  and  sound  principles, 
and  are  at  the  same  time  fine  and  just. 
Thoughts  may  partake  of  the  merits 
of  all  the  others,  as  they  may  be  them- 
selves the  matter  out  of  which  conside- 
rations, observations,  and  reflexions 
are  drawn  or  on  which  they  are  based. 

CONSISTENT.  Compatiblk. 
Consonant.    Accordant. 

Consistent  (I>at.  consisttre,  to  stand 
firmly)  denotes  one  or  more  of  the 
following  points  : — 1,  harmony,  inter- 
nal, of  the  several  parts  of  a  thing, 
which  accordingly  cohere  well ;  as,  a 
consistent  course  of  conduct :  2,  har- 
mony of  a  thing  with  another  thing  ; 
as,  tranquillity  is  consistent  with  hap- 
piness :  and,  3,  harmony  with  itself 
at   diflferent  times ;    as,  a  consistent 
adherence  to  principles. 
•*  Show  me  one  that  has  it  in  his  power 
To  Rot  consistent  with  himself  one  hooi'." 
Pope. 

Compatible  (Lat.  compatior,  to 
suffer  ivith)  denotes  an  extraneous 
relation  of  one  thing  to  another,  or  of 
two  to  each  other.  That  thing  is 
compatible  with  another  which  may 
exist  under  similar  conditions,  and, 
therefore,  may  sliare  with  it  proba- 
bility as  a  matter  of  supposition.  In 
cases  where  consistency  or  compati- 
bility might  be  denied  of  a  thing,  it  is 
more  to  say  that  a  matter  is  not  com- 
patible, than  that  it  is  not  consistent. 
"  Such  a  supposition  is  not  consistent 
witli  a  belief  in  the  man's  innocence," 
would  mean  that  the  belief  militated 


ao^ainst  tJie  supposition  ;  not  compa^ 
tible  with,  would  mean  that  of  the 
two  one  must  give  way. 

"Our  poets  have  joined  together  such 
qualities  as  are  by  nature  the  most,  compa- 
tible."—BnooyiE. 

Consonant  (Lat.  consonans,  having 
the  same  sound,  suitabk)  denotes  a  har- 
mony of  general  character,  indepen- 
dent of  any  minute  analysis  or  exact 
comparison.  It  is  ac'cordingly  used 
not  of  things  sharply  defined,  but  oi 
the  drift  of  statements,  sentiments, 
expressions,  general  representations, 
states  of  feeling,  views,  and  the  like ; 
as,  **  Such  an  expression  is  consonant 
with  all  that  1  have  heard  of  his 
character  and  behaviour." 

"  They  all  plead  Scripture  for  what  they 
say,  and  each  one  pretends  that  his  opinion 
....  is  consonant  to  the  words  there  used." 
— Beveridge. 

Accordant  (L.  Lat.  accorddre,  as  ii 
to  bring  to  one  heart,  ad  unum  cor)  is 
commonly  used  of  consistency  in 
specific  matters  of  statement,  evidence, 
or  testimony ;  as,  "  His  evidence  en- 
tirely accords  with  that  of  the  other 
witness."  But  beyond  this,AccoRDANT 
follows  the  various  aspects  of  the  verb 
to  accord,  which  expresses  agreement 
in  representation,  statement,  taste, 
opinion,  feeling,  sentiment,  desire, 
principle,  aim,  belief,  and  moral  con- 
duct ;  but  is  not  applicable  to  purely 
physical  form,  action,  or  force. 

"  The  difference  of  good  and  evil  in 
actions  is  not  founded  on  arbitrary  opinions 
or  institutions,  but  in  the  nature  of  things 
and  the  nature  of  man.  It  accords  with 
the  universal  sense  of  the  human  mind." — 
BlAIR. 

constancy.  Steadiness.  Firm- 
ness. Fidelity.  Stability.  Per- 
manence. Steadfastness.  Regu- 
larity. 

Constancy  (Lat.  constantia)  is  tha 
character  which  is  opposed  to  change 
ableness.  It  is  a  steady  adherence  ir 
matters  of  taste  and  liking.  The  con- 
stant man  is  not  drawn  off  by  new 
objects  of  attraction,  but  follows  ac 
inclination  which  acts  upon  him 
uniformly.  Weakness  and  pusillani- 
mity are  not  inconsistent  with  con- 
stancy. There  is  in  constancy  a  kind 
of  obstinacy  of  attachment,  as  in  the 
constancy  of  martyrs.    The  constant 


[constancy]  discriminated. 


2t)9 


mac  is  capable  of  sustained  preference. 
It  is  not  employed  of  mere  immobility, 
but  of  moving  or  acting  bodies,  or 
natures  whicb  are  controlled  by  some 
fixed  principle  amid  sucb  movements. 
It  implies  a  centre  to  A%hicli  movements, 
physical  or  moral,  ai-e  uniformly 
referred.  Mechanical  regularity  and 
uniformity  of  will  both  come  under 
the  idea  of  constancy.  We  do  not 
speak  of  the  constancy  of  the  rock  or 
the  mountain,  but  of  the  movements  of 
the  iieavenly  bodies,  and  the  affections 
of  men.  It  is  opposed  to  variableness  in 
the  one  case,  and  to  fickleness  in  the 
other.  It  is  fixedness,  not  of  tendency, 
purpose,  location,  but  of  principle  or 
law. 

"Wliilst  thoa  livest,  dear  Kate,  take  a 
ifellow  of  plain,  ancoined  constancy  ;  for  he 
perforce  must  do  thee  right." — SHAKE- 
SPEARE. 

SxiiAOiNKSs  (A.  S.  srede,  a  place  or 
station),  unlike  Consta  ncv,  admits  the 
idea  of  fixedness  of  station  as  well  as 
fixedness  of  motion.  In  the  one  case 
it  is  opposed  to  tottering,  in  the  other 
to  deviating ;  as,  "  to  stand  steady," 
*'the  ship  kept  a  steady  course,"  "  to 
keep  steadily  to  work  or  business," 
"  a  man  of  steady  character."  Steapi- 
NEss,  unlike  Constancy,  is  not  related 
to  recun-ence,  but  to  continuity.  The 
constant  may  suffer  occasional  eclipse ; 
the  steady  is  continuously  seen  or 
felt.  The  lamp  which  is  kept  con- 
stantly burning  may  yet  burn  with  a 
steady  or  unsteady  light. 

"  Steadiness  is  a  point  of  prndence  as 
well  as  of  courage."— L'ESTRANGE. 

FiP.MNESs  (Lfit.  firmiis,  firm)  is  a 
more  active  form  of  Steadiness.  The 
steady  man  resists  temptations  to 
wander  from  the  line  ot  his  duties 
and  avocations,  for  his  character  is 
oppo»ed  to  that  of  levity,  as  con- 
stancy is  opposed  to  fickleness ;  but 
the  firm  man  can  be  steady  under  op- 
position, and  in  cases  where  strength 
of  will  IS  specifically  needed.  Firm- 
ness is  the  resolute  abiding  by  prin- 
ciples of  action.  Firmness  is  a  resolute 
courage  to  adhere  to  one's  cwn  reason 
and  purposes.  He  has  chosen  a  part 
from  which  he  is  not  to  be  seduced  or 
deten-ed  by  hope  or  fear,  by  pleasure 
or  pain.     Reason  is  to  tlie  firm  ni.^n 


what  affection  is  to  the  constant  man. 
It  implies,  as  constancy  does  not  o. 
necessity  imply,  force  of  character 
Levity  and  a  facile  disposition  are 
opposed  to  constancy;  a  frail-  and 
feeble  character  to  firmness.  Firmues.s 
is  honourably  distinguished  from  ob- 
stinacy. The  firm  man  adheres  to, 
maintains,  and  carries  out  with  energy 
and  resolution  that  which  on  exami- 
nation he  believes  to  be  true,  reason- 
able, right,  or  his  particular  duty. 
The  obstinate  man  does  not  examine 
at  all.  His  opinion  is  his  law.  Firm- 
ness is  a  result  of  wisdom  ;  obstinacy 
a  form  of  vanity.  Without  firmnesf 
a  man  has  no  character.  "  Without 
couslancu,"  says  Addison,  "there  is 
neither  love,  friendship,  nor  virtue  in 
the  world." 

Fidelity  {Lat.  J'lditttatem)  is  the 
steadfastness  to  persons,  causes,  or 
principles,  which  flows  either  from  a 
sense  of  honour  or  personal  attach- 
ment, or  both.  Constancy  does  not 
imply  actual  engagement ;  fidelity 
does.  We  are  constant  in  our  tastes 
and  affections ;  we  are  faithful,  or  have 
fidelity,  to  our  word,  promise,  allegi- 
ance, and  the  like.  Constancy  belongs 
more  to  sentiments,  faithfulness  to 
states  and  acts.  The  fidelity  of  martyif 
to  the  religion  which  they  professec 
led  to  their  constancy  under  suflfering 
"  The  be!.-i  seccr^ty  for  tYie  fidelity  of  mer 
is  to  make  interest  coinci'le  with  duty  "— 
Hamilton. 

SiAiui.iTY  ( Lat.  stdbitttatem)  is 
that  local  or  moral  fixedness  whicb 
resists  eflforts  to  shake  or  move  or 
overturn  the  object.  Stability  pre- 
vents variableness,  and  resists  temp- 
tations to  levity  or  curiosity  conse- 
(juent  upon  the  variety  of  objects  or 
influences. 

"  The  king-becoming  graces. 
As  justice,  verity,  temperance,  stableness. 
Bounty,  perseverance,  mercy,  lowlinesa, 

1    Devotion,  courage,  patience,  fortitude, 

I    I  have  no  relish  for  them." 

I  Shakespeare. 

!  Permanence  (Lat.  permdnh-e,  to 
endure)  is  not  a  moral  quality  at  all. 
It  denotes  no  more  than  the  quality  of 
exemption  from  removal  or  alteration, 
in  spite  of  external  influences  of  every 
kind.  Operations,  as  well  as  states, 
which  endure,  may  he  called  perm*' 


270 


nent,  as  "  the  permanent  laws  of 
nature."  Tt  is  opposed  to  alterable 
and  transient.  Steadfastness,  an- 
other form  of  steadiness,  is  applied 
particularly  to  the  human  will,  and 
IS  opposed  to  the  abandonment  of,  or 
deviation  from,  the  objects  and  pur- 
poses of  life  ;  as,  "  to  adhere  stead- 
fastly to  a  resolution." 
"  But  when  strong  passion  or  weak  fleshli- 

ness 
Would  frora  the  right  way  seek  to  draw 

him  wide. 
He  would,  through  temperance  and  stead- 
fastness. 
Teach  him   the  weak  to   strengthen,  and 
the  strong  suppress."       SpENSER. 
Regulakh  Y  (  Lat.  rcgtila,  a  rule)  is 
conformity  to  rule,  law,  or  principle, 
to  a  prescribed  mode  or  a  customary 
form  ;    as    distinguished    from    that 
which  is  liable   to   unknown,  unex- 
plained, or  capricious  variation.    Re- 
gularity may  be  either  in  movement 
or  in  position  and  reciprocal  arrange- 
ment ;  according  as  the  rule  is  one  of 
recun-ence,  order,  or  progression. 

"  They  would  have  us  believe  that 
amongst  these  infinite  worlds,  all  of  them 
fortuitously  made,  there  is  not  one  of  a 
thousand,  or  perhaps  of  ten  thousand,  that 
hath  such  regularity,  continuity,  and  har- 
mony in  it  as  this  world  that  we  chanced  to 
emerge  in." — CUDWORTH. 

CONSTITUENT.  Component. 
Ingredient. 

The  same  kind  of  difference  exists 
between  a  Constituent  (Lat.  con- 
stHtuere,  to  consiitute)  and  Component 
(Lat.  compontre,  to  put  together)  as 
between  an  element  or  ingredient  and 
a  part  or  portion.  There  is  in  Con- 
stituent an  active  or  operative  force 
which  does  not  belong  to  component. 
The  noun  constituent  means  a  person 
or  thing  which  establishes,  determines, 
or  constructs.  The  constituent  parts 
go  to  make  up  the  thing,  the  compo- 
nent parts  are  those  of  which  it  is 
made  up.  In  this  active  sense  the 
term  constituent  is  used  politically,  as 
signifying  one  who  assists  to  elect  a 
representative  to  an  office. 

Ingredient  (  Lat.  ingredior,  1  enter) 
is  very  nearly  the  same  as  Consti- 
tuent ;  the  difference  between  them, 
Buch  as  it  is,  being  evident  from  their 
etymology.  An  ingredient  is  simply 
one  of  the  dirfe'ei.'t  materials  which 


SrNONYMS  [CONSTITUENTj 

enter  into  the  compounded  body,  as  a 
fact,  as  we  speak  of  the  ingredients  of 
a  pudding :  a  constituent  is  one  of 
similar  materials,  by  the  composition 
of  which  and  not  otherwise,  the  result 
is  constituted ;  as,  the  constituent 
elements  of  government. 

CONSTITUTE.     Appoint. 

The  exercise  of  authority  in  rela- 
tion to  the  tenure  of  office,  or  the 
bestowal  of  a  certain  formal  character, 
is  the  idea  common  to  these  terms  ;  but 
Appoint  (O.Yr.apointer,  to  arrange)  is 
a  less  forcible  term.  Appointment  is 
commonly  the  act  of  an  individual. 
CoNSTiTUTE(Lat.  constituere,  part,  con- 
stithtus)  involves  the  convergence  of 
several  authorities  and  powers.  Ap- 
point has  an  external.  Constitute  a 
virtual  or  inherent  force.  Almost  all 
bishops  in  Roman  Catholic  countries 
are  appointed  by  the  Pope,  who  is  con- 
stituted the  supreme  earthly  head  of 
that  Church. 

"  That  which  constitutes  the  nature  of 
man,  and  doth  formally  difiPerence  and  dis- 
tinguish him  from  all  other  animals,  is  not 
so  much  the  power  of  reason  as  the  capacity 
of  being  religious." — Sharp. 

"  God  desires  that  in  His  Church,  know- 
ledge and  piety,  peace  and  charity  and  good 
order,  should  grow  and  flourish  ;  to  which 
pui-poses  He  hath  appointed  teachers  to  in- 
struct, and  governors  to  watch  over  His 
people." — Barrow. 

CONSULT.     Deliberate. 

These  terms  denote  the  same  pro- 
cess differently  carried  on.  We 
Consult  (Lat.  consfUtre,  part,  con- 
sultus)  with  others;  we  Deliberate 
(Lat.  diCibcrare,  libra,  a  icale)  within 
our  own  minds. 

"  That  the  law  hath  been  fined  (defined) 
by  gi'ave  and  learned  men,  meaning  pro- 
fessors of  the  law,  is  manifestly  untrue; 
for  all  the  laws  of  England  have  been  made 
by  the  kings  of  England,  consulting  with 
the  nobility  and  commons  in  Parliament, 
of  which  not  one  in  twenty  was  a  learned 
lawyer." — Hobbes. 

"  I  would  not  indeed  refer  a  prince  for 
maxims  of  equity  and  government  to 
Puffendorf  and  Grotius,  the  dull  and  un- 
feeling deliberators  of  questions  on  which  a 
good  heart  and  understanding  ?aa  intui- 
tively decide."— Knox,  Essays. 

CONSUME.     Destroy. 

To  Consume  (Lat.  consumere)  is  to 
destroy  by  absorption,  and  as  & 
natural   process,   whether    such    ab- 


[contain] 


DiSCRI3IINATED. 


271 


sorption  be  regular  or  violent.  To 
consume  is  by  no  means  always  to 
waste ;  as,  for  instance,  an  army  of 
such  a  number  will  consume,  on  an 
average,  so  much  food.  The  same 
idea  is  kept  up  when  we  say  the 
fire  consumed  the  stubble.  To  Dk- 
STROV  (Lat.  dtstrilere,  to  pull  down)  is 
H  process  alwa3'S  of  violence,  and 
contradiction  of  the  purpose  of  the 
thing  destroyed,  and,  generally 
speaking,  a  reversion  of  natural  or 
artificial  processes,  or  an  abnormal 
exhibition  of  them.  The  philosophical 
idea  of  destruction  never  amounts  to 
annihilation,  but  is  that  of  a  violent 
discei-ption  of  the  forms  and  propor- 
tions under  which  bodies  exist. 

"  It  is  as  if  the  dead  could  feel 
The  icy  worm  around  them  steal, 
And  shudder  as  the  reptiles  creep 
To  revel  on  their  rotting  sleep. 
Without  the  power  to  scare  away 
The  cold  consumers  of  their  clay." 
Byron. 
"  Whatsoever  is  in  the  world  is  but  CXn 
ww(  ix»J(ra,  matter  so  and  so  modified  or 
qualilled,  all  which  modifications  and  quali- 
fications of  matter  are  in  their  own  nature 
destroyable,  and   the  matter  itself  (as  the 
basis  of  them  is  not  necessarily  determined 
to  this  or  that  accident)  is  the  only  ayiyvnTtm 
*ou  avwKaf^ov,  the  only  necessary  existent."— 
Cud  WORTH. 

CONSUMMATION.        Comple- 

TIOV. 

CoMPLKTiON  (Lat,  complere,  to  Jill) 
is  the  Jilliiig  up  of  a  design  or  purpose. 
A  work  is  completed  when  the  plan 
of  it  is  realized.  Consummation 
(Lat.  consummationem,  a  S)immitig  up) 
is  applied  to  matters  which  must 
reach  a  certain  degree  or  extent  to 
make  them  complete.  In  completion 
an  outline  is  filled  up ;  in  consumma- 
tion a  point  is  reached.  Hence  con- 
summation may  be  the  point  at  which 
many  antecedent  things,  converging, 
meet,  and  is  therefore  a  plural  result ; 
while  completion  is  a  single  result ; 
as,  the  consummation  of  all  our  hopes, 
dfsires,  and  eflbrts.  Completion  is 
more  external,  consummation  more 
internal,  being  the  fulfilment  of  the 
idea  or  definition.  It  is  also  used  in 
the  sense  of  a  gathering  up  in  one  of 
many  tilings  ;  as  the  event  of  to-day 
is  the  consummation  of  the  hoju's  of 
diany  years. 


"  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  but  it  was  a 
constant  practice  of  all  that  is  praisewortliy 
which  made  her  capable  of  beholding  death, 
not  as  the  dissolution,  but  as  the  consum- 
mation of  life." — Steele. 

"  He  makes  it  the  completion  of  an  il. 
character,  to  bear  a  malevolence  to  the  best 
of  men." — Pope. 

In  this  last  example  Consummation 
might  have  been  employed  instead  oi 
Completion,  but  the  idea  would  have 
been  different.  The  completion  or 
an  ill  character  would  have  been  that 
which  gave,  as  it  were,  the  finishing 
touch  to  it .  The  consummation  of  an 
ill  character  would  have  been  that 
which  would  be  regarded  as  neces- 
sarily involving  all  particulars,  and  sc 
summing  it  up. 

CONTAGION.     Infection. 

Contagion  (Lat.  contdgionem) 
operates  by  mutual  contact,  Infeci  ion 
(Lat.  iyifectionem,  tnflcere,  to  dije)  by 
an  influence  common  to  its  subjects, 
or  by  other  media  than  contact.  This 
distinction  is  adhered  to  in  the  moral 
use  of  the  terms  ;  as,  "  the  contagion 
of  bad  example,"  and  "  the  infection 
of  error."  In  the  term  infection  the 
uppermost  idea  is  the  evil  nature  oi 
the  influence  ;  in  contagion,  its  com- 
municative and  spreading  character. 
We  dread  infection,  and  we  shua 
contagion. 

"  Their  propensity  to  recount  the  won- 
derful exceeds  all  imagination.  Neither 
their  learning,  judgment,  nor  integrity 
could  secure  them  against  the  general 
contagion."— WxB.BU-RToy. 

"  It  is  necessary  for  the  polishing  of 
mannei-s  to  have  breathed  that  air  (of  the 
court)  ;  but  it  is  infectious  even  to  the  best 
morals  to  live  always  in  it." — DRYDK^^ 

CONTAIN.     Hold. 

Although  these  words  are  respec- 
tively Latin  and  A.  S.  equivalents 
(Lat.  continere  and  A.  S.  healdan,  to 
hold),  they  are  differently  employed. 
Setting  aside  other  meanings  of  Hold 
(as,  to  retain  in  the  gi*asp,  to  possess, 
and  the  like),  in  speaking  of  mere 
capacity  there  are  differences.  To 
Hold  is  in  this  sense  purely  physical, 
as  a  vessel  holds  water,  or  a  certain 
quantity  of  it ;  but  Contain  is  used  of 
abstract  quantity ;  as,  that  field  con- 
tains (i.  e.,  consists  of)  so  many  acres. 
Again,  Contain  does  not  imply,  as  is 
implied  by  Hold,  the  extreme  limit  of 
physical  contents.     When   we  t>ay  a 


272 


SYNONYMS  [CONTAMlNATEj 


coacli  holds  six  persons,  we  mean 
that  it  is  capable  of  holding  so  many, 
and  not  more.  If  we  said  it  contains 
six,  we  should  mean  that  there  hap- 
pen to  be  six  inside  it.  It  might 
liave  contained  three.  That  cask  holds 
water,  might  mean  that  it  is  water- 
tight, or,  at  least  retains  it.  'J'hatcask 
contains  water,  could  only  mean 
water  is  inside  it,  and  nothing  else. 

"Among  artificial  substances  the  ship 
(^naus  navis)  is  feminine,  as  being  so  emi- 
nently a  receiver  and  container  of  various 
things,  of  men,  arms,  provisions,  goods, 
&c."— Harris. 

"  Death  only  this  mysterious  truth  unfolds. 
The  mighty  soul  how  small  a  body  holds." 
Drydek. 

CONTAMINATE.  Defile.  Pol- 
lute. Taint.  Corrupt.  Debauch. 
Vitiate. 

To  Contaminate  (Lat.  contdmi- 
nare,  probably  connected  with  tango) 
IS  a  stronger  term  than  Taint  (which 
comes  fi-om  tingh'Cj  Fr.  teinclre,  to 
dye'),  but  not  so  strong  as  Defile  (of 
which  "  the  force  is  due  to  the  Eng. 
'  foul ' ;  but  the  funn  was  suggested 
by  O.  F.  defhuler,  to  trample  under 
foot:"  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.),  or  Pol- 
lute (Lat.  poUiitve,  part,  pollfdus). 
They  all  indicate  a  partial,  while 
Corrupt  (Lat.  corr^impere,  part,  cor- 
ruptiis)  marks  a  deeper  and  more 
permanent  spoiling.  Some  of  these 
synonyms  tend  more  sti-ongly  than 
others  to  a  purely  moral  application. 
To  contaminate  is  to  soil  by  defiling 
contact.  Contamination,  therefore, 
may  be  best  employed  in  cases  where 
such  external  communication  with 
what  is  bad  may  be  supposed ;  as  im- 
proper conversation,  impure  litera- 
ture, vicious  society,  or  bad  example. 
Defile  denotes  such  contamination  as 
passes  permanently  into  the  inner 
mature,  so  as  to  render  unclean. 
Foi-LUTE,like  DEFiLE,has  a  ceremonial 
and  moral  bearing.  It  denotes  the 
defilement  of  the  springs  of  thought 
and  action,  the  befoulment  of  the 
character  and  very  soul,  as  the 
sources  of  a  stream  are  poisoned,  and 
the  waters  wJiich  flow  therefrom  are 
infected  thereby.  Yet  some  affection 
)f  the  senses  is  the  means  by  which 
*Jiis  is  done.  Taint  denotes  a  par- 
tial colouring  of  evil,  which  has  not 


yet  spoilt  the  character  or  the  jud»- 
ment.  It  applies  to  what  i-  false  as  well 
as  to  what  is  foul ;  as  we  say,  h'is  m  ind  is 
tainted  with  prejudice,  he  is  tainted 
with  the  opinions  of  such  and  such  a 
school.  It  is  a  milder  form  of  Con  fa- 
minate.  Corrupt  is  an  analogous 
term,  conveying  the  idea  of  an  eflect 
upon  the  mind  similar  to  that  of  the 
breaking  up  of  organized  bodies.  It 
is  of  very  general  application,  and 
denotes  the  extreme  of  unsoundness  ; 
as,  a  corrupt  taste,  a  corrupt  life, 
a  corrupt  judge.  In  all  the  other 
synonyms  the  character  or  principles 
are  regarded  as  spoilt  by  external 
communication.  Corrupt  regards  the 
case  at  the  point  when  the  evil  has 
taken  root  in  the  system.  Persons 
themselves  are  said  to  be  contami- 
nated, defiled,  and  polluted  ;  their 
purity  tainted,  their  morals,  princi- 
ples, honesty,  and  integrity  to  be  cor- 
rupted. The  hands  or  the  mind  may  be 
defiled,  but  the  mind  only  is  polluted. 
Corrupt  principles  and  practices  are 
to  the  pure  and  upright  what  the 
exhalations  of  a  corpse  are  to  those 
whose  senses  are  healthy.  Corruption 
comes  not  so  much  from  the  allure- 
mencs  of  sense  as  from  the  perversion 
of  reason.  The  great  instrument  of 
corruption  is  sophistry.  Debauch 
( Fr.  hauche,  a  line  of  bricks ;  hence, 
to  debauch  is,  probably,  to  lead  away 
from  the  right  line,  to  corrupt,  seduce  ; 
or,  perhaps,  to  take  aica\j  the  support 
of  a  btiilding)  is  to  practice  what  Cor- 
rupt is  to  principle  and  taste.  To 
debauch  is  to  lead  into  habits  of  in- 
temperance and  unchastity,  and  the 
grosser  forms  of  self-indulgence.  The 
mind  is  coiTupted,  the  morals  and 
manners  debauched.  Vitiate  (Lat. 
vttiare)  has  a  wider  meaning.  It  is 
to  spoil  by  introducing  a  marring 
defect,  either  moral  or  logical.  Tha^ 
which  may  be  vitiated  is  principle, 
character,  conduct,  taste,  and  practi- 
cal validity. 

"  Learning  not  debauched  by  ambition." 
—Burke, 

"  A  will  vitiated,  and  grown  out  of  kve 
with  the  truth  disposes  the  understanding 
to  error  and  delusion." — SoUTH. 

♦'Even  when  the  nobility,  which  repre- 
sented the  more  permanent  landed  intere»t, 
united  th.'jiselves  by  marriage,  which  Tia* 


[continual]  discriminated. 


27^ 


•ometimes  the  case,  with  the  other  descrip- 
tion, the  wealth  which  sared  the  family 
from  ruin  was  supposed  to  contaminate  and 
degrade  it."— Burke. 

"Poltroons  that  fling  dirt 
Do  bat  defile,  and  cannot  hurt." 

Iludibras. 

"  And  can  any,  then,  behold  or  act  theM 
gross  abominations  with  delight,  the  very 
relation  of  which  is  sufficient  to  pollute  the 
;ars  that  hear  them,  the  common  air  that 
receives  them,  yea,  the  breath  that  utters 
them,  and  yet  be  innocent,  be  untainted 
by  them  ?  "— PitYyiTK. 

"That  epidemical  fatnf  wherewith  King 
James  infected  the  minds  of  men  continued 
upon  us."— BOLIXGBROKK. 

"  He  (Cato  the  Elder)  procmed  in  the 
senate  that  Carneades,  the  Academic,  and 
Diogenes,  the  Stoic,  ambassadoi"s  from 
Athens,  should  immediately  be  dismissed, 
that  they  might  not  corrupt  the  youth." — 
Bhwtlkv. 

CONTENTMENT.        Satisfac- 

llON. 

Contentment  {¥t.  content)  is  letw 
arrong  than  Satisfaction  (Lat.  :^tii- 
faciibnevi).  Satisfaction  is  a  full 
meaaure  coming  from  without.  Con- 
tentment is  from  within,  implying 
such  a  measure  as  we  are  willing  to 
regard  as  full.  But  contentment, 
from  this  internal  character,  tend*  to 
become  a  habit,  which  satisfaction, 
relating  to  things  external,  does  not 
become.  Where  one  man  is  not  satis- 
fied, another  under  the  same  circum- 
stances is  contented.  It  deserves  to 
be  remarked  that  in  matters  which 
are  independent  of  our  own  efforts 
and  actions,  contentment  is  higher 
than  satisfaction,  as  implying  a  better 
moral  state.  In  matters  which  depend 
upon  our  own  efforts  and  actions,  it  is 
better  to  endeavour  to  satisfy  our- 
selves, and  not  be  contented  with  a 
little.  Both  contentment  and  satis- 
faction denote  tranquillity  of  mind 
in  regard  to  the  object  of  one's  de- 
sires. Contentment  is  more  in  the 
heart,  satisfaction  in  the  passions. 
The  first  is  s  .eeling  which  always 
renders  the  mind  quiet ;  the  latter  is 
an  issue  which  sometimes  throws  it 
into  trouble,  although  it  is  no  longer 
disquieted  as  to  the  object  of  its  de- 
sire. A  restless  or  tinaid  man  is  never 
content ;  an  avaricious  or  ambitious 
man  is  never  satisfied.  One  is  con- 
sent when  one   wishes  for  notlting 


more,  though  one  is  not  always  satis 
fied  when  one  has  procured  what  one 
wished.  Satisfaction  has  in  it  an 
element  of  uncertainty.  It  is  no 
surety  for  its  own  continuance.  The 
fullest  satisfaction  is  not  necessarily 

I  accompanied  by  a  proportionate  con- 
tentment. One  is  satisfied  when  one 
has  obtained  what  one  wished,  one  is 
content  when  one  wishes  for  nothing 
more. 

"  Contentment  expresses  the  acquiescence 
of  the  mind  in  the  portion  of  good  which 
we  possess." — Cooan 
*'  The  word  satisfaction  is  frequently  em- 

i    ployed  to  express  the  full  accomplishment 

I  of  some  particular  desire,  which  always 
communicates  a  temporary  pleasure,  what- 

!    ever  niuy  be  the  nature  of  that  desire." — 
Ibid. 

\       CONTIGUOUS.  Adjacent.    Ad- 

:     JOINING. 

\  What  is  Contiguous  (Lat.  conti- 
j  guns)  touches  on  one  side,  at  least 
to  some  extent,  if  not  entirely.  What 
j  is  Adjoining  (O.  Fr.  adjoindre,  Lat. 
adjuHj^evey  to  join  to)  needs  touch  only 
at  a  single  point.  What  is  A  lu agent 
(Lat.  adjdcirey  to  tie  near)  may  be 
near  without  touching  at  all.  It  is 
remarkable  that  these  words  adhere 
to  the  phvsical  or  primary,  and  have 
not  lent  themselves  to  a  secondary  or 
moral  meaning,  though  they  may 
be  used  analogously,  as  in  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  To  me  there  appear  to  be  only  three 
principles  of  connexion  among  ideas, 
namely,  resemblance,  continuity  iu  time  or 
place,  and  cause  or  effect." — Hume. 

"  Now,  touching  that  proportion  of 
ground  that  the  Christians  have  on  the 
habitable  earth,  I  find  that  all  Europe, 
with  her  adjacent  isles,  is  peopled  with 
Christians,  except  that  ruthful  country  of 
Lapland,  where  idolaters  yet  inhabit." — 
Howell,  Litters. 

"  Every  man's  land  is,  in  the  eye  of  the 
law,  enclosed  and  set  apart  from  his  neigh- 
bour's ;  and  that,  either  by  a  visible  anf 
material  fence,  as  one  field  is  divided  from 
another  by  a  hedge,  or  by  an  ideal  invisible 
boundary,  existing  only  in  the  contempla^ 
tion  of  law,  as  when  one  man's  land  adjoins 
to  another's  in  the  same  field." — BlacK- 
8T0NB. 

CONTINUAL.  Continuous.  Per- 
petual.    Incessant. 

Continual  (Lat.  conttnuui,  «wm« 
terrupted)  admit*  the  idea  of  intemi},  - 

T 


£74 


SYNONYMS  [CONTINUATIONj 


tton,  inteiTiiiMion,  or  occasional  cessa- 
tion ;  Continuous  excludes  this.  "  It 
has  been  raining  continually  for  the 
last  four  months,  admits  of  fine  days, 
though  comparatively  few  and  far 
between ;  continuous  rain  for  such  a 
period  would  produce  a  deluge. 

What  is  CoNTiN'uAL  (Lat.  contXnu- 
are,  to  make  continuouSj  Lat.  coii- 
ttnuus)  admits  ol"  no  interruption  in 
time,  though  it  admits  of  intervals,  as 
continual  showers  through  the  month. 
What  is  Continuous  admits  of  no  in- 
terruption in  space,  or  what  is  ana- 
logously conceived  as  having  extent, 
as  continuous  emplojonent.  What  is 
Perpetual  (Lat.  perpttuus)  admits 
of  no  termination,  being  in  its  very 
nature  lasting.  Incessant  (Lat.  in- 
eessans)  denotes  wliat  does  not  cease 
as  a  matter  of  fact.  The  nouns  con- 
tinuance and  contimiity  follow  the 
same  distinction.  The  proper  mean- 
ings of  the  adverbs  continually,  per- 
petually, and  incessantly,  are  much 
obscured  by  a  way  of  using  these 
terms  hj-perbolically,  as  a  talkative 
person  is  said  to  be  continually,  per- 
petually, or  incessantly  talking. 

"  After  this  He  sends  prophets  in  a  co7i- 
tinual  succession  for  several  ages,  who  do 
more  clearly  discover  God's  will  to  them." 
-^Shxrp. 

"  Contmuatives,  on  the  contrary,  by  a 
more  intimate  connexion,  consolidate  sen- 
tences into  one  contimious  whole."  — 
Harris. 

"  Amusements  and  diversions  succeed  in 
ft  perpetual  round." — Blair. 
"  The  frosty  north  wind  blows  a  thick  cold 

sleet. 
That  dazzles  eyes,  flakes  after  flakes  inces- 
santly descending." 

Chapman,  Homer. 

CONTINUATION.  Continu- 
ance.    Duration.     Continuity. 

Continuation  is  an  artificial  or 
contrived  continuance,  as  the  con- 
tinuation of  a  history  to  a  particular 
period.  Continuance  and  Dura- 
tion (Lat.  durare,  to  last)  are  both 
employed  of  time ;  but  continuance  is 
active,  duration  is  passive,  and  is  not 
inherent  in  the  thing  itself,  but  refers 
simply  to  the  accident  of  time.  Con- 
tinuance is  inherent  extension,  of 
which  duration  is  the  external  mea- 
■ure. 


"  The  great  wisdom  of  the  Divine  Crea- 
tor appears  in  that  there  is  pleasure  an- 
nexed to  those  actions  that  are  necessarj 
for  the  support  and  preservation  of  the  in- 
dividuum,  and  the  continuation  and  propa- 
gation of  the  species  ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
pain  to  the  neglect  or  forbearance  of  them.'' 
—Ray. 

"But,  alas,  the  honeymoon  of  a  new 
ministry  is  always  of  short  continuance  if 
England."—  HoADLY. 

"  That  we  have  our  notion  of  successior 
and  duration  from  this  original,  namely, 
from  the  reflexion  on  the  train  of  ideas, 
which  we  find  to  appear  one  after  another 
in  our  own  minds,  seems  plain  to  me,  in 
that  we  have  no  perception  of  duration  but 
by  considering  the  train  of  ideas  thai 
take  their  turns  in  our  understandings." — 
Locke, 

Continuity  is  unbroken  extension 
of  sy)ace,  or  of  anything  which  is  con- 
ceived as  analogous  to  such  extension. 
The  continuity  of  a  bone  is  destroyed 
by  a  fracture.  The  continuation  of 
my  thought  is  the  prolongation  of  the 
subject  of  which  1  was  thinking;  the 
continuance  of  my  thought  is  the  fact 
that  I  did  not  cease  thinking ;  the  con- 
tinuity of  my  thought  is  the  unbroken 
following  out  of  the  line  of  medita- 
tion. 

"  The  sight  would  be  tired  if  it  were  at- 
ti-acted  by  a  continuity  of  glittering  objects." 
— Dryden. 

CONTRADICT.     Deny. 

Contradict  (Lat,  contrddtcbre,  part. 
contradictus,  to  speak  against)  denotes 
an  opposing  force  of  statement,  but 
not  necessarily  an  intention  of  the 
speaker.  The  force  may  lie  either  in 
the  purpose  of  the  speaker,  or  in  the 
inherent  nature  of  the  terms  era- 
ployed,  as  in  propositions  called 
'*  conti-adictory  "  by  the  logicians. 
To  Deny  (Fr.  denier,  Lat.  dintgare) 
is  purely  a  personal  act.  Moreover, 
contradiction  is  positive,  denial  onlr 
negative.  I  contradict  a  statement  b'^ 
stating  something  else  in  its  stead  ;  \ 
deny  it  simply  by  refusing  to  admit 
the  ti-uth  of  it.  Hence,  to  deny  ia 
employed  of  charges,  imputations, 
and  the  like,  in  which  we  are  con- 
cerned, not  with  making  any  state- 
ments of  our  own,  but  simplv  inva- 
lidating those  of  others ;  and  of  re- 
quests, in  which  sense  it  is  synony- 
mous with  refuse.     Deny  is  Bi>t  u.sed 


[controvert]        discriminated. 


276 


in  this  sense  directly  of  persons,  like 
contradict,  but  only  of  their  state- 
ments, or  the  truth  and  force  of 
them. 

"  The  pulpit  is  a  sacred  place. 
Where  none  dare  contradict  you  to  your 

face."  DoDSLEY. 

As  Contradict  is  opposite  to  counte- 
nance or  corroborate,  so  Deny  is  op- 
posed to  allow  or  admit. 

"  That  the  variation  may  be  found  with 
a  share  of  accuracy  more  than  sufficient  to 
determine  the  ship's  course  is  allowed  ;  but 
that  it  can  be  found  so  exactly  as  to  fix  the 
longitude  within  a  degree  of  sixty  miles,  I 
absolutely  rf^jy."— Cook's  Voyages. 

CONTRIVE.  Devise.  Invent. 
Concert.     Manage. 

To  Contrive  (orig'.  and  properly 
'^controve  ;"  0.  Fr.  controver  ;  trover, 
low  trouver,  to  find)  denotes  an  eftbrt, 
)r  a  series  of  efforts,  of  inventiveness, 
ft  is  to  form,  find,  or  adapt  means  to 
an  end  by  the  exercise  of  practical 
ingenuity. 

"  The  machine  which  we  are  inspecting 
demonstrates  by  its  construction  contrivance 
and  design.  Contrivance  must  hare  had  a 
contriver.''— F^iSY. 

Devise  (Fr.  deviser)  expresses  the 
more  theoretical  aspect  of  Contrive, 
and  implies  not  so  much  the  finding 
ways  of  using  means,  as  finding  the 
means  themselves.  We  contrive  ways 
of  doing  things  when  to  some  extent 
the  materials  are  at  hand.  ^Ve  de- 
vise schemes  and  plans,  and  bring 
them  into  existence  by  the  device. 

"  He  (God)  hath  not  prevented  all  excep- 
tions or  cavils  devisable  by  curious  and  cap- 
tious wits  against  it." — BarROW. 

Invent  (Lat.  invtnire,  part,  vi- 
venttts,  to  find)  represents  the  practi- 
cal aspect  of  Contrive  ;  the  invention 
being  the  more  perfect  in  proportion 
to  the  lasting  character  of  the  con- 
trivance, and  its  enabling  us  to  con- 
trive at  will,  as  in  the  case  of  the  in- 
vention of  gunpowder,  or  the  steam- 
engine.  Invention,  in  its  fullest  sense, 
is  the  discovery  of  a  mode  in  which 
the  laws  of  nature  may  be  made  ser- 
viceable, or  supposititious  facts  treated 
as  natural,  as  in  tlie  invention  of  a 
romance.  In  its  lowest  sense  it  is 
the  finding  out  of  a  sufiicient  mode 
of  doing  a  thing.  Imagination  and 
fecundity  of  genius  give  rise  to  in- 
ventors. 


**  The  mind  of  man  discover*  every  day 
some  craving  want  in  a  body  which  really 
wants  but  very  little.  It  evei^  day  inventa 
some  artificial  rule  to  guide  that  natorw 
which,  if  left  to  itself,  were  the  best  and 
surest  guide." — Bl'Rke. 

Concert  (Lat.  consh-ere,  to  join 
together,  part,  consertus),  unlike  the 
former,  commonly  implies  the  joint 
assistance  of  others.  It  implies  con- 
ference or  consultation,  and  is  almost 
exclusively  employed  of  matters  of 
action^  not  of  pure  invention  in  the 
scientific  sense;  as,  to  concert  a  plan 
or  scheme.  Yet  Burke  uses  it  of  a 
single  person  in  the  following: — 

"  Furious  in  their  adversity,  tyrannical 
in  their  successes,  a  commander  had  more 
trouble  to  concert  his  defence  before  the 
people  than  to  plan  the  operations  of  the 
campaign." 

Manage  (Fr.  m^nao;er,  Lat.  mitnus, 
the  hand)  denotes  ratner  a  judicious 
or  ready  employment  of  means  extem- 
porized on  the  occasion ;  such  con- 
trivance as  gives  to  the  course  of 
things  the  kind  of  turn  which  we  de- 
sire for  compassing  our  end. 

"  Ofttimes  nothing  profits  more 
Than  self-esteem  grounded  on  just  right 
Well  managed  "  Milton. 

CONTROVERT.  Dispute.  Gain 

SAY. 

Of  these,  Gainsay  (A.  S.  gegn, 
against,  and  say)  denotes  no  more  than 
contradict,  or  call  in  question,  whether 
by  simple  denial  and  opposition,  ax 
by  more  or  less  of  reasoning  accom- 
panying it. 

"  To  convince  any  forward  gainsayer," 
—Barrow. 

Controvert  (Lat.  contra,  against^ 
and  vertere,  to  turn)  is  to  make  matter 
of  controversy;  that  is,  lengthened 
argument  in  opposition,  entering 
point  by  point  into  the  dispute. 

"  This  was  the  great  proposition  that 
was  then  controverted  concerning  Jesus  oJ 
Nazareth,  whether  He  was  the  Jlessiah  Of 
no,  and  the  assent  to  that  was  that  which 
distinguished  believers  from  unbelievers." 
— Locks. 

Dispute  (Lat.  dispiitHre)  is  against 
a  personal  competitor,  as  Controvert 
refers  directly  to  the  matter,  and 
only  indirectly  to  the  person ;  hence 
Dispute  may  apply  to  more  than  ar- 


276 


SYNONYMS  [convene] 


cument  as  such,  and  to  anything 
brought  forward  by  another  against 
oneself;  that  is,  to  such  things  as 
claims,  possessions,  titles,  rights,  and 
the  like. 

♦♦  Therefore  disputed  He  in  the  synagogue 
with  the  Jews."— Bible. 
In  controversy  there  is  more  of  oppo- 
sition, in  dispute  more  of  doubt.  In 
order  to  conti-overt,  exact  knowledge 
is  wanted;  but  we  often  dispute 
where  we  have  a  general  and  unde- 
fined persuasion  that  wJiat  Ave  dispute 
is  not  sound  or  true. 

CONVENE.  Convoke. 
Tlie  idea  of  collecting  persons  to 
one  place  is  common  to  these  two 
terms;  but  Convene  (Lat.  coiivtntre, 
to  come  together)  is  commonly  applied 
to  such  assemblies  as  are  got  together 
for  some  public  purpose  in  a  special 
manner  ;  as,  to  convene  a  meeting  of 
Khareholders  in  consequence  of  special 
news.  To  Convoke  (Lat.  conv'6cdre, 
to  call  together)  is  an  act  of  authority 
on  the  part  of  one  whose  official  rela- 
tion to  the  body  enables  or  requires 
him  to  call  it  together.  Hence,  where 
the  power  is  lodged  equally  in  the 
hands  of  many,  Convene  seems  the 
more  suitable  term ;  and  Convoke 
when  peculiar  power  of  summoning 
is  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a  single  per- 
son. Convoke  and  convocatmi  have 
acquired  an  ecclesiastical,  as  Con  v  en  e 
a  political  and  generally  deliberative 
force. 

'*  The  Parliament  of  Scotland  now  con- 
vened."— ^Bakkr. 

"  At  this  time  the  Cardinal,  by  his  power 
lepative,  dissolved  his  convoadion  at  Paul's, 
convoked  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
calling  him  and  all  the  clergy  to  the  convo- 
cation at  Canterbury,"— Bakkr. 

CONVENIENT.  Commodious. 
Handy. 

Convenient  (Lat.  convhiiens,  suit- 
able) has  lost  its  old  meaning  of  decent 
or  becoming,  and  has  come  to  mean 
little  more  than  handy.  We  use  the 
term  Handy  (when  not  employed  of 
the  person  in  the  sense  of  dexterous, 
but  of  the  thing)  in  the  senses  of 
manageable  and  close  at  hand.  The 
former  is  the  old  meaning,  the  latter 
is  modern.  A  weapon  is  handy  wliich 
m-^v  be  used  easily  and  effectively ;  a 


house  IS  handy  which  is  close  by  and 
easily  reached.  Convenient  denotes 
what  suits  tne  requirements  of  per- 
sons. Commodious  (Lat.  comm'6duSy 
advantageous)  joins  the  two,  and  de- 
notes what  is  convenient,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  suitable.  It  is  peculiarly  appli- 
cable to  localities  intended  for  the 
can-ying  on  of  common  business  or 
private  matters.  A  house,  a  chair,  a 
room,  are  commodious.  It  thus  natu- 
rally conveys  the  notion  of  sufficiency 
of  space,  which,  however,  is  a  mean- 
ing which  has  flowed  out  of  the  other. 
Handy  has  a  more  external  character 
than  convenient,  which  is  also  applied 
to  more  general  ideas.  A  specific  thing 
or  object  is  handy ;  arrangements, 
times,  and  seasons  are  convenient. 

"  For  he  that  strains  too  far  a  vow. 
Will  break  it  like  an  o'er-bent  bow ; 
Aid  he  that  made  and  forced  it  broke  it, 
Ni»t  he  that  for  convenience  took  it." 

HUDIBRAS. 

Camden  uses  the  word  Commodious 
in  its  i)rimary  meaning,  when  he  says 
that  "  Britain  is  walled  and  guarded 
with  the  ocean  most  commodious  foi 
traffick  to  all  parts  of  the  world." 
"  Each  is  handy  in  her  way." — Dbydkn. 

CONVENT.  Abbey.  Cloister. 
Nunnery.     Monastery.     Phiorv. 

Of  these,  Abbey  and  Priory  are  no 
more  than  religious  houses  or  monas- 
teries, so  called  as  being  governed  bj 
an  abbot  or  a  prior.  They  would  difler, 
not  in  their  religious  character,  but  in 
their  state  and  privileges.  The  Nun- 
nery is  a  Convent  (Lat.  conventas, 
an  assembly)  of  females,  and  in  modern 
parlance  is  identical  with  Convent, 
which  is  a  religious  house  of  nuns,  a« 
a  Monastery  (Gr.  luovaj-Tripiovy  Lat. 
monastirium,  of  which  the  root  is  the 
Greek  fA,ovog,  alone)  is  a  religious  house 
of  monks.  The  Cloister  (Lat.  cluus- 
trum,clauda-e,  to  shut)  is,  strictly,  that 
part  of  the  religious  house  which  was 
enclosed  as  a  place  of  exercise  and 
conversation.  It  is  in  their  general  use 
that  the  difterence  between  the  terms 
cloister,  convent,  and  monastery  de- 
serves notice.  The  distinctive  idea  of 
C loister  is  seel usion ,  or  inviolable  re- 
tirement ;  thatofC'oNVEM  coiamunit  •, 
of  living  ;  that  of  a  Monastbhv  soli 


[conversation]    discriminated. 


277 


lude.  One  is  shut  up  in  the  cloister ; 
one  goes  into  a  convent ;  one  retires  to 
a  monaster3^  In  tlie  cloister  liberty 
is  sacrificed ;  in  tne  convent  ancient 
uaoits  are  renounced,  and  those  of  a 
certain  society  adopted  ;  in  the  monas- 
tery one  has  vowed  a  kind  of  exile, 
and  men  live  only  for  their  souls' 
sake.  In  the  ancient  and  true  monas- 
teries the  religious  divided  their  time 
between  contemplation  and  work. 
Tliey  were  pioneers  in  the  work  of 
settlement,  and  in  the  civilization  of 
new  and  wild  countries.  The  term 
convent  is  less  imposing  than  that  of 
monastery.  The  continental  towns 
abound  in  convents  within  the  walls  ; 
while  here  and  there  are  seen  the  ruins 
of  ancient  monasteries  standing  alone 
in  the  fields,  yet  manifesting  even  in 
tlieir  decay  their  former  grandeur,  in- 
fluence, and  importance. 

CONVERSE.  Obverse.  Reverse. 
Inversion. 

The  Converse  (Lat.  convevtcrtf 
part,  conversiis,  to  turn)  is  an  altered 
sequence.  The  term  belongs  to  logic, 
and  amounts  to  the  inverted  state  of  a 
proposition,when  the  relative  positions 
of  its  subject  and  predicate  have  been 
exchanged.  All  men  are  animals: 
the  converse  of  this  is  that  all  animals 
are  men,  and  the  proposition  is  not 
true.  No  vice  is  virtue  has  for  its  con- 
verse no  vi;  tue  is  vice,  and  the  pro- 
position is  true.  The  latter  is  a  con- 
vertible proposition,  the  other  not  so, 
except  by  modification,as  some  animals 
are  men.  The  subject-matter  may  be 
mathematical,  but  the  logical  idea  of 
conversion  is  still  retained,  as  in  the 
mathematical  proposition.  *'  If  two 
sides  of  a  triangle  are  equal,  the 
angles  opposite  the  sides  are  equal." 
This  is  true,  and  its  converse  is 
equally  true.  The  Obveiise  (Lat.  ob- 
vertere,  part,  obversiis)  is,  literally,  that 
which  13  turned  over  agavist  some- 
thing ;  the  obverse  side  of  a  coin  is 
that  which  is  primarily  held  before 
the  eyes  as  distinguished  from  the  re- 
verse. In  a  more  general  sense  it 
means  a  necessary  correlative  truth. 
In  this  sense  the  truth  and  its  obverse 
stand  to  each  other  as  positive  and 
negative, — the  fact  that  all  men  are 
mortal  beina;  the  obverse  of  the  other. 


that  there  is  no  such  thing  on  earth  tui 
immortality.  The  Reverse  (Lat.  rg- 
vertire,  part,  reversus,  to  turn  back) 
is  tliat  aspect  of  a  thing  which  appears 
after  the  former  aspect  has  been  turned 
back — the  side  opposite  to  that  which 
was  before  visible  or  is  commonly 
visible ;  and  morally,  a  contrary  re- 
presentation or  statement  of  opinion 
or  fact,  or  that  which  is  contrary  in 
nature  and  character,or  circumstances. 
Inversion  (Lat.  inversionem)  is  not 
an  object,  a  subject,  or  a  state,  but  a 
process ;  such  a  turning  as  gives  the 
opposite  position  or  order ;  as,  to  invert 
a  common,  natuial,  or  received  order, 
or  to  invert  tlie  common  or  natural 
position  of  a  thing  by  turning  it  up- 
side down,  or  upsetting  it.  Hence 
that  which  is  inverted  is  not  in  most 
cases  in  its  right  or  normal  condition, 
and  the  term  involves  the  idea  of 
wTong  or  disorderly  position,  arrange- 
ment, or  sequence. 

CONVERSANT.     Familiar. 

Conversant  (Lat.  conversari,  con-, 
and  versari,  to  live  with)  relates  only  to 
persons;  Familiar  (]ydt.  J'cimiliaris, 
belonging  to  the  fdmilia  or  household) 
both  to  persons  and  to  objects.  As  re- 
gards persons,  to  be  familiar  with  any- 
thing is  simply  to  have  seen  a  thing  so 
often  as  to  know  it  well.  In  its  sim- 
plest sense,  therefore,  it  applies  to  no 
more  than  ocular  recognition.  Con- 
versant denotes,  in  addition,  the 
knowledge  of  skill  necessarily.  This 
may  sometimes  also  be  expressed  by 
Familiar.  In  such  cases,  to  be  con- 
versant implies  more  markedly  the 
knowledge  of  principles ;  and  to  be  fa- 
miliar the  knowledge  of  facts  and  pro- 
cesses. So  we  may  better  say,  "  It  is  one 
thing  to  be  conversant  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  British  constitution  ;  it 
is  another  to  be /ami/tar  with  the  facts 
of  Lndish  history." 

"  He  ases  the  difiPei-ent  dialects  as  one 
who  had  been  conversant  with  them  all." 
—Pope. 

"  That  war  or  peace  may  be 
As  things  acquainted  and  familiar  to  ns." 
Shakespeare. 

CONVERSATION.  Colloquy. 
Conference.  Dialogue.  Discourse. 
Confabulation. 

Conversation    (see   Conversant) 


278 


is  verbal  intercourse  of  an  unpremedi- 
tated kind,  in  which  any  number  ef 
persons  may  take  a  part.  It  is  inde- 
finite as  to  the  subject,  which  may  be 
one  or  many.  It  may  be  more  or  less 
desultory,  and  spring  altogether  from 
accident.  It  naturally  supposes  some 
equality  of  social  position  in  those 
engaged  in  it. 

"  The  influence  exercised  by  his  (John- 
ion)  conversation  directly  upon  those  ^^^th 
whom  he  lived,  and  indirectly  upon  the 
whole  literary  world,  was  altogether  with- 
out a  parallel." — Macaulay. 

Colloquy  (Lat.  colliquiiim)  is  a 
species  of  dialogue  indefinite  as  to 
number,  but  restricted  as  to  subject, 
in  which  each  person  present  contri- 
butes remarks  pertinent  to  the  matter 
in  hand,  without  the  rigidity  of  a 
public  meeting.  It  commonly  sup- 
poses authorized  deputation  for  the 
purpose  of  discussion  and  coming  to 
agreement. 

"  In  1540  he  (Simon  Gryne)  was  joined 
as  an  assistant  to  Ph.  Melancthon,  Martin 
Bucer,  John  Calvin,  &c.,  when  they  went 
to  Wormes  to  the  colloquy  there  about  i-e- 
ligion."— Wood,  Athence  Oxon. 

Conference  (Fr.  conference,  Lat. 
conferre,  to  bring  together)  has  more 
of  form,  being  a  colloquy  on  ur- 
gent or  public  and  national  affairs,  * 
where  some  line  of  action  has  to  be 
taken,  or  some  expression  of  opinion 
published  authoritatively. 

*'The  Hampton  Court  Conference." — 
English  Histoi-y. 

Dialogue  (Gr.  JiaXoyo?)  is  com- 
monly, though  not  necessarily,  re- 
stricted to  two  speakers.  It  is  a  sort 
of  literary  conversation,  in  which  the 
things  said  are  made  subservient  by 
art  to  certain  main  topics.  It  is  there- 
fore commonly  recorded,  and  so  framed 
as  to  be  worth  reading. 

"  Aurungzebe  is  written  in  rhyme,  and 
has  the  appearance  of  being  the  most  elabo- 
rate of  all  Dryden's  plays.  The  pei-sonages 
are  imperial,  but  the  dialogue  is  often  do- 
mestic, and  therefore  susceptible  of  senti- 
ments accommodated  to  familiar  incidents." 

Johnson, 

DiscounsE  (Fr.  disco urs,  Lat.  dis- 
cursus)  is  consecutive  speech,  whether 
of  one  or  more  persons,  upon  a  given 
line  of  thought.  It  differs  from  the 
others  in  the  particular  that  it  may 


SYNONYMS  [convert J 

have  been  primarily  written,  while 
they  imply  speaking  without  writing ; 
and  in  being  applicable  to  the  con- 
tinuous exposition  of  a  single  person. 

"  The  word  discourse  is  derived  from  a 
Latin  verb,  which  signifies  to  run  about,  and 
by  the  motion  of  our  leigs  and  the  agitation 
of  our  whole  body  to  traverse  many  different 
grounds,  or  the  same  ground  many  different 
ways.  Now  the  application  of  this  corporeal 
image  to  what  passes  in  the  mind,  or  to  the 
action  of  the  mind  when  we  meditate  on 
various  subjects,  or  on  many  distinct  parts 
of  the  same  subject,  and  when  we  com- 
municate these  thoughts  to  one  another, 
sometimes  with  greater,  and  sometimes 
with  less  agitation  and  rapidity,  is  ob- 
vious."—BoLlNGBROKE. 

Confabulation  (Lat.  confdbhldrt, 
to  talk  together,  to  chat)  is  easy  con- 
versation ;  chat  familiar,  unfonnal,  and 
unrestrained. 

"Friends'  confabulations  are  comfortable 
at  all  times,  as  fire  in  winter,  shade  in 
summer,  'quale  sopor  fessis  in  gramine,' 
meat  and  drink  to  him  that  is  hungry  or 
athirst."—BvRT0H,Anatom9/ of  Melancholy 

CONVERT.  Proselyte.  Neo 
PHYTE.     Pervert. 

Convert  (Lat.  converth-e,  it 
change)  is  one  who  turns  from  one 
set  or  opinions  to  another ;  not  neces- 
sarily, though  commonly  supposed  to 
be,  of  a  religious  character. 

"A  believer  may  be  excused  by  the  most 
hardened  atheist  for  endeavouring  to  make 
him  a  convert,  because  he  does  it  with  an 
eye  to  both  their  interests." — AmiSON. 

Proselyte  (Gr.  •TrpoafiKvroi;,  irpo^,  to, 
and  Ify^ofxai,  1  come)  is  one  who  has 
come  or  been  brought  over  from  one 
religion  to  another.  The  term  has 
been  metaphorically  extended  to  em- 
brace other  creeds  than  those  of  re- 
ligion. The  difference  between  the 
terms  seems  to  be  that  Con  VERT  regards 
the  internal  aspect  of  the  change,  Pro- 
SKLYTE  the  external;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  proselyte  is  simply  one  who 
has  been  brought  over  by  external 
persuasion  to  another  set  of  opinions; 
the  convert  is  one  who  has  essentially 
changed  his  views,  perhaps  as  much 
through  the  exercise  of  his  own  re- 
fiexion  and  reason  as  from  any  power 
or  influence  from  without. 

"  False  teachers  commonly  make  use  of 
base,  and  low,  and  temporal  considei-ationa, 
of  little  tricks  and  devices,  to  make  di» 
ciples  and  gain  proselytes.'" — TiLLOTSON. 


[copious] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


279 


Neophyte  (Gr.  m'<^o<)  expresses 
no  more  tban  one  who  Ims  recently 
entered  upon  a  prolessioii,  whether 
this  feas  involved  any  change  of  pre- 
vious views  or  not. 

Pervert  is  a  term  of  recent  inven- 
tion to  express  a  mistaken  conversion. 

"  Nay,  in  effects  of  gi-ace  which  exceed 
far  the  effects  of  nature,  we  see  St.  Paul 
makes  a  difference  between  those  he  calls 
neophytes,  that  is,  newly  grafte()  into  Chris- 
tianity, and  those  that  are  brought  np  in 
the  faith."— Bacon. 

CONVICT.  Detect.  Convince. 
Persuade. 

These  terms  all  denote  the  bringing 
home  of  something  to  another.  'Jo 
Convict  (Lat.  convinctre,  part,  con- 
victus,  to  convict,  to  prove  conclusively) 
is  to  bring  his  guilt  or  error  home  to 
another  by  evidence.  Tt  is  never  used 
in  any  but  an  unfavourable  sense. 
Such  conviction  may  be  more  or  loss 
formal  and  public.  Detect  (Lat. 
dettgere,  part,  delectus,  to  uncover)  re- 
lates to  acts  only,  not,  as  Convict, 
both  to  acts  and  their  motives.  It  re- 
sembles Convict  in  applying  only  to 
falsehood  and  wrong,  lo  Convince 
is  another  form  of  the  word  convict ; 
but  relates  to  the  inner  belief  of  the 
individual,  and  not  to  the  external  re- 
sult of  acquainting  others.  So  1  may 
be  convinced  in  my  own  mind  of  the 
innocence  of  a  convicted  person.  To 
PsRSUADF.  (Lat.  persuadere)  has  much 
in  common  with  Convince  ;  but  con- 
viction is  tlie  result  of  the  understand- 
ing, persuasion  of  the  will.  Convic- 
tion IS  a  necessity  of  the  mind  ;  per- 
suasion an  acquiescence  of  the  inclina- 
tion. Logic  convinces  ;  rhetoric  per- 
suades. In  action  or  matter  of  prac- 
tice they  are  often  combined.  The 
man  who  is  persuaded  feels  convinced 
that  he  is  rightly  so  ;  the  man  who  is 
convinced  has  not  set  himself  against 
the  process  of  persuasion.  Convic- 
tion, being  mental,  is  the  less  active; 
pei-fiuasion,  being  moral,  is  the  more 
active  outwardly.  We  are  convinced 
of  truths  and  facts.  We  are  persuaded 
to  act  and  to  behave.  So  strong  is  this 
difference,  that  the  two  may  be  in 
opposition,  and  we  may  (from  by- 
motives  and  considerations  of  self- 
interest  and  the  like)  be  persuaded  to 


actfl^ajHS?  our  conviction.     A  persua- 
sive manner,  convincing  proofs. 

"  Wise  men  desire  to  see  the  several  parti 
of  it  so  far  cleared  up  and  made  consistent 
with  each  other,  and  upon  the  whole  to  dis- 
cover such  evident  marks  of  a  superior  wis- 
dom, power,  and  goodness  in  the  frame  and 
texture  of  it,  as  may  convince  them  that  it 
is  truly  divine  and  worthy  of  the  Supreme 
Mind  to  whom  we  ascribe  it," — BiSHOP 
HUHD. 

"  Bat  if  the  jury  find  him,  the  prisoner, 
gnilty,  he  is  then  said  to  be  covvicted of  the 
crime  whereof  he  is  indicted ;  which  cotwic- 
tion  may  accrue  two  ways,  either  by  his  con- 
fessing the  offence  and  pleading  guilty,  or 
by  his  being  found  so  by  the  verdict  of  his 
country."— Blackstone. 

"  For  were  not  such  miracles  and  oracles 
at  last  generally  believed  ?  or  if  several  im- 
postures were  detected,  does  the  author  ima- 
gine that  such  detection  would  utterly  sink 
the  credit  of  all  fnture  miracles  ?"— Bishop 

HURD. 

"  He  that  persuades  a  man  to  rob  a  honse 
is  guilty  of  the  sin  he  persiuides  him  to,  but 
not  in  the  same  manner  that  he  is  who  com- 
mitted the  robbery,  for  it  was  in  hisjpower, 
after  all  other  persuasions,  to  have  forborne 
the  fact,  and  to  have  maintained  his  inno- 
cence."— South. 

COPIOUS.  Abundant.  Ampl«. 
Plentiful.     Plenteous. 

Copious  (Lat. copios»5;  cdpia,plenty) 
denotes  the  abundant  giving  forth,  as 
from  a  fund,  store,  or  resources  ;  as  a 
copious  supply,  a  copious  stream,  a 
copious  language.  It  relates  to  the 
richness  of  tne  source. 

"  The  sense  of  the  Ta.vs,  I  am  sure,  is  on 
my  side  ;  which  aie  by  no  means  sparing  of 
the  orator's  time.  It  is  not  brevity,  out 
copious7iess,  a  full  representation  of  every 
circumstance,  that  they  recommend." — 
Melmoth,  Plinj/. 

AsuNDANr  (Lat.  Hhunddre,  to  jftow 
abundantly  ;  undo,  a  wave)  relates,  not 
to  the  source,  but  the  supply,  which 
is  large  of  its  kind ;  as  an  abundance 
of  grain,  of  words,  of  wit. 

"  He  goes  lightly  that  wants  a  load.  It 
there  be  more  pleasure  in  abundance,  there 
is  more  security  in  a  mean  estate." — BiSHOP 
Hall. 

Ample  (Lat.  amplus,  spacioiis,fuU) 
refers  especially  to  what  is  variable  in 
limit  or  quantity,  and,  in  the  instance 
under  consideration,  extends  beyond 
the  limits  of  what  is  sufficient  or  re 
quisite. 


280 


8YNOi!fYMS 


[corner' 


*  Now  let  ns  leave  this  earth   and  lift  onr 

eye 
To  the  large  convex  of  yon  azure  sky, 
Behold  it  like  an  ample  curtain  spread." 
Prior. 

Plentiful  and  Plenteous  (Lat. 
plaiitatem,  fulness)  differ  but  little, 
but  Plenteous  is  more  closely  con- 
nected with  the  character  of  the  giver, 
Plentiful  with  the  abundance  of  the 
p-ift.  Plenteous  belongs  also  to  a 
higher  and  more  rhetorical  style.  But 
Plentiful  belongs  more  strictly  than 
abundant  to  purely  physical  things. 
We  might  say  a  plenteous,  plentiful,  or 
abundant  harvest,  but  we  could  only 
say  abundant,  not  plentiful  or  plen- 
teous, cause  of  gi-atitude  for  it. 

"  The  very  word  satura  signifies  a  dish 
plenUftdly  stored  with  all  variety  of  fruit 
and  grains." — Dryden,  Juvenal. 

CORNER.     Angle. 

Corner  (Fr.  cornier,  adj.  that  which 
is  at  an  ang(e)  is  formed  by  the  meet- 
ing of  solid  bodies,  Angle  (Lat. 
angtdtis)  by  the  meeting  of  mathema- 
tical lines.  Corner  refei-s  only  to  the 
point  of  meethig.  Angle  to  the  whole 
space  included  between  the  lines. 
Hence,  Corner  has  a  metaphorical 
force,  of  which  Angle  does  not  par- 
take ;  as,  a  quiet  or  remote  corner  of 
the  world. 

"A  master  cook  1  why  he's  the  man  of  men 
For  a  professor.     He  designs,  he  draws. 
Makes  citadels  of  curious  fowl  and  fish. 
Mounts  marrow-bones  ;  cuts  Miy-aiigled 
custards."  B.  JoNSOK. 

"  We  learn  from  hence  what  is  the  true 
use  and  end  of  miracles.  They  are  not  pri- 
vate but  public  proofs,  not  things  to  be  done 
in  a  corner  for  the  sake  of  single  persons, 
but  before  multitudes  and  in  the  face  of  the 
sun." — Bishop  Attkrbury. 

CORPORAL.  Bodily.  Corpo- 
real.    Material. 

Corporal  and  Corporeal  (Lat. 
corp^rHliSf  corp'6reiis)  both  mean  re- 
lating to  the  body,  but  under  different 
aspects  of  it;  Corporal  relating  to 
the  substance,  Corporeal  to  the  nature 
of  the  body;  while  Bodily  denotes, 
more  generally,  connected  with  the 
body  or  with  a  body  ;  hence  corporal 
punisl  lent,  corporeal  existence,  bo- 
dily vigour,  pams,  or  shape.  Ma- 
terial (Lat.  mdtcrialis)  respects  all 
bodies,  inanimate  as  well  as  animate, 


as  the  material  system,  material  su'^ 
stances. 

"For  truth,  the  greatest  of  intellectual 
goods,  is  the  produce  of  undisturbed  reiison  ; 
and  health,  the  greatest  of  the  corporeal,  is 
the  blooming  fruit  of  temperance;  and  yet 
we  can  be  content  to  be  deprived  of  both  for 
the  sordid  pleasure  of  a  riotous,  unmeaning 
jollity."— Warburton. 

"  All  corporal  damages  that  chance  to 
mortal  men  are  by  medicines  healed,  or  by 
reason  remedied,  or  by  length  of  time  cured, 
or  else  by  death  ended." — Golden  Book. 

"  But  in  reality  it  arose  from  very  difife- 
reut  causes,  sometimes  from  bodily  pain, 
which  he  often  felt  when  he  did  not  o^vnit." 
— Porteus,  Life  of  Seeker. 

CORRECTION.  Amendment. 
Reform. 

The  word  Correction  (Lat.  cor 
i^gcre,    part,  correctus)   denotes   the 
action  of  redressing  some  defect  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  back  to  order 
that  which  bad  departed  from  it. 

Amendment  (Fr.  amende^  Lat. 
hnendare)  is  a  change  brought  aboui 
for  the  better  in  a  vicious  order  oi 
things. 

Reform  (Lat.  rl^formdre,  to  form 
anew)  is  the  state  of  »  thing  re-esta- 
blished in  the  order  in  which  it  ought 
to  be.  The  coirection  of  faults  may 
result  in  an  amendment  of  character, 
which,  if  extensive,  may  be  tanta- 
mount to  a  reform. 

Con-ection  may  be  complete  or  in- 
sufficient or  even  useless,  according 
as  the  act  has  produced  more  or  less 
effect,  or  none  at  all.  Amendment 
may  be  complete  or  incomplete,  ac- 
cording as  the  change  may  be  more 
or  less  considerable.  But  reform  is 
necessarily  absolute.  In  their  appli 
cation  to  persons,  con-ection  belongs 
to  faults  and  defects,  amendment  to 
any  portion  or  the  whole  of  the  cha- 
racter, reform  to  the  entire  conduct 
and  character. 

COST.  Expense.  Price.  Value. 
Worth. 

The  Cost  of  a  thing  (O.  Fr.  coster, 
Lat.  constare,  to  cost)  in  its  extended 
sense,  is  all  that  has  been  laid  out,  or 
is  to  be  laid  out  upon  producing  it. 
The  Expense  (Lat.  expendere,  to  pay 
out,  part,  erpenms)  relates  rather  to 
the  person  tbar  the  article ;    henc4^ 


[counterfeit]       discriminated. 

expense  often  means  continued  cost, 
as  whatever  a  carriage  may  cost  there 
will  be  expense  in  keeping  it  up.  The 
Price  of  a  thing  is  that  which  repre- 
sents its  value  to  the  owner  (  Fr.  prix ; 
Lat.  prttinm),  and  must  be  paid  to 
procure  it.  The  Worth  (A.S.  weotiS) 
is  what  it  will  fetch,  and  the  Value 
;^Fr.  valeiir  ;  Lat.  vUlere,  to  be  worth) 
is  what  it  onirht  to  fetch. 

"The  reiil   price    of    everything,   what 
everything  really  costs  to  the  man  who 
wants  to  acijuire  it,  is  the  toil  and  trouble 
dI"  acquiring  it." — Adam  Smith. 
'  Already  I  am  worn  with  cares  and  age. 
And  jnst  abandoning  the  nngratefnl  stage. 
Unprofltably  kept  at  Heaven's  expense, 
{  live,  a  rent  charge  on  her  Providence." 
Drydkn. 
"  Besides  the  ornaments  that  are  thrust 
through  the  holes  of  the  ears,  many  others 
are  suspended  to  them  by  strings  ;  such  as 
chisels  or  bodkins  made  of  green  talc,  upon 
which  theyset  a  high  value.    The  nails  and 
teeth  of  their  deceased  relations,  the  teeth 
of  dogs,  and  everything  else  that  they  can 
get  which   they    think    either  curious    or 
valuable."— Cook'b  Voyages. 

"  But  he,  his  wonted  pride 
Soon   recollecting,    with   high   words   that 

bore 
Semblance  oi  worth,  not  substance,  gently 

raised 
Their  fainting  courage,  and  dispell'd  their 

fears."  Milton. 


28 1 


The  intrinsic  merit  of  a  thing  con- 
stitutes its  value;  the  estimation  in 
which  it  is  held  determines  its  price. 
The  value  of  things  is  founded  upon 
the  use  which  we  may  make  of  them. 
That  which  has  no  use  has  no  value. 
And  as  use  is  founded  upon  want,  that 
has  no  value  for  whicli  no  demand 
exists.  The  value  regulates  the  price, 
but  only  within  certain  limits.  He 
is  no  connoisseur  who  can  only  judge 
of  the  value  of  an  article  by  the  price 
which  is  asked  for  it.  Price  bears 
reference  to  exchange,  and  only  exist* 
in  that  relation,  but  from  the  moment 
that  we  want  a  thing  it  has  a  value 
for  us,  and,  if  we  possess  it,  it  retains 
that  value  irrespectively  of  any  such 
exchange. 

COUNTERFEIT.  Spurious.  Sup- 
pojititious.  Fictitious.  Adul- 
terated. Sophisticated.  Bastard. 
Falsified.     Garbled. 

Counterfeit  (Fr.  contrefait,  from 
fontre-faire )  relates  to  such  deception 


as  consists  in  matters  of  exterior,  the 
making  a  false  thing  wear  the  look  of 
the  true. 

"  Think  freely  on  all  the  various  pre 
tence.o  to  revelation  ;  compare  the  counter^ 
feit  Scriptures  with  the  true." — Bentlet. 

Spurious  (Lat.  spariiis,  illegitimate) 
denotes  something  not  issuing  from 
the  true  source,  or  the  source  pre- 
tended. 

"  I  never  could  be  imposed  on  to  receive 
for  yours  what  is  written  by  any  othei"S,  or 
to  mistake  your  genuine  poetry  for  their 
spurious  productions." — Dkyden. 

Supposititious  (Lat.  supp'dsiticins, 
subitituted,  not  genuine)  denotes  that 
which  is  founded  upon  supposition 
instead  of  fact.  This  admits  of  vaiy- 
ing  degi-ees  of  falsehood  or  deception. 
The  worst  form  is  when  that  which  is 
known  to  be  not  the  true  is  substi- 
tuted in  its  place.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  intention  to  deceive  is  im- 
plied in  a  supposititious  history,  if 
the  materials  are  the  most  authentic 
that  could  be  procured.  In  such  a 
case  their  necessarily  supposititious 
character  ought  to  be  declared. 

"We  shall  premise  this  obsenation,  or 
rather  suspicion  of  our  o^vn,  that  there 
seem  to  be  some  Orphick  verses  suppositi- 
tious as  well  as  there  were  Sibylline,  they 
being  counterfeited  either  by  Christians  or 
Jews."— CUDWORTU. 

Fictitious  (  Lat.  ficttcins  ;Jingerej  to 
form  or  feign)  applies  to  anything 
which  is  put  forth  as  having  indepen- 
dent trutn  and  reality,  while  it  is  the 
product  of  imagination  or  invention, 
whether  there  be  an  intention  to  de- 
ceive or  not. 

•'  Thus,  some  make  comedy  a  representa- 
tion of  mean,  and  others  of  bad  men.  Some 
think  that  its  essence  consists  in  the  unim- 
portsince,  others,  in  the  fictitiousness,  of 
the  transaction." — Rambler. 

The  two  last  epithets  are  applied  to 
such  substances  as  are  not  of  pure 
composition  and  manufacture.  That  is 
Adulterated  (Lat.  ^rf;///crare,  which 
had  the  same  secondary  meaning)  i'.i 
which  the  article  is  made  to  contain 
less  of  the  genuine  by  the  substitu- 
tion of  other  cheaper  substances,  with 
a  view  to  obtaining  the  full  price  of  it 
at  less  cost.  ThatisSoPHisTiCATED(Gr. 
atxpiartxoSf  Lat.  s'6phist'icus,  gopnstical) 
of  which  the  genuine  simplicity  is  de- 


282 


Sy:NONYMS  [COURSEj 


stroyed.  It  is  a  less  mercantile  term 
than  adulterate,  and  applies  to  mat* 
ters  of  the  mind,  belief,  argument, 
judgment ;  as,  to  sophisticate  the  un- 
derstanding— subj  ects  to  which  A  du  i,- 
TEHATi!  is  also  applied  analogously; 
but  we  speak  of  persons  as  sophisti- 
cated, and  systems  or  compounds  as 
adulterated.  Adulteration  expresses 
rather  the  impurity  or  dishonesty, 
sophistication  the  corrupt  ingenuity 
of  the  process. 

"  We  haA-e  well  proved  that  Leucippus 
and  Democritus  were  not  the  first  inven- 
tors, but  only  the  depravers  and  adultera- 
tors of  the  atomic  philosophy."  —  Cud- 
worth. 

"  He  is  rattling  over  the  streets  of 
London,  and  pursuing  all  the  sophisticated 
joys  which  succeed  to  supply  the  place 
where  nature  is  relinquished." — Knox, 
Essays. 

The  origin  of  the  word  Bastard  is 
obscure.  There  is  an  old  French 
phrase,  Jils  de  bast,  which  was  tran- 
scribed into  old  English  "born  in  bast. " 
The  word  has  been  connected  with 
the  modern  hut,  a  pack-saddle,  as  if 
bastard  were  one  born  among  the 
pack-saddles  of  muleteers.  It  is  em- 
ployed in  a  secondary  sense  to  denote 
that  which  looks  genuine,  but  is 
inferior  and  corrupt  in  foim,  affecting 
the  nature  of  the  pure  and  authentic, 
but  of  corrupt  origin  and  degenerate 
growth.  It  is  specially  applicable 
to  vegetable  productions  of  a  coarse 
and  wild  character  which  resemble 
more  wholesome  and  valuable  plants, 
and  to  vicious  developments  in  art 
and  language.  Bastard  Latin,  bas- 
tard architecture. 

"  Bastard  self-love." — Barrow. 

To  Falsify  {h^Lt.falsiJtcus,  working 
deceit)  is  to  throw  upon  what  is  in 
itself  authentic  such  a  character  as 
shall  make  it  exhibit  falsehood.  It  is 
to  vitiate  up  to  a  certain  point,  that  is, 
so  far  as  may  serve  a  specific  purpose. 
That  which  has  an  ex])ressive  charac- 
ter or  force  is  falsified  when  it  is  made 
to  denote  wrongly  or  inconsistently 
with  its  natural  or  proper  significance. 
To  Garble  is  a  particular  kind  of 
falsification,  probably  from  L.  Lat. 
SarbeUare,  to  sift.  It  is  to  cleanse  from 
dross  and  dust,  and  was  used  specially 
of  spices ;  hence  to  garble  is  to  sepa- 


rate and  discard  extraneous  matter, 
and  to  pick  and  choose  what  is  valu- 
able and  answers  one's  purpose — so 
to  extract  such  quotations  from  a 
book  or  document  as  may  foster  a 
particular  view  by  artful  selection  and 
collocation. 

"We  cannot,  I  {eav,  falsify  the  pedigree 
of  this  fierce  people,  and  persuade  them 
that  they  are  not  sprung  from  a  nation  in 
whose  being  the  blood  of  fi'eedom  circu- 
lates."—Burke. 

"  Among  all  the  excesses  into  which  the 
Tories  ran  in  favour  of  the  Crown,  and  in 
hopes  of  fixing  dominion  on  their  own  party, 
their  zeal  to  support  the  methods  of  garbling 
corporations  was,  in  my  opinion,  that 
which  threatened  public  liberty  the  most." 
— BOLINGBROKE. 

COURSE.     Current. 

Tlie  Course  (Lat.  cursiis)  of  a 
river  is  the  direction  in  which  the 
water  runs;  the  Current  (Lat.  part. 
cnrrentem,  running)  is  the  force  of  the 
water  which  follows  that  course.  The 
course  is  straight  or  winding,  the 
current  is  strong  or  slack. 

COWARD.  Poltroon.  Dastard 
Craven. 

The  term  Coward  (Ital.  codardo) 
is  derived  from  the  Latin  cauda,  a  taily 
being  like  an  animal  that  hangs  down 
its  tail,  or  shows  tail  in  ready  flight. 
It  is  the  ordinary  term  for  a  person 
who  lacks  courage  to  meet  danger.  A 
Poltroon  is  a  coward  of  peculiar 
meanness  of  spirit,  of  an  arrant 
poverty  of  character,  that  is  incapable 
of  a  generous  idea  or  effort.  Dastard 
(dast,  answering  to  ling. dazed,  and  the 
common  Fr.  suffix  -ard  ;  Skeat's  Etym, 
Diet.)  is  one  who,  like  the  poltroon, 
meanly  shrinks  from  danger,  but  from 
pure  fear,  while  the  poltroon  is  lazy 
and  cowardly  also.  The  Craven, 
J.  e.  one  begged  off,  was  one  who 
craved  his  life  of  the  victor.  The 
term  belongs,  therefore,  to  more 
honourable  warfare.  The  mean  man 
is  a  poltroon,  the  recreant  knight  is  a 
craven.  It  is  the  diffei-ence  between 
hiding  out  of  the  way  of  dangei-,  and 
showing  the  white  feather  in  the  face 
of  danger.  As  to  the  etymology  of 
poltroon,  I^ittre  decides  in  favour  oi 
O.  H.  Ger.  polstar,  bolstar(Ger.polster ; 
Eng.   bolster),   meaning    «   bed}   the 


[create] 


DISCRIMINATED 


28:^ 


Ital.  foltrone,  of  vvhicli  the  suffix 
-one  is  intensive,  would  then  be  =:  a 
thoroughly  lazy,  spiritless  man. 

CREATE.  Cause.  Occasion. 
Make.  Form.  Produce.  Con- 
stitute. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  obsei-ve 
that  Create  (Lat.  creare)  is  used  in 
the  metaphysical  sense  of  producing 
out  of  nothing,  as  "  the  creation  of 
the  world."  With  this,  which  repre- 
sents only  an  effort  of  the  human 
mind  to  express  the  inconceivable, 
we  have  nothing  to  do  in  a  work  of 
this  kind,  which  deals  only  with  the 
ordinary  use  of  language.  The  term 
create  is  often  'jsed  in  a  kindred 
sense  with  Cause  (Lat.  causa,  a 
caiLse),  but  it  involves  personal 
agency.  It  is  to  efFect  by  the  agency 
and  under  the  laws  of  causation. 
This  human  agency,  if  not  directly 
expressed,  is  indirectly  implied ;  as 
busybodies  are  said  to  create  mischief, 
or  jealousies  are  created  by  unneces- 
sary reserve.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
the  natural  force  and  sequence  of 
things  is  contemplated,  we  use  Cause  ; 
as,  tlie  circumstance  caused  great  sur- 
prise. 

"  The  bad  treatment  of  those  who  are 
suffered  still  to  live  in  a  society  is  the 
creating  of  so  many  malcontents,  who  at 
some  time  or  other  may  make  those  who 
treat  them  ill  feel  their  revenge." — 
Burnet. 

*'And  the  Lord  God  caused  a  deep  sleep 
to  fall  upon  AA&xn."— Bible. 

To  Occasion  (Lat.  occasionem  ;  oc- 
cidtre,  to  befall)  denotes  the  more  in- 
direct and  less  active  kinds  of  causa- 
tion; the  occasion  is  the  circumstance  or 
set  of  circumstances  which  allow  the 
cause  to  operate.  Accordingly  the 
verb  Occasion  is  often  employed  of 
something-  connected  with  the  cause, 
or  the  cause  viewed  generally  and 
indirectly.  In  travelling,  we  might 
say,  the  delay  was  occasioned  by  an 
accident,  but  it  was  caused  by  the 
breaking  of  an  axle-tree.  Generally 
speaking,  the  cause  is  more  remote 
than  the  occasion,  the  occasion 
more  specifically  active  than  the 
cause.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  some 
crime  committed,  the  temptation,  the 
convenient  cu-cumstances,  the  solici- 


tation, or  the  hope  of  ^ain,  and  the 
like,  might  be  spoken  ot  as  the  cause  ; 
but  to  a  moralist  these  would  rather 
constitute  the  occasion,  while  the 
cause  would  be  deeper,  namely,  in 
the  depravity  of  the  man's  nature. 
The  following  passage  of  Spenser 
shows  how  easily  the  two  may  be 
interchanged : — 

"  Madman,    said   then    the   palmer,    that 

does  seek 
Occasion  to  wrath  and  cmiise  of  strife." 

Make  (A.  S.  maciaii)  is  the  most 
generic  of  all.  It  has  the  sense  of  to 
bring  about  by  any  means  or  by  any 
process,  and  is  applicable  both  to 
physical  and  metaphysical  results, 
in  which  latter  sense  it  is  synony- 
mous Avith  form  and  constitute;  as, 
two  and  two  make  four,  implying 
logical  causation,  but  not  agency. 

"  When  the  cause  is  extrinsical,  and  the 
effect  produced  by  a  sensible  separation,  or 
juxtaposition,  of  discernible  parts,  we  call 
It  viaking ;  and  such  are  all  artificial 
things."— Locke. 

To  Form  ( Lat.  ybrmare)  is  used  in 
three  main  senses  :  1,  to  give  physical 
form  or  shape,  as  to  foiin  an  image 
outof  clay  ;  2,  to  produce  in  substan- 
tial shape,  as  the  action  of  cold,  on 
water  forms  ice;  3,  to  give  meta- 
physical shape,  as  to  form  an  idea  or 
notion.  This  does  not  imply  distinct 
a^gency;  as,  we  say  six  will  fonn  a  ma- 
jority, that  is,  will  complete  the  notion 
as  well  as  the  fact  of  a  majont}- ; 
to  which  may  be  added  4,  to  give 
moral  shape,  that  is,  to  mould;  as,  to 
form  {),  habit  of  reflexion  ;  circum- 
stances form  the  character.  This  last 
is  only  on  analogous  application  of 
the  first. 

"  We  are  so  wonderfully  formed,  that 
whilst  we  are  creatures  vehemently  desi- 
rous of  novelty,  we  are  as  strongly  attached 
to  habit  and  custom." — Burke. 

Produce  (Lat.  producere,  to  bring 
foruard,  produce)  is  to  bring  about  as 
the  result  of  a  lengthened  effort  or 
process,  analogous  to  the  bringing 
forth  of  plants  from  seeds,  and  the 
young  of  animals  from  the  parent.  It 
may  or  may  not  imply  distinct  pur- 
pose ;  as,  to  produce  a  work  of  litera- 
ture or  art  on  the  one  hand,  or  kind- 


284 


nes8  prociucea  love,  on  the  other. 
That  which  produces  does  so  by  an 
operative  power  inherent  in  its  nature, 
by  virtue  of  which  it  imparts  some- 
what of  its  own  nature  or  substance 
to  the  thing  produced. 

"  Trade,  then,  is  necessary  to  the  pro- 
ducing of  riches,  and  money  necessary  to 
the  carrying  on  of  trade." — Locke, 

CoxsiiTUTE  (Lat.  constttutre)  is 
purely  mental,  though  the  conception 
may  be  based  upon  a  physical  pro- 
cess. To  constitute  means  to  con- 
tribute all  that  is  needed  to  make 
up  a  whole,  whether  physical  or 
metaphysical.  H  many  things  are 
needed^  the  term  applies  to  all ;  if  one 
thing  is  sufficient,  that  alone  con- 
stitutes ;  as, "  That  field  constitutes,  or 
those  fields,  trees,  and  hedges  con- 
stitute, all  my  landed  property." 

"  It  is  not  more  necessary  to  the  consti- 
tuting of  a  man  that  a  human  soul  inhabit 
in  a  human  body,  than  it  is  to  the  being  a 
true  Christian  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
inhabit  in  the  soul  and  body  of  the  man." — 
Sharp. 

CRIME.  Vice.  Sin.  Guilt. 
Misdemeanour.  Offence.  Tres- 
pass. Transgression,  Misdeed. 
Wrong.  Iniquity.  Wickedness. 
Injustice.     Injury. 

Crime  (Fr.  crime  ;  Lat.  crimen,  an 
aeeiLsatioii)  is  always  a  deed,  never  a 
'ate.  It  is,  strictly  speaking,  a  deed 
violating  a  law,  human  or  divine. 
Hence,  we  may  speak  of  crimes 
against  God,  and  crimes  against 
society ;  but,  according  to  present 
usage,  a  crime  is  generally  understood 
to  be  against  the  State.  Crime  can 
only  be  used  of  moral  and  spiritual 
oflfences,  when  religion  wears  a  politi- 
cal aspect,  and  God  is  recognized  as 
a  Supreme  Ruler  and  Judge,  whose 
laws  have  been  infringed.  In  this 
way  Spenser  speaks  of  the  "  crime  of 
our  first  father  s  fall."  So  Blackstone 
says — 

"  A  crime  or  misdemeanour  is  an  act 
committed  or  omitted,  in  violation  of  a 
public  law  either  forbidding  or  commanding 
It." 

And,  again,  that  the  discussion  and 
admeasurement  of  the  nature  of 
cimes  and   punishments,  "forms  in 


SYNONYMS  [CRIMlL^ 

every   country    the  code  of  cnmtna. 
law." 

Vice  (Lat.  vXtixim)  is  a  state,  not  % 
deed — a  moral  fault  or  failing,  a  de- 
parture from  moral  purity  or  in- 
tegrity, implying  more  or  less  of 
defect,  corruption,  or  wrong  in  the 
character  itself.  Vice  is  commonly 
an  abuse  or  excess  of  what  is  in  itsell 
lawful  if  it  be  within  bounds  and 
according  to  rule,  as  the  vice  oi 
drunkenness,  wliich  consists  in  excess, 
or  unchastity,  which  is  against  rule. 
On  the  other  hand,  murder  and  for- 
gery are  crimes  which  no  modera- 
tion could  rectify,  and  spring  from 
selfish  passions.  In  its  more  gene- 
ral sense,  vice  is  radical  and  inherent 
badness. 

"  That  this  is  the  common  measure  of 
virtue  and  vice,  will  appear  to  any  one  who 
considers  that  though  that  passes  for  vice 
in  one  country  which  is  counted  a  virtue,  or 
at  least  not  a  vice,  in  another,  yet  every 
where  virtue  and  praise,  vice  and  blame, 
go  together."— LoCKK. 

Sin  (A.  S.  syn^  is  a  departure  from 
a  Divine  law,  or  any  law  regarded  as  of 
a  Divine  or  sacred  character.  Sin  com- 
prehends both  Crime  and  Vice,  by 
reason  of  the  perfection  of  the  Divine 
law ;  but  there  are  many  specific  sins 
or  acts  of  sin  which  are  not  vices, 
inasmuch  as  they  consist  only  of  acts, 
and  are  not  habits  or  propensities  ; 
and  there  are  many  sins  which,  not 
being  acts,  are  not  crimes ;  such  as 
sins  of  thought ;  or  not  violations  of 
the  law  of  the  land,  as  lying.  The 
following  is  the  view  of  llobbes: — 

"  All  crimes  are  indeed  sins,  but  not  all 
sins  crimes.  A  sin  may  be  in  the  thought 
or  secret  purpose  of  a  man,  of  which 
neither  a  judge,  nor  a  witness,  nor  any 
man,  can  take  notice  ;  but  a  crime  is  such  a 
sin  as  consists  in  an  action  against  the  law, 
of  which  action  he  can  be  accused  and  tried 
by  a  judge,  and  be  convinced  or  cleared  by 
witnesses.  Farther,  that  which  is  no  sinxu 
itself,  but  indifierent,  may  be  made  sin  by 
a  positive  law."— HoBUES,  On  the  Common 
Law  of  Ehigland, 

Guilt  (A.  S.  gylt,  meaning  origi- 
nally o  ^ne  or  payment)  is  a  state, 
the  state  of  one  who  has  infringed  oi 
violated  any  moral  or  political  law, 
or,  in  the  mildest  sense,  one  to  whom 
anything  wrong,  even  as  a  matter  of 


[crime] 


taste  or  judgment,  may  be  attributed; 
»s,  to  be  guilty  of  error,  to  be  guilty 
of  a  piece  of  bad  tastp.  Guilt  is  the 
impress  of  evil  upon  the  individual, 
and  is  opposed  to  merit,  as  the  im- 
press of  good  ill  action. 

"  An  involuntary  act,"  says  Blackstone, 
"  as  it  has  no  claim  to  merit,  so  neither 
can  it  induce  any  giiilt." 

Misdemeanour  (mis-,  and  0.  Fr. 
iemener,  to  lead,  manage)  is  a  minor 
crime,  under  the  purely  social  aspect 
of  crime.  Any  crime  less  than  a 
felony,  or  any  for  which  the  law  h:is 
not  furnished  a  name,  would  be  a  mis- 
demeanour. In  common  parlance  it 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  misconduct. 

"  The  consideration  of  this,  that  God 
takes  a  particular  notice  of  our  viisdetnea- 
nours,  should  engage  us  to  set  about  a  parti- 
cular amendment." — South. 

Offence  (Lat.  ojfendere,  part,  ojjcn- 
sus,  to  stunihle  against,  to  of  end)  is  in- 
definite. Jt  implies  a  contradiction 
of  will  or  a  violation  of  law,  without 
saying  anj^thing  of  the  nature  of  the 
will  or  the  law,  which  may  be  politi- 
cal or  personal.  Offence  may  be  even 
against  customs,  where  customs  have 
the  force  of  social  laws  or  regulations  ; 
as,  to  offend  against  good  taste  and 
good  manners. 

"  To  o^enc?  originally  signifies  to  impinge, 
that  is,  to  stumble  or  hit  dangerously  upon 
something  lying  across  our  way,  so  as  there- 
by to  be  cast  down,  or  at  least  to  be  dis- 
ordered in  our  jiosture  and  stopped  in  our 
progress,  whence  it  is  well  transferred  to 
denote  our  being,  through  an  incident 
temptation,  brought  into  sin,  whereby  a 
man  is  thrown  down,  or  is  bowed  from  his 
upright  state,  and  interrupted  from  prose- 
cuting a  steady  course  of  piety  and  virtue." 
— Barkow. 

Trespass  (O.  Fr.  trespasser,  L.  Lat. 
transpassare,  to  pass  across)  is  an  offence 
of  which  the  essence  consists  in  going 
beyond  certain  allowable  or  right 
limits.  I  trespass  upon  my  neigh- 
bour's land,  or,  metaphorically,  upon 
his  patience. 

Transgression  (Lat.  transgressio- 
nem,  transgredior,  I  step  across)  differs 
from  trespass  in  referring  solely  to 
law,  moral  or  civil,  while  trespass  is 
in  reference  to  the  rights  or  character 
of  another.  A  trespass  is  a  personal 
transgression  against  anothpr.     Tf  in 


DISOKIMINATED. 


285 


evident  tliat  a  trespass  ma  v  be  of  the 
nature  of  a  transgi-ession. 

"  This  action  of  trespass  or  transgression 
on  the  case  is  our  universal  remedy  given 
for  all  personal  wrongs  and  injuries  withont 
fine."— Blackstoxk. 

Misdeed  is  a  deed  of  wrong,  and 
therefore  of  a  private  character.  It 
stands  to  misconduct  as  a  part  to  the 
whole.  A  misdeed  is  very  often  of 
tiie  nature  of  a  minor  crime  and  mis- 
demeanour, or  an  offence  against  the 
law  ;  but  this  is  accidental,  not  essen- 
tial to  the  term. 

"  Like  caitiff  vile,  that  for  misdeed 
Rides  with  his  face  to  rump  of  steed." 
Hxutibras. 

Iniquity  (Lat.  tnujnitatem,  uvfair- 
ness),  like  Vice,  is  used  both  of  the 
habit  and  the  act.  It  commonly  de- 
notes a  gross  violation  of  the  rights 
of  others  by  fraud  and  circumvention. 
It  is  used  also,  however,  of  cases  of 
open  violence,  cs  "iniquitous  war." 
In  its  broadest  sense  iniquity  is  the 
violation  of  all  that  is  ri^ht  and  just. 
It  is  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  the 
contradiction  and  opposite  of  righ- 
teousness. 

"All  governments  must  frequently  in- 
fringe the  rules  of  justice  to  supf)ort  them 
selves.  Truth  must  give  way  to  dissimula- 
tion, honesty  to  convenience,  and  humanity 
itself  to  the  raging  interest.  The  whole  o. 
this  mystery  of  iniquity  is  called  the  reason 
of  state."— BURKB. 

Injustice  (Lat.  mjust'itia)  and  In- 
jury (Lat.  injiiria,  wrong)  differ,  in 
that  the  former  relates  to  the  actor, 
the  latter  to  the  object.  Every  in- 
justice, therefore,  is  not  an  injury. 
For  instance,  if  we  speak  ill  or  dispa- 
ragingly of  another  without  his  de- 
serving it,  we  do  him  an  injustice 
but  unless  what  we  say  has  sufficient 
influence  to  affect  his  interests  it  will 
be  no  injury.  It  deserves  to  be  re- 
marked, that  Injury  is  used  in  twc 
very  different  ways,  though  the  notion 
of  wrong  lies  at  the  bottom  of  both. 
We  may  act  with  violence  or  wrong 
upon  insensible  as  well  as  sensible 
objects.  Sti-ictly  speaking,  it  is  only 
in  reference  to  the  latter  that  the  term 
injury  can  be  directly  employed;  but 
it  is  often  used  in  respect  to  the 
former,  in   whirJi  case   it  is  simpl; 


286 


fcrNONYMS  [criminal] 


tantamount  to  damage,  as,  for  in- 
stance, injuries  done  to  trees  by  a 
storm. 

"  The  great,  it  seems,  are  privileged  alone 
To  poniah  all  injustice  but  their  own." 

Dbydkn. 

"  The  former  (private  wi'ongs)  are  an  in- 
fringement or  privation  of  the  private  or 
civil  rights  belonging  to  individualg,  consi- 
dered as  individuals,  and  are  thereupon  fre- 
quently termed  civil  injuries."  —  Black- 
STOfTE. 

Wrong  (connected  with  wrnng, 
A.  S.  wriiigariy  to  wring  or  mrest ; 
compare  Fr.  tort,  from  Lat.  tortus, 
twisted)  is  a  distortion  of  right,  either 
in  reference  to  ourselves  or  to  others. 
In  the  former  case,  it  is  a  crime  or  a 
misdeed,  according  to  its  character 
and  extent;  in  the  latter,  it  partakes 
both  of  injustice  and  injury,  being 
such  a  violation  of  justice  on  the  part 
of  the  agent  as  redounds  to  the  detri- 
tient  of  the  person  acted  upon.  The 
vrong  regards  more  particularly  the 
goods  and  the  reputation ;  the  injustice 
regards  the  personal  qualities,  by  im- 
puting defects  of  character  •  <^he  first 
Lwits,  the  ftecona  onends.  ITie  im- 
prudent zeal  of  a  friend  sometimes 
does  more  wrong  than  the  anger  of  an 
enemy.  The  greatest  injustice  one 
can  do  to  an  honest  man  is  to  call  his 
probity  in  question. 

•*  The  distinction  of  public  wrongs  from 
private,  of  crimes  and  misdemeanours  from 
civil  injuries,  seems  principally  to  consist  in 
this,  that  private  wrongs  or  civil  injuries  are 
an  infiingement  or  privation  of  the  civil 
rights  which  belong  to  indiNdduals,  con- 
sidered merely  as  individuals;  public 
urongs,  or  crimes  and  misdemeanours,  are 
a  breach  and  violation  of  the  public  rights 
and  duties  due  to  the  whole  community, 
considered  as  a  community  in  its  social 
aggregate  capacity." — Blackstoxk. 

Wickedness  (etymology  doubtful) 
is  the  disposition  towards  and  practice 
of  e  vil  generally.  It  is  a  generic  term ,  ^ 
referring  more  directly  to  ti'ansgres- 
iions  of  the  Divine  law,  and  morality 
fts  included  under  it.  In  a  milder 
sense  it  means  ludicrous  mischief. 

"Our  manifold  sins  and  toickedjiess." — 
Ehiglish  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

CRIMINAL.     Guilty. 

Criminal  respects  the  character  of 
*be  deedr  Guilt v  the  simple  fact  of 


its  commission.  The  criminality  o[ 
an  offence  is  a  question  of  degree,  to 
be  determined  by  circumstances. 
Guilt  is  a  question  of  fact,  to  be  deter- 
mined by  evidence.  It  must  be  ob- 
served that  criminal  is  an  epithet  only 
of  things,  guilty  both  of  things  and 
persons. 

"  The  ends  of  drink  are  digestion  of  our 
meat,  cheerfulness  and  refreshment  of  our 
spirits,  or  any  end  of  health  ;  besides  which, 
if  we  go  at  any  time  beyond  it,  it  is  inordi- 
nate and  criminal ;  it  is  the  vice  of  drunken- 
ness."—Bishop  Taylok. 

"  One  cannot  but  be  astonished  at  the 
folly  and  impiety  of  pronouncing  a  man 
guilty  unless  he  was  cleared  by  a  miracle, 
and  of  expecting  that  all  the  powers  of 
Nature  should  be  suspended  by  an  imme- 
diate interposition  of  Providence  to  save  the 
innocent  whenever  it  was  presumptuously 
required." — Blackstone. 

CRIMINAL.  Culprit.  Felon, 
Malefactor.     Convict. 

These  are  terms  denoting  persons 
who  have  offended  against  the  laws 
of  the  country.  A  Criminal  is  one 
who  stands  indicted  for  a  crime,  or 
against  whom  a  crime  has  been 
proved. 

"  Suppose  a  civil  magistrate  should  have 
a  criminal  brought  before  him,  accused,  for 
instance,  of  murder,  burglary,  or  the  like, 
and  the  fact  is  proved,  would  you  not  have 
him  in  that  case  to  pronounce  the  sentence 
that  the  law  has  awarded  to  all  such  male- 
factors ]  "—-Sharp. 

Culprit  (probably  Lat.  culpdtns, 
accused)  is  used  in  the  same  twofold 
force,  but  is  a  milder  term,  admitting 
of  less  grave  applications — as  when 
applied  to  boys  in  a  school  who  have 
offended  against  morals  or  regulations. 

"  Like   other  culprit  youths,   he   wanted 

grace. 
But  could  have  no  self-interest  in  the  case." 
Whitehead. 

Malefactor  (Lat.  malefactor)  ex- 
presses a  criminal,  who,  though  seized 
or  condemned  by  tie  State,  is  regarded 
in  reference  to  the  moral  instead  ol 
the  political  character  of  his  offence. 

"  Prom  every  species  of  punishment  that 
has  hitherto  been  devised,  from  imprison- 
ment and  exile,  from  pain  and  infamy 
malefactors  return  more  hardened  in  theii 
crimes  and  more  instructed." — Palky. 

Felon  (L.  Lat.  felonem,  a  traitor) 
denotes  a  criminal  in  regard  to  the 


[cbooked] 


DISCRIMINArED. 


287 


grade  of  his  oflFence ;  that  is,  as  having 
committed  a  crime  which  amounts  to 
a  felony.  Originally,  a  felony  was  such 
a  crime  as  included  the  forfeiture  of 
goods  for  its  penalty,  but  subsequent 
Acts  of  Parliament  have  declared  seve- 
ral specific  crimes  to  be  felonies. 

"  yes,  Leila  sleeps  beneath  the  wave, 
Bnt  his  shall  be  a  redder  grave ; 
Her  spirit  pointed  well  the  steel 
Which  tanght  the  feUm  heart  to  feel." 
BVRON. 

The  Convict  (Lat.  convince?'e,  part. 
convictus,  to  refute)  is  the  criminal  or 
felon  regarded  as  sentenced,and  under- 
going the  punishment  to  which  he  has 
been  sentenced,  more  especially  that 
of  forced  labour. 

*'  Its  garrison  being  in  great  measure  un- 
armed, it  was  impossible  that  it  could  have 
opposed  car  force,  or  that  its  half-starved 
inhabitants,  most  of  whom  are  convicts, 
banished  thither  from  other  parts,  could 
have  had  any  other  thoughts  than  that  of 
•nbmitting."— Ajs'SOn's  Voyages. 

CRISIS.  Conjuncture.  Emer- 
gency.    Exigency. 

Crisis  (Gr.  xprajf?  «  separating^  a 
decision)  denotes  literally  what  decides 
»r  turns  the  scale.  It  is  commonly 
nsed  of  a  turning-point  in  affairs,  be- 
fore it  is  known  whether  the  issue  will 
be  for  better  or  worse ;  and  generally 
of  a  precarious  or  high-wrought  state 
of  affairs.  The  difference  seems  to  be 
that  Conjuncture  (Lat.  conjungere, 
part,  conjunctus,  to  join  together)  de- 
notes a  compound  crisis,  or  a  state 
which  results  from  the  meeting  of 
several  external  circumstances  to  form 
it ;  while  Crisis  is  applicable  to  the 
internal  state  alone  ;  as,  the  crisis  of  a 
disease.  A  crisis  is  watched  with 
anxiety  ;  great  results  have  accrued 
from  taking  advantage  of  a  favourable 
conjuncture  of  circumstances.  A  crisis 
IS  anticipated,  a  conjuncture  is  unex- 
pected. 

Emergency  (Lat.  emerghre,  to 
emerge)  is  an  unforeseen  occuirence 
or  combination,  which  calls  for  im- 
mediate action. 

Exigency  (Lat.  eri^tre,  to  exact)  is 
a  minor  emergency,  having  the  cha- 
racter of  an  imperious  requirement. 

"  It  is  observed  in  all  those  actions  or 
passages  which  cause  any  great  or  notabU 


change  either  iu  the  mind  or  life  of  man, 
that  they  do  not  constantly  operate  at  the 
same  rate  of  efficacy,  bnt  that  there  is  a 
certain  crisis  or  particular  season  which 
strangely  provokes  and  draws  forth  the 
activity  and  force  of  every  agent,  raising  it 
to  effects  much  gi-eater  and  higher  than  the 
common  measure  of  its  actings  is  observed 
to  carry  it  to." — South. 

"  But  I  will  i-ather  ostentatiously  display 
my  own  endeavours  to  assist  you  in  this 
conjuncture,  nor  dwell  upon  the  unworthy 
treatment  you  have  received  from  others." 
— Melmoth,  Cicero. 

"  On  whom  she  might  her  doubts  repose. 
In  all  emergencies  that  rose."     SwiTT. 

"  The  total  collective  exigencies  of  the 
State."— Burke. 

CRITICISM.     Stricture. 

Criticism  (Gr.  %fniKoq,  able  to  dis- 
cern) is  a  minute  examination  of  any 
compound  subject,  as  human  conduct, 
dress,  personal  appearance,  a  literary 
production  or  work  of  art  (but  not  a 
purely  natural  object,  as,  for  instance, 
a  landscape),  with  a  view  to  ascer- 
taining and  manifesting  merits  and 
%ults. 

Stricture  (Lat.  strictura,  a  draw- 
in^  tightly  together)  is  only  employed 
of  adverse  criticism,  and  consists  in 
the  effort  to  expose  defects,  faults,  or 
wrong  in  series.     It  is  commonly  em- 

f)loyed  in  reference  to  works  of  art  and 
iterature  and  the  conduct  of  public 
men. 

"  Criticism,  though  dignified  from  the 
earliest  ages  by  the  labours  of  men  eminent 
for  knowledge  and  sagacity,  and,  since  the 
revival  of  polite  literature,  the  favofarite 
study  of  Luropean  scholars,  has  not  yet 
attained  the  certainty  and  stability  of 
science." — Rambler. 

"■  To  the  end  of  most  of  the  plays  I  have 
added  short  strictures,  containing  a  general 
censure  of  faults  or  praise  of  excellence." — 
Johnsox. 

CROOKED.  Bent.  Curved. 
Awry. 

Crooked  (connected  with  crossy 
Lat.  crux,  and  many  similar  words  in 
different  languages)  denotes  that 
which  might  have  been  conceived  aa 
straight  but  is  not;  one  deviation 
from  the  straight  line,  or  more  than 
one,  may  belong  to  a  crooked  object. 
It  is  a  term  of  abruptness,  and  tends, 
in  its  secondary  sense,  to  express  that 
which  is  mornlly  wrong  or  porvrrtod, 


288 


SYNONYMS 


[crowd] 


as  contrasted  with  wliat  is  stiAight  or 
right,  as  we  speak  of  crooked  ways  or 
thougois. 

"And  in  one  of  the  Snowdon  lakes  is 
found  a  variety  of  trout,  which  is  naturally 
deformed,  having  a  strange  crookedness  near 
the  tail,  resembling  that  of  the  j)erch  before 
described."— Pennant. 

Bent  (A.  S.  bendan,  to  bend)  de- 
notes the  exercise  of  some  {.ower 
which  has  caused  the  deviation  from 
straightness,  whether  exercised  on 
purpose,  or  purely  mechanical  or  in- 
voluntary ;  as,  bent  by  art,  or  bent  by 
the  storm.  It  expresses  such  devia- 
tion as  occurs  only  once  in  the  subject. 
If  it  occurred  oftener,  we  should  use 
some  term  expressive  of  frequent 
bending,  as  "bent  about."  The  word 
belongs  to  substantial  matter,  and  not 
to  mere  lines.  We  say  "  crooked 
paths,"  not  "  bent  paths." 

"  And  yet  these  bows,  being  somewhat 
like  the  long  bows  in  use  amongst  us,  were 
bent  only  by  a  man's  immediate  strength." 
— WiLKiNS,  Meclumicul  Foicers. 

Curved  (Lat;  curvus,  crooked)  de- 
notes equable  and  proportionate  flex- 
ure, which  is  almost  always  the  result 
of  design,  and  may  have  grace  for  its 
object. 

"  They  have  no  furniture  except  a  few 
little  blocks  of  wood,  the  upper  side  of  which 
is  hollowed  into  a  curve,  and  which  serve 
them  for  pillows." — GooK's  Voyages. 

Awry  (properly  an  adverb,  on- 
wry,  M.  E.  wryen,  to  twist)  denotes 
wrong  or  defective  deviation  or  flex- 
ure. As  the  crooked  is  that  which 
might  be  straigh*^,  and  is  not,  so  that 
which  is  awry  ought  to  be  straight, 
and  is  not. 

"  He  may  in  some  points  be  in  error,  he 
may" in  many  points  pursue  the  way  which 
we  may  not  think  best ;  yet  if  he  be  a  pious 
and  good  man,  his  path  cannot  possibly  be 
much  awry." — Gilpin's  Sermons. 

CROWD.  Multitude.  Throng. 
Swarm.     Mob.     Populace. 

Crowd  (A.  S.  croda)  denotes  such 
a  collection  of  persons  as  gives  the 
impression  of  multitude  without  order ; 
rarely  used  of  things. 

"  Like  his  own  Christian  in  the  cage. 
Banyan  found  protectors  even  among  the 
crow^  of  Vanity  Fair."— Macau  I.AY. 

Multitude  CLat.  mult^tiido).  is  that 


which  gives  the  impression  of  nume- 
rousuess,  and  nothing  else,  and  is  not, 
like  CRowD,restricted  to  human  beings. 
The  mind  is  sometimes  occupied  by  a 
multitude  of  thoughts,  and  sometimes 
by  a  crowd  of  associations,  or  confus- 
ing sentiments.  Crowd  is  sometimes 
used  exaggeratively ;  e.g.,  Italy  con- 
tains a  crowd  of  ancient  monuments; 
as  if  the  mind  were  embarrassed  by 
the  thought  of  seeing  them  all. 

"  It  is  a  fault  in  a  multitude  of  preachers 
that  they  utterly  neglect  method  in  their 
harangues." — Watts. 

Throng  (A.  S.  throng)  applies  to 
human  beings  exclusively.  It  ex- 
presses a  voluntary  pressure  of  the 
individuals  composing  the  collection  ; 
while  Crowd  rather  expresses  such 
as  is  inconvenient  and  involuntary. 
Crowd  merely  denotes  a  fact.  Throng 
supposes  some  common  object  of  cu- 
riosity or  interest. 

"Nottoknow  me  argues  yourself  unknown, 
The  lowest  of  your  throng."        Milton. 

Swarm  (A.  S.  swearm)  is  employed 
only  of  animate  objects,  whether  hu- 
man or  otherwise,  but  of  human  beings 
only  disparagingly.  The  specific  idea 
of  bwARM  is  that  of  multitudinous  life 
trd  action,  whether  with  or  without 
a  common  purpose  uniting  them,  as  a 
swarm  of  busy  bees,  or  a  swarm  of  idle 
children. 

•'  Every  place  swarms  with  soldiers."— 

SPKNSKR. 

Mob  (formerly  m'obilt ;  i.e.  Lat.  mo- 
bile  valgus,  the  Jickle  crowd)  and  Po- 
pulace (Lat.  popiilus)  stand  closely  re- 
lated. As  Populace  is  a  word  formed 
to  include  the  masses  of  a  country 
which  have  no  distinction  of  rank, 
education,  office,  or  profession ;  so 
]\I()u  indicates  a  specific  reunion  of 
such  persons  exhibiting  a  characteris- 
tic coarseness  or  violence,  more  espe- 
cially on  such  occasions  of  social  or 
political  interest  as  may  have  brought 
them  together.  A  mob  may  be  gathered 
and  dispersed  in  an  hour.  The  popu- 
lace is  a  permanent  portion  of  society. 
The  concourse  of  many  persons  to  tiie 
same  place  will  result  in  a  multitude 
which  will  probably  partake  of  the 
nature  of  a  crowd,  the  multitude  I) "ing 


[cultivation]       discriminated. 


289 


the 
the 


quantity  of  persons  produced  by 
concourse.  The  flocking  oi'human 
beings  to  the  same  spot  is  sometimes 
called  ajitieiice.  W  hen  some  incon- 
venience results,  or  we  mean  to  speak 
disparagingly  of  the  character  of  it, 
the  multitude  becomes  a  crowd.  A 
multitude  of  persons  may  spread  itself 
over  ample  space.  On  certain  occa- 
sions there  may  be  an  afliuence  of 
strangers  to  a  city.  A  crowd  collects 
in  the  street  where  an  accident  has 
occun-ed.  In  continental  towns  the 
streets  are  sometimes  thronged  to  see 
a  religious  procession. 

"  Kings  are  ambitious,  the  nobility 
haughty,  and  the  populace  tumultuous  and 
ungovenuibic."— Bukke'. 

"  He  shrunk  from  the  dangers  which 
threatened  him,  and  sacrificed  his  con- 
science and  his  duty  to  the  menaces  of  a 
;/io6."— Bishop  Porteus. 

CULPABLE.     Faulty. 

Although  these  terms  are  very 
nearly  related,  Culpable  being  de- 
rived from  tlie  Latin  culpa,  a  fault 
{Ft.  J'uute,  Liit.  fa  ll'cre,  to  fail),  yet 
("uLPAnLH  is  always  specific,  while 
Faulty  is  general. 

Faulty  means  generally  defective, 
whether  morally  or  otherwise,  as  a 
faulty  cliaracter,  a  faulty  composition. 
CuLi'ABLE  means  guilty  of  a  specific 
act  or  course  of  conduct  which  de- 
serves blame.  The  term  is  also  used 
of  negative  acts,  as  a  culpable  igno- 
rance, a  culpable  negligence.  Faulty 
is  an  epithet  of  things  intellectual  and 
artistic.  Culpable  is  only  of  things 
moral. 

"  Every  man  in  doubtful  cases  is  left  to 
his  own  discretion,  and  if  he  acts  according 
to  the  best  reason  he  hath,  he  is  not  culpa- 
ble, though  he  be  mistaken  in  his  mea- 
sures."—Sharp. 

"Created  once 
So  goodly  and  erect,  though  faulty  since." 
MiLTOK. 

CULTIVATION.  Culture. 
Tillage.  Husbandry.  Civiliza- 
riON.     Refinement. 

Cultivation  (L.  Lat.  cultivare,  to 
till,  L.  coltre,  pf^rt.  cultus)  is  used  in 
a  physical  and  in  a  metaphorical  sense. 
It  denotes  the  use  of  art  and  labour 
and  all  things  needful  to  the  produc- 
tion of  8U(li  thingsas  grow  out  of  the 


soil.  The  term,  it  may  be  observed, 
is  employed  both  of  the  soil  and  of 
that  which  grows  out  of  it.  We  cul- 
tivate fields,  and  we  cultivate  flax. 
The  same  force  belongs  to  the  meta- 
phorical or  moral  use  of  the  term,  as 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  mind,  or  of 
special  habits,  or  of  literature,  or  the 
arts. 

"  The  mind  of  man  hath  need  to  be  pre- 
pared for  piety  and  virtue.  It  must  be  cul- 
tivated to  that  end,  and  ordered  with  great 
care  and  pains.  But  the  vices  are  weeds 
that  grow  wild  and  spring  up  of  them- 
selves."—Tillotson. 

Culture  (Lat.  cultura)  is  com- 
monly employed  to  denote  the  spe- 
cific cultivation  of  some  particular 
kind  of  production  for  the  sake  of 
its  amelioration.  In  this  sense  the 
term  is  used  of  the  culture  of  the 
human  race  or  human  mind  (but  not 
of  moral  habits),  to  indicate  such  civi  • 
lization  and  training  as  results  in 
the  raising  of  the  condition  of  the 
race. 

"The  mind  that  lies  fallow  but  a  single 
day  sprouts  np  in  follies  that  are  only  to  be 
killed  by  a  constant  and  assiduous  culture." 
— Spectator. 

Civilization  (Lat.  cji)2/ii-,belongiug 
to'cjuis,  a  c/tjse/j),  unlike  Cultivation, 
is  employed  only  of  races  of  mankind, 
or,  by  a  licence,  of  the  countries 
which  they  inhabit.  Civilization  and 
Refinement  are  respectively  the  first 
and  the  final  stages  of  cultivation  as  re- 
gards the  condition  of  men  in  their 
social  capacity;  the  first  meaning 
the  mere  redeeming  froih  a  state  of 
barbai-ism ;  the  second  a  high  con- 
dition of  intellectual  culture  in  the 
liberal  arts  and  social  manners.  A 
civilized  people  is  one  among  whom 
industry,  commerce,  science,  art, 
government  have  reached  a  high 
state,  and  are  still  in  a  condition  of 
advancement.  Persons  or  nations  may 
be  civilized  without  being  refined  in 
manners  ;  which  may  be  unpolished. 

Tillage  and  Husbandry,  except 
by  special  design,  convey  no  meta- 
phorical meaning.  Tillage  (A.  S. 
tilian,  to  make  an  efort;  to  toil)  ap- 
plies directly  and  solely  to  the  soil  in 
reference  to  its  preparation  for  seed, 
and  its  preservation  for  the  sake  of 
tJ 


290 


SYNONYMS 


[cure] 


the  crops  which  ii  is  to  produce,  ! 
and  not  to  the  crops  themselves. 
Husbandry  is  of  mucli  wider  mean- 
ing, comprising  all  the  branches  of 
agriculture,  and  even  the  theoretical 
science  of  it,  while  tillage  is  purely 
manual. 

"  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  our 
manners,  our  civilizcAion,  and  all  the  good 
things  which  are  connected  with  manners 
and  with  civilization,  have  in  this  Euro- 
pean world  of  ours  depended  for  ages  upon 
two  principles,  and  were  indeed  the  result 
of  both  combined.  I  mean  the  spirit  of  a 
gentleman  and  the  spirit  of  i-eligiou." — 
Burke. 

"  This  refined  taste  is  the  consequence  of 
education  and  habit.  We  are  born  only 
with  a  capacity  of  entertaining  this  refine- 
ment, as  we  are  born  with  a  disposition  tc 
receive  and  obey  all  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions of  society  ;  and  so  far  it  may  be  said 
to  be  natural  to  us,  and  no  farther." — 
Reynolds. 

"The  very  ground  yon  cultivate  affords 
much  instruction.  Without  proper  tillage 
you  know  it  will  bear  nothing ;  and  the 
more  it  is  cultivated  the  more  it  will  pro- 
duce."— Gilpin's  Sermons. 

"  Husbandry  supplieth  all  things  neces- 
sary for  food." — SpEKSEK. 

('URE.     Heal.     Remedy. 

Cure  (  Lat.crirare,to  care  for,  to  heal) 
is  employed  of  such  deep-seated  or  in- 
ternal ailments  as  need  the  indirect 
treatment  of  science;  Heal  (A.  S, 
haian,  to  make  whole  or  hale)  of  such 
external  and  tangible  wounds,  dis- 
eases, or  injuries,  as  need  the  direct 
application  of  manual  skill.  Wounds 
and  ulcers  are  healed.  Diseases  gene- 
rally are  cured.  In  their  moral  bear- 
ings. Cuke  is  used  of  what  is  bad 
or  unsound  in  the  mental  or  moral 
nature ;  as,  to  cure  prejudices,  to  cure 
vices,  or  vicious  habits,  or  evil  pro- 
pensities ;  Heal  of  external  breaches 
and  separations*  as,  to  heal  animosi- 
ties, hati'eds,  nvalries,  or  anything 
which,  like  the  lips  of  a  social  wound, 
needs  bringing  together. 

Remedy  (Lat.  rantdium)  is  more 
comprehensive,  and  denotes  the  si)e- 
cific  counteractive  setting  right  of 
anything  that  has  gone  wi'ong ;  as 
diseases,  nuisances,  evils,  social  in- 
juries and  wrongs,  or  even  deficien- 
cica  and  omisfions.     Remedy,  how- 


ever, has  commonly  more  to  do  witi 
the  result  or  fact,  while  Cure  relatef 
to  the  principles  and  origin  of  thing? 
requiring  remedy.  To  remedy  a  dis- 
ease  is  simply  to  remove  it,  to  cure 
it  is  to  remove  the  cause.  The  nouns 
cure  and  remedy  follow  the  same  dis- 
tinction. 

•'  The  child  was  cured  from  that  very 
hour." — Bible. 

*'  But  Vane  opposed  this  with  much  zeal. 
He  said.  Would  they  heal  the  wound  tha*. 
they  had  given  themselves  which  weakenec 
them  so  much  ?  The  setting  them  at  quie*. 
could  have  no  other  effect  but  to  heal  anc 
unite  them  in  their  opposition  to  authority.'- 
— BUKNET. 

"  Now  smce  all  wrong  may  be  considered 
as  merely  a  privation  of  right,  the  plain 
natural  remedy  for  every  species  of  wrong 
is  the  being  put  in  ])ossession  of  that  right 
whereof  the  party  injured  is  deprived."— 
Blackstone. 

It  may  be  observed  that  the  verbt 
Cure  and  Heal  are  employed  both  ot 
the  malady  or  evil,  and  of  the  sub- 
ject in  which  it  resides,  while  Rem  edv 
is  used  only  directly  of  the  evil  it- 
self. 

CURSE.  Malediction.  Impre 
CATION.     Execration.     Anathema. 

Curse  (A.  S.  cursio/t,  possibly  con- 
nected with  making  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  Sw.  kor&)  is  a  solemn  or  violent 
pronunciation  or  invocation  of  evil  upor 
another.  It  is  used  in  the  independen 
sense  of  a  uniform  cause  of  harm. 
Curse  commonly  implies  the  personal 
desire  of  evil  accompanying  its  decla- 
ration. It  is  the  generic  term,  and 
even  applies  to  certain  inanimate 
things,  as  the  man  in  despair  curses 
the  day  of  his  buth. 

"  When  men  in  common  conversation  use 
curses  and  imprecations  against  their  breth- 
ren, as  passionate  and  profane  men  are  fre- 
quently apt  to  do.  it  is  either  with  an  inten- 
tion and  desire  that  mischief  might  befall 
them,  which  is  both  malicious  towards 
man,  and  also  irreligiously  thinking  light 
of  the  curse  of  God  ;  or  else  it  is  without 
any  such  desire  or  intention,  and  then  it  is 
j)rofanely  supposing  God  to  have  no  regard 
to  their  behaviour." — Clarke. 

Malediction  (Lat.  mdlMictibiiem, 
evil-speaking;  a  curse)  is  a  more  for- 
mal term,  and  expresses  generally  the 
declaration  of  a  curse.     This  may  be 


[custom] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


291 


personal,  or  it  may  be  purely  official, 
as  the  maledictions  of  the  Jewish  law, 
that  is,  the  solemn  declaration  of 
a  curse  as  attached  to  certain  acts, 
whoever  they  may  be  that  commit 
them. 

"Imprecations  and  maledictions  were 
made,  according  to  the  cnstom  of  the  Jews, 
against  those  who  should  presume  to  add 
or  alter  anything  therein." — Grew. 

IjipnECATioN  (Lat.  imprtcdtidnem) 
is  a  weaker  form  of  cursing,  which 
prays  for  evil  upon  another,  and  has 
in  it  more  the  wish  than  the  feeling  or 
belief  of  power. 

Execration  (Lat.  exsccrationem)  Ls 
a  curse  dictated  by  violent  personal 
feeling  of  hatred.  So  distinctive  is 
this  element,  that  the  word  sometimes 
means  simply  such  hatred,  without 
any  idea  of  cursing,  as  we  speak  of 
holding  certain  deeds  in  execration. 

"  I  mean  the  Epicureans,  who  though  in 
other  respects  they  were  persons  of  many 
excellent  and  sublime  speculations,  yet, 
because  of  their  gross  error  in  this  kind, 
they  have  been  in  all  ages  looked  upon  with 
a  kind  of  execration."— Wilkins. 

Anathema  (Gr.  avdOifxa,  anylhvig 
devoted  or  accursed)  was  a  tenn  taken 
from  the  New  Testament,  and  meant 
a  ban  or  curse  pronounced  on  religious 
grounds  by  ecclesiastical  authority, 
and  was  accompanied  by  excommuni- 
cation, so  that  the  person  was  held  up 
as  an  object  of  oflfence. 

"Anathema  signifies  persons  or  things 
devoted  to  destruction  and  extermination. 
The  Jewish  nation  were  an  anathema — des- 
tined to  destruction.  St.  Paul,  to  express 
his  affectiuu  to  them,  says  he  could  wish, 
to  save  them  from  it,  to  become  an  aTia- 
thema,  and  be  destroyed  himself." — LoCKE. 

The  imprecation  is  the  expression 
of  anger  in  the  weak  and  oppressed. 
The  malediction  is  an  expression  of 
outraged  power  and  justice.  The 
execration  is  an  expression  of  reli- 
gious horror,  or  in  its  milder  form,  of 
the  strongest  aversion. 

CURSORY.  Desultory.  Sum- 
mary. 

Cursory  (Lak  c»r.soji«s,  relating 
to  one  who  runs)  denotes  such  haste 
as  implies  of  necessity  the  impossi- 
bility of  more  than  momentary  and 
superficial  observation  or  comprehen- 


sion of  particulars.  Desultory  (Lat. 
dcsultoriiis,  relating  too  horse-vaulter, 
disultor)  is  that  which  wants  con- 
tinuity and  method,  and  indicates  an 
impatience  of  applied  thought.  Sum- 
mary (Lat.  sum.mdrium)  denotes  that 
whicli  is  rapidly  gathered  up  into 
completion,  and  so  saves  time  at  the 
expense  of  attention  to  detail.  We 
speak  commonly  of  cursory  glances, 
views,  and  observation ;  desultory 
studies,  argument,  remarks ;  and  sum- 
mary proceedings. 

"  It  is  an  advantage  to  all  narrow  wis- 
dom and  narrow  morals  that  their  maxims 
have  a  plausible  air,  and  on  a  cursory 
view  apjiewr  equal  to  false  principles."— 
Burke. 

"  This  makes  my  reading  wild  and  desuU 
tory,  and  I  seek  x'efuge  from  the  uneasj.'ness 
of  thought  from  any  book,  let  it  be  what  it 
will,  that  can  engage  my  attention." — 
Waruurton. 

"  Nor  sj)end  their  time  to  show  their  read- 

i"g. 
She'd  have  a  summary  pi-oceeding." 

Swift. 

CUSTOM.  Fashion.  Manner. 
Method.  Practice.  Habit.  Usage. 
Preschiption.     Habitude.   Vogue. 

Custom  (Fr.  coutume,  Lat.  consuc- 
tudinem)  is  an  habitual  practice, 
whether  of  individuals,  or  communi- 
ties. It  differs  from  Habit  (Lat. 
Mbitus,  a  condition,  an  acquired  state) 
in  that  Habit  is  exclusively  applicable 
to  individuals,  and  denotes  that  the 
stage  is  reached  when  the  custom  is 
no  longer  purely  involuntary,  by  a 
repetition  of  acts.  In  law,  Custom 
has  the  meaning  of  long-e-stablished 
practice  or  usage,  baring  the  force  of 
unwritten  law.  Ordinarily  speaking, 
custom  respects  things  that  are  done 
by  the  majority,  habit  those  which  are 
done  by  individuals.  We  speak  of  na- 
tional customs,  and  a  man  of  active  or 
indolent  habits.  In  this  way,  it  is  a 
custom  in  England  to  repair  to  the 
seaside  in  the  autumn  months.  To 
smoke  tobacco  or  take  snuff  are  habits. 
There  will  often  be  a  close  connexion 
between  a  habit  and  a  custom  ;  either 
may  lead  to  the  other,  'i'he  custom 
of  going  to  church  may  lead  to  a  habit 
of  devotion  ;  or  the  peraonal  habit  ot 
devotion  may  lead  a   person  to    thw 


292 


DlTNONYMS 


[custom] 


custom  of  attending  public  worship. 
Those  natural  customs  are  the  best 
which  lead  to  good  habits  among  the 
people. 

"  A  custom 
More   honoor'd  in  the  breach   than    the 
observance."  Shakespkake. 

Habit  is  the  effect  of  custom,  as  cus- 
tom is  the  effect  of  inclination.  It  is 
a  good  custom  to  rise  early,  as  this 
will  produce  a  habit  of  doing  so. 

*'  How  use  doth  breed  a  Imhit  in  a  man." 
Shakespeare. 

Custom  makes  objects  familiar,  habit 
makes  doing  easy.  Uniformity  is  the 
life  of  the  one,  fi-equeucy  of  the  other. 
We  commonly  speak  of  habits  as  good 
or  bad,  of  customs  as  lately  or  long 
fstablished. 

Fashion  {Yr.fa^on,  Lat. J'actionem), 
besides  its  primary  meaning  of  shape 
or  manner,  has  the  secondary  mean- 
ing of  ■prevailing  manner.  A  fixshion 
is  a  custom  temporarily  established, 
and  refers  commonly  to  matters  of 
social  usage,  as  style  of  dress. 

"  The  innocent  diversions  in  fashion.'" — 
Locke. 

Manner  and  Method  are  closely 
allied,  the  former,  however  (Fr.  ma- 
viere,  from  tnUnus,  the  hand,  "through 
Schol.  Lat.  maneria,  Brachet),  de- 
notes no  more  than  tiie  way  of  doing 
a  thing ;  while  in  its  more  extended 
meaning,  as  expressed  by  the  plural 
manners,  it  means  the  peculiar  and 
characteristic  mode  of  living  and  be- 
having. Method  (Gr.  fxido^og)  is 
scientific  manner,  as  manner  is  natu- 
ral method.  When  manner  is  scien- 
tifically regarded  as  a  process  capable 
of  rules  for  its  right  and  effective  con- 
ducting, it  becomes  method.  Fashion 
gives  form  to  an  action  or  a  work, 
manner  gives  a  particular  turn  to  that 
action  or  work.  Manner  stands  to 
fashion  as  manipulation  to  operation. 
One  thing  is  made  after  the  fiishionof 
another,  that  is,  in  the  same  form,  or 
with  a  sitnilai-ity  of  character.  We 
trace  in  a  work  the  manner  of  the 
Walkman  or  artist,  that  is,  his  distinc- 
tive mode  of  operation.  Fashion  is 
more  general,  and  determined  by  rule 
ind  custom  ;  mauutir  is  mure  personal 


and  distinctive,  being  determined  by 
individual  peculiarities.  Fashion  be- 
longs more  to  the  work,  manner  to 
the  workman.  Fashion  is  less  capable 
of  application  to  abstract  perform- 
ances. He  discharged  the  commis- 
sion in  a  satisfactory  manner  (not 
fashion). 

"AH  method  is  a  rational  progress;  a 
progress  toward  an  end." — Sir  W.  HamiIt 
TON. 

*'  The  temptations  of  prosperity  insinnate 
themselves  after  a  gentle  but  very  power- 
ful manner." — Atterbury. 

Practice  (Fr.  pratique,  L.  Lat. 
practicns)  has  the  two  senses  of  a 
regular  doing,  and  the  thing  regularly 
done.  It  is  closely  allied  to  both 
habit  and  custom.  Practice  is  custo- 
mary action  ;  if  it  be  the  result  of  re- 
peated acts,  it  is  so  far  a  habit ;  but, 
unlike  Custom,  it  refers  necessarily  to 
the  acts  of  individuals,  either  sepa- 
rately or  in  the  aggregate,  and  not  to 
communities  as  such.  It  often  occurs 
that  the  same  thing  may  be  regarded 
as  either  a  custom  or  a  practice,  that 
is,  as  a  regular  thing  or  a  regular  act 
in  a  person.  Custom  and  practice 
must  be  based  upon  reason,  but  habit 
may  be  the  result  of  instinct  or  train- 
ing in  iiTational  animals.  Practice 
embodies  more  of  the  moral  than  is 
necessarily  implied  in  custom,  or  even 
in  habit.  It  denotes  a  distinct  deter- 
mination of  purpose.  A  practice  must 
be  good  or  bad,  wholesome  or  un- 
wholesome, and  can  hardly  be  purely 
indifferent  or  formal.  Indeed,  prac- 
tice is  such  conduct  as  manifests  the 
disposition  of  the  person.  So  gaming 
is  a  custom  in  those  countries  which 
a'-e  particularly  addicted  to  it.  It  is 
a  habit  in  those  individuals  who  can- 
not resist  it.  It  is  a  practice  in  those 
who  deliberately  indulge  in  it. 

"He  thought  to  have  that  by  practice 
which  he  could  not  by  prayer."— Sid- 
ney. 

Usage  (Fr.  usage)  and  Puescimp- 
TioN  (Lat.  prtzscnpiio,  a  preamble,  a 
rule,  with  limitation,  e.g.  as  to  time) 
are  terms  of  a  legal  character.  Cus- 
tom is  prolonged  by  usage  till  it  con- 
fers rights  of  jirescription.  In  its  or- 
dinary seuse,  as,  for  uistance,  ''usage 


[damp] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


293 


determines  the  senses  of  words," 
usftge  is  of  many,  while  custom  may 
be  of  one.  I'sage  implies  longer  esta- 
blishment than  custom  ;  hence  we 
may  ^peak  of  a  new  custom,  but  not 
a  nftw  usage.  In  the  case  of  wishing 
to  express  a  common  mode  lately 
adopted,  we  ought  to  say  a  new  use — 
a  new  use  of  the  word  in  that  sense, 
or  a  nev/  employment.  Technically, 
custom  differs  from  prescription  in 
being  local,  while  prescription  is  per- 
sonal. Generally  it  is  length  of  time 
that  gives  force  to  custom,  and  extent 
of  practice  to  usage.  There  is  more 
sense,  reflexion,  and  reason  in  usage ; 
more  of  mei'e  repetition  and  habit  in 
custom.  Hence  usage  furnishes  a 
stronger  plea  of  justification  than  cus- 
tom, which  may  have  been  adopted 
'^rithout  inquiry,  and  continued  with- 
out reason,  or  even  against  it. 

Habitude  (Fr.  habitude,  Lat.  hiibt- 
tiido)  expresses  the  passive  or  quies- 
cent side  of  habit.  As  habit  involves 
a  mode  of  acting,  so  habitude  is  a 
mode  of  being. 

Vogue  (Yr.  vogue)  is  the  popular 
way  or  fashion  at  a  particular  time. 
The  word  is  now  obsolete  except  in 
the  phrase  "in  vogue."  To  be  in 
vogue  is  to  be  in  popular  acceptance, 
and  combines  the  ideas  of  approval 
and  general  use. 

"  But  considering  these  Sermons  bore  so 
great  a  vogue  among  the  Papists,  I  will 
here  give  a  taste  of  them." — Strype. 

"  Old  Courtiei-s  devoted  by  an  habitude  of 
slavery  to  the  will  of  a  m  ister."— HuRD. 

"  Of  things  once  received  and  confirmed 
by  nse,  long  usage  is  a  law  sufficient." — 
Hooker. 

"  The  speeches  on  both  sides  indicated 
that  profoiiiul  reverence  for  law  and  pre- 
scription which  has  long  been  characteristic 
of  Englishmen." — Macaulay. 


D 

DAILY.     Diurnal. 

Tliese  adjectives,  which  are  both 
formed  from  the  Lat.  dies,  a  da^ 
(diumus,  belonging    to  the  day)^  are 


the  same  in  meaning,  and  only  differ 
as  a  colloquial  term  differs  fi-om  a 
more  scientific  one.  So  we  speak  of 
Daily  occurrences  or  daily  newa 
papers,  and  of  the  Diuunai.  motion 
of  the  earth  upon  its  axis. 

"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." — 
Lord's  l\ayer. 

"  Half  yet  remains    unsung    bat   narrow 

bound, 
Within  the  visible  diurnal  sphere." 

Milton. 
DAINTY.     Delicacy. 

As  applied  to  matters  of  the  palate; 
Dainty  (O.  Fr.  dainlie,  agreeable' 
uess ;  Lat.  dignttatem)  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  a  species  of  Delicacy 
(Lat.  dliticdtuSj  alluring,  luxurious). 
For  Delicacy  applies  to  anything 
which  is  exquisite,  whether  naturally 
so,  as  a  fruit,  or  artificially,  as  a  choica 
dish.  A  dainty  is  that  which  is  un- 
common and  choice  at  the  same  time. 
Delicacy  points  to  the  niceness  of  the 
quality,  Dainty  to  the  rarity  of  the 
supply. 

"  The  delicacies, 
I  mean  of  taste,  sight,  smell,  herbs,  fraits, 

and  flowers. 
Walks,  and  the  melody  of  birds." 

Milton. 

"  A  table  furnished  plenteonsly  with  bread 
Aad  dainties,  remnants  of  the  last  regale." 
COWPKR. 

DAMP.     Moist.     Hujiid. 

All  these  terms  are  employed  to 
express  the  smallest  degree  of  infusion 
or  suffusion  of  liquid.  Anything 
which  is  not  dry  must  be  in  some  de- 
gree damp,  moist,  or  humid.  But  we 
use  the  term  Damp  of  that  which  has 
contracted  a  state  of  wet  foreign  to 
itself,  as  a  damp  house,  damp  clothes. 
When  we  say  of  a  thing  that  it  is 
damp,  we  almost  always  imply  that 
it  might  better  have  been  otherwise, 
unless  we  have  damped  it  expressly 
(cf.  Ger.  dampj)  fog,  steam,  vapour). 
Moist  (O.  Fr.  moiste,  Lat.  niusteus) 
means  normally  and  naturally  damp, 
and  therefore  hns  not  the  unfavourable 
sense  attached  to  damp.  If  we  said 
the  ground  was  moist,  we  should  pro- 
bably mean  in  a  favourable  condition 
for  vegptation ;  if  we  said  it  waM 
damp,  we  should  probably  mean  thftt 


294 


we  ought  to  be  careful  about  walking 
upon  it.  Humid  (\.&t.  humidua) 
means  both  damp  and  moist,  and  is 
of  move  scientific  application,  as  "  tlie 
atmospliere  of  islands  is  more  or  less 
humid."  The  peculiar  character  of 
the  adjective  Dami'  is  developed  in 
the  verb  lo  dampf  which  means  to 
stifle  or  repress.    As : 

"  Usury  dulls  and  damps  all  industries, 
improvements,  and  new  inventions."  — 
Bacox. 

«'  Set  snch  plants  as  require  much  mois- 
ture on  sandy,  i\vy  grounds,"— /6td. 
"  Evening  cloud  or  humid  bow." 

Milton. 

DAMSEL.     Girl.    Maid.    Lass. 

Damsel  is  the  O.  Fr.  damoisel,  Lat. 

d)iminiceUus.     Both  damsel  and  Girl 


(O.  Low  Ger.  §or,  a  child)  were 
at  one  time  ambisexual,  or  used  to 
designate  children  without  distinc- 
tion. 

Maid  (cf.  A.  S.  iiKegden),  is  a  word 
of  which  the  root-meaning  is  not  very 
clear,  and  Lass  is  the  feminine  form 
of  U(d,  and  a  conti-action  of  Laddess. 
The  Damsel  is  of  some  pretension 
to  birth  and  distinction.  The  GtUL  is 
no  more  than  the  correlative  of  boy, 
the  Maid  is  the  chaste  or  unmarried 
girl,  and  the  Lass,  like  lad,  has  no 
pretension  of  rank. 

DANGER.  Peril.  Hazard. 
Risk.    Jeopardy.     Venture. 

Danger  (Fr.  danger)  is  the  liabi- 
lity or  exposure  to  evil  of  any  kind. 
Danger  is  general  and  contingent, 
and  may  be  remote.  It  is  the  generic 
term. 

"  Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease 
Whilst  they  behold  a  greater  than  them- 
selves. 
And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous. ' 
Shakespeare. 

Peril  (Fr.  pt^ril,  Lnt.  pcrlciilum)  is 
always  immediate  and  personal.  A 
man  is  in  danger  of  his  property  and 
in  peril  of  his  life. 

O  scored  source  of  ever-living  light, 
:!onduet  the  weary  wand'rer  in  her  flight. 
Direct  her  onward  to  that  peaceful  shore 
Adhere  peril,   pain,  and  death  prevail  no 
more."  Falcoxbr. 

Danokr  denotes  a  things  Peril  a  coa- 


SYNONYMS  [damsel] 

dition.  That  whicli  is  in  peril  is  on 
the  way  to  be  destroyed,  that  which 
is  in  danger  is  on  the  way  to  be  lost, 
forfeited,  or  taken  away. 

Hazard  (Fr.  hasard,  risk,  orig. 
game  of  dice)  is  the  condition  of  any 
good  possessed  and  exposed  to  danger 
of  destruction  or  loss.  It  is  the  risk 
of  entire  deprivation  of  the  thing 
hazarded,  and  applies  only  to  things, 
not  persons.  Hence  people  haznrd 
their  lives,  their  property,  their  repu- 
tation ;  but  they  do  not  hazard,  but 
endanger  or  imperil,  themselves. 

"  Hence  passionate  and  unreasonable 
men  call  it  courage  to  hazard  their  lives  in 
their  own  private  quarrels,  where  con- 
tempt of  danger  is,  on  the  contrary,  neither 
reasonable  nor  just ;  because  neither  is  the 
danger  at  all  needful  to  be  run  into,  nor  is 
the  benefit  proposed  to  be  obtained  by  it  in 
any  manner  equal  to  the  evil  hazarded."— 
Clarke,  Sermons. 

The  essence  of  Hazard  is  in  its  fortui- 
tous character,  so  th;it  sometimes  tliis 
predominates  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
others,  and  we  speak  of  the  "  hazard 
of  the  die  "  as  implying  the  chance  of 
gain  as  well  as  loss.  This  is  not  the 
case  with  either  Peril  or  Danoeu. 

Risk  (  Vr.  risque,  a  risk ;  Sp.  ri.sco— 1, 
a  reef;  '2,  risk:  Braciiet)  is  hazard  of 
loss  only.  We  run  the  risk  of  losing, 
but  we  never  speak  of  the  risk,  but  of 
the  chance  of  winning. 

"  How  often,  whether  wrong  or  right. 
Must  he  in  jest  or  earnest  fight. 
Risking  for  those  both  life  and  limb, 
Who  would  not  risk  one  groat  for  him." 
Churchiix. 

Jeopardy  (Fr./eu  pa r<i,  a  divided 
game,  one  in  which  the  chances  were 
equal  on  both  sides)  may  exclude  all 
voluntary  agency,  which  is  implied  in 
Hazard  and  Risk,  and,  unlike  Peril, 
is  applicable  to  things  of  value  as  well 
as  to  persons.  A  man's  property,  or 
life,  or  liimself,  may  be  in  jeopardy. 

"  But  by  the  way  there  is  a  great  quick- 

sand 
And  a  whirlpool  of  hidden ^eoparrf/ce  ; 
Therefore,  Sir  Palmer,  keep  an  even  hand. 
For  twixt  them  both  the  narrow  way  doth 

lie."  SPENSKR. 

Venture  (for  adventure, orig.  aven- 
lure;  Fr.  aventtire)  is  purely  voluntary, 
and   denotes   a  meeting   of   hazard, 


[date] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


295 


peril,  Jeopardy,  or  risk,  with  the  hope 
that  chance  may  be  in  one's  favour. 

"  Wise  venturing  is  the  mast  commend- 
able part  of  human  providence." — Hali- 
fax. 


PuniLOUs. 
^y,   see  Dangeu. 


DANGEROUS. 

For  the  etyraolog 
Both  terms  denote  exposure  to  evil, 
with  this  difference: — Dangerous 
expresses  what  evidently  exposes  to 
ill  without  modification,  or  any  al- 
ternative but  that  of  escape;  Peri- 
lous what  exposes  to  peril,  that  is,  to 
danger  which  is  great  of  its  kind, 
but  not  certain,  and  which  may  even 
lead  to  the  gaining  of  some  gi-eat 
success  or  good.  So  a  malady  is 
simply  dangerous,  not  perilous.  A 
dangerous  undertaking  had  better  be 
avoided  at  once.  A  perilous  under- 
taking falls  to  the  lot  of  the  brave  or 
the  audaciou.5,  and  they  may  possibly 
reap  from  it  honour,  reward,  or  sub- 
stantial gain.  Dangerous  relates 
principally  to  the  pernicious  nature 
of  the  result,  perilous  to  the  compli- 
cated nature  of  the  state  or  the  under- 
taking. In  proportion  to  the  danger- 
ous the  evil  augments,  in  proportir^ 
to  the  perilous  the  chances  multipl 

DARE.     Venture. 

We  Dare  (A.  S.  ic  clear,  I  dare)  as 
against  danger;  we  Venture  (for  ad- 
venture) as  against  risk.  The  bold 
man  dares,  the  hopeful  man  ventures, 
the  rash  man  may  do  either. 

DARK.  Or.scuRE.  Dui.  Gloo.mv. 
Opaque. 

Of  these,  the  most  comprehensive 
Is  Dark  (A.  S.  deorc),  which  denotes 
any  degree  of  absence  of  light  or 
colouring,  with  metaphorical  mean- 
ings in  addition;  as,  unintelligible, 
mysterious,  difficult,  unhopeful,  de- 
gi-aded  or  ignorant,  iniquitous,  and 
the  like. 

"  For  as  that  which  sees  does  not  cease 
to  exist  when  in  the  dark  all  objects  are 
removed,  so  that  which  perceives  does  not 
necessarily  cease  to  exist  when  by  death 
all  objects  of  perception  are  removed," — 
Clarke. 

Obscure  (Lat.  obscnnis)  denotes 
any  degree  or  kind  of  darkness  which 
interferes  with  the  distinct  perception 
of  objects.     U  IS  opposed  to  what  is 


clear,  as  dark  is  opposed  to  what  is 
light.  In  its  secondary  sense,  as 
darkness  stands  for  ignorance,  so  ob- 
scurity for  uncertain  knowledge. 

"  When  all  the  instruments  of  knowledge 
are  forbid  to  do  their  offic^,  ignorance  and 
obscurity  must  needs  be  upon  the  whole 
soul." — South. 

Dim  (A.  S.  dim)  denotes  hick  ot 
brightness  in  something  capable  or 
supposed  capable  of  it,  and  is  opposed 
to  bright.  J)iM,  unlike  Dark,  is  not 
applicable  to  locality,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  applicable  as  an  epithet 
to  light  itself.  Dimnoss  stands  tc 
obscurity  as  the  cause  to  the  effect. 

♦'  Shedding  a  dim  religions  light." 
AflLTOX 

Gloomy  (A.  S.  glom,  twiliglit)  is 
a  purely  subjective  term,  denoting 
what  has  no  existeH  t  but  .n  our- 
selves. Any  oppressive  Kind  or  degree 
of  darkness  is  gloom. 

*'  His  Holy  Spirit  doth  in  our  religior.s 
intercourse  with  Him  insinuate  a  lightsome 
serenity  of  mind,  doth  kindle  sweet  and 
kindly  affections,  and  doth  scatter  the 
gloomy  clouds  of  sadness." — Barrow. 

Opaque  {Yv.opaqne,\j^{.opacus)  is 
a  scientific  term,  denoting  that  kind  of 
substance  which  resists  tlie  transmis- 
sion of  rays  of  light,  and  is  opposed 
to  translucent  and  transparent. 

"  Through  this  opaque  of  Nature  and  of 

soul, 
This   double   night,   transmit  dne  pitying 

ray. 
To  lighten  and  to  cheer."  VOUXG. 

DATE.  Period.  Era.  Epoch. 
TisiE.     Age.     Generahon. 

Of  these,  the  most  general  is  Time 
(A.  S.  tima),  which  means  unmea- 
sured duration,  or  any  specific  mea- 
sure or  point  of  it. 

"  This  consideration  of  duration,  sis  set 
out  by  certain  periods,  and  marked  jy  cer- 
tain measures  or  epochs,  is  that  I  think 
which  most  properly  we  call  time"— 
Locke. 

Date  (Fr.  dale,  L.  Lat.  diild ;  Lat. 
ddittm,  a  thing  given,  sent  forth  writ- 
ten ;  as  ddiiim  Rbmit,  uritten  at 
Rome  ;  from  ditre,  to  give)  is  a  point, 
and  not  a  duration  of  time,  bearing 
reference  to  the  whole  historic  courA 
of  time  within  which  it  occum. 


296 


SYNONYMS 


[daub 


•*Any  writer,  therefore,  who  mentions 
the  Tisnifr  or  setting  of  any  star,  at  any 
particnlar  time  of  the  year  with  respect  to 
the  snii,  furnishes  us  with  data  sufficient 
to  determine  the  time  in  which  he  wrote." 
—Priestley. 

"  For  predous  friends  hid  in  death's  date- 
less night."  Phakespeare. 

Pkriod  (Gy.  mpto^Qc)  is,  properly,  a 
recurrent  portion  of  time,  or  such  a 
portion  as  is  measured  by  some  recur- 
rent phenomenon,  as  a  revolution  of 
one  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Hence, 
more  generally,  an  interval,  definite 
or  indefinite,  and  sometimes  the  end 
or  limit  of  such  an  interval.  A  period 
IS,  as  it  were,  an  expanded  point  of 
time,  or  a  stage  in  history,  which 
may  itself  be  included  among  other 
stages. 

"  The  particular  -periods  into  which  the 
whole  period  should  be  divided,  in  my 
rpinion,  are  these:  1.  From  the  flfteenth 
to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  2. 
From  thence  to  the  Pyrenean  treaty.  3. 
From  thence  down  to  the  present  time." 
—BoLiNG  broke. 

ErtA  (Lat.  (Era,  sing. ;  and  this  from 
plur.  cera,  items  in  an  account)  is  used 
both  for  a  fixed  point  of  time,  and 
for  a  succession  of  years  dating  from 
that  point.  It  is  conventional,  and 
indicates  a  mode  of  computing  time 
peculiar  to  some  community  or  body 
of  persons. 

"  I  incline  to  this  opinion,  that  from  the 
evening  ushering  in  the  first  day  of  the 
world  to  that  midnight  which  began  the 
first  day  of  the  Christian  era  there  was 
4003  years  seventy  days  and  six  temporary 
hours,  and  that  the  true  nativity  of  our 
Saviour  was  full  five  years  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  vnlgar  Christian  eera,  as  is 
demonstrable  by  the  time  of  Herod's 
death."— Usher. 

Epoch  (Gr.  sTioxfi,  n  -pause;  and, 
from  an  astronomical  use  of  the  word, 
an  epoch)  is  an  era  constituted  by  the 
inherent  importance  of  an  event, 
,vhile  an  era  may  be  arbitrary.  Hence 
epoch  is  less  formal  than  era.  The 
r.a])ture  of  Constantinople  is  an  epoch 
m  thehistcyy  of  IMahometanism;  but 
the  Flight  of  Mahomet  is  its  era.  It 
is  obvious  that  an  epoch  might  be 
constituted,  an  era.  Age  (Fr.  age) 
and  Geneaation  (Lat.  gcnh-ationem, 
a  begetting)  have  nearly  the  same 
meaning ;  but  Age  is  taken  broadly  for 
such  periods  as  coincide  with  ilifi  joint 


lives  of  human  beings,  and  so  is  ex. 
tended  to  mean  a  century,  while  Gkne- 
RATioN  rather  refers  to  the  average 
duration  of  individual  life,  and  fre- 
quently means  thirty  years. 

"In  divers  ages  and  nations  divers  cpocfci 
of  time  were  used." — Usher. 

*'  Ancient  learning  may  be  distinguished 
into  three  periods.  Its  commencement,  or 
the  age  of  poets  ;  its  maturity,  or  the  age 
of  philosophers  ;  and  its  decline,  or  the  age 
of  critics."— Goldsmith.  • 

"  For  J)eliold  from  henceforth  all  genera- 
tions shall  call  me  blessed." — Bible. 

DAUB.     Smear. 

Daub  (  Fr.  dauber,  in  the  sense  of 
"  to  plaster;"  and  this  fi'om  hat. deal- 
bare — Skeat,  FAi^m.  Dici.  But  see 
also  LiTTRK  and  Brachet)  denotes 
the  process  of  applying  moist  matter, 
or,  in  an  unfovourable  sense,  un- 
seemly colouring  matter,  to  several 
points  of  the  surface  in  succession. 
iSiMEAR  (A.  S.  smerian)  is  to  cover 
continuously  and  over  a  considerable 
space  with  unctuous  or  other  like 
matter.  A  badly-painted  landscape 
or  portrait  is  said  to  be  daubed ;  a 
badiy-pninted  door  might  be  said  to 
be  smeared. 

"Another  daubed  it  with  untemperea 
mortar." — Bible. 

"  But  if  that  honest  license  now  you  take. 
If  into  rogues  omnipotent  you  rake. 
Death  is  your  doom  :  impaled  upon  a  stake, 
Smeared  o'er  with  wax,  and  set  on  blaze,  to 

light 
The  streets,  and  make  a  dreadful  fire  by 
night."  Dryden's  Juvenal. 

DEAD.  Lifeless.  Inanimate. 
Defunct. 

Taking  these  words  in  reference 
solely  to  their  physical  application, 
their  characteristic  diflferences  are  as 
follows:  Dead  (A.  S.  dead)  denotes 
the  absence  of  life  from  bodies,  both 
capable  and  incapable  of  it,  as  a  dead 
man,  dead  matter. 

"  Seek  liim  witli  candle,  bring  him  deaa 
or  living."— Shakespeare. 

Lifeless  (or  wanting  life)  from 
])odies  capable  of  it,  as  a  *' lifeless 
corpse." 

"  Nor  can  his  [ifeless  nostril  please 
With  the  once  ravishing  smell." 

Cowley. 

Inanimate  (Lat.  XnitnXmatus — j.j-, 
«<»/,  and  dntma,  life)  from  bodies  in- 


Tdeath] 


UISCHIMINATED. 


297 


capable  of  it ;  as,  "  Trees  and  rocks,    ' 
and  other  portions  of  the  inanimnte 
creation." 

"  We  may  in  some  sort  be  said  to  have  a 
society  even  with  the  inmiimate  world." — 
BURKB. 

Defunct  (Lat.  difungi,  part,  de- 
functus,  to  discharge)  is  by  its  inherent 
signification,  namely,  one  who  has  dis- 
charged the  offices  of  life,  applicable 
to  those  only  in  whom  the  endowment 
of  life  exists  in  its  higher  forms. 

"  Seeing  the  soul  of  man  is  permanent, 
and  snbsists  after  the  death  of  the  body, 
and  yet  the  body  also  belongs  essentially  to 
the  constitution  of  man,  \\-hen  the  body  is 
defunct,  either  the  soul  most  remain  per- 
petually in  a  state  of  separation  and,  as  it 
were,  of  widowhood,  or  the  body  must  be 
recalled  to  life,  and  again  united  to  it." — 
Bishop  Bull. 

DEADLY.     Mortal.     Fatal. 

Using  these  terms,  not  in  any  meta- 
phorical, but  in  their  literal  and  phy- 
sical meanings,  the  distinctions  are  as 
follow: — Deadly  means  capable  of 
producing  death. 

•'  Gods  !  I  behold  a  prodigy.     My  spear 
Lies  at  my  foot  ;  and  he  at  whom  I  cast 
The   weapon    with    such    deadly  foive    is 
gone."  Cowper's  Iliad. 

Mortal  (Lat.  mortalis,  mortem, 
death)  denotes  that  which  is  liable  to 
produce  or  suffer  death.  Hence  it  is 
used  as  a  strong  epithet  of  feelings. 
A  mortal  hatredls  literally  one  which 
would  kill  its  object. 

"  Louis  XIII.  mortally  hated  the  Cardi- 
nal de  Richelieu  ;  but  his  support  of  that 
minister  against  his  rivals  was  the  source  of 
all  the  glory  of  his  reign,  and  solid  founda- 
tion of  his  throne  itself."— BuRKE. 

Fatal  (Lat.  fdtdlis,  fdtnm,  fate) 
means  actually  productive  of  death. 
A  poisoned  arrow  is  a  deadly  weapon, 
evenwhile  it  remains  in  its  quiver.  Men 
are  mortal,  or  receive  mortal  wounds, 
as  being  or  having  what  tends  to 
death.  A  blow  is  fatal  on  which  death 
follows  inevitably. 
"  Where's    the    large    comet  now    whose 

raging  flame 
Bo  fatal  to  our  monarchy  became, 
VVhich  o'er  our  heads  in  such  proud  horror 

stood. 
Insatiate  with  our  rum  and  our  blood  ?  " 
Cowley. 

DEAiri.  Dp.PAnTURE.  Decease. 
Demise. 


Death  signifies  the  act  of  dying  or 
the  state  of  the  dead.  Departure 
is  the  Fr.  dtpart,  the  quitting  life.  De- 
cease (Lat.  d'ecexsus,  dicidcre,  to  d*- 
jiart)  is  etymologically  the  same. 
Dejiise  (Lat.  dimitttre,  part,  dtmis- 
sus,  to  discharge,  release)  is  the  laying 
down  or  resigning  of  life  and  posses- 
sions. Death  is  the  simplest  and 
broadest,  being  applicable  to  the  ex- 
tinction of  life  both  in  animals  and 
plants,  to  which  the  others  are  inap- 
plicable. It  may  be  calm  or  violent, 
natural,  or  self-inflicted.  Departure 
is  a  term  under  which  lies  the  idea  oi 
social  life,  and,  in  spirits  of  the  highest 
faith,  indicates  the  hope  of  re-union, 
as  well  as  a  point  of  airival,  or  future 
state  beyond  the  grave.  The  suicide 
and  the  aged,  or  the  sick  calmly  await- 
ing their  end, depart;  not  those  who  die 
on  the  scaffold  or  in  battle.  Decease 
is  the  term  we  use  when  we  think  of 
the  death  of  another  as  an  epoch  of  his 
existence,  or  of  our  own,  and  in  con- 
nexion with  personal  events  preced- 
ing, accompanying,  or  following  it; 
yet  a  violent  death  is  not  called  a 
decease.  Demise  is  employed  of  the 
death  of  illustrious  persons,  as  pecu- 
liarly of  royalty,  in  reference  to  the 
bequeathing  of  titles  or  estates  to  suc- 
cessors and  heirs. 

"  Happy  to  whom  this  glorious  death  ar- 
rives. 
More  to  be  valued  than  a  thousand  lives. 
On  such  a  theatre  as  this  to  die. 
For  such  a  cause,  and  such  a  witness  by." 
Waller. 

"Although  when  the  Divine  Providence 
does  itself  offer  us  a  just  occasion  of  leaving 
this  world  (as  when  a  man  chooses  to  suffer 
death  rather  than  commit  wickedness),  a 
wise  man  will  then  indeed  depart  joyfully, 
as  out  of  a  place  of  sorrow  and  darkness 
into  light ;  yet  he  will  not  be  in  such  haste 
as  to  break  his  prison  contrary  to  law,  but 
will  go  when  God  calls  him,  as  a  prisoner 
when  dismissed  by  the  magistrate  or  law- 
ful power." — Clarke. 

"  The  Romans  had  the  custom  to  deify 
and  adore  their  emperois,  most  of  them 
after  their  decease,  and  some  of  them  during 
their  lives,  even  though  they  were  the  vilest 
of  mankind." — JoRTIX. 

"  So  tender  is  the  law  of  supposing  even 
a  possibility  of  his  (the  king's)  death,  that 
his  natural  dissolution  is  generally  called 
his  demise,  demissio  regis  vel  coronae,  an 
expression  which  signifies  merely  a  transfer 
of  property."— Blackstonk. 


298 


SYNONYMS 


[debar 


DEBAR.  Deprive.  Hinder. 
Prohibit.  Disqualify.  Exclude. 
Preclude.  Foriiid.  Disallow.  In- 
hibit.    Interdict. 

Debar  (a  Ijybvid  word  ;  Lat.  rfe-, 
from,  and  Eng.  bar)  is  to  shut  out. 
It  applies  only  to  persons  in  reference 
to  things  rightful,  desirable,  or  de- 
sired ;  as,  to  be  debarred  from  privi- 
leges, possessions,  rightSj  or  an  at- 
tempt to  procure  them.  To  debar 
indicates  merely  an  act  of  preventive 
power  in  reference  to  those  things 
which  may  be  exercised  upon  us  by 
ourselves,  by  otliers,  or  by  circum- 
stances. 

"  Hereby  the  apustle  not  only  debarred 
women  from  prophesying,  but  from  any 
public  fuiu-tioaiii  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion."—Stkvpk. 

Deprive  (L.  Lat.  dcpr'ivdre,  to  de- 
grade) denotes  the  coercive  taking 
away  of  what  one  possesses  either  in 
fact  or  in  prospect,while  Dkbar  relates 
to  what  one  does  not  as  a  fact  possess 
or  attain  to. 

"  Thus  a  punishment  of  this  kind  was 
inflicted  on  the  rebellious  Israelites.  They 
were  deprived  of  the  extraoi-dinary  Provi- 
dence, and  were  yet  held  subject  to  the 
Theocracy." — Warburton. 

To  Hinder  (A.  S.  hindrian,  to  keep 
behind)  is  to  debar  either  tem])orarily 
or  entirely  from  some  act  or  occupa- 
tion to  wliich  one  was  seeking  to  de- 
vote one's  self. 

"Sore  let  and  hindzred  in  running  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us." — Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer. 

Prohibit  (Lat.  proftifccre,  part,  pro- 
hWitiim)  and  Forbid  (A.  S./orheodan, 
to  hid  a  thing  away ;  see  Wedgwood, 
under  For-)  have  the  force  of  inter- 
diction by  autliority,  or  debarring  by 
the  use  of  words  of  command.  Fohbid 
is  less  formal  tlian  Prohibit,  is  used 
in  the  commoner  matters  of  life,  and 
is  more  direct.  A  father  forbids  his 
child  to  go  out  of  the  houss.  We  are 
prohibited  from  promiscuous  revenge 
not  only  by  the  Divine  law,  but  by 
many  considerations  besides.  Pro- 
hibit and  Forbid  almost  universally 
relate  to  some  kind  of  action  which  is 
kept  in  check.  Forbid  seems  to  relate 
primarily  to  tlie  wrong  nature  of  the 


thing ;  Prohibit  to  the  coercive  autho- 
rity of  the  person. 

"  To  this  day  in  France  the  exportation 
of  corn  is  almost  always  prohibited;  in 
order,  as  they  say,  to  prevent  famines 
though  it  is  evident  that  nothing  ccntri 
butes  more  to  the  frequent  famines  which 
so  much  distress  that  fertile  cnrntry."— 
Hume. 

"  Heaven  is  high. 
High  and  remote  to  see  from  thence  dis- 
tinct 
Each  thing  on  earth  ;  and  other  care  per- 
haps 
May  have  diverted  from  continual  watch 
Our  great  forbiddcr."  Milton. 

Disqualify  (Lat.  dis-,  apart;  and 
qualijii,  (fudis,  such  as,  and  fuccre,  to 
make)  is  to  debar  by  attaching  per- 
sonal and  inherent  prohibition  from 
some  privilege,  office,  or  dignity. 

"  IMen  are  not  disqualified  by  their  en- 
gagements in  trade  from  being  received  m 
high  society." — Southey. 

Exclude  (Lat.  excludere)  is  for- 
mally to  shut  out,  and  may  be  an  act 
of  law  and  regulation  by  arbitrary 
power  or  inherent  conditions.  It  re- 
lates to  the  participation  of  things  de- 
sired or  desirable,  and  is  the  generic 
term  under  which  disqualification  is 
contained  as  a  species  of  exclusion. 
"  None  but  such  from  mercy  I  exclude." 
Milton. 

Preclude  (Lat.  priecludcre,to  dose 
to  any  one)  is  to  exclude  by  indirect 
means.  It  is  to  shut  out  by  anticipa- 
tion, or  to  prevent  by  necessary  con- 
sequence. It  is  applicable  not  only 
to  persons,  but  to  such  things  also  as 
are  merely  conceivable  or  possible. 

"  The  valves  preclude  the  blood  frona  en- 
tering the  veins." — Darwin. 

Interdict  (Lat.  interdiclum,  the 
prcetor's  interdict;  2,  a  judge's  decree, 
3,  an  eccles.  interdict ;  inter  and  dictre, 
to  speak)  is  opposed  to  positive,  being 
a  kind  of  negative,  command,  and  is 
commonly  employed  of  formal  or  pub- 
lic kinds  of  prohibition.  Interdict 
closely  resembles  Prohibii  ,  but  points 
to  the  stopping  or  debarring  of  what 
was  already  in  course  of  being  done  or 
enjoyed.  1  proliibit  where  I  see,  per- 
haps, no  more  than  a  probable  cause 
for  the  prohibition ;  interdict  what  if 
I  were  silent  would  certainly  be  done 
or  assumed,  or  what  is  actually  in  pei- 


[debate] 


DISCRIMINATED 


299 


formance  or  enjoyment.  Interdict  is 
peculiarly  associated  with  the  last. 
\\e  prohibit  from  actions  generally, 
we  interdict  fi-om  those  which  are  ac- 
companied with  pleasure,  or  involve 
the  enjoyment  ot  privilege.  So  an 
interdict  in  the  ecclesiastical  sense  in- 
volved a  stopping  of  the  grace  and 
benefits  of  the  ordinances  of  the 
'Jhurch. 

"  The  interdicted  tree." 

Milton. 

To  IxniBiT  (Lat.  ^iMhire,  part,  ^n- 
htb^itus)  is  coercively  to  ])rohibit. 
While  prohibition  lies  in  words  only, 
inhibition  is  backed  up  by  a  power  to 
enforce  restraint.  'J'o  hinder  may  be 
the  effect  of  circumstances,  and  is  only 
partial;  to  inhibit  is  the  act  of  autho- 
rity, and  is  total.  In  Disai.t.ow  (see 
Allow)  is  involved  a  formal  expres- 
sion of  judgment  which,  although  the 
form  be  negative,  may  have  a  positive 
and  prohibitive  effect.  It  is  to  refuse 
to  allow,  permit,  sanction,  authorize. 
This,  in  cases  where  allowance  is 
essential,  is  tantamount  to  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  thing  proposed.  Generally 
speaking,  proceedings  are  inhibited 
and  results  disallowed. 

"All  men  were  inhibited  by  proclamation 
at  the  dissolution  so  much  as  to  mention  a 
Purliaraent."— Claki:M)OX. 
We  also  inhibit  things  from  being 
done,  and  disallow  them  when  they 
ire  done. 

"  A  living  stone  dixalloiced  indeed  of 
•nen,  but  chosen  o\(iiA."~-Eng.  Btble. 

DEBATE.  Akoi'e.  Dispute. 
l)i  I.IBI.UATK.     Discrss.     Contend. 

Debaie  (  Fr.  lU'httltie)  is  fonnally 
\o  sift  by  argument  for  and  against. 
It  sup{)cs.'S  a  number  of  opinions  in 
(very  m ay  related  to  the  (|uestion  in 
hanii,  including  every  shade,  from  the 
strongest  aftiimation  to  absolute  de- 
nial, bf^iiig  brought  into  comparison 
and  collision.  The  legitimate  object 
of  debate  is  to  bring  together  the  ex- 
pivssion  of  various  opinions  for  the 
purpose  of  accepting,  rejecting,  or 
modifying  the  matter  in  hand.  The 
subject  of  debate  may  be  purely  theo- 
retical, as  the  abstract  truth  of  a  pro- 
position, or  purely  practical,  as  how 
best  to  compass  an  object,  or  both. 
Ihere  is,  or  ought  to  be,  no  pergonal 


antagonism  in  debate,  trutli  and  right 
being  things  of  common  interest;  nor 
is  there  any  reason  why  debate  should 
not  be  among  friends,  and  carried  on 
in  harmony  and  unanimity  of  pur- 
pose. And  the  process  of  debate  is, 
according  to  its  etymology,  to  strive 
to  conquer  or  refute  (liWally,  beat 
down)  the  wrong  and  false,  for  the 
purpose  of  setting  up  the  truth  and 
right. 

"As  I  am  only  giving  an  opinion  on  this 
point,  and  not  at  all  debating  it  in  an  ad- 
verse line,  I  hope  I  may  be  excused  in 
another  observation." — BuRKE. 

To  Argue  (Lat.  argucre,  to  make 
clear,  to  accuse)  is  to  say  all  that  can 
be  said  for  or  against  a  proposition  or 
a  case.  It  may  be  the  process  of  one 
or  of  more  persons. 

"  When  yye  peruse  those  authors  who 
defend  our  own  settled  sentiments,  we 
should  not  take  all  their  a?-^M/7?^s  for  just 
and  solid." — Watts. 

To  Dispute  (Lat.  dhpiitdrey  to  dis- 
cuss) is  always  antagonistic.  It  is  to 
argue  against  sometliing  as  held  or 
maintained  by  another,  and  extends, 
not  only  to  his  statements,  but  to 
what  may  be  claimed  or  upheld  by 
him  in  any  way,  as  his  claims,  rights, 
or  pretensions.  Contend  (Lat.  co/j- 
tetidire,  to  strive)  is  the  opposite  to 
Dispute  ;  for,  as  Dispute  is  to  attack 
and  endeavour  to  shake  what  is  held 
or  advanced  by  another,  so  Contend 
is  to  argue  urgently  in  favour  and  sup- 
port of  something  held  by  one's  selt. 

"  It  is  very  strange  that  those  who  con 
tend  so  much  for  the  Scriptures  being  a 
perfect  rule  of  all  things  pertaining  to  wor- 
ship and  discipline,  should  he  able  to  pro- 
duce nothing  in  so  necessary  a  point."— 
Stillixgfleet. 

Deliberate  (Lat.  del'ibcrare,  to 
ueigh  uell ;  Cibra,  a  balance)  has  refe- 
rence never  to  questions  of  abstract 
truth,  but  always  to  a  course  of  action 
to  be  adopted  or  pursued. 

"If  there  be  a  real  surprise,  that  is,  that 
the  person  is  not  aware,  or  hath  not  time 
to  consider  what  he  is  to  do,  he  that  hath 
a  mind  well  resolved  may  be  betrayed  into 
what  he  would  never  have  done,  if  he  had 
time  to  deliberate  about  it."— Stillino 
FLEET. 

Discuss  (Lat.  disculerej  in  a  post- 
class,  sense,  to  discuss)  very  closelv 


300 


SYNONYMS 


[decay] 


resembles  Debate,  but  diflFers  in  the 
two  following  points: — 1,  Discuss  is 
more  commonly  applied  to  matters  of 
opinion,  while  Debate  belongs  rather 
to  action  or  proceedings;  but,  2,  Dis- 
cuss is  used  of  cases  in  which  the 
process  of  consideration  is  argumen- 
tative, but  the  object  or  subject  is  not 
a  matter  of  argument  at  all,  but  only 
amounts  to  a  varied  expression  of 
feeling  or  opinion.  To  discuss  a  point 
of  theology,  for  instance,  does  not  of 
necessity  imply  either  contending  or 
Jisputing.  It  may  be  no  more  than  a 
collation  of  what  is  said  and  argued 
upon  that  point,  without  giving  in  an 
adhesion  to  any  conclusion  or  view 
whatever.  Debate  supposes  more 
warmth,  discussion  more  reflexion. 
One  debates  a  point  which  one  wishes 
to  carry ;  one  discusses  a  point  which 
one  wishes  to  clear  up.  Debate  be- 
longs to  matters  of  personal  interest ; 
discussion  to  things  of  scientific  or 
general  interest.  Men  debate  warmly ; 
it  is  well  when  they  discuss  accurately. 

"  Pride  and  humility  are  two  opposite 
habits  or  dispositions  of  the  mind  ;  and 
therefore  the  discussion  and  examination  of 
the  latter  will  of  itself  give  us  a  discovery 
of  the  former." — Halk. 

DECAY.  Decline.  Die.  Perish. 
Ebb. 

To  Decay  (O.  Fr.  decaei\,  dechaoir  ; 
Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.;  Lat.  de,  down,  cit- 
dtre,  tofaU,dlcidh'e,  to/all  down,todie) 
is  to  depart  from  a  state  of  soundness, 
and  denotes  a  tendency  to  the  state  of 
disorganization  and  dissolution;  as 
the  decay  of  the  body  in  old  age,  the 
decay  of  the  mind  by  the  same  cause, 
the  decay  of  states  and  constitutions 
political. 

*'  Throughout  the  whole  vegetable,  sen- 
sible, and  rational  world,  whatever  makes 
progress  towards  maturity,  as  soon  as  it  has 
passed  that  point,  begins  to  verge  ^i)wards 
decay."— Blair. 

Decline  (Lat.  dicCinare,  to  bend 
away  from)  is  downward  tendency  or 
movement,  without  any  such  disrup- 
tion or  disorganization,  as  "  the  de- 
clining years  of  life,"  "the  declining 
sun." 

"The  strength  of  the  frontiers,  which 
btii\  always  consisted  in  arms  rather  than 
fortifications,  was  insensibly  undermined, 


and  the  fairest  provinces  were  left  exposed 
to  the  rapacioustiess  or  ambition  of  the  bar- 
barians, who  soon  discovered  the  decline  of 
the  Roman  empire."— GinBON. 

Decline  is  often  piejiaratory  to  de- 
cay. The  prop  declines  when  it  bends, 
and  decays  when  it  rots.  The  pro- 
gressive debility  of  the  Roman  empire 
was  its  decline.  The  actual  dissolu- 
tion of  the  fabric  commenced  with  it* 
decay.  One  speaks  of  the  decay  of 
an  edifice,  of  fortune,  of  letters,  of 
empire;  in  short,  of  all  things  exposed 
to  vicissitudes  of  gi-owth  and  dissolu- 
tion; of  the  decline  of  those  things 
which  may  be  supposed  to  run  a 
cour.se,  ancl  weaken  towards  their  end, 
as  of  the  day,  of  human  life,  of  power 
and  empire.  Decay  betokens  the  eve 
of  ruin,  decline  of  expiration  and  ex- 
tinction. In  decay,  beauty  and  vigour 
are  lost — in  decline,  power  and  in- 
fluence are  on  the  wane. 

Die  (Iceland,  deyja,  to  die)  is  simply 
to  cease  to  live. 

"  Wise  men  die,  as  well  as  the  ignorant 
and  foolish." — Bible. 

Peiusii  (Lat.  pcnre)  is  used  when 
something  connected  with  the  ex- 
tinction of  life  is  meant  to  be  empha- 
tically dwelt  upon,  as  its  complete- 
ness, or  the  unhappy  or  violent  cir- 
cumstances of  it.  So  men  often  die 
happily,  butthey  never  perish  happily. 
We  say  "  perish  miserably,"  "perish 
utterly,"  and  the  like. 

"  Yet  one  doubt 
Pursues  me  still,  least  all  I  cannot  die. 
Least  that  pure  breath  of  life,  the  spirit  of 

man, 
Which  God  insjiired,  cannot  together  perish 
V/ith  this  corporeal  clod."       "  Milton. 

DECEIVE.  Delude.  Mislead. 
Beguile.     Betray.     Dupe. 

Deceive  (Fr.  dtcevoir,  Lat.  rftct- 
pcre)  is  generally  to  lead  into  error  by 
causing  to  believe  what  is  false,  or  to 
disbelieve  what  is  true.  The  plausible, 
the  specious,  the  apparently  right, 
true,  or  desirable,  i.s  that  which  exer- 
cises over  us  the  power  of  deception, 
which  being  one  thing,  looks,  or  is 
made  to  look,  like  another  by  mis 
representation  in  objects  or  in  words. 

"  But  what  account  shall  a  man  give  ol 
himself  for  living  jjerpetnnlly  in  disguise; 
for  deceivinff  all  about  him,  and  using  the 


[deception] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


301 


Bpeech  which  God  gave  him  for  better  par- 
poses,  to  impose  on  the  weakness  and  folly 
t{  mankind  ?  "—Sherlock. 

To  Dfc:LrDE(Lat.  (fi'/r/f/tre,  to  mock) 
is  to  deceive  in  the  particular  matters 
of  the  desirahle  or  good.  Delusion 
combines  disappointment  witlj  deceit. 
1  deceive  my  neighbour  if  I  simply 
tell  him  a  falsehood,  which  he  be- 
lieves. I  delude  him  by  any  kind 
of  misrepresentation  in  matters  con- 
nected with  his  feelings,  hopes,  or 
interests,  as  by  holding  out  to  him 
a  hope  of  his  gaining  what  I  know  to 
be  impossible  for  him  ever  to  attain. 

"  This  pure  metal 
So  innocent  is,  and  faithful  to  the  mistress 
Or  master  that  possesses  it,  that  rather 
Than  hold  one  drop  that's  venomous,  of 

itself 
It  flies  in  pieces  and  deludes  the  traitor." 
Massi.xger. 

I  IMisLEAD  him  when  1  draw  him 
off  from  tlie  line  of  right  judgment  or 
action.  To  DEr.L'OE,  when  used  of 
persons,  implies  an  intention  to  de- 
ceive ;  but  jNIisi.EAD  may  be  iiuinten- 
lionat,  as  when  1  give  my  neighbour 
what  I  believed  at  the  time  to  be 
true  information,  but  which  1  have 
since  discovered  to  be  erroneous.  We 
are  deceived  in  our  judgment,  deluded 
in  our  desires,  misled  in  our  actions. 

"  My  thoughtless  youth  was  wing'd  with 

vain  desires, 
Jly   mankind,   long  misled  by  wand'ring 

fires. 
Followed  false  lights."  Drvden. 

13EGuii,E(Eng.  6«-,and  0.  Fr. guile, 
guile;  the  same  word  as  uile)  is  to 
place  another  in  a  false  position,  to  i 
induce  him  to  believe  sometliing  to 
be  true,  and  to  leave  him  to  the  con- 
sequences of  his  error,  especially  by 
seductive  arts.  It  is  intentionally  an^ 
maliciously  to  mislead  another  to  his 
privation  or  detriment.  'J'he  term  Be- 
guile frequently  weai-s  this  privatice 
sense,  meaning  to  cheat  a  person  out 
of  something,  whether  this  be  the 
simple  possession  of  truth  as  such,  or 
of  some  other  moral  or  mental  benefit. 
It  is  not  employed  directly  of  mate- 
rial possessions  or  property. 

Bk.tr AY  (Eng.  be-,  and  I'r.  trahir ; 
J^at.  tiddere,  to  give  up)  is  more  than  to 
deceive.  It  is  to  deceive  another,  or 
treaciierously  to  lead  him  to  Jiarm,  in 


return  for  some  confidence  reposed  in 
us;  to  make  use  of  the  i elation  in 
which  we  stand  to  another  as  the 
means  of  his  injury  and  the  promotion 
of  our  own  ends. 

To  Dupe  (Fr.  dupe,  a  hoopoe,  silly 
bird ;  like  goose  and  gull,  Littr^)  is 
to  deceive  another  by  imposing  upon 
his  credulity,  being  so  far  a  kind  oi 
minor  ti-eachery,  but  having  neither 
its  malignant  aims  nor  its  disastrous 
consequences. 

"  Lo  he  is  at  hand  that  doth  betray  me." 
—English  Bible. 

"  That  man  must  smart  at  last  whose  puz- 
zled sight 
Mistakes  in  life  false  colours  for  the  right ; 
As  the  poor  dupe  is  sure  his  loss  to  rue. 
Who  takes  a  pinchbeck  guinea  for  a  true." 
Pitt,  Horace. 

*'And  the  woman  said.  The  serpent  be- 
guiled me,  and  I  did  eat." — Bible. 

DECEPTION.  Deceit.  Illu- 
sion.    Delusion. 

Deception  (Lat.  diciptrej  to  de- 
ceive) is  used  of  individual  instances 
or  acts  of  one  who  deceives ;  Deceit, 
rather  of  the  acts  as  appertaining  to 
habit  or  quality  of  mind;  as  "  a  course 
of  deceit,"  *'  an  act  of  deception. ** 
Hence  Deception  is  more  external, 
and  is  applicable  to  cases  in  which 
the  guilt  of  deceit  has  no  pai't ;  as,  an 
optical  deception. 

Illusion  (Lat.  illi'isiouem,  a  mock- 
ing) and  Delusion  express,  the  for- 
mer, something  which  is  presented 
before  our  mental  or  bodily  view,  but 
which  has  no  substantial  and  inde- 
pendent existence,the  latter  something 
which  really  exists,  but  not  under  the 
conditions  which  we  attribute  to  it. 
The  same  distinction  prevails  in  re- 
gard to  matters  purely  intellectual. 
In  history,  for  example,  to  believe 
that  some  great  personage,  such  as 
Thomas  a  Becket  or  Henry  VIII., 
acted  uniformly  from  pure  and  dis- 
interested motives,  would  be  a  de- 
lusion. To  believe  in  the  historical 
existence  of  Don  Quixote  would  be 
an  illusion. 

"  A  fanatic,  either  religious  or  political, 
is  the  object  of  strong  delusions  ;  while  the 
term  illusion  is  applied  solely  to  the  visions 
of  an  uncontrolled  imagination,  the  chime- 
rical ideas  of  one  blinded  by  hope,  passion, 
or  credulity,  oi*,  lastly,  to  spectral  and  other 


302 


SYNONYMS  [DECIDEJ 


optical  deceptions,  to  which  the  word  delu- 
sion is  never  ap,)lied,"—  Whatelv. 

DECIDE.  Determine.  Piesolve. 

To  Decide  (Lat.  decuiere)  ex- 
presses an  intellectual  result. 

Deteumine  (Lat.  dctermtnare,  to 
fix  limits,  settle)  and  Resolve  (Lat. 
resolvtre,  to  imbind,  set  free),  express 
moral  results.  I  decide  according  to  my 
judgment.  I  determine  according  to 
mj  purpose.  I  resolve  as  combining 
the  two,  and  implying  a  sort  of  pledge 
^iven  to  myself  to  cany  out  with  de- 
ermination  what  I  have  decided  upon. 
Resolution  betokens  a  choice  made 
between  action  and  inaction,  and  is 
opposed  to  doubt,  reluctance,  or  in- 
action. Determination  betokens  a 
choice  made  between  motives,  and  is 
opposed  to  vacillation,  uncertainty. 
Decision  is  a  final  and  iirevocable  act 
of  the  will  or  judgment,  and  is  op- 
posed to  indecision  or  hesitation. 

"  And  it  is,  indeed,  but  fit  there  .*ould 
be  some  dernier  ressort,  the  absolute  decider 
of  all  controversies." — Spectator. 

"By  determining  the  will,  if  the  phrase 
be  used  with  any  meaning,  must  be  in- 
tended causing  that  the  act  of  the  will  or 
choice  should  be  thus,  and  not  otherwise ; 
and  the  will  is  said  to  be  determined  when 
in  consequence  of  some  action  or  influence 
its  choice  is  directed  to,  or  fixed  upon  a 
particular  object."— Edwards,  Freedom 
of  the  Will. 

"  I  am  resolved  what  to  do,  that  when  1 
am  put  out  of  the  stewardship,  they  may  re- 
ceive me  into  their  houses." — Bible. 

DECIDE.     Judge.    Determine. 

One  DECiDts  (Lat.  dlcidtre,  to  cut 
of,  decide)  a  contest  or  a  question; 
one  Judges  ( Lat. j»rf/care)  a  person, 
an  act,  a  performance,  a  work.  Judge 
is  more  authoritative  than  Decide, 
Private  persons,  and  umpires  or 
critics,  decide;  magistrates  and  rulers 
iudge.  It  is  only  the  mind  of  man 
that  judges.  Circumstances  some- 
times decide  i)ersons  to  adopt  one 
course  rather  than  another,  or  action 
rather  than  inaction.  To  judge  is 
speculative,  to  decide  practical.  We 
often  judge  for  another;  we  decide 
for  ourselves. 

To  Determine  (^Lat.  dttermXnare) 
is  to  decide  by  limitation  or  conclu- 
sion. A  matter  is  decided  when  it  is 
practically  settled;  it  is  detennined 


when  it  has  been  shown  what  it  theo- 
retically amounts  to.  Decision  stops 
further  argument ;  determination  ren- 
ders it  superfluous.  Judgment  em- 
bodies and  enforces  it.  Judgment 
often  precedes  decision,  in  which  cRse 
decision  is  judgment  put  into  action. 
We  judge  which  of  two  courses  is 
better  to  be  adopted  before  deciding 
on  adopting  it. 

DECLAIM.     Inveigh. 

Of  these.  Declaim  (Lat.  dccldmHre^ 
does  not  of  necessity  imply  antago- 
nism of  speech.  We  may  declaim 
upon  as  well  as  against.  It  is  in  the 
latter  use  in  which  the  term  is  synony- 
mous with  Inveigh  (Lat.  invt^ihe,  to 
carry  against,  to  inveigh).  To  declaim 
is  to  speak.  Declamation  is  speech 
in  which  the  rhetorical  is  more  con- 
sidered than  the  logical.  It  sacrifices 
accuracy,  refinement,  and  consecutive - 
ness  to  eftect.  To  inveigh  is  specific 
declamation  against  character,  con- 
duct, manners,  customs,  and  morals 
Invective  may  be  written,  declama- 
tion is  always  spoken.  I  n  declamation 
against  a  thing  or  person,  the  upper- 
most idea  is  fluency  in  adverse  ex- 
pression of  opinion  ;  in  invective,  the 
personal  dislike  and  opposition  of  the 
speaker.  Hence  we  are  more  com- 
monly said  to  declaim  against  wrongs 
and  injuries,  and  to  inveigh  against 
vices  and  abuses.  Eloquent  declama- 
tion, bitter  invectives. 

"Grenville  seized  the  opportunity  to  dt- 
claim  on  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act," — 
Bancroft. 

"All  men  inveighed  against  him.  all 
men  except  court  vassals  opposed  him.  — 
Milton. 

DECORUM.      Decencv.      Pro 

I'RIETY. 

These,  though  both  derived  froir 
the  same  word  (Lat.  deccre,  to  he  be- 
coming) ar«  employed,  the  former  in 
reference  to  social  behaviour,  the 
latter  to  moral  conduct  also.  Inde- 
corous behaviour  offends  against  order, 
good  manners,  and  good  taste.  In- 
decent behaviour  indicates  a  corruj)t 
state  of  morals.  •Decency  regulates 
externals  according  to  pure  mora(.<. 
Decomm  is  that  character  of  grace- 
fulness in  speech  and  act,  which  krisw 


[decree] 

out  of  suitableness  of  place,  time,  cha- 
racter, and  circumstances. 

Puoi'RiKTY  (Lat.  pr^iprietdtem,  a 
peculiiir  quaidy)  is  the  expression  of 
moral  fitness.  It  reg  iilates  our  actions 
according  to  the  conventional  stan- 
dard of  decency.  It  varies  according 
to  the  state  of  the  individual.  Elders 
may,  in  some  cases,  do  with  decorum 
what  youngers  could  not  do  without 
impropriety.  Propriety  Jias  necessary 
rules.  Decency  has  rigid  laws.  De- 
corum has  inherent  recommendations. 
Decency  is  due  to  society,  as  dignity 
is  due  to  one's  station,  and  gravity  to 
one's  self. 

"  Negligent  of  the  duties  and  decorums 
of  his  station."— Hallam. 
"  Those  thousand  decencies  that  daily  flow 
From  all  our  words  and  actions." 

Milton. 

DECREE.  Edict.  Proclama- 
tion. Law.  Statute.  Regulation. 
Rule. 

Decree  (Fr.  decret,  Lat.  d'ccrc- 
tuin)  may  come  from  one  or  more, 
fi'om  a  sovereign,  or  a  senate,  or  a 
council.  It  is  commonly  an  autliori- 
tative  order  addressed  to  persons 
under  jurisdiction,  being  in  its  nature 
specific  and  occasional,  not  permanent 
01-  of  continuous  operation. 

An  Edict  (Lat.  cdictum)  does  not 
issue  from  a  body  of  men.  It  is  the 
public  expression  of  a  will  of  an  in- 
rfiuirfHa/ in  political  power.  IuDeckee, 
tiie  leading  idea  is  absolute  obliga- 
tion ;  in  Edict,  absolute  authority. 
I  lence  Decre  e  is  used  largely  of  bind- 
ing power;  as,  the  decrees  of  faith. 
Where  the  decree  is  constitutional  it 
is  subject  to.  and  dependent  upon,  law 
for  its  verification.  It  is  also  most 
commonly  the  result  of  law,  that  is, 
the   particular  enforcement  of  some 

{)rinciple  already  recognized  by  the 
aw.  And  being  the  application  of  that 
pi"inciple  to  a  specific  occasion,  it  in- 
volves the  formation  of  opinion,  and 
the  exercise  of  discretionary  power. 

"  Therefore  •!  make  a  decree  that  every 
people,  nation,  and  language  which  speak 
anything  amiss  against  the  God  of  Shad- 
rach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  shall  be  cut 
in  pieces,  and  their  houses  shall  be  made  a 
iunghiil,  because  there  is  no  other  God 
Hint  ran  deliver  after  this  sort." — Bible. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


3o:s 


"  The  silence  or  ambiguity  ol  the  lawi 
was  supplied  by  the  occasional  edicts  ol 
those  magistrates  who  were  invested  with 
the  honours  of  the  State."— GiBUOX. 

Proclamation  (Lat.  procldmdtio' 
lem,  a  callinv  out)  is  a  published  ordei 
emanating  from  the  sovereign  or  su- 
preme magistrate,  and  bears  reference 
to  specific  occasions,  as  determined 
upon  in  council,  and  not  provided  far 
by  the  law  of  the  land.  An  edict 
savours  of  despotic  government;  a 
proclamation  of  more  constitutional 
power. 

"  These  proclamations  have  then  a  bind . 
ing  force  when  (as  Sir  Edward  Coke  ob- 
serves) they  are  grounded  npou  and  enforc* 
the  laws  of  the  realm."— Blackstone. 

Law  (A.  S.  Utga),  in  its  wide*; 
sense,  is  the  authoritative  expression 
of  will  on  the  part  of  any  rightful 
governing  power,  and,  in  its  political 
sense,  permanently  conti'ols  every  de- 
partment of  the  State. 

"  That  which  doth  assign  unto  each  thing 
the  kind,  that  which  doth  moderate  the 
force  and  power,  that  which  doth  appoint 
the  form  and  measure  of  working,  the  same 
we  term  a  law."— Hooker. 

Statute  (Lat.  stfttutuia)  is  com- 
monly applied  to  the  acts  of  a  legisla- 
tive body  composed  of  representatives 
of  the  people,  and  stands  with  our- 
selves distinguished  from  civil  laW; 
canon  law,  and  common  law. 

"  The  oldest  of  these  now  extant  and 
printed  in  our  statute  books  is  the  famonj 
Magna  Charta,  as  confirmed  in  Parliament 
9  Henry  III."— Blackstone. 

Regulation  (Lat.  rtgiildre,  to  di- 
rect) is  a  governing  direction  of  a 
State,  department,  institution,  or  am 
association  for  a  specific  purpose,  and 
may  be  only  of  a  temporary  character. 
Such,  for  instance,  are  the  arrange- 
ments for  preserving  order  on  great 
occasions  of  public  interest,  and  the 
rules  by  which  voluntary  societies 
are  managed.  We  often  find  "  rules 
and  regulations  "  combined.  In  such 
cases  the  difference  is  slight. 

Rule  (Fr.  regie),  however,  points 
rather  to  authoritative  enactments  as 
such;  Regulation  to  theplaceofsuch 
rules  in  the  working  of  the  system  or 
institution.  In  a  school,  a  refractory 
boy  might  be  reprimar  led  for  break- 


504 


SYNONYMS  [decry] 


mg  the  rules.  It  would  be  a  regula- 
tion that  the  school  should  open  and 
close  every  day  at  certain  hours.  One 
submits  to  a  rule ;  one  conforms  to  a 
regulation.  Rule  seems  a  higher  and 
more  abstract  thing  than  regulation. 
Regulation  is,  in  one  sense,  the  prac- 
tical embodiment  and  application  of 
the  principle  of  rule.  The  regulation 
of  one's  conduct  is  the  determination 
of  it  according  to  rule.  A  rule  is  a 
test,  a  regulation  is  a  guide.  In  an 
institution  it  may  be  a  rule  that  none 
shall  be  idle.  Certain  regulations  are 
made  for  the  purpose  of  ensuring 
this. 

"  'Tis  against  the  rule  of  nature." 

Shakespeare. 

"It  never  was  the  work  of  philosophy  to 
assemble  multitudes,  but  to  regulate  only 
and  govern  them  when  they  wei-e  assem- 
bled."—Cowley. 

DECRY.  Depreciate.  Dispa- 
rage. 

The  idea  common  to  all  these 
terms  is  that  of  lowering  the  cuirent 
value  of  something  by  the  manner  in 
which  we  speak  of  it.  Decry  (Fr. 
decvier)  relates  primarily  to  the  in- 
herent value  of  the  thing  itself,  De- 
PRECiATii  ('Lat.  dcpr'ctiare,  to  under- 
value, disregard)  to  the  estimate  of  it 
as  formed  or  expressed  by  one's  self, 
DispAR.AGK  ( O.  Fr.  desparager,  L.  Lat. 
paragium,  equality  of  condition  or  birth) 
to  tlie  estimate  of  it  as  formed  by 
others. 

"What  an  insuflerable  impudence  then 
are  they  guilty  of  who  nowadays  decri/  all 
reading,  study,  and  learning,  and  rely  only 
on  enthusiasm  and  immediate  inspira- 
tion 1  "—Bishop  Bull. 

"  Others  are  so  unhappily  attentive  to 
party  considerations  or  personal  prejudices, 
that  if  a  design  ever  so  valuable  comes  from 
a  wrong  quarter,  instead  of  being  ambi- 
tious to  share  the  merit  and  the  honour  of 
it,  they  sot  themselves  immediately  to  de- 
preciate it,  and  suggest  mischievous  inten- 
tions in  it."— Secker. 

"  Nothing  hath  wrought  more  prejudice 
to  religion,  or  has  brought  more  disparage- 
ment upon  truth,  than  boisterous  and  un- 
Beasonable  zeul." — BarroW. 

I  decry  a  thing  or  person  when  I 
wish  to  bring  it  down  in  the  actual  or 
possible  regard  of  others.  TKis  may 
be  from  the  purest  motives  ;  as,  to  de- 
cry the  architecture  of  a  public  build- 


ing, when  believing  it  la  be  radically 
defective,inconsistent  with  its  purpose, 
or  in  itself  bad.  I  depreciate  it  when 
I  have  some  personal  motive  con- 
nected with  myself  (as  lowering  its 
abstract  estimation).  I  disparage  it 
to  or  before  others,  in  order  that  cer- 
tain persons  whom  I  desire  to  think 
less  highly  of  it  may  be  led  to  do  so. 
To  decry  expresses  a  more  sustained 
process  than  the  others,  and  a  fuller 
entering  on  the  demerits  of  the  ob- 
ject. All  the  terms  apply  to  morhi 
and  intellectual  subject-matter  •,  and 
to  material  things,  only  as  they  de- 
pend upon  human  effort  or  estima- 
tion, or  in  any  way  challenge  regard 
on  account  oi  their  excellence. 

DEDUCTION.  Subtraction. 
Abatement. 

These  terms  all  express  diminution 
of  some  quantity,  and  differ  as  fol- 
lows: Subtraction  (Lat.  subtractio- 
nem,  subtrdhere,  to  draw  away  from 
under)  applies  to  number  and  quan- 
tity, and  IS  general  and  abstract.  It 
simply  denotes  the  removal  of  a  part 
from  the  whole. 

Deduction  (Lat.  diductidnem,  a 
diminution)  is  such  subtraction  as  is 
performed  with  the  purpose,  or  result, 
of  lowering  the  aggregate  or  capital 
sum  or  quantity.  A  tradesman  sub- 
tracts a  certain  sum  from  the  total  oi 
his  account,  in  consequence  of  my  re- 
presentations to  him  that  he  ought,  in 
fairness,  to  make  certain  deductions. 
So  subtraction  may  be  theoretical ;  de- 
duction has  always  a  practical  purpose. 

Abatement  (Fr.  abattre,  to  beat 
down)  refers  not,  like  Deduction  and 
SuBSTRACTioN,  to  the  parts,  but  to  the 
whole,  of  which  the  amount  is  in  any 
way  diminished,  as  to  make  an  abate- 
ment of  a  claim.    See  Abate. 

"  The  late  king  had  also  agi'eed  that  two 
and  a  half  per  cent,  should  be  deducted  out 
of  the  pay  of  the  foreign  troops,  which 
amounted  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds." — 
Burnet. 

*'  That  universals  are  nothing  else  but 
names  or  words  by  which  singular  bodies 
are  called,  and  consequently  that  in  all 
axioms  and  propositions,  sententious  affir- 
mations and  negations  (in  which  the  predi- 
cate, at  least,  is  universal),  we  do  but  add 
or  subtract,  affirm  or  deny,  names  jf  singti- 
Ur  bodies."- -Cud WOKTH. 


[defective] 


DISCRIMIXATED. 


305 


Old  writers,  ns  Sliakespeare,  used 
tlie  form  snbstract. 

"  Tliey  are  scoundrels  and  substractors 
that  say  so  of  him."         Shakespeare. 
"  A  great  abntemcnt  of  kindness." 

Ibid. 

DF:FACE.    Disfigure.    Deform. 

The  formations  of  these  words  ex- 
plain themselvf^s — to  injure  the  /«ce, 
i\\e  Jignre,  X\\e  form.  Deface  is  al- 
;\-a3's  a  purposed  act,  denoting  a 
superficial  injury  to  the  extent  of 
spoiling  or  destroying.  It  may  be 
done  by  the  injury  of  the  substance, 
or  by  the  application  of  some  other 
substance  externally,  so  as  to  smear, 
erase,  or  obliterate.  Disfigure  and 
DtFORM  do  not  necessarily  imply  the 
desire  to  injure  or  deteriorate.  Dis- 
figure denotes  the  marring  of  the 
general  aj)pearance  by  some  defect  or 
injury  which  is  sufficient  to  interfere 
with  the  effect  produced  by  the  whole. 
Deform  implies  something  which  is 
detrimental  to  the  character,  shape,  or 
organization  of  the  entire  thing.  For 
instance,  a  building  may  be  defaced 
by  scrawling  upon  its  walls,  disfigured 
by  a  roof,  of  which  the  colour  is  out 
of  harmony  witli  the  walls,  deformed 
by  an  unsightly  cupola  surmounting 
it.  Deface  is  never  used  of  living 
animals,  which  can  only  be  disfigured 
or  deformed.  Of  human  beings,  de- 
formity is  predicated  as  to  the  body 
and  limbs,  disfigurement  of  the  face. 
The  face  of  the  veteran  soldier  might 
be  disfigured,  not  defaced,  by  wounds. 
The  face  might  be  said  to  be  deformed 
in  the  sense  of  being  monstrously  out 
of  shape  as  to  its  features,  or  dis- 
figured by  some  one  blemish. 

"  Witli  these  honoui-able  qualifications, 
and  the  decisive  advantage  of  situation,  low 
craft  and  falsehood  are  all  the  abilities  'hat 
are  wanting  to  destroy  the  wisdom  of  ages, 
and  to  deface  the  noblest  monument  that 
human  policy  has  erected.  I  know  such  a 
man." — Junius. 
"  Nor  vrould    his  slaughter'd    army    now 

have  lain 
On    Afric's    sands    disfigured    with    their 
wounds."  Addisox. 

"  Monsters,  on  the  contrary,  or  what  is 

[lerfectly  deformed,  are  always  most  singu- 
ar  and  odd,  and  have  the  least  resera- 
olance  to  the  generality  of  that  species  to 
which  they  belong.'  — Smith,  Moral  Scati- 
menis. 


DEFALCATION.  Emuez/.i.e- 

ment.       Peculation'.       jMalversa 

TIOX. 

These  are  all  terms  of  official  diy 
honesty.  Defalcation  (O.  Fr.  ilej- 
fulqner ;  L.  Lat.  diffalcare,  to  abate, 
to  cut  as  it  tcere  with  a  sickle,  Lat. 
fatcem)  is  a  diminution  or  deduction 
in  regard  to  a  sura  of  money.  This  is 
not  of  necessity  and  in  all  cases  fur- 
tive or  surreptitious.  So  Burke : 
"  One  would  have  thought  the  natu- 
ral methoil  in  a  plan  of  reformation 
would  be  to  take  the  present  existing 
estimates  as  they  stand,  and  then  to 
show  what  may  be  practically  and 
safely  defalcated  from  them."  Defal- 
cation is,  as  it  were,  a  pruning  of  t 
sum,  account,  cr  expencfiture. 

Embezzlement  (etym.  not  known) 
is  primarily  to  squander,  now  to  filch 
from  a  sum  or  an  account.  It  is  in 
its  present  use  essentially  fraudulent. 
It  has  gone  through  the  stages  suc- 
cessively of  lavish  expenditure,  then, 
which  is  a  common  concomitant,  ap- 
jjropriation  of  what  belongs  toothers, 
and  finally  settles  into  the  meaning 
of  this  last,  done  in  an  underhanded 
way. 

Peculation  (Lat.  pcculan,  to  pecu- 
late) is  primarily  the  appropriation  to 
private  use  of  public  money.  As  em- 
bezzlement is  fraudulent,  so  pecula- 
tion may  l)e  rapacious  also,  and  may 
be  the  result  of  false  claims  and  pre- 
tences, without  the  secrecy  of  embez- 
zlement. 

Malversation  (Fr.  malverser)  is 
literally  iil  conversation  or  behaviour 
in  office,  of  which  fraudulent  dealing 
may  or  may  not  be  the  distinctive 
feature,  and  which  may  also  consist  in 
violence  and  corruption,  or  iniquitom 
practices  of  any  kind. 

DEFECTIVE.     Deficient.     Im 

I'ERFECT. 

These  words  both  imply  failing 
(Lat.  dlfictre,  to  fail);  but  defective 
relates  to  incompleteness  of  quantity 
or  quality,  deficient  to  incompleteness 
of  action  or  jx)wer  in  reference  to 
some  purpose.  Defective  is  specific. 
It  presupjioses  some  standard  of  suf- 
ficiency, or  some  definite  aggregate 
of  parts  constituting  a  whole,  which 


306 


in  (he  present  case  is  not  reached  or 
forthcoming.  Deficient  is  general 
and  indefinite,  supposing  an  unde- 
5ned  standard  of  sufficiency  in  force 
Jr  operation.  A  book  is  defective  as 
'O  its  substance,  when  out  of  its  com- 
fdemont  of  pages,  one  or  more,  or 
jven  a  portion  of  a  page,  is  wanting. 
»t  is  defective  as  to  its  matter  when  it 
8  inadequately  planned,  or  omits 
;v-hat  is  needful  or  imjiortant.  It  is 
leficient  when  it  fails  of  its  character 
*nd  use,  either  by  the  defectiveness 
of  its  parts,  or  any  weakness  of  style, 
or  want  of  knowledge  in  the  writer. 
So  Dkfkctive  belongs  rather  to  the 
nature  of  things,  Deficient  to  the  re- 

auirements  of  persons.  A  speaker  is 
eficient  who  is  defective  in  his 
speech.  A  difference  is  to  be  noted 
between  Defective  and  I  .v  per  feci. 
Defective  marks  a  specific  case  and 
Dositive  degree  of  imperfection.    That 

s  defective  which  tails  short  of  the 
'^•diiiary   or  average  standard.     That 

s  Imperfect  which  does  not  come  up 
lo  perfection.  So  man  and  his  every 
faculty  is  imperiect  in  regard  to  an 
ideal  standard  of  perfection,  by  reason 
of  the  infirmity  of  his  nature;  but  he 
is  only  defective  in  any  such  faculty 
when  he  does  not  possess  it  as  the 
bulk  of  mankind  do. 

"All  of  them  (philosophers),  as  has  been 
before  shown,  were  very  imperfect  and  de- 
ficient.''—ChAHKK. 

"And  after  all,  the  rules  of  religion  and 
n'rtne  which  were  drawn  uj)  by  these  phi- 
losophers have  been  \ery  imperfect  and  de 
fective.  "—Watts. 

DEFEND.     Protect.     Guard. 

To  Defend  (Lat.  d'tfendtre)  im- 
plies an  active  repelling  of  some  ad- 
verse influence  or  power,  Protect 
(Lat.  prott-gcre,  part,  proiectum,  to 
cove^  in  front)  a  passive  placing  of 
something  between  the  object  and  the  • 
power.  A  ibrtress  is  defended  by  its 
guns,  and  protected  by  its  walls.  A 
defence  is  successful  or  unsuccessful, 
A  i)rotection  is  adequate  or  inade- 
quate. In  some  cases  of  a  some- 
what metaphorical  character  we  use 
the  words  inteichangeably.  So  we 
say,  to  defend  or  protect  plants  from 
frost ;  but  in  the  one  case  we  look 
upon  the  power  we  have  to  resist ;  ir 


SVNONYMS  [dEFENDj 

the  other,  upon  the  objects  which  we 
have  to  guard.  One  defends  what  is 
attacked,  one  protects  what  is  weak. 
Defence  therefore  supposes  an  actual 
and  pressing  danger,  protection  only 
that  feebleness  wliich  exposes  to  it. 
It  is  well  if  we  can  find  defenders  in 
time  of  assault,  it  is  well  to  assure 
protectors  at  all  times.  Both  defend 
and  protect  may  be  applied  to  our- 
j  selves.  We  defend  ourselves  by  meet- 
I  ing  force  with  counter-force.  Wepro- 
iect  ourselves  by  measures  of  precau- 
:  tion,  and  by  the  interposition  of  what 
I  may  counteract  adverse  influences. 
Guard  (Fr.  garder)  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  both.  It  is  the  exercise  uf 
vigilant  care  of  the  object  protected, 
with  a  readiness  to  defend  it  if  neces- 
sary. 

"God  defend  the  right." 

Shakespeare. 
"  The  stately-sailing  swan 
Gives  out  his  snowy  plumage  to  the  gale, 
And  arching  proud  his  neck,  with  oary  feet 
Bears  forward  fierce,  and  guards  his  osief 

isle. 
Protective  of  his  young."         THOMSON. 

"  For  heaven  still  guards  the  right." 
Shakespeakk. 

DEFER,  Delay.  Postpone.  Pro- 
crastinate. PuoEONG.  Protract. 

To  Dee«v  (Fr.  dttai,  delay)  is  sim- 
ply to  place  an  indefinite  tenn  betweer 
the  present  and  the  commencement  o! 
the  thing  delayed.  This  may  be  eitkei 
a  voluntary  act  or  the  result  of  cir- 
cumstances. In  this  point  Defer  (Lat 
(/i//en-e)difFersfromDELAv,expressing 
always  aveluntary  act.  Defer  is  more 
specific;  Delay  more  indefinite.  1 
may  delay  to  do  that  which  I  have  no 
will  to  do,  and  would  fain  see  left  un 
done.  1  defer  that  which  1  desire  to 
be  done,  but  not  at  the  present  mo- 
ment. Hence  Defer  is  often  followed 
by  some  term  specifying  a  point  ol 
"to."     It 


time,  such  as   "  till 

should  be  noted  that  Defer,  in  the 

sense  of  to  give  aivay,  submit,  is  really 

a  diflPerent  word,  being  the  Lat.  dc 

ferre. 

"  Defer  the  spoil  of  the  city  till  night." 

Shakespeare. 

"  My  lord  delayeth  his  coming," — Bible. 

Postpone  (Lat.  postpoutrCy  to  place 
a/'te'-)  imiDlies  more  sti'ongly  what  de- 


[defeuence]  disckiminated. 


307 


fer  implies  less  strongly,  and  Dklay 
hardly  implies  at  all,  namely,  a  de- 
finite intention  to  resume  what  for  the 
present  is  put  off.  Hence  it  is  more 
foi-mal,  and  applies  better  to  official 
meetings  for  business.  "The  meet- 
ing," we  m'ght  say,  '^vfaspostpoiied  for 
a  month,  and,  when  it  met,  the  con- 
sideration of  that  question  was  de- 
ferred.  Some  regarded  this  as  an  un- 
seemly and  unnecessary  delaii." 

"  These  postponers  never  enter  npon  re- 
ligion at  all  in  earnest  or  efTectually." — 

PAUiY. 

The  idea  of  Postpone  includes  that 
of  something  to  which  the  thing  post- 
poned is  rendered  subordinate,whether 
an  event,  a  cii'cumstance,  or  a  period. 
Hence  nhe  word  sometimes  means, 
to  regard  as  of  inferior  moment, 
as  in  tiie  following : — 

"  Nor  can  that  rationally  be  said  to  be 
despised  by  any,  or  postponed  to  any  other 
thing,  which  never  was  proposed  to  them 
as  their  option,  and  which  it  never  was  in 
their  power  to  choose  or  to  embrace."  - 
Whituv. 

Procrastinate  (Lat.  procraMiiare, 
eras,  to-non-oio)  is,  literally,  to  put  off 
till  to-morrow  what  might  better  have 
been  done  to-day.  It  is  to  delay, 
defer,  or  postpone  through  indolence 
or  general  unwillingness  to  commence 
action. 

"  Procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time. 
Year  after  year  it  steals  till  all  are  fled. 
And  to  the  mercies  of  a  moment  leaves 
The  vast  concerns  of  an  eternal  scene." 
VOUXG. 

Prolong  (I^at.  proUmgdre)  and 
Protract  (Lat.  prbtrahere^  part,  pro- 
tractus)  differ  from  the  former  in 
implying  something  actually  com- 
menced, as  a  period  or  a  transaction. 
There  is  very  little  difference  between 
them ;  but  we  commonly  use  Protr  act 
in  the  sense  o{  contriving  to  lengthen. 
So  to  prolong  a  speech  is  simply  to 
extend  it ;  to  protract  it  would  be  to  talk 
against  time.  Prolong  applies  better 
to  what  is  begun,  but  not  concluded ; 
Pro'i  ract  better  to  what  is  not  yet  be- 
gun, as  I  prolong  my  stay,  1  protract 
my  departure.  To  prolong  is  to  put 
off  the  end,  to  procrastinate  is  to  put 
off  the  beginning,  to  protract  may  be 
taken  in  either  sense. 

•'  To  what  purpose  should  I   take  pains 


fr-r  a  livelihood,  or  so  much  as  be  at  the 
trouble  of  putting  meat  to  my  mouth  for 
the  prolongation  of  my  life  ?  " — 8HARP. 

"The  other  manager  very complaisantly 
received  it  again,  aad  had  recourse  to  the 
olil  mystery  of  protraction,  which  he  exer- 
cised with  such  success  that  the  season  was 
almost  consumed  before  he  could  afford  it 
a  reading."— SsiOLLiiTT. 

DEFERENCE.  R;:'euk.nce.  Re- 
sPECT.     Regard. 

Deference  to  another  (Fr.  dtfi- 
rence)  marks  a  readiness  to  yield  to 
him  in  matters  of  choice  or  judgment, 
rather  than  to  enforce  one's  own 
wishes  or  opinions.  It  is  grounded 
upon  age,  rank,  dignity,  or  personal 
nierit. 

"  Deference  to  the  authority  of  thought- 
ful ancT sagacious  men." — Whewell. 

Respect  (Lat.  subst.  respect ns)  is 
to  hold  in  high  estimation  for  moral 
or  intellectual  qualities,  or  both.  It 
is  due  peculia'  ly  t )  the  wise  and  good. 
It  is  not  so  strong  a  term  as  the  others, 
and  in  its  mildest  force  is  not  neces- 
sarily based  even  upon  merit.  There 
is  a  respect  due  to  all  men  as  such, 
and  on  the  ground  of  those  claims  to 
consideration  which  in  some  degree 
all  possess.  Hence  it  is  applicable  to 
whatisdue  to  one'sself.  The  truly  civil 
man,  for  instance,  is  he  who  respects 
others  because  he  respects  himself. 
As  regards  others  there  is  in  respect 
some  degi'ee  of  submission.     There  is 

Siety  in  veneration,  and  self-denial  in 
eference. 

"  We  pass  by  common  objects  or  persons 
without  noticing  them,  whereas  we  turn 
back  to  look  again  at  those  which  deserve 
our  admiration,  our  regard,  our  respect. 
This  was  the  original  meaning  of  respect 
and  respectable."— ^l.  MuLLEK. 

Reverence  (Lat.  revtrentia)  is  a 
profounder  respect,  not  unmingled 
with  fear. 

"  Great  revcrenccrs  of  crowned  heads."— 
Swift. 

Regard  (Fr.  regard)  differs  from 
the  former  in  being  the  feeling  of  an 
equal  or  a  superior,  not  an  inferior. 
It  is  the  feeling  of  all  right-minded 
persons  toward  those  whose  qualities 
are  estimable. 

••  He  should  advanced  be  to  high  regard. 

And  have  our  lady's  love  for  his  reward. 

SpETUCO. 


308 


SYNONYMS  [defile" 


DEFILE.    Gorge.    Pa»8. 

Defile  (Fv.dtjiler,fil^  a  ihread)  is 
literally  what  can  be  passed  by  a 
number  of  men  only  in  file,  that  is, 
marchini^  in  line,  long  but  narrow. 
It  is  a  militar}'^  term..  In  wooded, 
marshy,  or  mountainous  countries, 
there  are  defiles  where  troops  cannot 
deploy,  it  is  a  place  important  from 
a  strategic  point  of  view — a  place  to 
be  guarded.  It  is  guarded  easily.  It 
is  serious  to  engage  in  it,  and  perilous 
10  be  caught  in  it.  The  general  is 
glad  to  surprise  the  enemy  tliere. 

GcKGE  (Fr.  gorge,  the  throat)  is  a 
natural  feature,  it  is  the  narrow 
passage  between  hills,  cliffs,  or  moun- 
tains. 

Pa!*»  (Fr.  pas,  Lat.  p(issns,a  step)  is 
literally  a  place  through  or  along 
which  one  pauses ;  but  difficulty  is 
connected  with  the  pass.  It  is  dan- 
gerous, or  narrow,  or  precipitous,  or 
easily  guarded.  But  it  is  not  long, 
like  the  defile.  It  is,  as  it  were,  but 
a  step,  though  a  critical  one. 

DEFINITE.      DEKJNnivE.     De- 

Ti:a.MINATE. 

These  terms  express,  the  one  the 
passive,  the  other  the  active  sense  of 
tiie  Latin  dcf'tnire,  to  define  or  limit, 
from jinis,  an  end.  Definite  denotes 
a  state  or  character  ;  Definitive  a 
force  or  tendency.  That  is  definite  of 
which  the  limits  are  determinate  or 
the  outlines  distinct.  A  definite  ex- 
tent may  be  exactly  measured,  a  de- 
finite period  is  a  portion  of  time  dis- 
tinctly determined.  A  definite  idea 
is  so  clear  that  it  cannot  be  confused 
by  others,  or  confounded  with  vague 
impressions.  That  is  definitive  which 
tends  to  brino;  about  these  things  as 
results.  A  definitive  scheme  of  re- 
conciliation is  one  which  distinctly 
and  unmistakably  lays  down  its  con- 
ditions. If  I  say  I  cannot  speak  de- 
finitely, 1  mean  that  my  knowledge  is 
not  exact  upon  the  matter.  If  1  say 
1  cannot  speak  definitively,  I  mean  I 
cannot  say  what  will  be  conclusive 
and  final  upon  it.  I  may  conceive  a 
definite  design,  yet  I  may  be  unable 
to  say  definitively  whether  or  not  I 
shall   undertake  it  all.  or.  if  so,   at 


what  time.  Hence  it  follows  tlr.at  De- 
finite is  usually  found  in  connexion 
with  matters  of  conception, D  EFiMTivs 
with  matters  of  determination.  De- 
finitive is  not  applicable,  as  Definite 
is,  to  physical  objects.  A  material  form 
or  phenomenon  may  be  definite,  that 
is,  present  itself  to  the  eye  in  sharp 
outlines  of  separation  from  other  ob- 
jects. When  such  is  the  case  the 
reason  can  pronounce  positively,  thai 
is,  definitively  upon  its  nature.  If  I 
see  on  a  distant  hill  something  which 
for  any  characteristics  that  I  can  per- 
ceive, might  be  either  a  living  animal 
or  a  tree,  I  cannot  say  definitively 
what  the  object  is,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
not  definite  enough. 

Determinate  (Fr.  determiner,  Lat. 
deternrinare,  f..  limit,  settle)  has  a  moral 
aspect,  having  reference  to  the  will, 
as  Definite  has  to  the  apprehension. 
The  resolve  has  become  a  determined 
one,  which  was  set  going  by  some 
motive  power  within,  and  is  now  to 
be  certainly  taken  in  hand :  it  may 
long  before  this  have  been  definite 
enough  in  character,  scope,  details; 
but  some  removal  of  difl^culty,  or 
stirring  up  of  the  will,  or  increased 
desire  to  attain  one  thing  or  to  avoid 
another,  was  needed  to  make  a  definite 
plan  the  subject  of  determinate  action. 

DEFINITE.     Positive. 

In  the  cases  in  which  these  terms 
have  the  character  of  synonyms,  De- 
finite (Lat.  d'cfviire,  part.'dijlnitusy 
to  limit,  to  define)  relates  to  the  thing:, 
Positive  (pMt'wus,  settled  bij  agree- 
ment, from  pontve,  to  place  or  lay 
down)  to  the  mind  of  the  person.  A 
definite  account  of  a  thing  would  be 
one  that  was  clear  and  sufficient;  a 
positive  account  one  which  was  given 
with  plainness  of  speech,  and  with 
an  air  of  conviction  and  assurance  by 
the  speaker. 

"  To  be  definitely  in  a  place  is  to  be  in  it 
so  as  to  be  there  and  nowhere  else." — 
Bishop  Taylor. 

"  Positively  to  foretell  is  to  profess  U 
foreknow,  or  to  declare  positive  foreknow- 
ledge."— Edwards  On  the  Will. 

DEFINITION.     Explanation 
D  efinition  in  its  strict  sense  is  thai 
which  gives  the  logical  essence  of  a 


[delicate] 


DISCKIMINATED. 


309 


tiling,  as  its  genus  and  specific  diffe- 
rence, or,  less  scientifically,  enume- 
rates its  accidents  and  properties. 

KxiM.ANATiON  (Lat.  expldiialionein ; 
e.ipldndrc,  to  make  simH)tlt,ti)  explain  )  is 
a  more  popular  process,  consisting  in 
bringing  homo  sometliing  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  a  natuie  difficult  to 
comprehend,  bj  the  media  of  otJier 
things  with  which  the  mind  of  the 
person  is  more  familiar.  Definition 
rather  belongs  to  words  and  ideas, 
::xplanation  to  facts  and  statements. 

"  Definition  being  nothing  but  making 
another  understand  by  words  what  idea 
the  term  defined  stands  for,  a  definition  is 
best  made  by  enumerating  those  simj)Ie 
jtlcas  that  are  combined  in  the  signification 
of  the  term  defined," — LuCKE. 

"  Explanations  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity." — buRXET. 

DEFRAY.  DisciiAitcE.  Liqui- 
date.    Pay. 

To  Pay  (Fr.  payer)  is  the  generic 
leiTO  here.  The  rest  are  modes  of 
payment. 

To  Defray  is  from  the  Fr.  defrayer. 
Anything  which  provides  for  and 
covers  the  expenses  of  a  tiansaction 
defrays  it.  It  is  the  meeting  by  a 
general  sum  of  many  and  divers  details 
of  expense. 

DiscuARUE  (O.  Fr.  descha. ger)  is 
to  lelieve  a  pecuniary  obligation, 
whether  a  debt  of  long  standing ^)r 
not.  It  is  to  do  away  with  the  burden 
and  pressure  of  a  claim. 

Liquidate  (L.  Lat.  tiqiudare,  to 
make  clear)  is  used  only  of  debts.  It 
is  'literally  to  clear  off,  and  so  to 
diminish  or  lessen.  The  debt  which 
in  common  parlance  is  cleared  off,  in 
finer  language  is  liquidated. 

DEJECTION.    Depression.  De- 

BPONDENCY.       MeLAXCIIOLY. 

Dejeciion  (La.t.  dljectwnem ,  a  cast- 
ing down)  and  Depression  (Lat.  dc- 
})res!iib)ieni,  a  pressing  down)  both  refer 
to  the  spirits.  Dejection  is  such  a  state 
of  sadness  or  sorrow  as  affects  the 
countenance  and  demeanour,  giving  a 
downcast  look.  Depression  is  sim- 
ply a  lowness  of  sj>irits,  and  is  more 


purely  constitutionaL  Dejection  im- 
plies some  source  of  sorrow,  privation, 
or  disappointment;  but  depression 
may  be  produced  by  atmospheric 
Ci.uses. 

Despondency  (Lat.  itnimum  de- 
spoudire,  to  lose  courage),  points  to  a 
state  of  mind,  the  result  of  sail  or 
disheartening  reflexions  ;  as,  upon  a 
loss  which  cannot  be  recovered,  or  a 
failure  which  cannot  be  retrieved,  or 
a  hope  which  is  likely  to  be  ti-ustrated, 
or  an  unfavourable  aspect  of  personal 
affaire. 

Melancholy  (Gr.  /ut-iKayxoXM,  lite- 
rally black  bile)  denotes  such  dejec- 
tion or  depression  as  is  either  consti- 
tutional or  chronic  in  the  individual, 
and  often  results  from  a  number  ol 
impressions  which  cannot  be  resolved 
into  any  one  dii'ect  cause  of  grief  or 
sadness.  It  is  commonly  accompanied, 
where  it  is  a  settled  disposition,  with 
tenderness,  and  is  an  ingredient  in  the 
romantic  spirit.  In  this  way  it  often 
exists  in  youth,  and  is  cured  by  ad- 
vancing years. 

"I  have  had  no  dignities;  thou  hast 
withheld  them,  and  I  have  not  thought 
them  even  worthy  of  a  wish.  Didst  thou 
see  me  sad  and  dejected  on  these  accounts?" 
— J(JRTIN. 

"  Lambert,  in  great  depression  of  sjiirit, 
twice  prayed  to  let  him  escape." — Bakei{, 
Cliarles  II. 

"  This  (sincerity  and  integrity  of  heart) 
enables  a  man  to  look  back  without  horror, 
to  look  about  him  without  shame,  to  look 
within  without  confusion,  and  to  look  for- 
wnrd   without  despondency."  —  Stilling- 

FLKET. 

"  When  the  mind  is  very  deeply  im- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  calamity  for  a  con- 
tinuance, and  the  attention  cannot  by  any 
means  be  diverted  from  it.  the  subject  is  in 
a  stiite  of  mcl'iucliuly.  This  affection  mani- 
fests itself  by  dejection  of  spirits,  debility  Oi 
mind  and  body,  obstinate  and  insuperable 
love  of  solitude,  universal  apathy,  and  a 
confirmed  listlessness,  which  emaciate  the 
corporeal  system,  and  not  uu!rec[iiently 
trouble  the  brain." — CoGAN. 

DELICATE.     Fine.     Nice. 

These  terms  are  all  employed  both 
of  the  character  of  objects  and  of  the 
faculties  which  ])erceive  and  treat 
them.  As  to  the  quality  of  objects, 
that  if)  Delicate  (Fr.  dclicai)  which 


SIO 


SYNONYMS 


[delightful] 


is  refinedly  agreeable,  or  likely  to 
please  a  highly  -  cultivated  taste, 
though  it  might  have  no  gratification 
for  minds  or  tastes  not  trained  to  per- 
ceive the  beauty  of  what  is  not  con- 
Bpicuous,  or  the  agreeableness  of  what 
does  not  force  itself  strongly  upon 
the  senses.  When  used  of  persons 
in  a  moral  sense,  the  terra  expresses 
nn  appreciation  of  what  is  extrmsically 
delicate,  a  shrinking  from  harshness 
and  coarseness,  a  considerateness  for 
others,  and  an  appreciation  of  the 
less  prominent  beauties  and  graces 
of  thmgs.  As  in  delicacy  there  is  a 
natural'  susceptibility  of  injury,  the 
term  is  sometimes  used  purely  in  this 
sense,  as  a  delicate  constitution,  deli- 
cate health. 

"An  air  of  robustness  and  strength  is 
very  prejudicial  to  beauty.  An  appearance 
of  delicacy,  and  even  of  fragility,  ii  almost 
essential  to  it." — Burke. 

Fine  (Fr.  Jin)  has,  singularly 
enough,  taken  to  itself  a  meaning 
quite  opposed  to  the  weakness  of  de- 
licacy, though  it  is  nearly  identical 
with  it  in  its  other  sense  of  requiring 
minuteness  of  discrimination,  or  ex- 
hibiting discriminative  power,  as  a 
"  fine  distinction."  There  Avould  ap- 
pear at  first  sight  to  be  almost  a  con- 
tradiction between  such  uses  of  the 
term  as  "fine  cambric  "  and  a  "fine 
child ;"  the  former  pointing  to  deli- 
cacy of  textuie,  the  latter  to  robust- 
ness of  constitution ;  but  fine,  as 
opposed  to  coarse  (which  is  the  same 
as  "course,"  i.e.  ordinary),  and  so 
meaning  choice  of  ils  kind,  will  admit 
of  such  seemingly  contrariant  appli- 
cations. A  fine  child  is  a  child  of 
710  common  form  and  growth ;  fine 
cambric  is  of  no  common  texture  ; 
a  fine  taste  is  a  taste  of  no  com- 
mon power  of  discrimination.  Ihe 
Fine  is  that  which  combines  delicacy 
and  ])Ower  or  grandeur,  as  a  fine 
speech,  a  fine  landscape.  That  which 
is  fine,  as  an  expression,  a  thought,  or 
a  work  of  art,  may  raise  more  admira- 
tion by  repetition  or  study.  That 
which  is  delicate,  if  it  be  not  appre- 
ciated at  once  will  hardly  be  so  at  all. 
A  fine  eulogy  strikes  by  its  boldness, 
elevation  of  sentiment,  and  warmth 
of  expression.  Delicate  praise  is  senei- 
u  ve  also,  and  is  less  easilj  appreciated, 


for  it  owes  its  excellence  to  negative 
qualities,  and  tact  in  refraining,  and  in 
a  measure  not  only  to  what  is  uttered, 
but  to  what  is  elegantly  suppressed. 
It  may  be  observed  that  all  tiiese  uses 
of  the  word  Fin  f.  grow  out  of  its  root- 
meaning,  i.e.  finished,  perfected;  the 
Fr.  Jin  being  the  La,t.  f  hut  us,  which 
first  becoming /«;n"<«s,  dropped,  after- 
wards, the  two  unaccented  syllables ; 

see  BllACHET,  s.v. 

•'  The  character  of  his  Majesty's  blufi 
haughtiness  (Henry  VIII.  by  Holbein)  i.= 
well  represented,  and  all  the  heads  an 
fi)ielt/  executed." — Walpole. 

Nice  (said  to  be  from  Fr.  nice, 
I  foolish,  simple  ;  Lat.  ncscius,  ignorant, 
but  possibly  a  distinct  word :  see 
Wedgkwoou),  when  applied  to  ob- 
jects, is  not  a  word  of  high  meaning. 
It  indicates  such  a  degree  of  excel- 
lence or  agreeableness  as  peo])le  in 
general  would  approve  or  enjoy. 
When  used  of  persons  and  theii 
powers  of  discrimination,  it  seems  to 
combine  exactness  of  knowledge  wit) 
a  certain  fastidiousness  of  reijuire 
ment.  A  distinction  is  said  to  be 
nice  which  tends  to  over-refinement. 
A  person  with  a  nice  taste  in  music  is 
not  easily  pleased  with  what  he  hears. 
The  old  meaning  of  nice — silly,  igno- 
rant— appears  in  the  following: — 

"  For  he  was  nj/ce  and  knowthe  no  wis 
dora."— II,  Ql-OUCESTER. 

"  liy  his  own  nicety  of  observation  he  had 
already  formed  such  a  system  of  metrics 
harmony  as  he    never    afterwai'ds   much 
needed  or  much  endeavoured  to  improve. 
— Johnson,  Life  of  Waller. 

DELIGHTFUL.       Delicious. 

CUAUMING. 

Of  these,  Dki.igiitful  relates  to 
the  state  of  mind,  DELicicrs  to  the 
sj^ecific  gratification  of  the  senses,  and 
CiiAUMiNG  to  the  gratification  of  thf 
mind  through  the  senses.  Anything 
is  delightful  which  produces  gladnea" 
of  mind.  Hence  delight  is  not  causea 
simply  by  external  objects  of  sense. 
Good  news,  foi  instance,  may  be  de- 
lightful. A  delightful  country,  de- 
lightful music,  and  so  on,  are  such  as 
to  produce  ])leasurable  excitement  of 
the  mind.  The  term  ill  accords  with 
purely  physical  enjoyment,  as  a  de- 
lightful dish.  Delicious  is  almost  con- 
fined to  matters  of  taste,  touch,  and 


DISCUliMINATED. 


[deli  VE  It] 

iinell.  It  expresses  that  which  very 
sensibly  excites  pleasure  in  these 
matters.  CiiAniiiNo  is  used  in  a  wider 
sense  of  that  which  delights  and  en- 
gages tlie  whole  nature,  and  commonly 
denotes  that  state  of  mental  enjoyment 
which  is  produced  through  the  senses. 
A  charming  landscape  is  one  which  we 
linger  to  enjoy.  A  charming  person 
is  one  in  whose  society  and  conversa- 
tion we  feel  continual  delight.  It  gene- 
rally implies  an  aggregate  of  attrac- 
tions, while  delightful  and  delicious 
refer  to  some  one  point  of  atti-active- 
ness  or  enjoyment. 

*♦  The  situation  was  delightful.  In  front 
was  the  sea  and  the  ships  at  anchoi",  behind 
and  on  each  side  were  plantations,  in  which 
were  some  of  the  richest  productions  of 
nature."— Cook's  Voyages. 

•*  They  are  like  Dives,  whose  portion  was 
ifr  this  life,  who  went  in  fine  linen,  and 
tared  dcliciousli/  every  day."  —  BiSHOP 
Taylor. 

"This  is  a  most  majestic  vision  and 

Harmonious  charmingly," 

Shakespeare. 

DELIVER.  Rescue.  Liberate. 
Release.     Free. 

Deliver  (Fr.  delivrer,  L.  Lat.  d'c- 
ribtrare,  to  set  free)  has  various  senses, 
according  to  the  various  applications 
o(  the  main  idea ;  as  to  set  free,  and  so 
release  ;  to  set  free  from  one's  self,  and 
80  surrender ;  to  cause  to  go  forth 
free ;  and  so  to  disburden.  In  the  sense 
of  setting  free,  Deliver  means  to 
rid  of  any  kind  of  coercive  power, 
which  in  any  sense  or  any  way  inter- 
feres with  the  freedom  of  the  penson, 
as  to  deliver  one  person  from  another, 
or  from  the  power  of  another.  It  is 
even  extended  to  what  is  oppressive, 
painful,  or  irksome;  as,  to  deliver  from 
the  fear  of  death,  or  fi-om  a  painful 
necessity. 
"  Deliver  us  from  e\il."— Lord's  Prayer. 
Rescue  (O.  Fr.  vescourre,  It.  ris- 
custere,  to  fetch  out  of  pawn,  Lat.  re- 
0xcutere:  Weuoewood)  denotes  that 
kind  of  removal  both  of  nersons  and 
things  from  the  power  and  possession 
of  another,  which  is  the  result  of  ener- 
getic interference  and  personal  effort. 
It  is  possible  to  deliver  and  to  rescue 
from  danger,  that  is,  from  impending, 
not  actual  evil.  Liberate,  on  the  other 


311 


hand,   involves    an   uclual   restraint, 
confinement,  or  coercion. 

"  Nineveh  was  rescued  from  the  brink  of 
destruction," — Stillingfleet. 

Liberate  and  Release  (the  for- 
mer of  the  same  root  as  Deliver,  the 
latter  from  O.  Fr.  relaisser,  to  rest  on 
one's  journey)  are  very  closely  related 
in  meaning ;  so  that  in  many  cases 
they  might  be  used  indiffermtly,  as 
to  release  or  to  liberate  a  prisoner 
from  confinement;  but  Liberate  re- 
fers only  to  restraint  in  the  most  direct 
sense  of  the  term,  though  the  meta- 
phorical use  of  it  is  common ;  as,  to 
liberate  the  mind  from  prejudices, 
where  prejudices  are  regarded  as 
restraining  influences  interfering 
■with  the  mind's  free  action.  Re- 
lease is  more  widely  applied  to  any 
kind  of  force,  as,  for  instance,  that 
which  oppresses,  pains,  or  compels. 
So  we  speak  not  only  of  releasing 
from  prison,  but  from  an  obligation, 
debt,  or  bond,  from  torture  or  sickness, 
and,  in  death,  from  sorrow,  pain,  and 
evil 

*'  That  the  public  revenue  of  Great  Britaia 
can  ever  be  completely  liberated,  or  even 
that  any  considerable  progress  can  ever  be 
made  towards  that  liberation,  while  the 
surplus  of  that  revenue,  or  what  is  over  and 
above  defraying  the  annual  expense  of  the 
peace  establishment,  is  so  very  small,  it 
seems  altogether  in  vain  to  expect." — 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  So  I  may  say  I  am  but  a  prisoner  Btill, 
notwithstanding  the  releasement  of  so 
many."— Howell. 

Free  (A.  S.  freo)  is  the  simplest, 
and  the  generic  term.  One  may  be 
freed  from  subjection,  thraldom,  pain, 
confinement,  duty,  obligation,  servi- 
tude, cares,  anxieties,  or  troubles, 
prejudices  and  errors,  or  misconcep- 
tions, promises  or  engagements ;  and 
in  short,  from  anything  that  interferes 
with  liberty  of  action  and  enjoyment. 
To  Free  commonly  indicates  some 
amount  of  authoritative  interference 
andefFort,asDELiv  eu  involves  address. 
One  frees  a  slave  by  one's  own  au- 
thority and  power.  One  delivers 
another  from  the  hand  of  the  enemy 
in  the  best  way  one  can. 

"He  that  is  dead  if /r<«  'rota  sin."— 
Er,^.  Bible. 


312 


SYNONYMS 


Tdeliver] 


DELIVER.   SunitENDEii.   Tuans- 

FER. 

I  Dkliveh  (see  above)  a  thing  to 
another  when  I  place  it  in  his  hands, 
60  as  to  part  with  my  own  personal 
res])onsibilitj  and  control.  It  is  a 
formal  act,  performed  either  on  mj 
own  or  some  one  else's  account,  as 
wlien  1  sign,  seal,  and  deliver  a  bond, 
or  when  1  deliver  to  i^s  intended 
owner  or  keeper  a  i)arcei  witli  which 
1  have  been  entrusted.  The  act  is  at 
least  voluntary,  if  not  willing.  The 
difference  in  meaning  between  this 
force  of  tlie  verb  Deliver  and  that 
last  noticed  corresponds  with  the 
difference  between  the  nouns  delive- 
rance and  delivery. 

"  The  investitures  of  bishops  and  abbots, 
which  had  been  originally  given  by  the 
delivei-y  of  the  pastoral  ring  and  staff." — 

BuKJfET. 

SuRiiEXDER  (0.  Fr.  surrender)  is 
applied  to  matters  of  right  or  pos- 
session, with  which  we  part  in  favour 
of  another  under  coercion  or  com- 
l)ulsion ;  as,  to  surrender  n  fortress,  or 
an  expressed  opinion  in  argument,  or 
a  claim,  or  to  surrender  one's  self  to 
any  influence  or  power,  as  to  vice, 
grief,  despair,  idleness,  sleep. 

"  If  we  do  not  surrender  our  wills  to  the 
overtures  of  His  goodness,  we  must  submit 
our  backs  to  the  strokes  of  His  anger."— 
Barrow. 

Transfer  (Lat.  transferre)  is  sim- 
ply to  convey  from  one  person  or 
place  to  another,  with  or  without 
l)ersonal  interest,  property,  or  control 
on  our  own  part,  and  is  a])plicable  to 
moral  things,  as  well  as  to  material 
substances,  as  to  transfer  one's  affec- 
tion. 

'*  Trayisf erring  the  honour  which  was  doe 
to  God  alone  unto  saints  and  to  feigned 
miracles."—  Udal. 

DELIVER.   Pronounce.  Utter. 

Of  these  Utter  (to  jmt  forth  or 
nut)  is  the  shnplest.  To  utter  a 
speech  is  simply  to  sound  it  with  the 
voice,  as  so  many  words.  So  the  word 
utterance  is  applied  to  mere  inarticu- 
late sound,  as  to  utter  a  sigh  or  a 
moan. 

Pronounce  (Lat.  promnicidre,  to 
Proclaim,  to  pronounce)  is  syllabicallj, 


distinctly,  and  in  some  cases  with 
formality  and  solemnity,  to  utter,  as 
to  pronounce  judgment. 

To  Deliver  (see  above)  denotes  a 
careful  and  sustained  pronouncing 
of  what  requires  to  be  conveyed  in 
many  words.  To  deliver  a  s})eecL 
would  imply  not  only  tlie  words,  but 
the  manner  of  it.  So  we  might  say 
"  The  substance  Avas  eloquent,  bu» 
the  words  were  indistinctly  pro- 
nounced ;  "  or,  "  The  speecli  was  good 
in  itself,  but  badly  delivered." 

"  He  (Vertue)  was  simple,  modest,  and 
scrupulous,  so  scrupulous  thai  it  gave  a 
peculiar  slowness  to  his  delivery.  He  never 
uttercdKxs  opinion  hastily,  nor  hastily  as- 
sented to  others." — Walpole. 

"  In  order  to  be  fully  and  easily  under- 
stood, the  four  chief  requisites  are,  a  due 
degree  of  loudness  of  voice,  distinctness, 
slowness,  and  propriety  of  prominciation  " 
— Blair,  Lectures. 

DELIVERY.     Deliverance. 

These  two  forms  of  the  same  word 
(.see  above)  differ  in  mainly  regarding, 
the  former,  the  point  whithei-,  the 
latter,  the  point  whence  the  action  pro- 
ceeds. Delivery  means  a  delivering 
t(',  DtxivERANCE  a  delivering  from. 
So  "  The  holiday  was  concluded  by 
the  delivery  of  j)rizes  to  the  success- 
ful competitors  ;  "  "A  Te  Deum  was 
celebrated  for  the  nation's  delive- 
rance." 

"  The  investitures  of  bishops  and  abbots, 
which  had  been  originally  gi^en  by  the 
delivery  of  the  pastoral  ring  and  staff  by 
the  king  of  England,  were,  after  some  oppo- 
sition,wrung  out  of  their  hands." — Burnet. 

"As  for  the  Presbyterians,  they  were  so 
apprehensi>  e  of  the  fuiy  of  the  Common- 
wealth party  that  they  thought  it  a  delive- 
rance to  be  res(med  out  of  their  hands  " — 
Burnet. 

DELUGE.  Inundate.  Overflow. 
Submerge. 

To  Deluge  (Fr.  deluge,  Lat.  dt- 
liiviutn)  implies  the  pouring  of  a  vast 
body  of  water  coming  from  above  ;  as, 
a  deluge  of  rain. 

"  And  as,  when  stormy  winds  encountering 

loud. 
Burst  with  rude   violence  the  bellowing 

cloud. 
Precipitate  to  earth  the  tempest  pours, 
Ihe  vexing  hailstones  thick  in   sounding 

showers. 


f  demur] 


DISCRIMINATED 


313 


The  deluged  plains  then  every  ploiiglunaii 

flies. 
And   every   hind  and    traveller  sheltered 
lies!"  Hamilton's  Virgil. 

Inundate  (Lat.  i//»airt are  ;  nmUi,  a 
U(/rg)  implies  an  horizontal  move- 
ment of  the  same  body  spreading 
itself  laterally.  An  inundation  may 
result  from  a  delu<?e.  As  deluge 
primarily  regards  the  water  which 
pours  or  covers,  so  inundation  pri- 
marily regards  the  land  which  is 
covered  or  submerged. 

"  Nonnus  reports  in  the  history  of  his 
embassy,  that  during  the  period  when  the 
Nile  inundates  Kevpt  there  are  very  violent 
storms  in  the  different  parts  of  Kthiopia." 
— Uei-oe,  Herodotus. 

OvEKKLOW  is  an  inundation  caused 
by  excess  of  fluid  in  some  specific 
place  or  channel.  So,  "  a  deluge  of 
rain  fell,  the  river  overflowed  its 
banks,  and  the  country  far  and  wide 
was  inundated,  so  that  it  remained 
(or  some  weeks  submerged." 

"  Puets  that  lasting  marble  seek 

Must  curve  in  Latin  or  in  Greek. 

We  write  in  sand,  our  language  grows. 

And  like  the  tide  our  work  o'er/loivs." 
Waller. 

SuBMEncE  (Lat.  submergcre)  de- 
notes that  the  inundation  has  entirely 
drowned  the  land.  It  deserves,  how- 
ever, to  be  remarked  that,  while  the 
others  indicate  the  specific  action  of 
water,  Slbmehge  is  also  applied  to 
cases  in  which  the  primary  action  is 
not  on  the  part  of  the  water,  as, 
wlien  in  a  quantity  of  water  a  large 
body  is  purposely  placed  so  as  (o  be 
entireh'  covered,  it  is  said  to  be 
submerged.  The  element  overflows 
and  inundates.  jNIan  may  deluge  and 
submerge. 

"Some  of  our  own  countrymen  have 
given  credit  to  the  submersion  of  swallows." 
-Pen-\a>t. 

DEMOLISH.     Destroy. 

To  Destroy  (Lat.  destrucre)  is 
violently  to  put  an  end  to  anything 
that  existed  in  life  or  shape,  or  even 
to  the  life  itself.  Hence  destroy  is 
the  generic  word.  It  is  to  put  an  end 
to  wiiat  we  desire  no  longer  to  exist. 

Demolish  (Fr.  demolir,  Lat.  de- 
mbl'tri)  is  the  specific  desti*uction  of  an 
organized  body  or  a  structural  mass. 
To  this  latter  it   is  most  commonly 


applied;  as,  to  deiuua!*b  the  walls  of  a 
castle.  Demolition  is  opposed  to 
construction.  Destroy  may  or  may 
not  involve  violence,  as  a  noxious  va- 
pour or  a  violent  blow  might  destroy 
life;  Demolish  involves  violence.  De- 
struction may  be  sudden  or  gradual ; 
demolition  is  commonly  rapid  and 
decisive.  Destroy  is  equally  appli- 
cable to  things  moral  and  physical,  as 
to  destroy  hope,  beauty,  effect.  De- 
molish could  not  be  so  employed,  ex- 
cept in  the  Avay  of  fonnal  metaphor. 
Demolish  does  not  convey  so  strongly 
as  destroy  the  idea  of  hostile  opera- 
tion. The  walls  of  a  fortification  are 
destroyed  by  the  enemy's  artillery. 
They  may  be  demolished  for  the 
simple  purpose  of  rebuilding  and 
making  them  stronger. 

"  O  come  hither,  and  behold  the  works 
of  the  Lord,  what  destructions  He  hath 
brought  upon  the  earth." — Bible,  1551. 

"On  their  coming  into  administration, 
they  found  the  demolition  of  Dunkirk  en- 
tirely at  a  stand.  Instead  of  demolition 
they  found  construction  ;  for  the  French 
were  then  at  work  on  the  repairs  of  the 
jetties."— Burke. 

DEMUR.  Hesitate.  Scruple. 
Waver.     Fllchate.     Object. 

To  Hesitate  (Lat.  hcesitare,  to  stick 
fast)  is  literally  to  stick  at  doing  some- 
thing, whether  mentally  or  practically. 
It  may  proceed  from  a  vai'iety  or 
causes ;  as,  prudence,  fear,  doubt, 
generosity,  cowardice. 

"  lu  an  age  of  darkness  he  (Gregory 
VII.)  had  not  all  the  knowledge  that  was 
refjuisite  to  regulate  his  zeal ;  and  taking 
false  uppeai-auces  for  solid  truths,  he  with- 
out hesitation  deduced  from  them  the  most 
dangerous  consequences." — JoRTIN. 

To  Demur  (Old  Fr.  denwurerj  Lat 
dcih^rdri,  to  retard)  is  a  specific  kind 
of  hesitation.  It  is  to  suspend  action 
or  judgment  in  view  of  a  doubt  or 
difficulty.  ^Vhen  we  say,  "  I  demur 
to  that  statement  of  yours,"  we  mean 
to  arrest  the  argument  of  the  speaker 
on  a  point  to  Avhich  we  az-e  prepared 
to  make  objection. 

"A  demurrer  denies  that  by  the  law 
arising  upon  these  facts,  any  injury  is  done 
to  the  plaintiff,  or  that  the  defendant  has 
made  out  a  legitimate  excuse,  according  to 
the  party  which  first  demurs  (demoratnr), 
rests  or  abides  upon  the  point  in  qaestioa." 
— Blackstoak. 


314 


SYNONYMS 


[i)I<:niai>J 


S  RiM'i  I,  (Lat.  scriipYilus,  a  frrit  or 
sharp  stone  in  the  path^  nneasi7tess)  is  a 
kind  of  internal  domur,  that  is,  when 
tlie  jirocess  of  thought  or  action  ar- 
rested is  not  that  of  another  but  our 
own,  and  this  in  consequence  of  a 
doubt  or  difficiilty  suggested  either  by 
somt!  oilier,  cr  by  our  own  minds  or 
feelings.  A  scruple  is  dictated  by 
a  sense  of  impropriety,  intellectual  or 
moral. 

'♦  I  scruple  not  to  rest  it  on  reason  i-ather 
than  on  passion." — Gilpix'S  Sermons. 

Wave  a  (A.  S,  iLofian,  connected 
with  wave  ;  as  it  were,  to  Jiticluule) 
refers  to  an  antecedent  opinion  or 
resolution  of  our  own,  which  we  have 
actually  formed  and  distrust.  As 
Dkmuh  and  Scruple  are  applicable  to 
that  which  is  proposed  to  be  said  or 
done,  so  Wavek  applies  to  what  has 
been  said  or  done. 

Fluctuate  {La.t.  Jiuctiulre,  to  be  in 
waves;  tojiuctuate  in  mind)  resembles 
Waver  in  expressing  motion  and 
change  of  mind,  but  difters  from  it  in 
implying  more  than  one  point.  We 
waver  upon  one  consideration.  We 
fluctuate  between  two  or  more,  M'hich 
we  are  inclined  to  adopt  successively. 
Waver  is  only  applied  to  matters  of 
intellectual  decision, but  Fluctuate  to 
5tntes  of  feeling.  We  fluctuate  not 
only  between  one  opinion  and  another, 
but  between  joy  and  sorrow,  gladness 
and  depression,  hope  and  despair, 
and  the  like. 

♦'  Liberty  of  will  is  like  the  motion  of  a 
magnetic  needle  toward  the  north  :  full  of 
trembline  and  uncertainty  till  it  were  fixed 
in  the  beloved  point.  It  leavers  as  long  as 
it  is  free,  and  is  at  rest  when  it  can  choose 
no  more."— Bishop  Taylor. 

"  Teach  me  how  I  came  by  such  an 
opinion  of  worth  and  virtue ;  what  it  is 
which  at  one  time  raises  it  so  high,  and  at 
another  time  reduces  it  to  nothing ;  how 
these  disturbances  and  fluctuations  hap- 
pen."—SHAFTKSUURr. 

OiiJ  ect  ( l.at.  objiccre,  part,  ohjectus, 
to  cast  against)  is  to  offer  in  opposition. 
We  object  to  what  we  believe  erro- 
neous, unjust,  undesirable,  and  in 
some  cases  to  what  is  personally  dis- 
pleasing to  ourselves.  The  verb  is 
often  used  intransitively  and  followed 
by  to:  but  in  such  cases  something  is 


always  implied  as  put  forward  against 
the  "thing  objected  to,  such  as  a 
countervailing  fact,  or  a  consideration 
of  truth,  fairness,  convenience,  or 
personal  preference. 

"There  was  this  single  fault  that  ErHs- 
mns,  though  an  enemy,  could  o6;ccf  tohiin.' 
— AXTEKBURY. 

DENIAL.     Abnegation. 

Denial  (Fr.  dSnier,  Lat.  dmtgdre) 
is  logical  and  practical.  Abnega- 
tion is  not  logical,  but  only  prac- 
tical. Uemal  may  stand  opposed 
either  to  affirmation  or  to  indulgence. 
Abnegation  only  to  the  latter,  in 
the  sense  of  renunciation  of  self,  or 
of  anything  else. 

"  You  ought  to  converse  with  so  much 
sincerity  that  your  bare  affirmation  or  denial 
may  be  sufficient."— Stillingfleet. 

"  Denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  " 
—Bible. 

"  Abyiegation  of  God,  of  His  honour,  of 
His  religion."— Kxox. 

DEPENDENCE.  Reliance. 

Affiance. 

Dependence  (Eat.  d'cpendcre,  to 
hangj'roni,  to  depend  upon)  expresses 
a  fact,  Re  mange  (prob.  Fr.  se  relifr, 
to  be  attached  to,  Lat.  religare)  ex- 
presses our  consciousness  or  feeling 
of  that  fact.  Dependence  is  con- 
ditioned existence,  a  result  contingent 
upon  a  cause.  Reliance  is  trust  upon 
a  living  will.  The  child  depends  upon 
his  parent  for  all  that  he  requires; 
but  It  is  not  till  he  has  grown  to  be 
conscious  of  his  own  dependence  in 
this  way  that  he  can  rely  upon  his 
parent's  willingness  to  grant  him 
what  he  needs. 

Affiance  (O.  Fr.  q/uixcc,  L.  Lat. 
Jidantia,  a  pledge)  is  characteristic  of 
religious  feeling. 

"  The  absolute  stoical  depcnder  upon  fate 
may  starve  for  want  of  industry,  die  for 
want  of  physic,  and  he  damned  for  want  of 
repentance." — Hammond. 

"  The  Saviour  effecting  everything  by 
His  power  is  reprt-sented  under  the  image 
of  a  great  champion  iu  the  field,  who  is 
prompted  by  his  own  courage,  and  a  re- 
liance on  his  own  strength  and  skill,  to 
uttemjit  what  might  seem  impracticable."— 
Bishop  Hurslky. 

"That  she  (the  Queen)  may  evermor 
have  affiance  in  Thee  4nd  ever  seek  Th, 
hoMOur  and  glory." — Eng.  Liturgy. 


[derange] 


1)1  SCRIM  I  NATE  I). 


Mb 


DEPRAVITY.  Depravation. 
Corruption. 

Depravity  and  DLPUAVATioN(Lat. 
dipravdiey  to  prevent,  vitiate)  stand  to 
each  other  as  the  process  and  the  re- 
sult; Depravity  is  the  state  of  being 
depraved,  Depravation  the  action  ot" 
making  depraved,  or  tlie  state  of 
having  been  made  so.  There  is  in 
human  nature,  we  believe,  an  inborn 
depravity.  This  is  made  far  worse 
vrhere  defective  education  and  evil 
company  have  tended  to  the  -worse 
depravation  of  the  individual.  The 
same  twofold  meaning  belongs  to 
Corruption  (Lat.  cnrniplibnem) 
which  expresses  both  the  state  of 
being,  and  the  process  of  making 
coiTupt.  Differences  must  be  noted 
between  DEiMiAvrrvand  Corrupiton. 
These  may  be  illustrated  by  the  dif- 
ference between  a  depraved  person 
and  a  con'upt  peison.  The  dej)raved 
man  has  been  brought  to  a  certain 
condition  of  evil  practice;  the  cor- 
rupt man  to  a  certain  condition  of 
evil  principle.  Corruption  relates  to 
the  source  of  action,  Depravity  to  the 
actions  themselves.  A  corrupt  judge 
is  not  a  person  of  dejiravity  of  cha- 
racter necessarily  in  any  other  way 
than  that  of  the  principle  of  integrity, 
which  is  wanting  or  has  been  de- 
stroyed in  him.  Or,  again,  a  person 
may  have  a  corrupt  taste  in  art  or 
literature  without  being  a  person  of 
corrujit  life.  'J'his  shows  corruption 
to  be  a  specific  badness  or  depravity  of 
principle,  while  depravity  is  general, 
and  affects  the  entire  character.  When 
we  speak  of  a  person  of  depraved 
taste,  we,  cf  course,  confine  the  as- 
sertion to  the  matter  of  taste,  without 
saying  anything  of  the  moral  cha- 
racter. A  corrupt  taste  and  a  de- 
praved taste  would  be  practically  the 
tame  ;  but  in  the  former  case  we 
take  account  of  the  want  of  true  prin- 
ciple to  decide,  in  the  latter  of  the 
influence  of  bad  training  to  pervert. 
Corrupt  taste  would  latlier  belong  to 
the  ai-tist,  depraved  taste  to  the  spec- 
tator. 

"  If  refinement  does  not  lead  directly  to 
puritj-of  manners,  it  obviates  at  least  theii- 
<)Createst  depravation." — ReY'NOLDS. 

"A  mad  and  desperate  depravity." — 
Shaftesbury 


••  As  though  all  the  false  religion  that 
ever  was  among  the  heathen  was  not  a  cor- 
rupting  and  depravation  of  the  true  religion 
of  God."— Calvin. 

DEPTH.     Profundity. 

These  words  supply  a  good  illus- 
tration of  a  large  class  of  synonyms, 
and  of  the  general  difference  of  cha- 
racter between  words  of  Saxon  and 
words  of  classic  formation  to  express 
the  same  thing.  Deptu  (A.  S.  deop, 
deep)  expresses  no  more  than  the 
physical  property  of  perpendicular 
measurement  downward  from  a  sur- 
face ;  or,  metaphorically,  what  is  like 
this,  as  depth  of  mind,  or  thought,  or 
meaning,  which  is  such  as  has  the 
pro})erties  of  natural  depth  ;  not  lying 
rn  the  surface ;  more  or  less  diffi- 
cult to  reach ;  more  or  less  dark 
when  reached  ;  not  meeting  the  eye 
of  those  who  regard  only  the  surface 
of  things,  and  the  like;  but  Pro- 
fundity (Lat.  profund^tdtem)  ex- 
presses the  abstract  idea  of  depth,  or 
the  scientific  measurement  of  it.  It 
is  the  same  thing  under  a  more  re- 
fined, abstract,  and  scientific  view. 
Words  of  the  former  class  are  physi- 
cal and  metaphorical,  of  the  latter 
scientific  and  metaphysical. 
"  A  dreadful  depth,  how  deep  no  man  can 
tell."  SPKNSER. 

"  In  one  (Ben  Jonson)  we  may  respect 
the  profundity  of  learning,  iu  the  other 
(Shakespeare)  we  must  admire  the  sub- 
limity of  genius." — Observer. 
DERANGE.  Disorder. 
Derange  (Fr.  deranger,  rang, rank 
or  order)  and  Disorder  (Fr.  deMJrc/re, 
Eat.  ordinem,  rank,  order)  are  so 
much  alike  that  they  may  often  be 
used  interchangeably,  as  a  mass  of 
papers  may  be  disordered  or  de- 
ranged. But  from  other  illustrations 
it  would  be  seen  that  Derange  is  com- 
monly applied  to  matters  of  mental 
or  internal.  Disorder  to  matters  ot 
physical  or  external,  arrangement. 
It  is  only  an  extension  of  this  to  say 
that  disorder  bears  reference  to  the 
fact,  derangement  to  the  intention,  of 
order.  A  defeat  of  a  general  will,  at 
the  same  time  that  it  throws  his  ai-my 
into  disorder,  derange  more  or  less  his 
own  plans.  This  distinction  ia  not 
destroyed  by  the  fact  that  things  o- 
tne  mind  are  often  viewed  metaphor*- 


516 


SYNONYMS  [dEKIVI^j 


cally,  that  is,  alter  the  analogy  of 
things  of  sense.  'I'hus,  "a  disordered 
imag-i nation"  is  one  in  which  the  fa- 
culties, as  in  a  machine,  have  lost  their 
just  disposition,  after  the  analogy  of 
such  disturhance  of  the  bodily  func- 
tions as  accompanies  or  creates  disease. 

"  Whether  this  folly  (expensiveness  of 
di'ess)  may  not  produce  many  other  follies, 
an  entire  derangement  of  domestic  life, 
absurd  manners,  neglect  of  duties,  hiui 
mothers,  a  general  corruption  of  both 
sexes,"— Berkeley. 

'•  In  wildest  numbers  and  disordered  verse." 
Lytteltoa. 

DERI  VE.  Trace.  Deduce. 
Of  these.  Trace  (Fr.  tracer)  is 
generic,  meaning  to  draw  a  tine  (L. 
Lat.  tractidre),  or  to  prosecute  a  given 
line,  whether  materially  or  mentally, 
a»  to  trace  a  river  from  its  source  to 
its  mouth,  or  from  its  mouth  to  its 
source,  to  trace  a  line  of  march. 

Derive  (Lat.  dirlvare,  to  lead  auay 
water,  rwus)  and  Deduce  (Lat.  didu- 
ccre,  to  lead  down  or  away)  indicate  a 
tracing  in  one  direction,  that  is,  from 
the  source  or  origin  downAvards.  To 
derive  is  to  trace,  and  so  to  refer  to  the 
physical  cause ;  to  deduce  is  to  trace, 
and  so  refer  to  the  logical  cause  or 
reason.  A  river  derives  its  waters 
from  a  certain  source;  a  word  is 
derived  from  a  certain  grammatical 
root ;  a  nation  derives  its  origin  from 
one  or  more  historic  causes,  as  a  vic- 
tory, a  migration,  and  the  like.  We 
deduce  inferences  from  statements, 
and  conclusions  from  premises. 

"  But  this  kind  of  writing,  which  seems  to 
be  reformed,  which  is,  that  writing  should 
be  consonant  to  speaking,  is  a  branch  of 
pnprofltable  subtleties;  for  pronunciation 
itself  evei-y  day  increases  and  alters  the 
fashion  ;  and  the  derivation  of  words,  espe- 
cially from  foreign  languages,  are  uttejly 
defaced  and  extinguished." — Baco^,  Ad- 
vancement of  Learning. 

"  From  the  words  of  Moses  cited  l)y  our 
Saviour,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  may 
as  clearly  be  deduced  as  from  any  single 
text  which  can  be  produced  out  of  any  one 
of  the  prophets." — JoKXlx. 

"  In  this  chart  I  have  laid  down  no  land 
Dor  traced  out  any  shore  h^t  what  I  saw 
myself."— Cook's  Voyages. 

DEROGATE.     Detuact. 
These  words  are  in  meaning  very 
closely  allied,  and  may  in  many  cases 


be  used  indifterently ;  but  Deroga- 
tion refers  to  intrinsic  goodness,  De- 
TRACiiON  (Lat.  dctructibnem,  a  taking 
away)  to  the  estimation  in  which  a 
thing  is  held.  Etymologically  con- 
sidered, Derogate  (Lat.  derhgare,  to 
repeal  part  of  a  law)  is  a  term  of  legis- 
lation. Derogation  is  partial  and  in- 
direct abrogation.  V\  hen  a  subse- 
(juent  law  lessens  the  force  and 
application  of  an  older  law,  the  cha- 
lacter  of  the  former  is  technically  said 
to  be  derogatory.  Derogation  takes 
place  when  a  thing  that  is  estimable 
suffers  deterioration  ;  detraction  when 
a  thing  that  is  esteemed,  or  is  capable 
of  being  esteemed,  is  lessened  or 
cheapened  in  the  estimation  of  others. 
Hence  Derogate  belongs  to  the  in- 
fluence of  circumstances,  while  De- 
traction is  exclusively  the  act  of 
persons.  For  instance,  we  might  say, 
''  His  warmth  of  temper  derogates 
much  from  a  character  otherwise 
M'orthy  of  high  respect ;  "  or,  again, 
'*  The  speaker,  in  speaking  of  such  an 
one,  detracted  much  from  his  reputa- 
tion by  ascribing  to  him  illrtemper, 
and  other  such  derogatory  qualities." 

"  I  hope  it  is  no  derogation  to  the  Chris 
tian  religion  to  say  that  the  fundamentals 
of  it,  that  is,  all  that  is  necessary  to  be 
believed  in  it  by  all  men,  is  easy  to  be 
understood  by  all  men." — LoCKE. 

"  I  know  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  de- 
tract both  from  the  moral  and  literary 
character  of  Cicero  ;  and  indeed  neither  his 
life  nor  his  writings  are  wi-hout  the  cha- 
racteristics of  humanity." — K^'OX. 

DESCRIBE.  Depict.  Charac- 
terize. 

Describe  (Lat.  dcscrihere)  is  to 
icrite  down  an  account,  hence  to  give 
an  account,  whether  in  writing  or 
spoken  words.  lYue  description  is 
the  giving  in  words  of  an  account 
analogous  to  that  of  ocular  ret>i:esen- 
tation ;  only  Describe  goes  further, 
and  gives  a  representation  of  complex 
objects  or  moral  events,  as  well  as 
visible  forms  or  ti-ansactions ;  as,  to 
describe  the  circumstances  under 
which  such  an  event  took  place. 
Descrij)tion  belongs  to  the  external 
manifestations  of  things,  and  ought 
to  be  full  and  clear,  that  is,  it  should 
enumerate  all  particulars,  and  repre- 
sent them  accurately  and  vivid'.y. 


[design] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


31 


"  How  shall  fi-ail  peu  describe  her  heavenly 

fiice. 
For  feiir,  through  want  of  skill,  her  beauty 

to  disgrace  1 "  Spexseh. 

Depict  (Lat.  dl-pivgne,  part,  de- 
pict us,  to  portray,  desicribe)  refers  to 
the  vivid  description  of  anytliing 
which  may  be  brought  with  more  or 
h-ss  distinctness  before  the  mind's 
eye.  Both  Dksciube  and  Depict  in- 
volve the  representation  of  every 
detail  connected  with  the  subject 
described  or  depicted. 

"  An  ideanf  figure  depicted  on  the  eho- 
roi'les  or  retina  of  the  eye."— Anecdotes  of 
liishop  Watson. 

CfiARACTEniZE  (Gr.  ^?tpax.Tr,p,  an 
impression)  is  employed  in  moral  de- 
scription of  what  represents  the  sub- 
ject by  its  leading  feature  or  features. 
Hence  a  whole  course  of  conduct,  or 
a  wliole  class  of  character  in  men, 
may  be  said  to  be  characterized  by 
some  one  strong  and  distinctive  epithet, 
for  instance,  which,  without  delineat- 
ing in  detail,  sets  a  peculiar  mark 
and  stamp  upon  it. 

"Richard  Martin  was  worthily  charac- 
terized by  the  virtuous  and  learned  men  of 
U18  time  to  be  princeps  amorum." — WoOD, 
Athcnce  Oxon. 

DESCRY.  Espv.  Discover.  De- 
tect.  'UiSCERN.     Distinguish. 

To  Descry  (0.  Fr.  decrire,  Lat.  di- 
scr'ibcre,  to  describe)  is  to  discover  by 
the  eye  objects  difficult  of  discern- 
ment by  reason  of  distance  or  dim- 
ness. When  the  difficulty  arises  fronS 
other  causes,  as  confusion  among  a 
number  of  similar  objects,  partial 
concealment,  or  the  like,  we  employ 
JCspv  (O.  Vr.espier).  As  Descry  de- 
notes discriminative  penetration  of  the 
Dodily  vision,  so  Espy  implies  acute- 
ness  of  vision  or  observation. 

Discover  (0.  Yr.descouvrir)  points 
to  the  bringing  to  light  of  what  was 
concealed  or  unknown.  This  may  be 
either  accidental  or  the  result  of  spe- 
cific research. 

To  Detect  (Lat.  dctigere,  part. 
ditectns,to  uncover)  is  to  remove  what 
concealed  from  one's  view,  and  had 
been  in  most  cases  purposely  so  pla«:eii; 
=is  to  detect  a  criminal  or  a  ci  ime.  Such 


a  purpose  of  conctalment,  however,  is 
not  essential  to  the  term,  as  we  speak 
of  detecting  an  error  in  a  calculation, 
or  a  fallacy  in  an  argument;  only  what 
is  detected  is  never  a  matter  ef  merit, 
but  always  an  error,  fault,  or  crime. 

Discern' ^( Lat.  discenicre,  to  sepa- 
rate, to  settle)  is  to  perceive  with  th« 
inherent  power  of  the  faculty  of  bodilj 
or  mental  identification,  while  DrscRy 
is  always  physical.  P'rom  this  power 
of  exact  vision  comes  the  faculty  of 
seeing  differences  in  objects;  and  this 
identification  of  an  object  by  setting 
aside  its  diflferences,  or  other  objects 
which  differ  from  it,  is  discernment, 
whether  in  the  physical  or  intellectual 
sense. 

Distinguish  (Lat.  distiyigntre,  to 
prick  off' )  physically  implies  not  only 
an  acquaintance  with  the  object,  but 
a  sufficient  distinctness  to  enable  the 
observer  to  recognize  its  specific  fea- 
tures and  characteristics,  and  so  to 
avoid  confusion  with  other  objects. 
The  moral  apj)lication  is  analogous  to 
this.  ^Vhen  the  next  step  is  taken, 
and,  on  the  ground  of  this  accurate 
perception,  the  object  is  parted  off 
from  other  objects — this  is  discern- 
ment. The  one  sees  clearly,  the  other 
sees  separatively. 

"  The  first  descrieing  of  the  enemy's  ap- 
proach."— HOLIXSHED. 

"  Secure,  unnoted  Conrad's  prow  passed 

by. 
And  anchored  where  his  ambush  meant  to 

He, 
Screened  from  espialhy  the  juttinp;  cape 
That   rears    on    high    its  rude    fantastic 

shape."  BvBOS. 

"The  distinction  of  a  first  discoverer 
made  us  cheerfullyencounter  every  danger, 
and  submit  to  every  inconvenience." — 
Cook's  Voyages. 

"  The  Romans  were  plagued  with  a  set 
of  public  officers  belonging  to  the  emperor's 
court  called  Curiosi  and  Imperatoris  oculi, 
part  of  whose  employment  was  to  go  aboat 
as  detectors  of  frauds  and  misdemeanours." 
— JoRTlN. 

"  A  discemer  of  the  thoughts  and  intent* 
of  the  hea.rt."— Bible. 

"  No  more  can  yon  distinguish  of  a  man 
Than  of  his  outward  show." 

Shakespearb. 


DESIGN, 
Mean. 


Purpose.       Intenu 


318 


SYNONYMS 


[desolate] 


These  terms  all  refer  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  mind  antecedent  to  action, 
and  relative  to  it. 

Mean  (A.  S.  miriuni ;  of.  mind, 
'jientem,  and  many  similar  words), 
being-  of  Saxon  origin,  is  the  most 
comprehensive  and  colloquial,  and  is 
employed  of  matters  of  any  degree  of 
importance,  signifying  simply  to  have 
a  /;(/;/(/  to  do  a  thing  or  to  say  it,  as, 
''  What  do  you  mean  by  sa3'ing  that  ?  " 
or,  "  What  do  you  mean  to  do  this 
morning  I  "  It  is  used  also  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  circumstances,  events,  or 
actions  in  the  sense  of  denote,  as, 
*'  What  does  that  shouting  in  the 
streets  mean?"  Meaning  relates  to 
purpose  in  speech  and  in  action. 

"  Thei  woudj'eii  what  she  wolde  mene." — 
Sower. 

To  Design  (Lat.  disignare,  to  mark 
out)  denotes  an  object  of  attainment 
placed  before  the  mind,  with  a  calcu- 
.ation  of  the  steps  necessary  for  it.  It 
is  a  complicated  intention  carried  into 
action,  or  proposed  for  it.  I  had  no 
design  to  hurt  you,  means  it  was  not 
a  part  of  my  aim  or  plan  to  do  so. 

"Ask  of  politicians  the  end  fur  which 
."avs  were  originally  designed,  and  they  will 
answer  that  the  laws  were  designed  as  a 
protection  for  the  poor  and  weak  against 
the  oppression  of  the  rich  and  powerful.' — 
BUKKE. 

;  To  Intk.n  d  (  Lat.  iiitendire,  to  stretch 
touards,  to  be  intent  upon)  points  to  no 
more  than  the  general  setting  of  the 
mind  upon  doing  a  thing.  1  did  not 
intend  to  hurt  you,  means  that  it  was 
accidental;  and  intention  is  commonly 
opposed  to  accident.  It  denotes  no 
more  than  the  presence  or  action 
jf  the  will  as  distinguished  from  its 
absence.  The  intention  is  a  move- 
ment or  inclination  of  the  mind  in  re- 
g;ard  to  a  distant  .bject,  which  causes 
rt  to  stretch  forward  toward  that  ob- 
ject. The  design  is  an  idea  chosen 
and  adopted,  which  implies  method 
and  meditation.  An  intention  is  pure 
or  otherwise;  a  design  is  suddenly 
or  deliberately  foimed,  and  may  be 
pood  or  bad,  but  is  seldom  entirely 
good.  One  may  be  mistaken  in  one'8 
intentions,  and  tjiwarted  in  one's  de- 


"  They  that  do  me  good,  and  know  not 
of  it,  are  causes  of  my  benefit,  thongh  I  do 
not  owe  them  my  thanks,  and  I  will  rather 
tiless  them  as  instruments,  than  coudemu 
them  us  not  i7itcnders/'—FKi:iHASi. 

To  Pt'iirosF.  (with  some  the  Fr. 
ponr  peiiser;  with  others  Lat.  prop^si- 
tum)  is  stronger  than  to  intend,  indi- 
cating a  permanent  resolution,  to  be 
carried  out  in  such  a  way  that  circum- 
stances must  be  made  subsenient  to  it. 
1  purposed  to  hurt  you,  would  imply 
that  I  had  been  watching  my  oppor- 
tunity, and  managed  matters  accord- 
ingly. The  difference  between  in- 
tention and  nurpose  is  that  between 
incipient  ana  decisive  volition.  In- 
tentions may  be  remote,  purposes  are 
immediate.  The  intention  is  weaker 
than  the  purpose. 

"Steadfastly  purposing  to  lead  a  nev 
life." — Church  Cutechism. 

DESOLATE.  Deseht.  Sou- 
tar  v. 

These  terms  express  under  modifi- 
cations the  idea  of  local  solitude.  A 
place  is  Desolate  (Lat.  d'csblatus,  lef 
soiiury,  part,  oi  dcs'oLdre)  in  reference 
to  human  occupation  and  use#  A  de- 
solate country  is  one  whicii  gives  the 
impression  of  no  inhabitants  to  till  or 
inhabit  it.  A  desolate  nouse  or  room 
one  which  shows  no  signs  of  occupa- 
tion, or  seems,  as  it  were,half  occupied. 
It  will  be  observed  that,  like  the  word 
gloomy,  OKsoLAPEisa  subjective  rather 
than  an  objective  term,  that  is,  it  ex- 
presses not  so  much  facts  or  appear- 
ances of  nature  as  their  impressions 
upon  our  own  minds.  Hence  it  is 
sometimes  employed  exclusively  of 
the  state  of  the  person. 

"  Have  mercy  on  me,  for  I  am  desolate." 
—Psdlms. 

"  How  is  Babylon  become  a  desolation 
among  the  nations !  " — Bible. 

D Es I  RT ( Lat. dtshire,YM\r\..diiertu$j 
to  uliaiidon)  denotes  natuiai  unfitness 
for  occupation,  and  applies  nly  to 
natural  localities.  A  desert  islalid  is 
without  inhabitants,  because  it  is 
without  the  natural  means  of  su  port- 
ing them.  A  desolate  place  may 
or  majr  not  hive  been  at  one   time 


[destiny] 


DISCRIMINATE1>. 


319 


occupied,  and  may  be  partly  occupied 
at  present. 

"  Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blnsh  an- 

seen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 
Gray. 

SouTAnv  (Lat.  sdtitdnus)  denotes 
no  moretlian  removed  from  the  haunts 
and  occupation  of  human  beings. 
The  deptli  of  a  South  American 
brest,  though  peopled  with  animals 
Df  many  kinds,  would  be  terribly  soli- 
tary to  a  man.  Solitary  is  applicable 
to  persons  as  well  as  localities,  in  the 
sense  of  removed  from  others  of  the 
kind. 

"  It  hath  been  disputed  which  is  a  state 
of  greater  perfection,  the  social  or  the  soli- 
uzry."— Atterbury. 


D 


KSPONDENCY. 


Des- 


DESPAIR. 

PERATION. 

Despoxdency  (Lat.  dnimnm  di- 
spondire,  to  lose  courage)  is  the  least 
violent,  but  often  the  more  lasting  of 
the  three.  It  is  a  low  state  of  the 
feelings  which  leads  to  an  unhopeful 
view  of  things. 

"  He  found  his  Indian  friend  leaning  his 
head  against  a  post,  in  an  attitude  of  the 
utmost  languor  and  despondency." — Cook's 
Vr/yages. 

Between  Dkspair  and  Despera- 
riON  (O.  Fr.  desperer,  Lat.  dcspirare) 
there  is  a  practical  difference,  in  that 
one  is  a  passive,  the  other  an  energetic 
hopelessness.  This  is  expressed  in 
common  language.  Men  fall  into  de- 
spair, and  are  worked  up  to  despera- 
tion. Desperation  seizes  the  weapon. 
Despair  sits  with  folded  hands. 

"  Despair  is  the  thought  of  the  unattain- 
ableness  of  any  good,  which  works  diffe- 
rently in  men's  minds,  sometimes  producing 
uneasiness  or  pain,  sometimes  rest  and  in- 
dolency."—  LoCKE. 

Despair  is,  however,  more  compre- 
hensive than  this.  "  It  is,"  says 
Cogan,  *'a  permanent  fear  of  losing 
some  valuable  good,  of  suffering  some 
dreadful  evil,  or  remaining  in  a  state 
of  actual  misery,  without  an}'  mixture 
f  hope." 

"  Daughters  of  Eve,  whom  desperation, 
the  effect  of  their  first  false  step,  hath 
driren  to  the  lowest  walks  of  vulgar  prosti- 
tution."'—BiSHOP  HORSLKY'. 


DESTINATION.     Destiny. 

These  two  words  (formed  from  the 
Lat.  distinare,  to  destine)  differ  as  the 
human  and  controllable  from  the 
superhuman  and  uncontrollable  or 
providential.  Destivv  is  used  of  in- 
dividuals and  the  final  point  of  their 
personal  histoiy.  Destination  of 
things  as  well  as  persons,  and  denotes 
no  more  than  the  end  at  which  a  per- 
son or  thing  is  intended  to  arrive,  ot 
the  purpose  to  which  a  thing  is  put. 

"  Which  of  us  in  setting  out  upon  a  visit, 
a  diversion,  or  an  affair  of  business,  ajipre- 
hends  a  possibility  of  not  arri- ing  at  his 
pliice  of  destination,  yet  at  the  same  time 
does  not  apprehend  himself  at  liberty  t« 
alter  his  course  in  any  part  of  his  pro 
gress  ?  "—Search,  Light  of  Nature. 

"  Thus  the  Pagans  had  the  same  notion 
with  that  which  is  mentioned  in  Scripture 
of  a  double  destiny  depending  upon  humau 
choice." — Jortin. 

DESTINY.     Fate.    Lot.    Doom. 

Destiny  {see  above)  is  used  both 
of  the  end  to  which  a  person  or  thing 
is  fore  appointed,  and  of  the  course  of 
things  which  brings  them  to  it.  The 
idea  of  destiny  involves  elements  of 
greatness  and  immutability.  It  is  not 
applicable  to  common  things  or  per- 
sons or  the  details  of  life,  but  to  its 
apparent  purpose  and  consummation. 
One  may  struggle  against  one's  lot,  or 
recover  from  what  it  may  be  one's  fate 
to  suffer;  but  destiny  is  final  and  ir- 
resistible. Any  one  might  speak  of  his 
fate  or  his  lot ;  only  those  who  run 
important  careers  could  speak  of  their 
destiny. 

"  But  who  can  turn  the  stream  of  destiny. 
Or  break  the  chain  of  strong  necessity. 
Which  fast  is  tied  to  Jwve's  eternal  seat  ?" 
Spenser. 

Fate  stands  to  Destiny  as  an  iteit 
to  a  sum  (  Lat.  /dtum,Jate),  and  is  em- 
ployed, as  destiny  never  is,  of  the  d«- 
tails  of  life.  It  is  seldom  used  in  a 
favourable  sense,  as,  "  In  travelling 
it  is  almost  always  my  fate  to  meet 
with  delays."  So  far  as  a  man's  con- 
dition has  resulted  from  unconscious 
causes,  as  the  laws  of  the  materia 
world,  we  speak  ofhis  fate.  So  far  at 
we  attribute  it  to  the  ordainment  of 
more  powerful  beings,  we  speak  of 
his  destiny.     Fate  is  Hind  ;  destiny 


320 


SYNONYMS  [destitute] 


has  foresight.     The  theist  speaks  of 
destiny,  the  atheist  of  fate. 

"  I  would  not  have  that  fate  light  upon 
you  which  useth  to  befall  some,  who  from 
golden  students  become  silver  bachelors  and 
leaden  masters." — Howell. 

Lot  (Fr.  /c/,  share)  commonly  re- 
fers to  somethinp^  connected  with  the 
w^hole  course  of  life,  which  gives  it  a 
distinctive  diameter  for  good  or  for 
ill,  as,  "  Trouble  is  the  common  lot  of 
men." 

"To  labour  is  the  lot  of  man  below ; 
And  when  Jove  gave  us  life  he  gave  us 
woe."  Pope. 

Doom  (deem,  to  judge)  is  the  final 
close  of  life,  regarded  as  a  matter 
foreordained,  and  is  never  used  in  a 
happy  sense.  It  is  sometimes  used, 
like  lot,  of  the  details  of  life  itself, 
when  it  is  at  once  unhappy  and  con- 
tinuous, as,  "  I  was  doomed  to  spend 
ninny  years  of  my  early  life  in  exile 
from  my  home." 

"  Ere  Hector  meets  his  doom." — Pope. 

DESTITUTE.     Dtvoin.    Void. 

Of  these.  Void  (Lat.  vulaiis)  has  a 
physical    application,    although    the 
word  em])tii  is  at  jM'esent  a  more  com- 
mon substitute  for  it,  as — 
"  The  void  helmet."— Cowper's  Iliad. 

Devoid  is  reserved  for  the  rnorally 
empty.  There  is  very  little  difference 
of  meaning  between  it  and  Destitute 
^Lat.  disiituere,  part,  dcsttthtus,  to 
/!)rsa/ce),but  DEVoiopartakes  rather  of 
the  natureof  a  purely  negative.  Desti- 
tute of  a  privative  epithet  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  to  be  destitute  is  to  be 
devoid  of  what  might  naturally  be  ex- 

Eected  to  belong,  or  where  it  might 
e  requisite ;  as  beasts  are  devoid  of 
speech,  which  nature  has  simply 
denied  them.  A  man  is  destitute  of 
learning  when  we  think  of  his  capa- 
bility of  acquiring  it,  devoid  ot  it 
when  we  think  of  the  simple  fact  that 
he  does  not  possess  it.  Destitute  is, 
therefore,  conunonly  employed  of  the 
absence  of  the  common  requirements 
or  necessaries  of  life ;  as,  destitute  of 
daily  food  or  of  clothing,  where  we 
should  not  employ  devoid.  Devoid 
thus  seems  to  have  a  more  abstract 
UBage,  as  we  might  still  say,  devoid 
cf  all  means  of  subsistence.     We  are 


devoid  of  faculties,  and  destitute  oi 
means  or  possessions.  But  a  yet 
stronger  diflference  lies  in  the  fact  that 
Dfstitute  involves  tlie  non-posses- 
sion of  what  is  in  some  way  necessary 
or  desirable  to  possess;  while  Devoid 
is  more  neutral,  and  may  be  used  of 
the  absence  of  faulty  or  culpable  quali- 
ties. 

"  Devoid  of  pride  certaine  she  was." 

ClIAl'CKR. 

"This  faire  lady  on  this  wise  destitiite 
Of  all  comfort  and  consolation." 

Jbid. 

DESTRUCTIVE.  Ruinous.  Per- 

NICIOUS. 

We  use  the  term  Destructive  (Lat. 
destrnere,  to  pulldown  something  built) 
when  we  simply  think  of  the  ten- 
dency to  effect  permanent  termina- 
tion to  what  had  form,  life,  beauty, 
power,  and  the  like. 

"  Loaded  with  gold,  he  sent  his  darling  far 
From  noise  and  tumults  and  destructive 
war."  Dryde.v. 

We  use  the  tenn  Ruinous  (J  at, 
rti'mosus,  going  to  ruin)  when  we 
think  of  the  value  of  that  which  is 
so  destroyed,  for  ruin  is  destruction 
visible.  Ruined  reputation,  bliglited 
hopes,  and  the  like,  are  terms  recall- 
ing the  fairness  of  what  is  lost,  and 
not  the  mere  loss  or  destruction.  A 
destructive  agency  simply  takes  awaj-, 
and  may  be  so  far  good  if  the  thing 
that  is  destroyed  be  noxious;  but 
ruinous  implies  the  taking  away  in  a 
sad  and  fatal  way  of  what  we  should 
desire  to  live  and  last. 

•*  Of  all  these  expensive  and  uncertain 
projects,  however,  which  bring  bankruptcy 
upon  the  greater  part  of  the  people  whc 
engage  in  them,  there  is  none  perhaps  more 
perfectly  ruinous  than  the  search  after  new 
silver  and  gold  mines." — Smith,  WealthoJ 
Nations. 

Pernicious  (Lat.  peniicibsus,  de- 
structive) is  employed  of  what  harms 
man's  inner  powers  ;  as,  of  life,  health, 
morals,  interfering,  as  the  word  ety- 
mologically  implies,  with  the  vital 
force  of  things  {pernccare,  to  kill  out- 
right),  and  obsti'uctive  of  wholesome 
energies,  physical  or  moral.  But  it 
is  not  so  strong  a  tenn  as  Destructive 
or  Ruinous.  That  which  is  destruc- 
tive removes  what  exists,  that  whicli 


[deteriorate]      discriminatep. 


321 


is  ruinous  spoils  what  exists,  that 
which  is  pernicious  mara  it.  Destruc- 
tive and  ruinous  influences  are  abso- 
lute and  final,  pernicious  influence 
may  be  counteracted  or  remored. 

"  He  who  has  vented  a  pernicious  doctrine 
or  pabUshed  an  ill  book  most  know  that  his 
guilt  and  his  life  determine  not  together." 
—South. 

DESUETUDE.    Disuse. 

DisusE  is  simply  the  cessation  of 
customary  or  common  use.  Desue- 
tude (Lat.  disuetudo')  is  the  cessation 
of  custom,  fashion,  or  practice.  In 
regard  to  the  present  fashion  of  dress 
in  our  own  country  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  last  century,  the  rapier  has 
fallen  into  disuse,  the  wearing  of  it 
into  desuetude. 

DETAIL.     Details. 

Derived  from  the  French  detaillerj 
to  cut  up,  hence  to  deal  with  severally 
or  in  particular.  These  words  are  re- 
spectively subjective  and  objective  in 
their  character.  The  verb  to  detail 
has  the  force  of  the  fonner.  It  is  to 
enumerate  several  things,  or  to  de- 
scribe a  complex  thing  according  to 
the  several  particulars  which  compose 
it.  In  this  case,  as  in  some  others, 
the  singular  and  the  plural  have  dif- 
ferent meanings,  as  in  the  case  of 
Ruin  and  Ruins.  We  make  the  de- 
tail and  find  the  details ;  the  one  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  thing  is  repre- 
sented, the  other  the  items  of  which  it 
is  composed.  Every  complex  trans- 
action in  life  has  its  manifold  details 
of  which  an  account  may  from  time  to 
time  be  given  in  detail. 

DETER.  Discourage.  Dis- 
hearten. 

Deter  (Lat.  deterrhCf  to  frighten 
from)  is  to  prevent  from  action  by  fear 
of  consequences,  or  of  the  difiiculty, 
imprudence,  or  risk  of  the  attempt. 

ToDiscouRAGE(O.Fr.(/esco»ra^ej-) 
is  to  prevent  from  action,  or  to  lessen 
energy  in  action  by  such  representa- 
tions as  affect  the  spirit  of  the  person 
contemplating  or  making  the  attempt. 
Discourage  admits  of  degrees,but  De- 
ter is  absolute.  Circumstances,  as  well 
as  the  representations  of  individuals, 
may  deter,  discourage,  or  dishearten. 
Persons  ai-e  discouraged  in  their  under- 
takings, and  deteired  y'ro/H  them. 


"So  that,  npon  consideration  of  the  whole 
matter,  there  is  no  reason  why  any  man 
should  be  deterred  from  a  holy  and  virtuous 
life  for  fear  of  the  labour  and  pains  of  it. 
Because  every  one  that  is  wicked  takes 
more  pains  in  another  way  and  is  more  in- 
dustrious, only  to  a  worse  purpose."-  Til- 
LOTSON. 

"  A  slight  perusal  of  the  innumerable 
letters  by  which  the  wits  of  France  have 
signalized  their  names,  will  prove  that 
other  nations  need  not  be  discouraged  from 
the  like  attempts  by  the  consciousness  of 
inability." — Rambler. 

Dish  earten  is  in  English  what  Dis- 
couRAGE  is  as  a  word  of  French  and 
Latin  fomiation  {cxur,  Lat.  cor,  the 
heart)  ;  but  Discourage  may  apply  to 
the  case  in  which  the  action  is  in- 
tended only.  Disheartened  implies 
that  it  is  actually  undertaken.  One 
is  deterred  from  beginning ;  dis- 
couraged in  beginning  or  in  proceed- 
ing ;  disheartened  in  proceeding. 
Disheartened  applies  only  to  per- 
sons, Discourage  both  to  persons  and 
their  eftbrts. 

'*  His  astonished  and  disheartened  col- 
leagues."— Bancroft. 
Deter  and  Discourage  denote  gene- 
rally the  action  of  the  judgment.  Dis- 
hearten an  influence  upon  the  spirits. 
One  is  deteired  by  formidable  diffi- 
culty or  opposition,  discouraged  by 
the  representations  of  advisers,  or  a 
calm  estimate  of  the  nature  of  the 
case;  disheartened  by  anything  that 
robs  us  of  spirit,  energy,  or  hope. 

DETERIORATE.    Degenerate. 

The  idea  of  growing  worse  is  com- 
mon to  these  terms.  That  is  said  to 
Deteriorate  (Lat.  ditiridrarCf  to 
make  worse)  of  which  the  intrinsic 
goodness  is  impaired.  The  term  is 
applicable  to  that  which  is  good  and 
excellent  in  a  moral  as  well  as  a  phy- 
sical sense.  That  is  said  to  Degene- 
rate (Lat.  degcnh-are,  to  make,  or  to 
grow  worse)  which  deteriorates  so  as  to 
receive  new  properties,  and  these,  ge- 
nerally, inferior  or  worse ;  or  to  depart 
from  so  as  to  fall  short  of  a  collective 
standard.  Courage  deteriorates  when 
it  simply  diminishes,  it  degenerates 
into  cruelty  or  rashness.  In  deteriora- 
tion the  leading  idea  is  the  impaired 
state  arrived  at,  in  degeneration  the 
noble  state  departed  from.  Individuals 


322 


SYNONYMS 


[develop] 


uTAceS)  and  moral  qualities  or  character 
may  deteriorate  or  degenerate.  Phy- 
sical qualities  or  character  may  de- 
teriorate, not  degenerate,  except  when 
they  belong  to  persons. 

"  When  wit  transgresseth  decency  it  de- 
generates into  insolence  and  impiety." — 
TlLLOTSON. 

"  The  art  of  war  was  greatly  deterio- 
rated."—SoVTKKY. 

DEVELOP.    Unfold.    Unravel. 

To  Develop  is  to  open  out  what 
was  contained  in  another  thing,  or 
in  the  thing  itself  (  Fr.  d^velopper).  I  n 
Dev  elop  these  two  ideas  are  inherent ; 
viz.,  the  gradual  opening  of  the  whole 
containing,  and  the  gradual  exhibi- 
tion of  the  particular  contained.  So 
we  might  say,  "  Time  developed  his 
character,"  or  "  Circumstances  de- 
veloped the  cruelty  which  was  latent 
in  his  character.'  Unlike  Unfold, 
Develop  is  not  used  of  purely  phy- 
sical processes.  We  speak  of  the  de- 
velopment of  plans,  plots,  ideas,  the 
mind  ;  and  also  of  the  development  of 
one  species  from  another,  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  body  in  growth  ; 
but  these  ai-e  scientific  terms  involving 
other  ideas,  as,  e.g.,  of  the  vital  func- 
tions in  growth.  We  should  never 
speak  of  the  development  of  a  flag  or 
a  table-cloth.  In  other  words,  it  is 
not  used  of  manual  or  mechanical 
unfolding.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  sense  of  the  mechanical  process  of 
gradually  opening,  Unfold  is  used  as 
well  as  in  the  other ;  but  in  this  latter 
Develop  expresses  far  more  than  Un- 
folDj  and  relates  to  the  laws  of  ex- 

Sansion  by  wliich  a  thing  unfolds  in 
efinite  sequence  of  expansion,  and 
in  conformity  with  principles  which 
conserve  the  type  developed.  Hence 
we  speak  of  a  true  and  a  vicious  de- 
velopment. But  Unfold  when  used 
of  immaterial  tilings  means  little  more 
than  to  exhibit  or  declare  in  order ;  as 
to  unfold  a  tale.  Principles,  plots,  or 
plans  are  developed,  circumstances  un- 
folded, difficulties  and  mysteries  un- 
ravelled. When  Develop  is  used  of 
intellectual  subject-matter,  it  denotes 
the  opening  out  of  what  contained 
many  ideas  really  expressed,  but  in  a 
manner  so  close  and  latent  as  not  to 
rtrike  the  observation  or  come  home 


to  the  understanding.  A  good  defini- 
tion sums  up  a  matter  so  completely, 
that  no  more  is  necessary  than  to  de- 
velop that  definition  to  give  all  that 
has  to  be  known  concerning  it. 

To  Unravel  (0.  Germ,  reffen,  to 
pluck)  is  purely  a  mechanical  effort 
of  separating  what  is  complicated, 
whether  naturally  or  accidentally,  and 
expresses  simple  disentanglement,  not 
growth  or  expansion.  As  the  former 
indicate  ordinary  processes  of  nature 
or  art,  so  the  latter  indicates  extraor- 
dinary and  counteractive  processes, 
and  often  implies  the  abnormal  state 
of  that  which  needs  to  be  unravelled. 
"  Then  take  him  to  develop  if  you  can. 
And  hew  the  block  oftandget  out  the  man," 
Pope. 

"  Several  pieces  of  cloth,  the  largest  we 
had  seen  being  fifty  yards  long,  which  they 
unfolded  and  displayed  so  as  to  make  the 
greatest  show  possible." — Cook's  Foi/ages. 

"  What  riddle's  this  ?  Unfold  youraelf^ 
dear  Robin." — Ben  JoxNSun. 

♦'  That  great  chain  of  causes  which,  link- 
ing one  to  another,  even  to  the  throne  of 
God  Himself,  can  never  be  unravelled  by 
any  industry  of  ours." — BuRKK. 

DEVOUT.  Pious.  Religious. 
Holy. 

Of  these  the  two  former  are  appli- 
cable only  to  persons,  the  last  in  the 
general  sense  of  connected  with  or  re- 
lating to  religion,  to  things,  as  re- 
ligious edifices,  meetings,  books,  &c., 
holy  places,  and  the  like.  The  De- 
vout man  (Fr.  devot)  is  he  whose 
mind  is  given  to  religious  feeling, 
and  is  apt  in  the  exercise  of  prayer, 
divine  praise,  and  spiritual  medita- 
tion. The  Pious  man  (Lat.  phis) 
has  reverence  and  love  toward  the 
Supreme  Being.  As  Devout  points 
to  the  external  observances  of  re- 
ligion, so  Pious  points  to  its  moral 
sentiments. 

Religious  (Lat.  retigio,  reverence 
for  God)  is  a  wider  term,  and  de- 
notes one  who,  in  a  general  sense, 
is  under  the  influence  of  religion,  ancr 
is  opposed  to  irreligious  or  worldly 
as  the  pious  man  is  o})posed  to  th 
impious  or  profane,  and  the  devout  tfc 
the  indifferent  or  irreverent. 

Holy  (A.  S.  hdlig),  when  used  of 
persons,  is  employed  to  denote  men  of 


[dictate] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


323 


especial  saintliness  or  purity  and  in-    ] 
tegrity  of  life,  the  result  of  the  con-   I 
tinued  influence  of  religion  upon  their 
nature. 

"  Thus  we  see  the  devoutness  of  His  mind 
in  His  frequent  retirement  to  soli  tary  prayer, 
in  His  habitual  giving  of  thanks,  in  His  re- 
ference of  the  beauties  and  operations  of 
nature  to  the  bounty  of  Providence,  in  His 
earnest  addresses  to  His  Father,  more  par- 
ticularly that  short  but  solemn  one  before 
raising  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  and  in  the 
deep  piety  of  His  behaviour  in  the  garden 
on  the  last  evening  of  His  life." — Palet. 

"  Our  whole  duty  is  made  up  but  of  three 
things,  that  a  man  live  soberly  with  respect 
to  himself,  righteously  with  respect  to  his 
neighbours,  and  piously  with  respect  to 
God."— Sharp. 

"  The  first  requisite  in  religion  is  serious- 
ness ;  no  impi'ession  can  be  made  without 
it.   An  orderly  life  so  far  as  others  are  able 
to  observe  us  is  now  and  then  produced  by 
prudential  motives  or  by  dint  of  habit;  but 
without  seriousness  there  can  beno  religious 
principle  at  the  bottom,  no  course  of  con- 
duct from   religious   motives ;  in    a  word, 
there  can  be  no  religion." — Paley. 
"  Ye  distant  spires,  ye  antique  towers 
That  crown  the  watery  glade 
Where  grateful  science  still  adores 
Her  Henry's  holy  shade."  Gray. 

DEXTERITY.  Address.  Adroit- 
ness. 

These  terms  are  employed  in  a 
physical  and  moral  sense,  that  is,  are 
applied  analogously  to  moral  things. 

Address  (Fr.  adresse)  is  moremental 
than  physical  in  any  case.  It  denotes 
skill  practically  applied,  so  as  entirely 
to  meet  a  certain  end,  especially  one 
proposed  on  short  notice.  It  is  more 
comprehensive  than  Dexterity  (Lat. 
dextintatem,  dexttra,  the  right  hand), 
or  Adroitness  (Fr.  adroit,  dexterous, 
shrewd).  Dexterity  is  that  kind  of 
cleverness  which  comes  of  heing  a 
perfect  master  hy  practice  or  expe- 
rience of  the  means  or  instrument 
employed.  Address  may  be  shown 
in  improving  advantages;  dexterity 
and  aaroitness,  which  is  a  sharp  and 
sudden  exhibition  of  dexterity,  rather 
denote  the  skilful  avoidance  of  danger, 
or  escape  from  difficulty.  Address  is 
a  species  of  manners,  that  is,  manners 
as  specifically  exhibited  towards  cer- 
tain persons.  Lounging,  inattention, 
whistling  in  company  indicate  bad 
manners.     Hesitation,  shyness,  stam- 


mering, a  want  of  self-possecssion,  oi 
too  much  of  it,  show  a  bad  address. 
Dexterity  relates  primarily  to  the 
manner  of  executing  things,  address 
also  to  the  means.  Dexterity  is  more 
fully  dependent  on  practice  and  use, 
address  on  natural  qualities.  Dex- 
terity gives  an  air  of  ease  and  conse- 
quent grace  in  action  ;  address  add? 
an  air  of  fineness  and  ai-t.  Dexterit_\ 
is  manual  address,  as  address  is  mental 
dexterity.  Small  matters  may  be  con- 
ducted with  dexterity.  Address  is 
shown  not  in  trivial  but  in  important 
things. 

"  Whatever  good  from  clear  understand- 
ing, delibei-ate  advice,  sagacious  foresight, 
stable  resolution,  dexterous  address,  right 
intention,  and  orderly  proceeding  doth  natu- 
rally result,  wisdom  confers," — Barrow. 

♦'  The  dextei-ity  of  hand,  indeed,  even  in 
common  trades,  cannot  be  acquired  without 
much  practice  and  experience." — SillTH, 
Wealth,  of  Nations. 

"  The  stoic  and  the  libertine,  the  sinner 
and  the  saint,  are  equally  adroit  in  the  ap- 
plication of  the  telescope  and  thequadrant." 
— HoRSLEY. 

DIADEM.     Crown.     Coronet. 

The  Crown  (Lat.  cdrona)  is  the 
simplest  and  most  comprehensive  of 
these  terms.  It  is  applicable  to  almost 
any  thing  that  encircles  the  head,  being 
of  a  solid  and  ornamental  character. 

The  Diadem  (Gr.  SiaJn^a,  a  band, 
orjillet)  was,  as  its  name  expresses, 
an  ornamental  head-band  or  fillet 
worn  as  an  emblem  of  royalty.  The 
Coronet  is  a  slighter  kind  of  crown. 
The  crown  is  the  symbol  of  royal 
authority  and  dignity,  the  diadem  of 
imperial  splendour,  the  coronet  of 
titled  nobility. 

DICTATE.  Presckike.  Suggest. 

To  Dictate  (Lat.  dictdre,  part. 
dictatus)  is  to  issue  a  command  in 
such  a  way  as  that  it  shall  appear  to 
be  based  upon  the  will  of  the  com- 
mander ;  which  deems  nothing  too 
minute  to  be  the  subject  of  such  com- 
mand, as  when  a  powerful  party, 
being  oftended,  dictates  the  terms  on 
which  the  apology  shall  be  made.  Tc 
dictate  is  more  authoritative,  arbitrary, 
and  minute  than  Prescribe  (Lat. 
■prccscnbere),  and  has  to  do  with  the 
wordB    and   terms  and    minutiae  of 


324 


things;  while  Prescuibe  has  to  do 

rather  with  rules  and  general  modes 
of  dealing-,  as  partaking  less  of  the 
nature  of  command  and  more  of  direct- 
ion or  counsel.  Prescribing  is  com- 
monly the  expression  of  superior  wis- 
dom, dictation  of  superior  power  only, 
or  the  assumption  of  it. 

Suggest  (Lat.  sug^crtre)  is  less 
authoritative  than  either,  being  a 
holding  out  of  partial  truth  or  the 
indirect  exhibition  of  counsel  or  com- 
mand, in  faitli  that  the  object  of  it 
will  himself  supply  what  is  practi- 
cally needed  to  complete  it.  All  three 
are  used  of  internal  as  well  as  external 
promptings,  as  we  speak  of  the  dictates 
of  nature,  of  what  is  prescribed  by  rea- 
son and  common  sense,  and  of  the 
suggestions  of  prudence.  Of  the  three, 
it  may  be  said,  that  for  their  force,  dic- 
tation depends  on  the  power  of  the 
person  dictating,  prescription  on  the 
wisdom  of  the  thing  prescribed,  and 
suggestion  on  the  sense  of  the  person 
to  whom  the  suggestion  is  made. 

"  I  hope  God  hath  given  to  me  to  be 
master  of  my  own  passion,  and  endowed 
me  with  that  reason  that  will  dictate  nnto 
me  what  is  for  my  own  good  and  benefit." 
—State  Trials. 

"  Prescribe  not  us  our  duties." 

Shakespeare. 

"  Arthur,  they  say,  is  killed  to-night. 

On  your  suggestion,"  Ibid. 

"  Nothing  certainly  being  so  tyrannical 
as  ignorance,  where  time  and  possession 
enable  it  to  prescribe."— SovTK. 

DICTIONARY.  VocABui.AiiY. 
Glossary.  Lexicon.  Encyclopedia. 

Dictionary  (Fr.  dictionnaire)  is  a 
list  of  words  commonly  an'anged  in 
alphabetical  order,  or  whi-ch  belong 
to  a  system,  whether  of  language  or 
any  other,  as  a  dictionary  of  botany, 
medicine,  biography.  It  admits  of 
every  degree  of  copiousness  in  ex- 
planation of  the  terms  from  a  line  to 
an  article. 

Lexico:-!  (X6|ixoy)  is  only  the  same 
word  in  Greek  asdictionary  in  English, 
and  is  especiallyapplied  to  dictionaries 
of  the  learned  languages  of  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew. 

A  Vocabulary  (Lat.  v)icdbulum,  a 
vocable,  or  word)  is  a  list  of  terms, 
like  dictionaiy,  connected  with  some 


SYNONYMS  lDICTIONAEyJ 

system,  but  not  professing  to  be  ex- 
haustive ;aB,e.g.  a  French  vocabulary 
of  words  most  commonly  used  in  con- 
versation. It  gives  the  meaning  but 
not  the  explanation  of  words.  It 
sometimes  means  any  person's  stock 
of  words. 

A  Glossary  (Lat.  glossdrium,  Gr. 
yXxff-c-a,  a  tongue)  is  an  explanatory 
vocabulary,  in  which  certain  words 
are  selected  and  arranged  for  con- 
sideration in  detail.  It  commonly 
consists  of  peculiar  words,  unfamiliar 
or  unknown. 

An  ENCYCLOP^tDiA  (Gr.  EynvaXo- 
Trai^iia,  a  somewhat  barbarous  substi- 
tute for  \yv.v)LMoti  itai^tia  ;  literally, 
circular  instruction,  i.e.,  instruction  in 
the  circle  of  arts  and  sciences,  the  pro 
fessional  education  of  Greek  youths), 
unlike  the  preceding,  is  not  restricted 
to  any  system  or  province,  but  em- 
braces the  whole  sphere  of  human 
knowledge,  and  explains  not  merely 
the  meaningofwords,but  the  branches 
of  knowledge  which  they  I'epresent. 

"  The  laws  of  God  and  of  Nature  are  safe, 
but  Salmasius'  Dictionary  is  undone." — 
Milton. 

"  His  vocabulary/  seems  to  have  been  no 
larger  than  was  necessary  for  the  transac- 
tion of  business." — Macaulay'. 

"  In  the  glossarial  index  of  former  edi 
tions  (of  Shakespeare),  the  reader  has 
merely  been  presented  with  a  long  list  of 
words  and  references  to  the  passages  where 
they  occur,  often  with  very  different  mean- 
ings, and  is  thus  called  upon  to  roam  over 
many  volumes  in  order  to  form  a  glossary 
for  himself."— Boswell. 

*'  The  lexicons  of  ancient  tongues." — 
Johnson. 

"  This  encyclopcedia  and  round  of  know- 
ledge."—Sir  T.  Brown. 

DIET.     Food.     Regimen. 

As  Food  expresses  generally  any- 
thing on  which  a  living  animal  /m/s, 
so  Diet  (Gr.  iiaiTa,  manner  of  living) 
and  Regimen  (Lat.  rtgimen,  guidancef 
government)  are  employed  only  of  hu- 
man beings.  Diet  is  ordinary  and  sys- 
tematic food,  whether  prescribed  foi 
health's  sake  or  in  any  other  way. 
Black  broth  was  part  of  the  diet  of 
the  ancient  Spartans.  Regimen  differs 
from  diet,  first  in  relating  to  quantity 
as  well  as  Quality  of  food  prescribed, 
and,  secondly,   in  relating  to  other 


j  diffbbence]        discriminated. 


325 


matters  appertaining  to  the  way  of 
living,  even  to  fasting,  or  the  absti- 
nence from  food. 

"  Their  failure  as  remedies  may  be  rea- 
•onablj  attributed  to  the  alterations  which 
the  human  frame  is  found  to  undergo  in  the 
revolntion  of  ages  by  a  general  change  of 
ii^etie regimen"— Knox,  Essays. 

DIFFERENCE.  Variety.  Va- 
riation. Contrast.  Diversity. 
Distinction.  Contrariety.  Dis- 
agreement. 

Difference  (Lat.  differentia)  de- 
notes no  more  than  the  state  of  being 
mlike ;  and  inasmuch  as  Nature  never 
exactly  repeats  herself,  the  term  is 
employed  to  denote  the  mere  absence 
of  identity,  as,  "  It  is  a  different  per- 
son," which  is  equivalent  to,  "  It  is 
not  the  same  person."  The  tenn 
Different  has  to  be  distinguished 
from  various  on  the  one  hand,  and  un- 
like on  the  other.  Different  shows 
the  uulikeness  as  existing  in  general ; 
Various  marks  the  dissimilarity  of  the 
species.  We  might  say  that  things 
are  infinitely  various,  but  not  in- 
finitely different,  for  this  latter  word 
relates  not  to  abstract  but  to  specific 
unlikeness.  The  flowers  of  a  rose- 
bush will  be  of  various  sizes  and 
shades  of  colour,  and,  if  the  kind  be 
red,  will  be  different  from  the  white 
kinds.  Different  people  think  dif- 
ferently. Various  is  thus  seen  to  be 
of  less  intensity  than  Different.  On 
the  other  hand.  Different  stands  to 
Unlike  as  the  positive  to  the  negative. 
Two  things,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
merely  two,  may  be  different  without 
being  unlike.  Between  two  things 
that  are  different  we  may  still  draw  a 
comparison  ;  but  unlikeness  tends  to 
exclude  comparison.  Different  be- 
longs to  the  inherent  nature  of  things, 
unlike  to  the  effect  which  they  pro- 
duce upon  us.  Blue  is  different  from 
green  ;  a  circle  is  unlike  a  square. 

Difference  implies  a  comparison  in- 
stituted by  the  mind,  with  a  view  to 
obviate  confusion  by  precision  of  ideas. 
Difference  goes  no  farther  than  to  ex- 
clude identity.  The  difference  is  that 
peculiarity  of  quality  or  form  which 
belongs  to  one  thing  exclusively  o^ 
another. 

"latellccta&l  differences   shall    shortly 


cease,  and  tnen  moral  differences  shall 
take  place.  One  moment  shall  equal  the 
learned  and  the  unlearned.  The  knowing 
and  ignorant  person  shall  at  last  stand 
upon  equal  ground  ;  but  the  good  and  bad 
men  shall  be  differenced  forever." — Bates. 

Distinction  (Lat.  distinctibnem)  is 
sharply-defined  or  palpably- apparent 
difference.  Such  distinction  may  be 
natural,  scientific,  practical,  or  scien- 
tific and  natural  at  the  same  time. 
"  A  binary  constellation,  which,  under 
a  telescope  of  low  power,  looks  like  a 
single  star,under  one  of  greater  power, 
resolves  itself  in'ji  t^o  distinct  stars.*' 
This  is  a  purely  physical  distinction. 
The  distinction  between  contrary  and 
contradictory  propositions  in  logic  is 
technical  or  scientific.  The  distinc- 
tion between  the  animal  and  vegetable 
departments  of  nature  is  both  scien- 
tific and  natural.  In  the  common 
{)hrase,  "  A  distinction  without  a  dif- 
erence,"the  term  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  a  mental  or  scientific  distinction, 
which  tlie  phrase  denotes  as  being 
sought  to  be  made,  while  no  corre- 
sponding difference  exists  in  fact  or 
nature.  To  murder  all  without  dis- 
tinction of  sex  or  age,  means  to  do  so 
without  recognizing  these  natural  diffe- 
rences ;  the  phrase  without  distitiction 
being  here  equivalent  to  without 
making  or  observing  a  distinction. 
Distinction  is  applied  to  delicate  varia- 
tions, diversity  to  glaring  differences, 
difference  to  hostile  unlikeness. 

"  Men,  women,  maids  without  distinction 
fall."  Shakespeare. 

As  Differ  ence  andDisTiNcriON  are 
absolute, so  Variety,  Variation,  and 
Diversity  are  relative.  They  imply 
at  least  some  common  idea  to  which 
the  objects  are  refened,  if  not  some 
common  nature  to  which  they  belong. 

Variety  (Lat.  vdrietiitem)  denotes 
difference  of  such  a  nature  as  sti-ikes 
the  observation  in  any  aggregate  of 
things,  or  in  one  thing  as  regards  the 
aggregate  or  class  to  which  it  is  re- 
ferred, as  a  variety  of  objects  in  a 
landscape,  a  variety  of  the  species. 
\'ariety  is  an  ordinance  of  nature  for 
relieving  the  effect  of  too  great  unifor- 
mity. The  mind  takes  cognizance  of 
variety,  as  the  taste  of  diversity  and 
the  perception  of  difference. 

Variation  (Lat.  vUriatibnem^  •!- 


J26 


presses  a  process,  as  variety  expresses 
a  result;  and  therefore  may  mean  a  pur- 
posed inducing  of  variety  as  well  as 
that  which  is  without  design.  Variety 
can  only  be  between  two  or  more 
things  or  parts  of  the  same  thing;  but 
variation  may  be  of  one  entire  thing. 
So  we  might  say,  "  There  is  gi-eat 
variety  of  colour  in  this  single  flower," 
but  we  should  mean  in  different  parts 
of  it.  Or,  again,  the  flower,  that  is,  the 
whole  of  it,  has  undergone  great  varia- 
tion from  change  of  soil. 

Diversity  (Lat.  diversttdtem)  is  in- 
ternal, essential,  or  natural  difference. 
This  may  be  between  two  only  or 
many,while  Variety  is  of  many.  Yet 
diversity  falls  short  of  Contrariety 
(  L.  Lat.  contrdrietatenQf  which  is  re- 
pugnant diversity.  Diversity  is  that 
difference  among  things  of  which  the 
taste  takes  cognizance,  and  by  the 
novelty  of  which  it  is  surprised  and 
pleased.  A  diversity  is  a  striking 
difference  either  in  the  properties  or 
appearance  of  the  same  object,  or 
among  more  than  one  object  contem- 
plated simultaneously.  As  difference 
supposes  resemblance,  so  diversity 
supposes  opposition  and  contrast, 
which  the  taste  seeks  in  things,  and 
which  gratifies  it  when  found. 

"And  all  variety  or  difference  of  exis- 
tence must  needs  arise  from  some  external 
cause,  and  be  dependent  upon  it,  and  pro- 
portionable to  the  efficiency  of  that  cause, 
whatsoever  it  be," — Clarke. 

"The  essences  of  things  are  conceived 
not  capable  of  such  variation."— hoCKK. 

"They  cannot  be  divided,  but  they  will 
prove  opposite,  and  not  resting  in  a  bare 
diversity,  rise  into  a.  contrariety." — South. 

Contrast  (  Fr.contrasie)  isstrongly- 
marked  opposition.  This  implies  not 
necessarily  similarity  of  nature  in  the 
things  contrasted,  but  a  capability  at 
least  of  being  viewed  together,  other- 
wise there  would  be  no  room  for  con- 
trast. Any  two  or  more  things  which 
in  juxtaposition  exhibit  different  pro- 
perties or  excite  different  feelings  or 
impressions  in  the  mind,  may  form  a 
contrast. 

Disagreement  (see  Agree)  is  such 
contrariety  as  exists  between  things 
which  ought  to  be  at  one,  or  between 
which  an  I'-Uy  is  sought  to  beesta- 


SYNONYMS  LDIFFICULTT] 

blished.  It  is  used  not  only  of  matters 
of  the  human  will,  but  in  the  general 
sense  of  being  unsuited  or  at  variance, 
as  two  naiTatives  may  disagree. 

"  Contrasts  and  resemblances  of  the 
seasons."— Whewell. 

Contrast  can  only  be  employed  of 
objects  or  subjects  which  have  some- 
thing in  common  in  their  nature  cr 
relations.  There  is  no  contrast  be- 
tween a  man  and  a  dog  or  a  tree,  but 
between  a  tall  ti*ee  and  a  stunted 
shrub. 

•'  The  second  act  of  the  mind  is  putting 
together  such  single  objects  in  order  to 
our  comparing  of  the  agreement  or  dis- 
agreement between  them,  by  which  we 
make  propositions,  which  we  call  judging." 
— WiLKINS, 

DIFFICULTY.  Obstacle.  Im- 
pediment.   Obstruction. 

Difficulties  (Lat.  difftcultdtem) 
are  generally  complicated,  Obstacles 
(Lat.  obstdcilliim,  a  hindrance)  f 
and  Impediments  (Lat.  impedlmen' 
turn)  usually  simple.  Difliculties  are 
not  usually  sunnounted  by  vigour, 
energy,  resolution,  hardihood,  and 
the  like,  but  by  patience,  skill,  and 
perseverance.  The  cutting  of  the 
Gordian  knot  was  an  escape  from,  no« 
a  solution  of  the  difficulty.  In  march- 
ing through  a  foreign  country,  the 
difficulties  of  the  general  lie  in  many 
incidental  things — the  badness  of  the 
roads,  the  nature  of  the  climate,  the 
disposition  of  the  natives,  the  scarcity 
or  remoteness  of  provisions.  A  pre- 
cipitous valley  suddenly  yawnino 
under  the  feet  of  the  soldiers  would 
be  an  obstacle,  that  is,  a  barrier,  to 
their  progress,  to  be  surmounted  as 
best  it  miglit.  As  an  obstacle  is  al- 
ways external,  so  impediment  it 
commonly  internal,  and  operates  con- 
tinually,  having  the  effect  of  retarding 
progress,  while  an  obstacle  checks  if 
altogether  till  it  is  removed.  A  rivei 
might  be  an  obstacle,  a  heavy  cloak 
an  impediment  to  the  traveller.  In 
common  parlance,  difficulties  are  met 
and  solved,  obstacles  surmounted,  im- 
pediments removed.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  same  ching  may  be  sometimes 
all  three,  accorUing;  to  the  point  of 
view  from  which  u  is  rega»"lo^.    Tb« 


[difpidenceJ        discriminated. 


327 


eloquence  of  Demosthenes  was  to 
Philip  of  Macedon  a  difficulty  to  be 
met  with  his  best  resources,  an  ob- 
Btacle  to  his  own  ambition,  and  an 
impediment  in  his  political  career. 
Difficulties  perplex,  impediments  em- 
barrass, obstacles  deter  or  retard. 
Difficulties  commonly  arise  out  of  the 
Inherent  nature  and  character  of  the 
matter  in  hand.  Obstacles  come  from 
foreign  causes.  Impediments  come 
from  some  established  law  or  superior 
force.  In  deliberative  meetings,  great 
difficulties  are  sometimes  raised  by 
factious  spirits.  The  objection  of  tlie 
parents  is  commonly  a  serious  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  a  proposed  marriage. 
That  it  shor.ld  fall  within  the  pro- 
hibited degrees  of  affinity  would  pre- 
sent such  an  impediment  as  it  might 
be  impossible  to  remove.  The  diffi- 
culty embarrasses,  and  no  more.  The 
obstacle  hinders,  but  it  may  be  sur- 
mounted. The  impediment  is  fatal  ; 
the  only  hope  lies  in  removing  it. 

The  Obstruction  (Lat.  obstriic- 
tionem)  is  not  so  sti-ong  as  Obstacle, 
which  latter  has  also  a  more  abstract 
sense.  We  surmount  obstacles,  and  re- 
move obstructions.  An  obstacle  may  be 
moral  and  internal,  as  indolence  is  an 
obstacle  to  success.  Obstruction  is 
external,  and  lies  in  the  path.  An 
obstacle  for  the  time  checks,  an  ob- 
struction retards. 

"  'Tis  he  th'  ohstfucted  paths  of  sound  shall 

dear. 
And   bid  new   music  charm   th'  unfolding 

ear."  Pope. 

"  Was  ever  anything  difficult  or  glorious 
achieved  by  a  sudden  cast  of  a  thought, 
a  flying  stricture  of  the  imagination  ?  "— 
South. 

"  The  want  of  this  (a  life  conformable  to 
the  religion  which  we  profess)  hath  been  an 
impediment  to  the  progress  of  Christianity, 
and  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  un- 
believers."— JORTIX. 

"  Because  an  obstacle  by  nature  earthly 
and  foul  doth  not  receive  the  pure  clearness 
of  light." — Ralegh. 

DIFFIDENCE.  Distrust.  Mis 
trust.     Misgiving.     Suspicion. 

Of  these,  the  first.  Diffidence 
(Lat.  diffT.dentia),  if  the  word  stands 
alone,  is  only  used  of  ourselves.  It  is 
a  d''>tjust  QT  our  own  powers,  or  a 


slowness  to  give  ourselves  credit  for 
having  any.  It  may  be  with  or  with- 
out sufficient  grounds.  Distrust  is 
want  of  trust  both  as  regards  our- 
selves and  others.  It  relates  not  only 
to  the  power  but  to  the  will,  and  to 
schemes,  effijrts,  and  the  like.  Mis- 
trust relates  not  to  the  power  but  oniy 
to  the  will,  and  hence  can  only  be  pro- 
perly used  of  animate  beings.  To  dis- 
trust is  to  doubt  the  s^ifficiency,  mis- 
trust, to  doubt  the  integrity.  Iff  send 
a  messenger  on  a  confidential  errand, 
and  then  say  I  distrust  him,  I  mean, 
or  ought  to  mean,  I  distrust  his 
powers,  and  fear  that  he  will  not 
carry  out  successfully  what  I  have 
confided  to  him.  If  I  say  I  mistrust 
him,  I  mean,  I  fear  that  he  will  inten- 
tionally play  me  false.  To  distrust  is 
to  feel  absence  of  trust.  To  mistrust  is 
to  have  a  feeling  of  wrono;  trust.  Dis- 
trust is  more  nearly  related  to  diffi- 
dence, mistrust  to  suspicion.  Mis- 
giving is  entirely  inte'-nal  or  reflexive. 
It  is  the  spontaneous  suggestion 
of  distrust,  when  the  shadow  of  doubt 
is,  as  it  were,  cast  back  upon  a  former 
conviction,  resolution,  or  act. 

Suspicion  (Lat.  susyicibneTn)  relate! 
to  something  external  to  ourselves,  or, 
at  least,  sometliing  of  which  we  have 
no  direct  cognizance.  It  is  the  ten- 
dency to  believe  without  adequate 
proof  in  the  existence  of  something 
which  is,  by  usage,  unfavourable, 
hurtful,  or  wrong.  We  do  not  com- 
monly suspect  good.  Yet  this  sense 
is  not  to  be  absolutely  excluded,  for 
both  the  verb  "suspect  and  the  noun 
"  suspicion  "  are  sometimes  taken  in 
the  general  way  of  imagining  to  exist 
under  circumstances  of  concealment, 
AS,  "  Judging  from  the  roughness  of 
his  manner,  one  would  little  suspect 
the  real  tenderness  of  his  disposi- 
tion." 

"  There  were  some  essays  made  faintly, 
diffidently,  and  occasionally  at  first  like  those 
of  men  who,  emerging  out  of  darkness,  were 
dazzled  as  well  as  enlightened."— BoLINO- 


"It  appears  evidently  that  God's  moving 
David,  or  Satan's  provoking  him,  or  his  own 
distrustful  heart  tempting  him,  to  number 
the  people,  are  all  phrases  that  haA-e  one 
and  the  same  meaning."— Clakkk. 


328 


SYMONYMS 


[diffuse] 


«'  Next  stood  Mistrust,  with  freqnent  sigh, 
Disordered  look,  and  squinting  eye. 
While  meagre  Envy  claimed  a  place, 
And  Jealousy,  with  jaundiced  face," 

Cotton. 

"  No  man  should  reckon  every  doubting 
or  misgiving  of  his  heart  about  the  safety  of 
bis  spiritual  estate  inconsistent  with  that 
3onfidence  toward  God  which  is  here  spoken 
of."— South. 

"  Suspicion  may  be  excited  by  some  kind 
of  accusation  not  supported  by  evidence 
sufficient  for  conviction,  but  sufficient  to 
trouble  the  repose  of  confidence."— CoGAN. 

DIFFUSE.  DiscunsivE.  Prolix. 
Copious. 

Of  these,   as  epithets  applied  to 
styles  of  speaking  or  writing,  Dif- 
fuse ( Lat.  dij'uiidere,  part,  diffmus, 
to  pour  in  different  directions)  rather 
relates  to  the  language,  Discursive 
(Lat.  discurrire,  to  run  about,  part,  dis- 
cursus)  to  the  treatment  of  the  subject, 
and  Prolix  (Lat.  prolixus,  stretched 
far  out)  to  the  effect  of  both  in  com- 
bination.   A  diffuse  writer  or  speaker 
is  not  sparing  of  time  or  space.     He 
employs  sentences  which  might  have 
been  condensed  into  fewer  words,  and 
expands   into   imagery,  illustration, 
and  amplification  of  all  sorts.  Diffuse- 
ness  is  the  extreme  of  which  Copious- 
NESS    (Lat.    cdpiosris,    well    supplied, 
eloquent)  is  the  mean,  and  may  be  the 
result  either  of  wealth  of  thought  or 
language,  or  simply  of  the  contrary, 
and  an  inability  to  compress.      Dis- 
cursive denotes  the  absence  of  unity, 
system,  method,  and  sequence.     It 
belongs  to  a  mind,  which  does  not 
estimate  the  relative  bearings  of  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  subject-matter 
upon   the   central  point,   and  treats 
them  in  undigested  series.     Prolix 
denotes  any  sort  of  protraction  of  dis- 
course which    imparts  tlie  sense  of 
weariness,  and  of  superfluous  minute- 
ness or  tedious  length  in  the  treatment 
cf  the  subject. 

"  A  sentiment  which,  expressed  diffusely, 
will  barely  be  admitted  to  be  just,  expressed 
roncisely,  will  be  admired  as  spirited."— 
Blair. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  unfavour- 
able sense  of  the  term  Discursive  is  of 
recent  growth.  In  the  older  English 
writers  the  word  is  employed  as  the 
adjective  corresponding  to  discourse 


— the  Latin  discursus,  reasoning — as  in 
the  following : — 

"  Rational  and  discursive  methods  are  fit 
only  to  be  made  use  of  in  philosophers,  men 
of  deep  reason,  and  improved  minds.  Th« 
generality  of  mankind  would  be  utterly  in 
sensible  of  their  force."— Atterbury, 

"Bat  flie  we  now  prolixitie  best  is."- 
Chaucer. 

"  The  sense  of  the  laws,  I  am  sure,  is  on 
my  side,  which  are  by  no  means  sparing  of 
the  orator's  time.  It  is  not  brevity,  but 
copiousness,  a  full  representation  of  every 
circumstance,  which  they  recommend." — 
MklmoTH,  Pliny. 

DIGNITY.  Loftiness.  Haugh- 
tiness. 

Dignity  (Lat.  dignitatem)  is  used 
in  the  different  senses  of  excellence 
or  importance,  high  station,  and  lofti- 
ness of  demeanour.  In  this  latter 
sense  it  is  the  honourable  mean  of 
which  the  others  are  vicious  ex- 
tremes. Dignity,  in  its  best  sense, 
is  that  elevation  of  soul  without  pride 
which  shows  itself  in  the  manners  and 
in  demeanour  toward  others.  It  flows 
from  a  proper  consciousness  of  what 
is  due  to  oneself,  combined  with  a  re- 
cognition of  the  claims  of  others. 

Loftiness  (loft,  an  upper  room ; 
prop,  meaning,  air;  A.  S.  Ijift,  Ger 
Inft)  is  such  an  air  as  seems  to  indi- 
cate a  vague  sense  of  personal  supe- 
riority, which,  in  ordinary  persons, 
is  pitiable  and  ridiculous,  and  grace- 
ful not  even  in  the  highest  of  rank. 

Haughtiness  (a  corr.  of  0.  Eng. 
hautein-ness,  O.  Fr.  hautain,  from 
haut,  high)  is  more  offensive  than 
loftiness,  because  it  is  the  result  of 
comparison  of  self  with  others,  result- 
ing m  the  persuasion  that  they  ought 
to  be  treated  as  inferiors.  Dignity 
unlike  the  others,  conveys  the  idea 
grace  of  manner. 

"  Taller,  indeed, 
I  may  perceive  than  he,  but  with   these 

eyes 
Saw  never  yet  such  dignity  and  grace." 

CowPER,  Jliad. 
It  may  be  observed  that  Loftiness  is 
often  used  as  a  terra  of  praise,  when 
not  applied  to  persons  and  demeanour, 
as  in  the  following  : — 

"The  loftiness  of  his  fancy,  the  richnesi 
of  his  vein,  and  the  elegancy  of  his  styl«.*^ 
—Barrow. 


[^DILIGENT] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


829 


"  As  many  more  can  iliT-eove  that  a  man 
is  richer  than  that  he  is  wiser  than  them- 
selves, superiority  of  understanding  is  nut 
to  readily  acknowledged  as  that  of  fortune ; 
nor  is  that  haughtiness  which  the  conscious- 
ness of  great  abilities  incites  borne  with  the 
same  submission  as  the  tyranny  of  afflu- 
ence. "—Johnson. 

DILAfE.  Expand.  Extend. 
Enlarge.     Distend. 

To  Dilate,  (o  Distend,  and  to 
P^xpAND  differ  from  to  Extend  and 
to  Enlarge,  in  denoting  an  increase 
of  bulk  or  space  wrought  on  all  sides, 
or,  at  least,  on  more  tiian  one ;  while 
the  latter  may  be  by  increase  only  in 
one  direction.  Again,  Dilate  (Lat. 
dltatdre,  act.  and  neut.,  to  spread  out) 
and  Distend  (Lat.disfe/tdere,  to  stretch 
asunder)  only  apply  to  hollow  bodies 
or  space  enclosed  within  confines. 
Expand  (Lat.  expandh-e),  Extend 
(Lat.  estendh-e),  and  Enlarge  (Fr. 
large^  Lat.  largus,  large,  extensive)  are 
api)licable  to  superficial  measure,  and 
Exi  END  and  En  la  no  e  also  to  number. 
A  thing  is  dilated  when  the  hollow  of 
its  centre  is  made  wider.  It  is  ex- 
panded when  it  is  made  to  occupy 
more  space.  It  is  extended  when  its 
bulk  or  length  is  prolono;ed  or  in- 
creased in  any  one  direction.  It  is 
enlarged  when  it  is  in  any  way,  but 
especially  by  external  addition,  made 
larger.  It  is  distended  when  it  is 
dilated  by  the  elasticity  of  its  parts. 
In  dilating,  expanding,  and  distend- 
ing there  is  no  addition  of  substance, 
which  is  the  case  in  extending  and 
enlarging. 

"  Here,  by  the  by,  we  take  notice  of  the 
wonderful  dilatability  or  extensiveness  of  the 
throats  and  gullets  of  serpents.  I  myself 
have  taken  two  entire  adult  mice  out  of  the 
stomach  of  an  adder  whose  neck  was  not 
bigger  than  my  little  finger." — Ray. 

•'  Then  with  expanded  wings  he  steers  his 

flight. 
Aloft  incumbent  on  the  dusky  air 
That  felt  unusual  weight,  till  on  dry  Jand 
He  lights,  if  it  were  land  that  ever  burned 
With  solid,  as  the  lake  with  liquid  fire." 
Milton. 
"The  extenders  of  empire  are  admired 
anl  commended,  howsoever  they  do  it,  al- 
though with  cruel  wars,  or  by  any  unjust 
means.  "—Barrow. 

"He  that  is  in  such  a  condition  as  doth 
{>lsee  him  above  contempt  and  below  envy 
oannot  by  iny  enlargement  of  his  fortune  be    [ 


made  really  more  rich  or  more  happy  than 
he  is."— WiLKlNS. 

"It  is  not  nature's  abhorrency  of  a 
vacuum,  but  the  distension  of  the  water, 
that  breaks  glasses  when  the  contained 
liquors  come  to  be  congealed."— Bo vle. 

DILATORY.     Procrastinating. 

These  words  very  closely  resemble 
each  other,  and  seem  to  express  the 
same  thing  from  different  points  of 
view.  The  Procrastinating  man 
(Lat.  procrasttnare,  to  put  off  till  to- 
morrow,eras)  is  regarded  in  his  habits 
as  a  man  tending  to  postpone  acting 
when  he  might  or  ought  to  have 
begun. 

The  Dilatory  man  (Lat.  dildto- 
rius)  is  regarded  in  his  acts,  which  he 
does  tardily  and  after  time,  the  result 
of  previous  procrastination.  It  may 
be  observed,  also,  that  procrastination 
refers  to  the  whole  of  any  act,  while 
dilatorinegs  belongs  to  the  details  of 
it  as  well.  In  the  execution  of  his 
work,  the  procrastinating  man,  when 
he  has  once  begun,  has  ceased  to  pro- 
crastinate, but  the  dilatory  man  may 
be  dilatory  while  he  works.  There 
are  persons  who  are  given  to  pro- 
crastination, but  who  are  singularly 
undilatory  when  once  they  have  be- 
gun to  work. 

"  The  king  of  Spain,  mdeed,  delayed  to 
comply  with  our  proposals,  and  our  arma- 
ment was  made  necessary  by  unsatisfac- 
tory answers  and  dilatory  debates." — John- 
son. 

"  The  enemy  of  mankind  hath  furnished 
thee  with  an  evasion.  For  that  he  may 
make  smooth  the  way  to  perdition,  he  will 
tell  the  procrastinator  that  the  thief  upon 
the  cross  was  heard  by  our  Saviour  at  the 
last  hour." — Junius. 

Men  only  are  procrastinating;  both 
men  and  measures  may  be  dilatory. 

DILIGENT.  Active.  Assiduous. 
Industrious.  Laborious.  Sedu- 
lous.    Expeditious.     Prompt. 

The  Diligent  man  (Fr.  diligent) 
is  he  who  gives  sustained  attention 
to  any  matter  which  admits  of  per- 
severance and  interest.  This  may  be 
a  matter  of  habit  with  things  in  gene- 
ral, or  with  some  one  occupation  in 
particular,  or  it  may  be  occasional 
without  being  habitual.  It  denotes  a 
specific  pursuit.  In  this  respect  it 
differs  from  Industrious  (Lat.  indus- 


330 


triosus)  which  denotes  a  nature  which 
loves  work  for  its  own  sake.  Dili- 
gence signifies  the  attention  we  pay 
to  any  particular  object  out  of  prefe- 
rence to  others.  Industry  is  the 
habit  of  laying  up  for  ourselves  a 
Btore,  whether  of  knowledge  or  worldly 
goods.  Diligence  often  produces  in- 
dustry, w^hich  may  be  employed  on 
many  various  objects.  The  man  who 
gleans  information  from  many  diffe- 
rent sources  is  industrious ;  he  who 
studies  a  pai'ticular  subject  with  atten- 
tion is  diligent.  Hence  the  quality  of 
diligence  is  not  attributed  to  the  infe- 
rior animals,  while  the  bee  and  the  ant 
are  termed  industrious.  Diligence  is  a 
combination  of  activity  and  order. 
The  diligent  man  does  not  lose  a 
moment,  but  employs  and  fills  up  all 
his  time.  It  is  a  high  and  valuable 
quality,  yet  belonging  rather  to  se- 
condary than  to  the  highest  minds. 
It  is  the  indispensable  requisite  of  all 
ordinary  success,  especially  because, 
to  the  diligent  man,  work  is  not  irk- 
some. 

The  Active  man  (Fr.  acttf)  loves 
employment,  and  is  uneasy  when  he 
has  nothing  to  do.  He  has  not  neces- 
sarily the  specific  aim  of  the  diligent, 
or  the  love  of  grave  study  or  hard 
work  which  belongs  to  the  industrious, 
but  his  constitution  recoils  from  in- 
dolence or  long  repose. 

Labotiious  (Lat.  IKhoriosus)  is  em- 
ployed both  of  the  agent  and  the  work, 
and  is  a  stronger  form  of  Industrious, 
as  applied  to  jjersons.  The  laborious 
man  does  not  gfudge  hard  effort  where 
needed,  especially  in  compensating 
for  liis  own  deficiencies. 

Assiduous  (Lat.  assidinis,  assHdh'e, 
to  sit  near,  to  sit  down)  and  Sedulous 
(Lat.  sidiilus)  both  express  steady 
and  persevering  attention  to  an  occu- 
pation or  pursuit;  but  Skdulous  de- 
notes that  it  is  natural  or  habitual. 
Assiduous  only  denotes  the  fact, which 
may  be  casual  without  implying  a 
habit.  The  assiduous  person  is  con- 
stantly attentive,  the  sedulous  con- 
stantly busy.  Sedulous  belongs  rather 
to  the  quiet  matters  of  common  occu- 
oation,  and   is  a  term   of  a  quieter 


SYNONYMS  [DIRECTJ 

character  than  Assiduous.  Moreover 
Sedulous  expresses  continuity  of  ^w- 
ployment,  assiduity  continuity  of  pur^ 
pose.  One  may  be  assiduous  in  making 
efforts  periodically,  or  when  occasion 
offers  ;  but  he  who  is  sedulous  sticks 
to  his  task  without  intermission. 

"Diligence  and  accnracy  are  the  only 
merits  which  an  historical  writer  may 
ascribe  to  himself,  if  any  merit  indeed  can 
be  assumed  from  the  performance  of  an  in- 
dispensable duty." — Gibbon. 

"  The  soul,  being  an  active  nature,  is  al- 
ways propending  to  the  exercising  of  one 
faculty  or  other."— Glanvill. 

"  A  scholar  is  industrious  who  doth  as- 
siduoicsly  bend  his  mind  to  study  for  getting 
knowledge."— Barrow. 

"Whence  labour  or  pain  is  commonly 
reckoned  an  ingredient  of  industry,  and 
laboriousness  is  a  name  signifyine  it." — 
Ibid. 

"  Be  sedulous  to  discharge  thy  trust.  Be 
zealous  for  souls,  and  careless  of  money." 
Bishop  Taylor. 

He  who  is  diligent  loses  no  time  at 
his  work,  which  he  performs  assi- 
duously. He  who  is  Expeditious  (Lat, 
expMire,  to  expedite,  part,  expeditus) 
performs  it  with  rapidity,  which  may 
be  the  result  of  diligence  or  ability  or 
both. 

He  who  is  Prompt  (Lat.  promptus, 
ready)  is  quick  to  undertake,  as  well 
as  to  execute  and  discharge,  his  task 
with  that  expedition  which  comes 
from  a  willing  mind.  One  should  be 
diligent  in  the  task  which  one  has  to 
do,  expeditious  in  that  which  requires 
to  be  brought  to  a  speedy  termination, 
prompt  in  executing  the  orders  one 
has  received.  Diligence  is  never 
wrong  in  itself,  though  it  may,  of 
course,  be  in  a  bad  cause.  Expedi- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  may  be  ex 
cess^ve,  and  promptitude  misplaced. 

DIRECT.     Conduct.    Regulate. 

To  Direct  (Lat.  d'v^gere,  pail. 
directus),  as  applied  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  affairs,  is  more  authoritative 
than  Conduct  (Lat.  condticei'ej  part, 
conductus,  to  lead  together),  while  Con- 
duct is  more  active  or  operative.  We 
direct  by  ordering  others  in  the  way 
to  a  certain  end,  as  to  direct  the 
movements  of  an  army.  We  conduct 
by  actually  taking  a  practical  part,  aa 


[directly] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


331 


we  speak  of  conducting  an  important 
or  lucrative  business. 

Regulate  (Lat.  rigiildre)  stands 
midway  between,  with  less  of  the 
command  of  Direct,  and  less  of  the 
activity  of  Conduct  ;  as,  to  regulate 
the  proceedings  of  a  public  meeting. 

"And,  to  prevent  all  dangers  and  all  dis- 
order, there  should  always  be  two  of  the 
scholars  with  them,  as  witnesses  and  direc- 
tors of  their  actions." — CoWLKY. 

"  If  the  Jews  under  his  conduct  should 
endeavour  to  recover  their  liberties,  and 
fail  in  it,  they  knew  that  the  nation  would 
be  severely  punished  by  the  Romans." — 
JORTIN. 

"  Knowledge  without  its  regulator,  tem- 
[erance."— Warburton. 

DIRECT.     Right.     Straight. 

Right  (Lat.  rectus)  and  Straight 
(0.  Fr.  estroity  Lat.  strictus),  as  em- 
])loyed  of  lines  or  lines  of  move- 
ment, differ  as  the  technical  from  the 
natural.  A  right  line  is  a  line  ma- 
thematically straight.  Direct  has 
more  than  a  physical  meaning,  and 
denotes  that  which  goes  to  the  point 
intended  with  as  much  straight- 
forwardness as  possible.  In  this 
sense  we  speak  of  a  direct  answer  to 
a  question.  A  direct  road  to  a  town 
:s  one  which  conducts  to  it  at  once 
without  leading  elsewhere ;  this  it  may 
do  without  bem^  sti'aight,  or  repre- 
sented by  a  right  line  upon  paper. 
Straight  has  the  purely  physical 
meaning  of  not  crooked,  and  may 
be  employed  of  physical  objects,  as 
a  straight  stick;  a  mode  in  which 
neither  right  nor  direct  can  be  em- 
ployed. 

'*  Sounds  do  not  re(^uire  to  be  conveyed  to 
the  sense  in  a  right  line  as  visibles  do,  but 
may  be  arched,  though  it  be  true  they  move 
strongest  in  a  right  line,  which  nevertheless 
is  not  caused  by  the  rightness  of  the  line, 
but  by  the  shortness  of  the  distance." — 
Bacon. 

"Truth  is  the  shortest  and  nearest  way 
to  onr  end,  carrying  us  thither  in  a  straight 
line."— Tillotson. 

"There  be  that  are  in  nature  faithful 
and  sincere,  and  plain  and  direct,  not  crafty 
and  involved." — Bacon. 

DIRECTION.   Address.   Order. 

Of  these  the  former  more  strictly 

lelates  to  things  and  places,  the  latter 


to  persons ;  the  Direction  of  a  letter 
is  the  place  to  which  it  is  to  be  sent. 
The  Address  includes  the  person  to 
whom  it  is  to  be  sent. 

"There  could  not  be  a  ^eater  chance 
than  that  which  bronghtto  light  the  powder 
treason.when  Providence  as  it  wt?re  snatched 
a  king  and  kingdom  out  of  the  very  jaws  ol 
death  only  by  the  mistake  of  a  word  in  the 
direction  of  a  letter."— South. 

"  The  Kinges  highnes  addressed  his 
gracious  letters  to  the  maior  and  comonaltie 
of  the  citie."— Hall,  Henry  VIII. 

As  distinguished  from  Order, 
Direction  conveys  more  promi- 
nently the  idea  of  instruction,  while 
Order  conveys  that  of  authority.  A 
master  may  give  Directions  to  his  ser- 
vant, or  a  friend  may  give  dii-ections 
to  another  how  he  is  to  proceed  in  cer- 
tain cases,  as,  for  instance,  how  he  is 
to  find  a  certain  locality  in  a  large 
town;  but  Order  is  always  authori- 
tative. 

"  Wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct."— Eng- 
lish Bible. 

"  To  execute  laws  is  a  royal  office,  to 
execute  orders  is  not  to  be  a  King."— 
BURKK. 

DIRECTLY.  Immediately.  In- 
stantly. Instantaneously.  Forth- 
with.    Incontinently. 

Directly  refers  more  especially  t« 
the  actions  of  men,  Immediately 
(Lat.  immtdlatusy  not  having  anything 
in  the  middle,  a  logical  tenn)  to  the 
course  of  time. 

Instantly  (Lat.  instans,  present) 
is  formed  to  express  an  interval  so 
small  as  to  be  inappreciable.  In- 
stantaneously has  the  same  mean- 
ing, but  with  the  specific  reference 
to  (he  interval  between  the  cause  and 
its  effect.  "  I  desired  him  to  go, 
and  he  went  directly."  Immediately 
has  a  negative.  Instantly  a  positive 
force.  "■  I  went  immediately,  would 
mean  that  I  allowed  nothing  to  in- 
tervene between  the  present  moment 
and  my  going.  It  commonly  follows 
something  to  which  it  refers,  as  to  a 
sort  of  date  or  starting-point.  In- 
stantly commonly  relates  to  the  ac- 
tions of  intelligent  agents,  Instan 
taneously  to  physical  causation  as 
appreciated  by  the  senses,  as  "  The 
explosion  was  instantaneous  ;"  "lu 


332 


SYNONYMS 

the  accident  I 


[disability] 


fitantly   upon  seein 
ran  to  the  spot." 

Forthwith  is  a  word  formed  to  ex- 
press imraed lateness  of  procedure,  or 
unbroken  continuity  of  effect.  In- 
continently (Fr.  mcoiitinent)  ex- 
presses the  same  idea  negatively,  tliat 
of  the  absence  of  any  restraint  or 
detention.  The  word  is  somewhat 
antiquated. 

"Immediately  he  sent  word  to  Athens 
that  he  would  incontinently  come  hither 
with  a  host  of  men," — GoLDYNG. 

"  Immediately  there  fell  from  his  eyes  as 
it  had  been  scales,  and  he  received  sight 
forthwith.  "—English  Bible. 

"Directly  he  stopped,  the  coffin  was 
removed  by  four  men." — Dickens. 

Straight  in  poetry,  and  straightway 
in  older  English  are  used  in  the  same 
sense. 

"  I  know  thy  generous  temper  well : 
Fling  but  the  appearance  of  dishonour  on  it. 
It  straight  takes  fire  and  mounts  into  a 
blaze."  Addison. 

"  Sleep  instantly  fell  on  me." 

Milton. 

"Sometimes  the  bull  drops  down  dead 
instantaneously." — Swinbukne,  Spain. 

DISABILITY.  Inability.  Dis- 
qualification. 

Disability  (Lat.  prejix  dis;  and 
O.Fr.habile,  Eng.  able,  Lat.  huMUs)  is 
privative;  Inability  is ??eo-a(it;e.  Dis- 
ability expresses  the  absence  of  power 
or  fitness,  physical,  moral,  intellectual, 
or  social,  in  a  subject  capable  of  it. 
Inability  expresses  its  absence  in  a 
subject  incapable  of  it.  In  this  way 
inability  is  iri-emediable,  disability 
may  be  sometimes  removed  by  giving, 
or  giving  back,  the  qualifications. 

Disqualification  (Lat.  dis-,  and 
qualify)  differs  from  Disability  in 
being  more  general,  while  Disability 
is  commonly  used  of  specific  social 
privileges. 

*'  For  they  will  be  freed  from  that  terrene 
concretion  and  remains  of  the  carnal  part 
bringing  on  the  inconveniences,  disabilities, 
pains,  and  mental  disorders  spoken  of  in 
the  last  section." — Search. 

"  It  is  not  from  inability  to  discover  what 
they  ought  to  do  that  men  err  in  practice." 
— Blaik. 


"  We  often  pretend,  and  sometimes  really 
wish,  to  sympathize  with  the  joys  of  others 
when  by  that  disagreeable  sentiment  (enTy) 
we  are  disqualified hova.  doing  so."— Smith, 
Moral  Sentiments. 

DISADVANTAGE.  Detriment. 

The  former  relates  to  the  possible, 
the  latter  to  the  actual.  A  Disad- 
vantage {see  Advantage)  is  that 
which  hinders  from  tlie  amount  of 
good  which  otherwise  might  have 
been  attained.  A  Detriment  (Lat. 
detrimentum,  loss,  damage,  detertre,  to 
rub  away)  diminishes  the  amount  of 
good  actually  existing.  Disadvantage 
commonly  refers  to  the  actions  and 
well-being  of  intellig;ent  agents,  detri- 
ment to  anything  of  the  nature  of  a 
valuable  possession,  or  which  ought 
to  be  preserved  in  integrity.    • 

*'  Besides,  it  plainly  proveth  the  proper 
ness  of  their  parts  and  tallness  of  theii 
industry  who  thereby,  and  by  God  s  bless- 
ing thereon,  reached  so  high  preferment, 
though  disadvantaged  by  standing  on  so 
low  ground  of  their  extraction." — Fuller. 

"  Though  every  man  hath  a  property  in 
his  goods,  yet  he  must  not  use  them  in  detri- 
ment of  the  commonwealth." — StateTrials, 
Hampden. 

DISAFFECTION.     Disloyalty. 

The  former  is  a  wider  term  than 
the  latter.  It  denotes,  generally, 
alienation  or  want  ef  goodwill.  Dis- 
loyalty (O.  ¥r.  disloyal,  disloyal ;  loi, 
law)  does  not  necessarily  imply  dis- 
affection, as  in  England,  to  a  monar- 
chical head,  or  form  of  government, 
but  may  be  to  any  superior,  and 
especially  to  the  form  of  government 
under  which  one  lives.  All  disloyalty 
is,  of  course,  disaffection  ;  but  all 
disaffection  is  not  disloyalty.  If  the 
disaffection  be  against  an  usurped 
government,  it  may  spring  from  loyal 
attachment  to  that  which  is  the  right- 
ful form. 

"Cordelia  at  length  arrives;  an  opiate 
is  administered  to  the  king  to  calm  the 
agonies  and  agitations  of  his  mind,  and  a 
most  interesting  interview  ensues  between 
this  daughter  that  was  so  unjustly  suspected 
of  disaffection  and  the  rash  and  mistaken 
father. ' — Adventurer. 

"The  dev;\  and  his  ministers,  wicked 
seedsmen,  so^\dd  in  you  darnel  and  cockle, 
treason  and  disloyalty.  They  h&ye  mada 
you  forget  your  duty  to  your  natural  p(ia;:« 
and  caantry."— State  Trials. 


[DISAVOWJ 


DI80KIM1NATED. 
Balk.     (See 


333 


DISAPPOINT. 

Baffle.) 

These  teims  both  imply  the  depriv- 
ing another  of  something  which  he 
had  anticipated  ;  but  Disappoint  (  Fr. 
dtsapointcr,  see  Appoint)  refers  com- 
monly to  what  is  hoped,  desired,  or 
expected.  Balk  (O.  E.  fra/fc,  meaning 
a  beam,  or  an  unploughed  ridge  or 
strip  between  two  furrows)  to  what 
is  planned  or  devised.  Hence  Balk 
is  hardly  used  but  of  such  things  as  are 
done  on  purpose,  while  Disappoint 
is  employed  of  any  untoward  in- 
fluence. The  farmer  is  disappointed 
by  heavy  rains  in  harvest  time.  The 
term  Balk  is  commonly  used  of  the 
stopping  of  discreditable  rather  than 
of  honourable  designs. 

"  By  the  inward  overpowering  influences 
of  His  Spirit  a  man's  desires  shall  become 
cold  and  dead  to  those  things  which  before 
were  so  extremely  apt  to  captivate  and 
command  them,  than  which  there  can  not  he 
a  greater  balk  to  the  tempter,  nor  a  more 
effectual  defeat  to  all  his  temptations."— 
South. 

"  Cut  off  even  in  the  blossom  of  my  sin, 
Unhouzled,  disappointed,  unaneled." 

Shakespeare. 

DISAPPROBATION.  Dis- 
approval. 

Although  these  words  have  the 
same  root  (Lat.  appr^bare,  to  approve) 
they  are  employed  in  a  different 
way.  Disapprobation  is  the  feeling, 
Disapproval  is  the  expression  of 
it.  Hence  disapproval  is  the  more 
public  and  formal.  To  disapprove  is 
therefore  sometimes  used  in  the  sense 
of  formally  refusing  a  sanction,  or 
annulling,  in  consequence  of  the  feel- 
ing of  disapprobation.  As,  "  The 
acts  of  the  provincial  governor  were 
disapproved  by  the  government  at 
home ; "  or,  "  His  acts  met  with  the 
disapprobation  of  the  senate." 

«'  Now  the  chief  gentlemen  of  all  countries 
travelled  to  him  to  tender  their  service, 
which  implied  a  disapprobation  at  least,  if 
not  a  contempt  of  the  two  houses'  carriage 
towards  him."— CLARENDoy. 
"  I  disapprove  alike 
The  host  whose  assiduity  extreme 
Distresses,  aud  whose  negligence  offends." 
CowpER'S  Homer. 

DISAVOW.  Deny.  Disown. 
k*/uL»;ATE,     Disclaim. 


To  Disavow  (O.  Fr.  disavoxier)  is  to 
refuse  to  acknowledge  in  a  strong 
manner,  with  some  solemnity,  and  in 
general  terms. 

"  A  solemn  promise  made  and  diS' 
avowed."— Dryden's  Virgil. 

To  Deny  (O.  Fr.  denier,  Lat.  dhie- 
gdre)  is  to  contradict  specifically.  A 
disavowal  is  commonly  volunteered ; 
a  denial -fbllows  upon  a  specific  impu- 
tation. We  disavow  facts  or  charges 
in  which  we  are  said  to  be  personally 
implicated.  We  deny  assertions  and 
requests  of  others  as  well.  Denial 
has  the  broadest  possible  application, 
being  employed  of  anything  which  in 
any  sense  might  be  affirmed. 

"And  thus  to  rack  the  sacred  writings, 
to  force  them,  whether  they  will  or  no,  to 
bring  evidence  to  our  opinions,  is  an  affront 
to  our  authority  which  is  next  to  the  deny 
ing  on't."— Glajnvill. 

To  Disown  is,  as  the  term  implies, 
to  disavow  or  deny,  as  connected  with 
one's  self  personally,  to  refuse  to  ac- 
knowledge personal  interest,  author- 
ship, or  relationship  generally. 

•'But  when  yon  say  it  is  impossible  for 
y(  u  upon  the  sudden  and  without  the  advice 
of  counsel  to  own  or  disown  books,  yon  seem 
very  dark  to  me.  I  cannot  dive  into  your 
meaning." — Utate  Trials. 

Repudiate  (Lat.  rtpMiare,  to  di- 
vorce, to  repudiate)  is  to  force  away 
from  one's  self  what  some  other  per- 
son or  some  external  power  would 
connect  with  us,  as  a  gift,  claim, 
or  responsibility.  The  term  was 
of  old  employed  iu  the  technical 
sense  of  divorce,  but  with  a  difference, 
as  follows : — 

"  There  is  this  difference  between  a  di- 
vorce and  a  repudiation,  that  a  divorce  is 
made  by  a  mutual  consent  occasioned  by  a 
mutual  antipathy,  while  a  repudiation  is 
made  by  the  will  and  for  the  advantage  of 
one  of  the  two  parties,  independently  of 
the  will  and  advantage  of  the  other." — 
Montesquieu. 

To  Disclaim  ( Lat.  pref.  dis-,  and 
claim)  is  the  opposite  of  claim,  to 
waive,  as  a  claim,  to  deny  ownership 
or  responsibility /right,  merit,  or  pre- 
tension. 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  my  dear  sir,  1 
think  the  honour  oKom  nation  to  be  somo- 
wii&t  concerned  iu  the  duclaimer  of  th« 


334 


proceedings  of  this  society  of  the  Old  Jewry 
Hnd  the  London  Tavern." — Burke. 

DISBELIEF.  Unbelief.  Incre- 
DBLiTY.     Infidelity. 

Disbelief  and  Unbelief  (A.  S. 
gelvf'ariy  to  believe)  are  thus  differenced: 
unbelief  is  negative,  disbelief  is  posi- 
tive. One  may  have  unbelief  from 
want  of  knowledge,  but  disbelief 
rejects  as  false.  Unbelief  is-  the  ab- 
sence, disbelief  the  refusal  of  credit. 

"  There  have  been  doubtless  in  all  ages 
such  as  have  disbelieved  the  existence  of 
anything  but  what  was  sensible." — CuD- 

WORTH. 

"  For  the  mind  doth  by  cA-ery  degree  of 
affected  unbelief  contract  more  and  more  of 
II  general  indisposition  towards  believing." 
— Atterbuky. 

Incredulity  (Fr.  incredulitc,  Lat. 
incredMtatem)  and  Infidelity  (Fr. 
infidelity,  Lat.  injldiUtatem)  are  used, 
the  fonner  to  signify  absence  of  belief 
where  it  is  possible,  the  latter  absence 
of  belief  where  belief  is  right.  In- 
credulity may  be,  therefore,  right 
where  it  denotes  a  rightful  reluctance 
of  assent  to  what  ought  not  to  be 
easily  believed,  or  not  believed  at  all. 
Infidelity  is  by  the  force  of  the  term 
wrong.  It  has  the  further  sense  of  a 
breach  of  faith  in  matters  not  of  belief, 
but  practice — where  those  matters  de- 
pend upon  conti'act  or  promise. 

"  There  is  nothing  so  wild  and  extrava- 
gant to  which  men  may  not  expose  them- 
selves by  such  a  kind  of  nice  and  scrupulous 
incredulity."— VfiijKiisS. 

"  The  uncertainty  of  princes,  the  caprices 
of  fortune,  the  corruption  of  ministers,  the 
violence  of  factions,  the  unsteadiness  of 
counsels,  and  the  infidelity  of  friends." — 
Sir  W.  Temple. 

DISCARD.  Dismiss.  Discharge. 

Of  these.  Discharge  (0.  Fr.  des- 
charger,  charger,  to  load,  charge)  has 
applications  in  which  it  is  not  synony- 
mous with  the  other  two ;  as,  to  a 
load  or  cargo,  a  missile,  an  office, 
duty,  or  obligation,  in  the  sense  not 
of  disregarding,  but  performing  it. 
It  is  here  equivalent  to  a  removal  from 

Eersonal  connexion  with  one's  self.  To 
)iscARD  (Lat.  dis-,  and  L.  hat.  carta, 
a  card)  is,  literally,  to  throw  out  of 
the  hand  as  an  useless  card.  It  has, 
therefwe,  the  force  of  rejection  of  the 


STNONYMS  [disbelief] 

person  or  thing  so  disposed  of  as  use- 
less or  of  comparatively  little  value ; 
while  Discharge  is  capable  both  of  an 
honourable  and  dishonourable  sense. 
Dismiss  (Lat.  dis-,  apart,  missus,  sent) 
is  simply  to  send  away  or  get  rid  of, 
and  takes  its  colouring  from  the  cha- 
racter of  the  dismissal.  A  servant 
may  be  dismissed  for  bad  conduct, 
an  untenable  charge  dismissed  by  a 
magistrate  ;  an  officer,  arraigned  be- 
fore a  court-martial,  may  be  dismissed 
without  any  stain  upon  his  charac- 
ter, or,  on  the  other  hand,  dismissed 
the  service.  It  has,  when  applied 
to  things  of  the  mind,  a  meaning 
closely  resembling  Discard, that  is,  to 
abandon  as  worthless  or  insignificant ; 
as,  you  may  dismiss  that  idea  as  ficti- 
tious, that  fear  as  groundless,  that 
hope  as  vain.  In  this  sense,  however. 
Discard  is  used  of  habits,  as  to  discard 
the  follies  and  vices  of  youth,  where 
we  should  not  use  Dismiss.  As  ap- 
plied to  persons,  Dismiss  has  less  than 
Discharge  the  idea  of  inferiority  in 
the  person  sent  away ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  has  more  of  the  force 
oi  peremptory  sending  away.  A  king 
might  dismiss  his  refractory  minis- 
ters ;  but  he  would  not  be  said  (o  dis- 
charge any  but  his  menial  servants 

"  A  man  discards  the  follies  of  boyhood. 
—I.  Taylor. 

"  Before  he  came  in  sight  the  crafty  god 
His  wings  dismissed,  but  still  retained  his 
rod."  Dryde>''s  Ovid. 

*'  Death  is  the  discharger  of  all  gi'iefs  and 
miseries."— Sir  T.  Elyot. 

The  last  quotation  illustrates  the 
wide  meaning  of  Discharge.  It  is,  in 
short,  to  relieve  of  a  charge  or  burden, 
which  may  be  of  many  kinds,  as  of 
a  trust,  an  obligation,  servitude,  a 
criminal  accusation,  a  responsibility, 
and  the  like. 

DISCERNMENT.  Penetration. 
Discrimination.  Judgment.  Dis- 
cretion. 

All  these  terms  relate  to  the  prac- 
tical intellect.  Discernment  (Lat. 
discemere,  part,  discretum,  to  separate, 
distinguish)  is  combined  keenness  and 
accuracy  of  mental  vision.  It  sees 
character,    deeds,   actions,    in    their 


[discernment]     discriminated. 

differences,  their  peculiar  motives, 
their  true  nature.  It  is  first  pene- 
trative, then  discriminative.  The 
discerning  man  is  not  easily  misled, 
because  he  is  not  imposed  upon  by 
appearances,  nor  takes  one  thing  for 
another. 


335 


"  Syrena  is  for  ever  in  extremes. 

And  with  a  vengeance  she  commends  or 
blames. 

Conscious  of  her  discernment,  which  is 
good, 

She  strains  too  much  to  make  it  under- 
stood." Young. 

Penetration  (Lat.  phietrare,  to 
venctrate)  is  the  power  of  seeing 
deeply  into  things,  and  is  that  faculty, 
which,  when  habitually  exercised 
upon  different  objects,  constitutes 
great  discernment;  for  discernment 
IS  general,  penetration  is  in  detail ; 
and,  while  discernment  is  commonly 
spoken  of  character,  penetration  is 
used  of  specific  acts,  thoughts,  inten- 
tions, or  motives.  As  the  man  of  dis- 
cernment does  not  confound,  so  the 
man  of  penetration  does  not  overlook, 
nor  is  easily  deceived.  The  faculty 
of  penetration  is  more  energetic  than 
discernment.  Discernment  is  exercised 
upon  the  common  differences  and  re- 
lations of  human  character,  pene- 
tration upon  those  which  challenge 
peculiar  powers  of  insight.  Discern- 
ment sees  and  judges.  Penetration 
sees  and  detects.  Discernment  reads 
the  countenance.  Penetration  pierces 
the  mask. 

"The  drawing  of  Sir  Thomas  More  at 
Kensington  has  a  freedom,  a  boldness  of 
thought,  and  acuteness  of  penetration  that 
attest  the  sincerity  of  the  resemblance." — 
WiiLPOLK. 

DiscniMiNATiON  (Lat.  discrimtnare, 
to  separate,  distinguish)  is  a  more 
directly  practical  term.  It  is  discern- 
ment m  minute  particulars,  and  of 
such  a  kind  as  leads  to  the  acting 
upon  the  differences  observed.  Dis- 
cernment shows  a  man  the  nature  of 
the  end  to  he  aimed  at ;  discrimination 
will  guide  him  in  his  selection  of  the 
means  to  attain  it. 

"  The  sculptors  of  the  last  age,  f5rora  not 
attending  sufficiently  to  this  discrimination 
of  the  different  styles  of  painting,  have 
been  led  into  many  errors.'* — Sir  J.  Rky 


Judgment  {Lai.  j udicemy  a  judge) 
is  the  faculty  of  deciding  in  practical 
matters  with  wisdom,  truly,  skilfully, 
or  accurately,  it  has  to  do  not  so 
much  with  actualities,  like  discern- 
ment and  penetration,  but  with  possi- 
bilities. It  is  the  faculty  of  weighing 
the  issues  of  things,  and  of  deciding 
aright  in  reference  to  them  ;  and  is  that 
virtue  in  general  of  which  prudence 
is  the  special  application.  The  two 
fold  idea  of  judginent,  as  expressing 
first  a  faculty  of  the  mind,  and, 
secondly,  the  good  use  of  that  faculty 
to  practical  pu7poses,may  be  realized 
by  collating  the  two  following  pas- 
sages from  Stewart  and  Locke  re- 
spectively : — 

"  For  wit  lies  most  in  the  assemblage  of 
ideas  and  puttingthose  together  with  quick- 
ness and  variety,  wherever  can  be  found 
any  resemblance  or  congruity,  thereby  to 
make  up  pleasant  pictures  and  agreeable 
visions  in  the  fancy ;  judgment,  on  the  con- 
trary, lies  quite  on  the  other  side,  in  sepa- 
rating ideas  one  from  another  wherein 
can  be  found  the  least  difference,  thereby 
to  avoid  being  misled  by  similitude  and  by 
affinity  to  take  one  thing  for  another." — 
Locke. 

"  When  we  give  our  assent  to  a  mathe- 
matical axiom,  or  when  after  perusing  the 
demonstration  of  a  theorem,  we  assent  to 
the  conclusion  ;  or  in  general  when  we  pro- 
nounce concerning  the  truth  or  falsity  of 
any  proposition,  or  the  probability  or  im- 
probability of  any  event,  the  power  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  perceive  what  is  true  or 
false,  probable  or  improbable,  is  called 
by  logicians  the  faculty  of  judgment."  - 
Stewart. 

As  Discernment  regards  not  things 
themselves  so  much  as  their  diflfe- 
rences,  so  Judgment  is  concerned 
with  things  themselves.  The  former 
distinguishes,  the  latter  pronounces. 
The  first  distinguishes  between  the 
true  and  the  false,  excellence  and  de- 
fect, the  genuine  and  the  counterfeit, 
the  motive  and  the  pretext.  The 
second  relates  to  matters  of  conduct 
and  their  practical  consequences.  It 
is  the  character  of  discernment  to  be 
clear,  it  is  the  character  of  Judgment 
to  be  wise.  If  we  wish  advice  on  the 
beauty  or  goodness  of  a  thing  we  go 
to  persons  of  discernment,  if  we  wish 
for  advice  on  the  prudence  or  propriety 
of  a  step  to  be  taken  we  go  to  person* 
of  judgment.     Discernment  may  be 


336 

quickened  by  experience,  but  is  to  a 
great  extent  a  natural  gift.  Judg- 
ment for  its  accuracy  is  more  largely 
indebted  to  experience,  but  is  nearly 
related  also  to  tact  and  taste. 

Discretion  (Lat.  dkcritionem,  sepa- 
ration^ distinction)  is,  etymologically, 
another  form  of  discernment.  It  is 
cautious  discernment,  and  has  for  its 
result  the  avoidance  of  such  errors  as 
come  from  want  of  self-coutrol  or 
want  of  judgment  in  matters  of  speech 
and  action .  It  is  discernment  referred 
back  to  the  standard  of  propriety  in 
matters  of  self-control.  It  is  a  kind 
of  prudence  and  moderation,  and  in- 
volves discernment.  It  is  like  reserve, 
but  more  difficult  of  attainment,  inas- 
much as  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  be  silent 
as  to  say  only  what  one  ought.  One  may 
be  too  reserved,  but  not  too  discreet. 
Indeed,  reserve  itself  needs  discre- 
tion or  it  will  become  rudeness.  Dis- 
cretion is  only  a  virtue  when  it  re- 
gards the  interests  of  others.  When 
confined  to  ourselves  it  is  a  social  in- 
stinct of  self-preservation.  Reserve 
may  be  said  to  represent  the  neptive 
and  passive  side  of  discretion,  for  re- 
serve knoAVS  only  what  not  to  do  and 
say,  discretion  knows  also  how  to  act 
and  speak. 

*'  The  second  thing  that  naturally  shows 
itself  in  paucity  of  words  is  discretion,  and 
particularly  that  prime  and  eminent  part  of 
it  that  consists  in  a  care  of  offending." — 
South. 

DISCHARGE,    Acqitittal. 

The  DiscuARGE  is  a  judgment  upon 
«ia  accused  person  found  guilty,  be- 
<;ause  the  law  has  not  exactly  pro- 
vided for  the  offence  (O.  YT.descharger, 
charge f  a  charge^  or  burden).  The 
Acquittal  (Fr.  acquitter,  Lat.  ad- 
quiitdre)  recognizes  his  innocence. 
There  is  then  between  these  terms  all 
the  difference  that  there  is  between 
a  guilty  person  and  an  innocent  one. 
In  the  former  case  the  law  is  power- 
less to  punish,  in  the  latter  powerful 
to  absolve. 

DISCLOSE.  Divulge.  Rlveal. 
Discover.    Tell. 

D18CLO8B  (O.Fr.  desclosy  disclosed),is 
io  cxpotte  to  view  or  knowledge  any- 


STNONYMS  [dISCHAROBJ 


thing  which  before  was  secret,  hidden, 
or  concealed. 

Divulge  (Lat.  dwulgdre,  to  publish 
abroad ;  vutgus,  the  common  people)  is 
to  communicate  what  had  been  before 
kept  or  confided  as  a  secret,  or  known 
to  but  one  or  a  few. 

Reveal  (Lat. reveldre,  re-,  back,  and 
velum,  a  veil)  is  to  make  known  that 
which  has  been  unknown  or  concealed. 
This  may  be  purposely  or  designedly  ; 
with  or  without  breach  of  faith.  It 
differs  from  DiscL0SE,as  applying  only 
to  matters  of  knowledge,  while  Dis- 
close is  applicable  to  physical  objects 
of  sight.  The  matter  revealed  is  sup- 
posed to  be  of  value  or  interest  to 
him  to  whom  it  is  revealed.  It  may 
be  to  one  or  a  few,  while  Divulge  is 
to  many. 

DiscovEn  (O.  Fr.  descouvrir)  is 
simply  to  remove  what  hid  from  view, 
and  so  to  bring  an  object  to  light. 
This  may  be  spontaneous.  In  this 
way  the  tenn  is  employed  of  such 
manifestations  as  are  not  the  re- 
sult of  specific  design,  the  know- 
ledge of  which,  therefore,  was  not 
antecedently  in  the  possession  of  the 
discoverer.  It  is  a  sudden,  unex- 
pected, bringing  before  the  eyes,  not 
of  others,  but  one's  own. 

Tell  (A.  S.  tellan)  denotes  an  in- 
tention to  give  information  in  suc- 
cessive detail,  and  expresses  such  only 
as  is  communicated  by  words,  except 
when  used  metaphorically.  To  tell 
is  to  declare  things  purposely,  with  a 
design  to  inform  the  listener.  Dis- 
closure may  be  accidental.  To  re- 
veal is  to  make  known  what  is  con- 
cealed by  withdrawing  what  covered 
it.  To  divulge  often  follows  upon 
revealing,  being  a  spreading  abroad 
of  the  knowledge  of  what  is  revealed. 
The  term  Reveal  conveys  a  favour- 
able, as  Divulge  an  unfavourable, 
impression.  We  reveal  under  a  sense 
of  duty  or  for  the  benefit  of  another, 
we  divulge  to  his  injury  in  betrayal 
of  a  trust. 

'•  When  stormy  winds  disclose  the  dark 
profound."  Poi'K's  Homer 


disdainful]  discriminated. 


337 


"Secrets which  perhaps  the  confidence  of 
'rieiid  has  mtide  known  to  the  treache- 
ns  divulger  of  them."— Knox,  Essays. 

"  The  doctrines  thus  delivered  we  call 
the  revealed  or  Divine  law,  and  they  are 
to  be  found  only  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."— 
BlACKSTONB. 

"  It  is  idle  to  say  that  a  future  state  had 
been  discovered  already.  It  had  been  dis- 
covered as  the  Copernican  system  vas ; 
it  was  one  guess  among  many.  He  alone 
discovers  who  proves." — Paley. 

"  Who  can  tell  how  oft  he  ofFendeth  ?"— 
English  Psabns. 

DISCOVERY.     Invention. 

Both  Discovery  (in  O.  Fr.  descouv- 
rh-jto  discover, des-,&ndcouvrir,tocover) 
and  Invention  (Lat.  inveiitioiiem, 
a  devising)  denote  generally  something 
new  that  is  found  out  in  the  arts  and 
sciences.  But  the  term  Discovery  in- 
volves in  the  thing  discovered  not 
merely  novelty,  but  curiosity,  utility, 
difficulty,  and  consequently  some  de- 
gree of  importance.  All  this  is  less 
strongly  involved  in  Invention.  But 
there  are  yet  wider  differences.  One 
can  only  discover  what  has  in  its 
integrity  existed  before  the  discovery, 
while  invention  brings  a  thing  into 
existence.  America  was  discovered. 
Printing  was  invented.  Fresh  dis- 
coveries in  science  often  lead  to  new 
inventions  in  the  industrial  arts.  In- 
deed,disco  very  belongs  more  to  science, 
invention  to  art.  Invention  increases 
the  store  of  our  practical  resources, 
and  is  the  fruit  of  search.  Discovery 
extends  the  sphere  of  our  knowledge, 
and  has  often  been  made  by  accident. 

DISCREDIT.  Dishonour.  Dis- 
grace.    Disfavour. 

These  words,  which  are  the  nega- 
tions of  certain  opposites,  are  best 
understood  by  the  opposites  which 
they  negative.  Discredit  interferes 
with  a  man's  credit  or  respectability. 
Disgrace  marks  him  as  a  conspi- 
cuous object  of  another's  disapproval. 
Dishonour  is  the  treatment  with 
positive  disrespect.  Disfavour  is  the 
becoming  a  cause  of  offence.  A  man 
may,  therefore,  discredit  or  disgrace 
himself,  but  he  can  only  be  dishon- 
oured by  others.  This  maybe  deserved 
or  not.  as  a  foolish  young  king  may 


dishonour  a  venerable  minister.  He 
who  falls  in  social  estimation  incurs 
discredit ;  he  who  loses  the  respect  of 
society  or  a  personal  superior  is  dis- 
graced. He  who  is  treated  as  un- 
worthy in  the  sight  of  others  is  dis- 
honoured. He  who  has  forfeited  or 
lost  the  good  opinion  or  kindly  feel- 
ing of  another  is  in  disfavour.  This 
may  be  unmerited,  and  of  itself  carries 
no  idea  of  blameworthiness.  Disfavour 
is  often  the  result  of  caprice.  It  may 
be  momentary.  If  not  it  is  the  pre- 
lude of  disgrace. 

"  I  think  good  to  deliver  it  (learning) 
from  the  discredits  and  disgraces  which  it 
hath  received,  all  from  ignorance,  but 
ignorance  severally  disguised,  ap|)earing 
sometimes  in  the  zeal  and  jealousy  of 
di^^nes,  sometimes  in  the  severity  and 
arrogancy  of  politicians,  and  sometimes  in 
the  en-ors  and  imperfections  of  learned 
men  themselves." — Bacon. 

"  No  vow  the  god,  no  hecatomb  unpaid. 
But  the  dishonour  of  his  priest  resents. 
Whom  Agamemnon  menaced,  and  refused 
His  daughter's  freedom  at  the  richest  price," 
Cowper's  Homer. 

"  Till  the  proud  king  and  the  Achaian  race 
Shall  heap  with  honours  him  they  now 
disgrace."  Pope's  Homer. 

Disfavour  is  the  mildest  in  mean- 
ing. It  is  simply  the  state  of  not 
being  in  favour.     See  Favour. 

"  Many  a  good  acquaintance  has  beea 
lost  from  a  general  prepossession  in  his 
disfavour,  and  a  severe  aspect  has  oft«n  had 
under  it  a  very  agreeable  companion," — 
Tatler. 

DISDAINFUL,  Scornful.  Con- 
temptuous.    Supercilious. 

Disdainful  (exhibiting  disdain, 
O.  Fr.  desdein)  denotes  that  kind  of 
look  or  manner — for  it  is  commonly 
confined  to  demeanour,  and  not  to 
pure  thought  or  judgment — which 
is  the  result  of  a  depreciation  or  dis- 
regard of  what  is  due  to  others,  and  a 
vague  habitof  regarding  others  as  be- 
neath one's  self.  It  has  in  it  more  of 
affectation  than  of  reason,  and  is  often 
accompanied  by  weakness  and_  silli- 
ness of  character.  It  is  the  indis- 
criminate exhibition  of  a  notion  of 
personal  superiority  without  ground 
or  occasion. 

"  Let  not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil. 
Their  homely  joys  and  destiny  obscm-e  ; 


338 


SYjS'ONYMS 


[disease] 


Nor  grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile    I 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 
Gkav. 

Scornful  (see  Scorn)  is  an  ener- 
getic form  of  this,  and  a  positive 
expression  of  the  ill-desert  or  utter 
meanness  of  others;  while  disdainful 
expresses  little  more  than  the  habi- 
tual sense  of  one's  own  superiority. 
Scorn   may  be   unmerited   and  mis- 

S laced,  but  unlike  Disdain  it  has  its 
istinct  ?^-5Sons. 

"  All  but  themselves  they  looked  on  with 
a  very  scornful  piety,  and  thonght  that 
God  hated  them  because  they  did." — 
Stillingflket. 

Contemptuous  (Lat.  contemntre, 
part,  contemptiis,  to  despise)  is  more 
elaborately  disdainful,  and  refers  to 
words  or  actions;  while  Disdainful 
hardly  goes  beyond  the  look,  and  is 
far  less  direct.  A  disdainful  expres- 
sion, air,  smile  ;  a  scornful  look ;  a 
contemptuous  epithet  or  remark  or 
behaviour  towards  another. 

**  This  posture  signifying  a  proud,  con- 
temptuous behaviour,  whilst  the  Publican 
stood  crouching  humbly,  tremblingly  be- 
hind."— Hammond. 

Supercilious  (Lat. siiperctliosus,  sfi- 
percilhim,  the  eyebroiv)  is  an  epithet 
of  the  expression  of  the  face  and 
manner.  Superciliousness  is  a  lazy 
contemptuousness.  It  is  that  haughti- 
ness which  disdains  the  pains  of  in- 
Bpection  and  inquiry. 

"  Superciliousness  and  laziness  too  fi-e- 
quent  in  schools." — BoYLK. 

DISEASE.  Sickness.  Malady. 
Complaint.  Ailment.  Disorder. 
Distemper. 

Disease  (O.  Ft.  desaise,  the  oppo- 
site of  aise,  ease,  cf.  disorder  ;  and  ma- 
lady) is  the  most  strictly  technical  of 
these  terms,  being  applied  in  medical 
science  to  such  morbid  conditions  of 
the  body,  or  of  parts  of  it,  as  admit  of 
diagnosis,  and  is  commonly  of  pro- 
longed duration.  It  is  specific,  local, 
and  organic,  as  a  disease  of  the  heart 
or  the  skin. 

"  Though  all  afflictions  are  evils  in  them- 
selves, yet  they  are  good  for  us  because 
they  discover  to  us  our  disease  and  tend  to 
oar  cure."— Tillotson. 


Sickness  (A.  S.  sak,  sick)  is  an 
unscientific  term,  to  denote  the  de- 
ranged condition  of  the  constitution 
generally,  without  specifying  its 
character. 

<'  Sorrow,  need,  sickness,  or  any  other 
adversity." — English  Liturgy. 

A  Malady  (Fr.  milade,  Lat.  mali- 
aptuSj  as  we  say,  indisposed)  is  a  lin- 
gering and  deep-seated  disorder  ,which 
debilitates  without  immediately  jeo- 
pardizing the  vital  functions.  Both 
Sickness  and  Malady  are  general; 
while  Disease  is  specific. 

"  O,  wist  a  man  how  many  maladies 
Folwen  of  excess  and  of  glotonies. 
He  wolde  ben  the  more  mesurable 
Of  his  diete,  sitting  at  his  table." 

Chaucer. 

Complaint  (Fr.  complainte,  from 
O.  Fr.  complaindre,  to  complain)  is  com- 
monly applied  to  the  less  violent 
though  continuous  kinds  of  disorder. 
Complaint  is  not  in  this  sense  a  term 
of  Old  English  literature,  but  bears 
the  sense  of  an  expression  of  pain  or 
trouble. 

Disorder  (Fr.  ddsordre)  is  a  dis- 
turbance of  the  functions  of  the  ani- 
mal economy,  and  differs  thus  from 
disease,  which  is  organic. 

"The  following  lines  upon  delirious 
dreams  may  appear  very  extravagant  to  a 
reader  who  never  exjierienced  the  disorders 
which  sickness  causes  in  the  brain." — 
Thompson  on  Sickness. 

Ailment  (ail,  to  suffer;  A.  S. 
eglan,  to  pain,  grieve)  is  the  lightest 
form  of  complaint,  yet  may  be  of  a 
chronic  as  well  as  of  a  passing  cha- 
racter. 

"  For  little  ailments  oft  attend  the  fair." 
Lansdowne,  Cure  for  the  Vapours. 

Distemper  (0.  F.  destemprer,  te 
derange)  is  a  morbid  state  of  the  ani- 
mal system.  It  is  used  of  the  human 
race  commonly  in  the  sense  of  mental 
ailment,  and  in  its  physical  meaning 
purely  is  spoken  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals. In  a  secondary  sense,  we 
speak  of  a  diseased  mind,  a  disordered 
intellect  or  imagination,  mental  mala- 
dies. Though  the  human  subject  is 
not  said  to  labour  under  such  and 
such   a    particular    distemper,   therti 


[disguise] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


339 


is  an  abstract  and  general  sense  in 
which  the  word  is  so  applicable,  as  in 
the  following: — 

"  Peradventui-e  it  will  be  replied,  that 
there  are  many  sinners  who  escape  all 
these  calamities,  and  neither  labour  under 
any  shame  or  disrepute,  any  unquietness  of 
condition,  or  more  than  ordinary  distemper 
of  body,  hut  pass  their  days  with  as  great 
a  portion  of  honour,  ease,  and  health  as  any 
other  man  whatsoever." — South. 

DISENGAGE.  Disentangle. 
Extricate.     Detach. 

Disengage  (O.  Fr.  desengager)  is 
the  simple  opposite  to  engage,  and, 
therefore,  relates  to  one  detaining  or 
engrossing  force  or  influence  at  a 
time. 

Disentangle  (etym.  doubtful,  said 
to  be  allied  to  the  Gothic  iagl,  hair) 
is  to  release  from  a  condition  of  being 
intricately  involved.  Disentangle 
diflfers  li'om  Disengage  in  applying 
both  to  subject  and  object.  We  may 
disentangle  the  difficulty  as  well  as 
the  person  involved  in  it. 

Extricate  (Lat.  extrxcare,  to  get 
rid  of  trlctBy  trifles,  impediments)  is 
to  liberate  from  complicated  deten- 
tion or  conditions  of  difficulty,  and 
relates  to  persons,  and  not  things, 
except  in  a  few  scientific  terms,  as 
the  extrication  of  heat  or  moisture. 

Detach  (Fr.  detacher,  to  unfasten) 
relates  to  such  simple  connexions  as 
unite  one  thing  to  another,  or  to 
several  others.  To  detach  is  literally 
to  make  not  to  touch.  Its  force  is 
intermediate  between  separate  and  dis- 
join. Things  are  detached  which 
meet  at  one  point  only.  We  may  be 
disengaged  from  an  oath  or  an  occu- 
pation ;  disentangled  from  pecuniary 
difficulties,  or  embarrassing  clamis 
and  connexions ;  extricated  from  im- 
minent peril,  where  it  comes  from 
multiplied  difficulties  of  escape  :  and 
detached  from  a  party  to  which  we 
have  hitherto  adhered.  It  is  in  the 
purely  physical  sense  that  Detach  is 
commonly  employed,  as  to  detach  a 
seal  from  the  chain  to  which  it  was 
suspended.  We  are  disengaged  from 
what  binds  us;  disentangled  from 
what  implicates  us ;  extricated  from 


what  embarrasses   us,  and  detaclied 
from  what  embraces  us. 

"  We  should  also  beforehand  disengage 
our  mind  fiom  other  things,  that  we  may 
the  more  efiectually  attend  to  the  new 
object  which  we  wish  to  remember." — 
Beattib. 

"  In  the  disentanglement  of  this  distress- 
ful tale  (  the  '  Nut-brown  Mayde ')  we  are 
happy  to  find  that  all  his  cruelty  was  ten- 
derness, and  his  inconstancy  the  most  in- 
variable truth ;  his  levity  an  ingenious 
artifice,  and  his  perversity  the  friendly  dis- 
guise of  the  firmest  aliection." — Wakton. 

*'  His  treasures  were  now  exhausted,  his 
subjects  were  highly  irritated,  the  ministry 
were  all  frighted,  being  exposed  to  the 
anger  and  justice  of  the  Parliament,  so  that 
he  had  brought  himself  into  great  distress, 
but  had  not  the  dexterity  to  extricate  him- 
self from  it."— Burnet. 

"  They  are,  in  short,  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  our  Maker  to  improve  our  minds, 
to  rectify  our  failings,  to  detach  us  from  the 
present  scene,  to  fix  our  afiections  on  things 
above." — Porteus. 

DISGUISE.     Dissemble. 

Disguise  (O.  Fr.  desgniser,  guise^ 
manner,  fashion)  is  to  hide  by  a  coun- 
terfeit appearance,  or  in  any  mannei 
to  cloak  by  what  is  fitted  to  mislead. 

Dissemble  (Lat.  pref.  dis-,  and  Fr. 
sembler,  to  seem;  Lat.  simiilnre,  to  simu- 
late) has  much  the  same  meaning; 
but  the  terms  are  a  little  differently  em- 
ployed. Disguise  relates  rather  to  the 
false  or  altered  condition  of  the  subject 
of  tlie  disguise;  Dissemble  to  the  false 
impression  produced  upon  other  per- 
sons. Dis^iseis  general,  dissimulation 
specific.  VVe  may  disguise  negatively 
by  preventing  another  from  knowing 
what  is  in  us  ;  but  we  dissemble  when 
we  lead  him  to  believe  that  we  have 
something  which  we  have  not.  An 
enemy  may  disguise  his  hatred  of 
another  by  an  air  of  indifierence.  He 
dissembles  when  he  assumes  an  air  of 
friendship.  Disguise  is  a  matter  of 
appearance,  dissimulation  a  matter  of 
action.  A  prince  might  disguise  him- 
self as  a  beggar ;  but  unless  he  held 
such  communications  with  others  as 
to  practically  deceive  them,  he  would 
not  be  dissembling. 

"  When  we  arc  touched  with  some  impor- 
tant ill. 
How  vainly  sSence  wonld  onr  grief  con- 


340 


SYNONYMS  [disgust] 


Sorrow  noi-  joy  can  he  disguisea  ay  arts, 
Oar    foreheads    blab    the    secrets  of  our 

hearts,"  Drydkn,  Juvenal. 

"  With  him,  Dissemblance  went,  his  para- 

monr. 
Whose  painted  face  might  hardly  be  de- 
tected ; 
Arms  of  offence  he  seld'  or  never  wore. 
Lest   thence  his    close   designs  might   be 

suspected ; 
Bnt  clasping  close  his  foe,  so  loth  to  part. 
He  steals  his  dagger  with  false-smiling  art. 
And  sheathes  the  traitorous  steel  in  his 
own  master's  heart." 

Fletcher,  Purple  Island. 

DISGUST.  Dislike.  Aversion. 
Distaste.     Disinclination. 

These  terms  not  only  differ  in  point 
of  force,  but  are  differently  applied. 
Dislike  (Lat. dis-,  apart,  and  like)  is  to 
have  a  feeling  of  positive  and  usually 
permanent  avoidance,  though  not 
necessarily  strong  in  degree.  We 
have  a  dislike  to  what  is  simply  un- 
pleasant to  us  fi-om  an  inherent  un- 
congeniality  with  our  taste,  feelings, 
or  sentiments. 

"  To  show  any  dislike  to  those  who  were 
the  favourites  of  that  infamous  emperor 
(Domitian),  was  construed  by  him  into  an 
act  of  treason  against  himself." — Mei> 
MOTH,  Pliny. 

Disgust  (O.  Fr.  desgouster,  to  dis- 
like ;  Lat.  gustus,  taste)  is  said  pri- 
marily of  what  is  offensive  to  the 
organs  of  taste ;  then  analogously 
of  anything  repugnant  to  the  moral 
taste  or  higher  sensibilities  of  our 
nature. 

Distaste,  though  verbally  equiva- 
lent to  Disgust,  is  far  less  strong.  It 
expresses  natural  uncongeniality, 
which  is  often  gradually  superinduced 
by  the  alienating  force  of  habit.  Dis- 
gust is  the  strongest  but  most  tran- 
sient, being  excited  by  something 
suddenly  presented  to  the  experience 
or  observation. 

"  The  king  (Ilenry  VIII.)  loved  to  raise 
mean  persons,  and  upon  the  least  distaste 
to  throw  them  down." — Burnet. 

"  For  day  by  day  themsehes. 
My  parents,'  urge  my  nuptials,  and  my  son 
(Of  age  to  mte  it)  with  disgust  observes 
His  wealth  consumed."    ColvPKR,  Homer. 

Aversion  (Lat.  dversioyiem,  a  turn- 
ing away)  denotes  a  fixed  internal  dis- 
like or  'distaste,  and  is  stronger  than 
either,  almost  amounting  to  hatred. 


Aversion  is  founded  less  on  feeling, 
and  more  on  sentiment  and  judgment. 
The  just  and  humane  man  has  an  aver- 
sion to  committing,  no  less  than  wit- 
nessing, an  act  of  cruelty.  It  is  a 
stronger  and  more  definable  form  of 
disinclination . 

"  Strictly  speaking,  aversion  is  no  other 
than  a  modification  of  desire — a  desire  of 
being  liberated  from  whatever  appears  to 
be  injurious  to  well-being." — CoQAJf. 

We  are  disgusted  with  occasional  ex- 
hibitions, as  with  acts  of  cruelty.  If 
disgust  is  not  physical,  it  results  from 
the  actions  of  men.  Dislike  is  felt  of 
persons  and  things,  which  is  also  the 
case  with  aversion ;  while  distaste  is 
not  often  applied  to  persons,  but  most 
commonly  to  what  is  habitually  asso- 
ciated with  ourselves,  as  employments, 
pursuits,  modes  of  life. 

Disinclination  (Lat.  dis-,  and  in- 
cline) is  an  indisposition  or  dislike  to 
the  adoption  of  an  act,  a  course  of 
conduct,  a  policy,  or  mode  of  life,  and 
may  either  be  constitutional  or  there- 
suit  of  circumstances  and  considera- 
tions. It  refers,  unlike  the  rest,  as 
much  to  our  own  will  as  to  circum- 
stances externa]  to  us. 

"Whenever  they  found  any  person  of 
quahty  inclined  to  the  king,  or  but  disin- 
clined to  them,  they  immediately  seized 
upon  his  person,  and  sent  him  in  great 
triumph  to  the  Parliament,  who  committed 
him  to  prison  with  all  circumstances  of 
cruelty  and  inhumanity." — Clareitdon. 

DISMAL.     Dull.     Dreaey. 

Dismal  (O.  Fr.  dismal,  etym.  not 
known).  A  dismal  object  not  only 
produces  an  unenlivening,  but  a  kind 
of  foreboding  effect.  It  carries  on  the 
mind  to  think  of  other  matters  over 
which  that  which  is  dismal  casts  a 
shade,  being  depressing  to  the  feel- 
ings, and  inducing  gloom  in  the  mind. 
The  dismal  is  that  which  produces  a 
constant  sense  of  meagreness  and  in- 
sufficiency of  light  and  life.  A  dismal 
day  is  one  in  which  the  li^ht  struggles 
with  the  darkness,  and  is  well-nigh 
overpowered.  A  dismal  tale  is  not 
acutely  sorrowful,  but  one  in  which 
joy  and  hope  seem  in  vain  contending 
with  their  contraries,  and  the  result  is 
the  gloom  of  continued    depression. 


[disparity] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


341 


Archbishop  Trench  (Select  Glossary) 
thinks  that  the  usage  of  the  word 
has  been  affected  by  the  fanciftil  deri- 
Tation  of  the  word  from  dies  mdliis. 

"  I  trow  it  was  in  the  dismall." 

Chaucer. 

"  An  ugly  fiend  more  foul  than  dismal  day." 
Spenser. 
"A  dismal  description  of  our  English 
November."— SouTHEY. 

Dull  (A.  S.  dol,  stupid)  is  simply 
not  sharp,  bright,  or  quick  ;  hence 
furnishing  little  delight,  or,  subjec- 
tively, not  feeling  it,  and  is  not  so 
strong  as  Dismal.  In  its  secondary 
application  Dismal  is  commonly  posi- 
tive ;  Dull  may  be  little  mare  than 
negative.  A  dismal  description  is  one 
that  impresses  the  mind  with  the  sad- 
ness of  actual  occurrences ;  a  dull  de- 
scription is  no  more  than  heavy  and 
uninteresting.  Dull,  as  an  epitnet  of 
character,  expresses  such  torpor  of 
soul  as  is  inconsistent  with  mental 
activity,  and  implies  an  innate  de- 
ficiency of  moral  sensibility  or  mental 
power. 

*'  In  eldest  times  ere  mortals  writ  or  read. 
Ere  Pallas  issued  from  the  Thunderer's 

head, 
Dulness  o'er  all  possessed  her  ancient  right. 
Daughter  of  Chaos  and  Eternal  Night. 
Fate  in  their  dotage  this  fair  idiot  gave, 
Gross  as  her  sire,  and  as  her  mother  grave. 
Laborious,  heavy,  busy,  bold,  and  blind. 
She  ruled,  in  native  anarchy,  the  mind." 
Pope. 

Dreary  (A.  S.  dreorigy  soirowful, 
literally  bloody,  dredr,  blood  )  conveys 
the  ideaof  tedfious,  monotonous,  long- 
drawn-out  dulness.  It  belongs  to  an 
extent  of  time  or  space  unrelieved  by 
gladsome  interval  and  change,  as  a 
dreary  time,  a  dreary  journey,  a  dreary 
waste  of  country. 

"  His  heart  was  drear,  his  hope  was  crossed, 
'Twaa  late,  'twas  far— the  path  was  lost 
That  reached  the  neighbour  town." 

ParnELL. 

DISMAY.     Daunt.     Appal. 

Dismay  (Lat.  dis-,  and  O.  Fr.  es- 
mayer,  to  strike  with  dismay ;  and  this 
from  Lat.  ex-,  out  of,  and  O.  H.  G. 
magan,  to  have  power.  For  fuller  ac- 
count, see  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.),  true 
to  its  derivation,  denotes  the  inspiring 
of  a  fear  which  interfere*  with  action, 


destroying  the  spirit  of  energy  and 
enterprize;  as  the  traveller  mav  be 
dismayed  by   what  he  hears  of  the 

ferils  incident  to  a  particular  route, 
t  involves  a  state  of  gloomy  appre- 
hension. 

Daunt  (O.Fr.  donter,  Lat.  d'6m'itare,. 
to  tame)  is  stronger  than  Dismay,  com- 
monly implying  not  only  the  feeling  of 
terror,  but  the  abandonment  of  the  un- 
dertakinginconsenuence^ofthesudden 
manifestation  of  the  difficult  or  dan- 
gerous. 

Appal  (Lat.  ad-,  and  Welsh  pally 
weaknesSy  loss  of  power)  expresses  a 
temporary  check  produced  by  the  ac- 
tion of  sudden  fear  strong  enough  to 
overwhelm  the  faculties.  He  who  is 
dismayed  suffers  great  mental  pertur- 
bation. He  who  IS  daunted  abandons 
his  enterprize.  He  who  is  appalled 
is  unable  to  act. 

*'  So  flies  a  herd  of  beeves,  that  hears,  dis- 

maycd. 
The  lions  roaring  through    the   midnight 

shade."  Pope. 

"  No  fear  could  daunt,  nor  earth  nor  helJ 

control."  Ibid. 

''  Smiling  ferocious,  with  impatient  haste 
Striding,  and  brandishing  his  massy  spear. 
Him  (Ajax)  viewed  the  Greeks  exulting, 

with  appal 
The  Trojans,  and  with  palpitating  heart 
Even  Hector."  CowPER,  Iliad. 

DISPARITY.     Inequality. 

Of  these.  Disparity  (Fr.  disparite) 
is  a  species  of  Inequality  (Lat.  ina- 
qualitatem).  Inequality  is  general  or  ab- 
solute ;  disparity  is  relative  and  speci- 
fic. Disparity  is  inequality  in  reference 
to  a  common  standard,  while  inequality 
does  not  of  necessity  imply  this.  There 
is  an  inequality  of  age  between  an  old 
man  and  a  youth,  but  no  disparity. 
But  let  some  common  measure  be  in- 
troduced, as,  for  instance,  the  running 
a  race,  and  there  would  be,  in  refe- 
rence to  their  common  statfe  or  under- 
taking, a  disparity.  Thus  inequality 
involves,  as  it  were,  two  terms,  dis- 
parity three.  It  must  be  added,  how- 
ever, that  Disparity  is  sometimes  used 
in  the  sense  of  a  difference  of  quality, 
as  Inequality  means  difference  of 
degree. 


342 


Sl'NONYMS  [DISl»ASSIONAf£] 


"  Notwithstanding  which  inequality  of 
number,  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  in  a 
council  of  war,  to  fight  the  Dutch  fleet." — 
Ludlow. 

"  But  the  disparity  of  years  and  strength 
Between  you  and  your  son  duly  considered. 
We  would  not  so  expose  you." 

Massinger. 

DISPASSIONATE.       Unimpas- 

8IONED. 

The  term  Dispassionate  relates  to 
the  mind  and  the  judgment,  as  not 
being  warped,  prejudiced,  or  in  any 
way  swerved  or  carried  away  by  pas- 
sion or  feeling  (Lat.  passionem,  a 
translation  of  the  Gr.  'naQo;,  passion, 
aWection).  Unimpassioned  relates  to 
the  manner,  gesture,  voice,  or  speech, 
as  not  affected  by  or  exhibiting  strong 
feeling.  A  calm  and  dispassionate 
view  of  a  personal  question  is  needful 
to  a  ri^ht  judgment  upon  it.  An  un- 
impassioned style  of  speaking  in  an 
orator  can  only  be  compensated  for  by 
great  felicity  of  diction  and  closeness 
of  reasoning. 

"Whereas  reason  requires  a  calm  and 
dispassionate  situation  of  the  mind  to  form 
her  judgments  aright,  she  wants  the  whole 
attention  to  look  round  upon  every  circum- 
stance, and  places  her  objects  in  all  the 
lights  wherein  they  are  capable  of  stand- 
ing."—Search. 

•'  The  day  that  by  their  consent  the  seat 
of  regicide  has  its  place  among  the  thrones 
of  Europe,  there  is  no  longer  a  motive  for 
zeal  in  their  favour.  It  will  at  best  be  cold, 
unimpassioned,  dejected,  melancholy  duty." 
—Burke. 

DISPEL.  Disperse.  (See 
Scatter.) 

Dispel  (Lat.  dispellire,  to  scatter) 
is  to  separate  in  such  a  way  as  to 
cause  to  vanish,  or  to  drive  away,  at 
the  same  time.  It  denotes  some  point 
from  which  the  objects  dispelled  are 
thrust  away.  Accordingly,  things  dis- 
pelled commonly  cease  to  be  visible, 
or  to  exist. 

Disperse  (  Lat.  dispergere,  part,  dis- 
persus,  to  scatter  in  different  directions), 
on  the  other  hand,  means  no  more 
than  to  scatter  abroad.  By  the  pro- 
vidence of  God  the  Jews,  dispelled 
h-om  their  own  land,  are  now  dis- 
persed among  the  nations.  Dispel 
commonly  relates  to  the  involuntary, 
as  to  dispel  illusions  from  the  mind; 
Disperse  may  be  purely  voluntary,  in 


the  sense  of  to  scatter  systematically, 
as  in  a  garden  flowers  of  a  certain 
colour  may  be  dispersed  or  inter 
spersed,  or  religious  tracts  are  dis 
persed  among  the  poor.  Dispel  is, 
therefore,  more  intensive  than  Dis- 
perse, or  may  be  said  Lo  express  what 
is  expressed  by  Disperse  and  some- 
thing more.  Dispel  and  Disperse 
both  imply  many  objects,  for  the  cloud 
can  only  be  dispelled  by  separation 
into  fragments. 

"  And  when  the  king  of  lightnings,  Jove, 
dispels 

From  some  huge  eminence  a  gloomy  cloud. 

The  groves,  the  mountain-tops,  the  head- 
land heights. 

Shine  all  illumined  from  the  boundless 
heaven."  CoWPKR,  Iliad. 

"  As  when  two  lions  Jn  the  still  dark  night 
A  herd   of  beeves  disperse,  or  numerooi 

flock. 
Suddenly  in  the  absence  of  their  guard. 
So  fled  the  heartless  Greeks."  Ibid. 

DISPENSE.     Distribute. 

Of  these,  the  former  ( Lat.  dispen- 
save,  to  weigh  out)  bears  no  reference 
to  any  rule  of  number  or  quantity, 
which  is  the  case  with  the  latter  (Lat. 
distrXbuere),  implying  that  in  a  certain 
number  of  shares  the  whole  of  a  cer- 
tain thing  was  given  away.  A  num- 
ber of  different  things  would  not  be 
Distributed,  or  at  least  some  com- 
mon nature  would  belong  to  them  all, 
for  we  distribute  what  is  divided  or 
capable  of  division.  So  we  might 
read,  "  Every  morning  at  the  castle 
gate  to  all  the  poor  of  the  neighbour* 
hood  who  might  present  themselves 
for  the  purpose,  bread,  with  othei 
provisions  and  money,  were  dis- 
pensed ;"  but  if  a  certain  quantity  ot 
one  article  were  given  to  a  certain 
number  of  persons,  we  might  read, 
"Bread  to  tlie  amount  of  a  hundred 
loaves  was  distributed  among  the  per- 
sons present."  The  uppermost  idea 
in  Dispense  is  varied  and  liberal 
giving  ;  in  Distribute  numerous 
and  apportioned  giving.  Nature  is 
said  to  dispense,  but  not  to  distribute 
her  bounties.  A  dispensary  issues  its 
medicines,  but  in  no  equalized  portions 
among  any  set  number. 

*'  In  every  benefaction  between  man  and 
man,  man  is  only  the  dispenser,  but  God 
the  benefactor."— South. 


[dissent] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


343 


"  He  will  pass  sentence  on  the  evil  angels; 
He  will  raise  up  the  dead,  and  will  distri- 
bute rewards  and  punishments  to  all  pro- 
portionably  to  their  behaviour  in  the  days 
of  their  mortality." — JoRTIN. 

DISPLEASURE.  Dissatisfac- 
tion {see  Disapprobation).  Annoy- 
ance. 

Displeasure  (O.  Fr.  desplaisir,  to 
displease)  is  a  modified  anger  pro- 
duced invariably  by  the  actions  or 
conduct  of  men,  and  not  by  any  other 
cause,  as  opposing  desire  or  command. 
It  is  commonly  applied  to  superiors 
in  position,  as  a  father  is  displeased 
with  his  son,  a  master  with  his  ser- 
vant. 

Dissatisfaction  (Lat.  dis-^  and 
satisfaction,  s&tisftlch-e,  to  satisfy)  may 
spring  from  any  source  of  disappointed 
wishes  or  expectations.  We  may  be 
even  dissatisfied  with  ourselves.  Dis- 
pleasure commonly  implies  too  much 
done,  dissatisfaction  too  little. 

To  Annoy  (O.  Fr.  anoyery  from 
Lat.  in  odio  esse,  to  cause  dislike)  is  to 
inflict  sustained  personal  vexation 
and  irritation  by  influences  reiterated, 
which  tease,  incommode,  or  molest  us, 
"  My  youth's  first  hope,  my  manhood's  trea- 
sure, 

My  prattling  innocent,  attend. 
Nor  fear  rebtJce,  nor  sour  displeasure  ; 

A  father's  loveliest  name  is  friend." 

Cooper. 

"  To  be  deprived  of  some  good  which  by 
a  proper  conduct  might  have  been  secured 
and  obtained,  if  it  be  attended  with  dissatis 
faction  or  regret,  is  cei-tainly  a  punishment, 
and  if  it  always  lasts,  an  eternal  punish- 
ment."— Jortin. 

"Common  nuisances  are  such  incon- 
venient and  troublesome  offences  as  annoy 
the  whole  community  in  general,  and  not 
merely  some  particular  person." — Black- 
STONE. 

DISPOSITION.  Character. 
Temper. 

The  Disposition  (Fr.  disposition)  is 
the  prevailing  spirit  of  mind,  resulting 
from  constitution.  It  is  the  aptitude 
or  tendency  of  character. 

Character  (Gr.  ^cipxinrip,  a  stamp, 
an  impress)  is  used  in  a  variety  of 
sensee  (see  Character).  As  a  syno- 
nym with  Disposition,  it  is  the  whole 
moral  nature,  of  which  the  disposition 
is  &  manifestalion.   Character  is  often 


used  in  the  sense  of  the  social  esti- 
mate formed  of  a  man,  his  reputation 
for  good  or  ill. 

Temper  (Lat.  temperies,  a  due  mix' 
tnre,  temper ;  temptrdre,  to  combint 
duly)  commonly  denotes  the  disposi- 
tion or  constitution  of  the  mind  in  re- 
gard to  the  passions  and  aflfections,  or 
the  more  purely  emotional  part  of  our 
nature.  Both  disposition  and  character 
are  permanent.  Temper  is  variable, 
unless  we  use  the  term  in  tiie  sense  of 
temperament  or  composition— accord- 
ing to  the  old  supposition  that  the 
human  individual  was;  composed  of  an 
admixture  of  humours,  and  that  his 
peculiar  conformation  lay  in  the  pre- 
dominance of  one  or  more  of  these 
humours. 

"  There  is  not,  there  cannot  be  a  stronger 
proof  that  pride  was  not  designed  for  man 
than  that  the  most  excellent  of  the  human 
race  thought  it  not  a  proper  temper  and  dis- 
position of  mind  for  Him  to  appear  in." — 
Pearce,  Sermons. 
"  Remember  with  what  mild 
And  graciot3s  temper  he  both  heard  and 
judged."  Milton. 

"A  man  of  dull  intellect  and  thoroughly 
snbsei^ient  character." — Motley. 

DISSENT.  Disagreement.  Va- 
riance.    Difference. 

As  relating  to  the  conflict  of 
opinions  these  words  have  their  dis- 
tinctions. 

Difference  (Lat.  differentia)  is 
the  simplest,  and  admits  of  degrees 
from  the  smallest  to  the  widest  varia- 
tion. 

Dissent  (Lat.  dissentire,  to  feel 
differently),  unlike  the  rest,  is  em- 
ployed only  of  persons,  and  not  of 
their  opinions.  It  commonly  denotes 
the  expression  of  non-agreement,with- 
out  of  necessity  implying  any  opinion 
of  one's  own.  I  express  dissent  when 
I  simply  refuse  to  adopt  something 
propounded  by  another;  but  a  diflfe- 
rence  of  opinion  would  imply  that  I 
held  a  distinct  opinion  of  my  own. 

DisAGREEMENT(Lat.  djs-jandagree) 
and  Variance  (Lat.  vnriare,  to  alier) 
also  imply  the  same  thing,  and  com- 
monly denote  a  difference  on  some 
practical,  and  not  merely  an  abstract 
matter  of  opinion.      Persons  are  said 


344 


to  disagree  who  might  be  expected  to 
act  together,  and  to  be  at  variance 
where  they  might  be  expected  to  ex- 
hibit harmonj'- ;  they  are  said  to  differ 
simply  as  a  matter  of  fact.  Disagree- 
ment, VARiANCE,and  Differ  ENCEmay 
be  used  generally  of  interrelated  num- 
bers of  persons  or  opinions ;  Dissent 
expresses  the  specific  disagreement  be- 
tween a  person  or  set  of  persons  on 
the  one  hand,  and  an  opinion  or  body 
of  opinions  on  the  other. 

*'  He  (St,  Cyprian)  disavoweth  the  prac- 
tice of  one  bishop  excluding  another  from 
communion  for  dissent  in  opinion  about  dis- 
putable points." — Barrow. 

•'  United  thus,  we  will  hereafter  use 
Mutual  concession,  and  the  gods,  induced 
By  our  accord,  shall  disagree  no  more." 
CowPER,  Iliad. 
"  Because  that  King  Lucius  was  dead, 
and  had  left  no  issue  to  succeed  him,  the 
Britons,  as  before  ye  have  heard,  were  at 
variance  amongst  themselves."  —  HoLIN- 
8HED. 

"What  was  the  difference f 
It  was  a  contention  in  public." 

Shakespeare. 

DISSOLUTE.  Licentious.  {See 
Abandoned.) 

There  is  much  in  common  between 
these  two  terms.  Yet  the  Licen- 
tious man  (Lat.  licentiosus)  is  not 
necessarily  Dissolute  (Lat.  dissMii- 
tus,  part,  oi  dissolvcre,  to  let  loose),  as 
one  may  take  much  licence  of  self- 
indulgence  in  one  way  without  that 
universal  laxity  and  reckless  indif- 
ference to  all  self-restraint  which  is 
implied  in  the  term  Dissolute.  Li- 
centious points  rather  to  the  indul- 
gence of  self-will  or  vicious  pleasures, 
dissolute  to  the  wanton  disregard  of 
everything  that  stands  in  the  way  of, 
or  might  restrain  sensual  enjoyment. 

"Abstain  from  wanton  and  dissolute 
laughter."— Bishop  Taylor. 

As  Dissolute  relates  invariably  to  sen- 
sual indulgence,  so  Licentious  has  the 
further  meaning  of  exhibiting  an  abuse 
of  freedom,  or  an  excessive  liberty,  as 
in  the  following: — 

"  Courtiers,  my  lord,  are  too  polite  to 
reprove  one  another ;  the  only  place  where 
they  can  meet  with  any  just  reproof  is  a 
free  though  not  a  licentious  stage."— Ches- 


srNONYMS  [dissolute] 

DISSONANT.     Discordant. 

A  sound  is  Dissonant  (Lat.  dissil- 
ndre)  when  it  is  harsh  in  itself;  it 
is  Discordant  (Lat.  discorddre,  to 
be  at  vainance)  when  it  is  out  of 
harmony  with  other  sounds,  though 
Discordant  is  often  loosely  used  in  the 
sense  of  harsh  or  unmelodious.  In 
their  secondary  uses  Dissonant  relates 
more  to  the  reason  and  judgment; 
Discordant  to  the  feelings  and  actions. 
A  dissonance  in  principle,  a  discor- 
dance in  practice.  A  dissonance  is  a 
more  refined  and  abstract,  a  discor- 
dance a  more  palpable  and  practical 
diversity. 

DISTANT.     Far.     Remote. 

Of  these  the  Saxon  monosyllable 
Far  (A.  S.  feor)  is  the  simplest,  de- 
noting separation  by  a  wide  space  or 
interval  in  any  direction.  Far  is  em- 
ployed physically  and  metaphorically. 

"  If,  therefore,  there  be  any  who,  under 
colour  of  the  blessed  name  of  Christ,  sub- 
vert His  doctrine,  annihilate  His  authority 
and  our  salvation,  it  is  so  far  from  being 
our  duty  to  unite  oui'selves  to  them,  that, 
on  the  contrary,  we  are  obliged  to  pait  with 
them."  — Daillk,  Apology  for  the  Be- 
formed  Churches. 

Distant  (Lat.  distdre,  to  be  apart) 
is  a  more  refined  term,  and  is  em- 
ployed in  scientific  phraseology,  as 
"  The  sun  is  about  ninety-one  millions 
of  miles  distant  from  the  earth."  It 
is  also  used  of  difference  in  matters  of 
conception,  as  a  distant  relation,  a 
distant  period  of  history.  It  may  be 
observed  that,  grammatically,  the  part 
of  a  complete  adjective  can  only  be 
peribrmed  by  Distant,  not  by  Far, 
which  only  occurs  as  the  predicate  of 
a  subject.*  The  star  is  far,  or  far  off; 
a  distant  star — but  not  a  far  star. 
This  adjectival  force  is  attempted  in 
a  few  cases  only,  as  the  far  side  of  the 
river.  As  an  adverb  far  is  often  em- 
ployed in  connexion  with  distant — 
far  distant.  Thus  far  implies  some 
amount  of  distance ;  while  distance 
might  be  great  or  small,  according  to 
the  following  definition : — 

"  This  space,  considered  barely  in  length 
between  any  two  beings,  without  consider- 
ing anything  else  between  them,  is  called 
distance."— Locke. 

Remote   (Lat.  rhn^vere,  part,  r*- 


[distraction]        discriminated. 

mbtus,  to  move  back)  is  distant  in  refe- 
rence to  a  specific  starting-point,  stan- 
dard, presence,  or  purpose.  As  Dis- 
tant is  opposed  to  near,  so  Remote  is 
opposed  to  immediate ;  as,  "The  acci- 
dent was  the  remote,  not  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  his  death."  Things  are 
remote  not  only  physically,  but  as  re- 
gards our  need  or  use  of  them,  or  the 
relation  they  bear  to  us,  or  the  im- 
pression they  produce  on  us;  as  a 
remote  notion,  connexion,  cause,  re- 
Bemblance,efFect.  Thus  Remote  super- 
adds to  distant  another  idea,  that  of 
the  effect  caused  by  such  distance  on 
the  condition  of  the  distant  subject. 
A  distant  spot  is  simply  one  that  is 
far  off;  a  remote  spot  is  solitary,  in- 
convenient, difficult  to  reach,  not 
likely  to  be  well  known,  and  the  like. 
"  Whenever  the  mind  places  itself  by  any 
thought  either  amongst  or  remote  from  all 
bodies." — Locke. 


34d 


DISTINGUISH.     Discriminate. 
Abstract. 

In  the  sense  in  which  Distinguish 
18  a  synonym  with  Discriminate,  it 
is  used  additionally  in  regard  to  phy- 
sical objects,  while  Discriminate  is 
only  used  of  moral  things.  We  Dis- 
tinguish (Lat.  distinguere)  by  the  eye 
or  the  mental  perception;  we  Dis- 
criminate (discrltninarey  to  separate, 
dvitin;^uish)  by  the  judgment  alone. 
We  distinguish  broadfly ;  we  discrimi- 
nate nicely.  We  distinguish  best 
when  we  show  great  differences ;  we 
discriminate  best  when  we  show  slight 
differences,  or  dissimilarities  in  detail 
under  a  general  resemblance.  The 
object  of  distinguishing  is  commonly 
practical,  that  of  discriminating  spe- 
culative. We  distinguish  in  order  to 
separate  or  keep  things  apart  which 
might  otherwise  be  confounded.  We 
discriminate  with  the  further  view  of 
showing  wherein  their  differences 
consist.  Hence  discrimination  must 
always  be  nice,  particular,  and  exact, 
dissecting,  as  it  were,  the  things  dis- 
criminated. Distinction  may  be  exact 
or  not,  minute  or  rough,  broad  or  nice. 
"  He  was  in  logic  a  great  critic. 
Profoundly  skilled  in  analytic  ; 
He  conld  distinguish  and  divide 
A  hair  twixt  south  and  south-west  side. " 
Hudibras. 


"On  the  other  sile,  there  be  a  sort  of 
men  that  place  the  gi-eatest  stress,  and 
discriminating  point  of  Christian  religion,  in 
opposing  and  decrying  all  instituted  cere- 
monies, though  innocent,  decent,  and  with- 
out any  the  least  touch  of  superstition  in 
them,"— Halk. 

W^e  Abstract  (Lat.  ahstrdhtre,  part. 
abstractus,  to  draw  off)  in  this  sense 
when  we  contemplate  some  property 
of  a  thing  exclusively  of  the  rest, 
or  of  the  thing  itself  in  which  it 
resides.  The  logical  theory  of  ab- 
straction is,  that  it  is  the  process  by 
which  the  mind  in  this  way  prepares 
itself  for  generalization,  which  is  the 
result  of  abstraction,  and  is  expressed 
by  a  common  noun.  1  abstract  from 
a  number  of  different  objects  the 
common  quality,  for  instance,of  white- 
ness. 

"Abstraction,  whereby  ideas  taken  from 
particular  beings  become  general  represen- 
tatives of  ail  of  the  same  kind." — Locke. 

DISTRACT.     Divert. 

These  terms  are  both  employed  of 
that  which  draws  or  turns  aside  the 
mind  from  the  object  of  its  contempla- 
tion. 

Distract  (Lat.  distrdhtre,  part,  dis- 
tractiis,  to  draw  aside)  is  never  used  of 
physical  things;  Divert  (Lat.  dtver- 
tcre,  to  turn  aside)  is  so  employed. 
The  mind  only  is  distracted.  A  stream 
may  be  diverted  from  its  course. 
Divert  indicates  a  weaker  force  em- 
ployed than  Distract,  but  the  effect 
is  more  decided.  We  are  distracted 
by  what  diaws  aside  our  attention 
and  dissipates  our  thoughts  in  spite 
of  ourselves.  One  is  diverted  entii-ely 
fiom  one's  purpose.  A  light  cause 
diverts,  a  strong  cause  distracts.  Yet 
the  mind  which  is  naturally  light  and 
inconstant  may  be  easily  distracted. 
A  remarkable  object  or  a  loud  sound 
distracts,  or  a  curious,  interesting, 
and  attractive  object  diverts.  Tersons 
are  distracted  from  close  thoughts, 
diverted  from  serious  or  melancholy 
thoughts  or  earnest  intentions. 

DISTRACTION.     Abstraction. 

Both  these  words  (Lat.  distrac 
tidnem,  a  druiving  asunder;  ubstrat 
tidnem,  a  drawing  away)  convey  tl» 
idea  of  a  want  of  attention,  but  wit 


346 


this  difference,  that  it  is  our  own 
ideas  that  make  us  Abstracted  by 
occupying  us  so  strongly  as  to  make 
us  incapable  of  attending  to  any- 
thing but  what  they  present  to  our 
minds ;  while  it  is  one  or  more  external 
objects  which  make  us  Distracted 
fio  as  to  draw  off  our  thoughts  from 
that  to  which  they  have  been  given 
or  ought  to  be  given.  One  is  ab- 
stracted who  regardfj  some  other  obj ect 
than  the  one  proposed,  or  is  so  occu- 
pied with  his  own  thoughts  as  not  to 
hear  what  is  said  by  others.  Persons 
accustomed  to  deep  study,  or  to  be 
engaged  in  important  business,  or 
who  are  strong  in  their  passions  and 
their  aims,  are  likely  to  fall  into  ab- 
straction; young  persons  and  frivo- 
lous persons  whose  minds  are  un- 
trained to  patient  and  consecutive 
thought  are  most  likely  to  be  dis- 
tracted. The  mei-est  trifles  will  di- 
vert or  draw  them  away. 

DISTRICT.  Tract.  Region. 
Quarter.     Province. 

District  (L.  Lat.  districtiis)  was 
originally  a  portion  of  country  over 
which  the  lord  of  the  manor  had  the 
right  to  distrain  (Lat.  distringcre) 
goods.  It  is  so  far  true  to  its  ety- 
mology that  it  now  means  a  portion 
of  land  as  included  in  some  kind  of 
administration,  as  a  civil,  municipal, 
ecclesiastical  district. 

"  Even  the  decrees  of  general  conncils 
bind  not  but  as  they  are  accepted  by  the 
several  churches  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts and  dioceses."— Bishop  Taylor. 

A  Tract  (Lat.  tmctus,  a  drawing 
out,  a  district)  is  literally  something 
drawn  out  and  extended.  It  com- 
monly denotes  such  a  space  of  country 
as  can  be  taken  in  by  the  eye,  or  such 
as  is  distinguished  by  some  natural 
characteristic,  as  a  tract  of  marsh 
land,  or  forest.  It  is  used  with  per- 
fect accuracy  in  the  following  : — 

"  A  high  mountain  joined  to  the  main- 
land by  a  narrow  tract  of  earth."— Addi- 
son. 

Reoion  (Lat.  rt^iojiem)  is  a  term  of 
wider  extent,  and  denotes  a  large 
tract  lying  about  some  specific  centre 
or  vicinity.  In  a  sense  yet  broader 
Heoion  i»  **8etl  of  extensive  tracts 


SYNONYMS  [district] 

lying  under  some  great  influence,  as 
the  arctic  or  ethereal  regions,  t)»e 
regions  of  the  tropics,  &c. 

"  If  thence  he  scape  into  whatever  land, 
Or  unknown  region."  Milton. 

Quarter  (Fr.  quai-tier),  though 
not  meaning  necessarily  a  fourth  part, 
or  a  part  coincident  with  the  quarter 
of  the  compass,  carries  with  it,  never- 
theless, something  of  both  these  ele- 
ments, and  means  a  district  in  a  pai-- 
ticular  direction  as  regards  the  whole 
of  which  it  forms  a  part,  but  vag-ue 
as  to  the  exact  direction  or  the  exact 
extent.  It  is  a  term  often  manifest- 
ing either  looseness  of  information, 
01'  an  avowed  generality  and  purposed 
disregard  of  precision  in  specifying 
locality. 

"Swift  to  their   several   quarters  hasted 

then 
The  cumbrous  elements."  MiLTON. 

Province  is  the  Lat.  provincia,  an 
outlying  conquered  territory  of  the 
Roman  empire,  hence  a  region  de- 
pendent on  a  distant  authority,  or  a 
district  remote  from  the  capital ;  out 
of  this  flowed  the  idea  of  a  territory 
over  which  a  person  had  special  juris- 
diction, as  the  province  of  a  pro- 
consul, and  in  after-times  of  an  arch- 
bishop; whence  finally  a  man's  pe- 
culiar business,  the  specific  limits  of 
a  function  in  some  wider  economy  and 
administration,  a  department  within 
which  action  is  at  once  a  right  and  a 
duty. 

"  The  woman's  province  is  to  be  careful 
in  her  economy,  and  chaste  in  her  affec- 
tion."— Tatler. 

DIVfi.     Plunge. 

To  Dive  (A.  S.  dujian)  is  puiyosely 
to  penetrate  beneath  the  surface  of 
water,  and  therefore  may  be  done 
after  the  diver  has  entered  it. 

Plunge  (Fr.  pionger)  is  to  throw 
one's  self  into  a  body  of  water ;  henoe 
we  may  plunge  without  diving,  and 
dive  (as  ducks)  without  plunging. 
In  the  metaphorical  application  of 
these  terms,  this  distinction  is  pre- 
served. We  dive  into  mysteries, 
curiosities,  and  the  like ;  we  plunge 
into  debt,  difliculties,  ombarrassments, 
dangler.    It  is  the  effort  of  penetration 


[divers] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


S4l 


which  is  expressed  by  diving,  the 
hardihood  or  recklessness  of  action  by 
olunging. 

"  Divers  in  the  deep  of  Providence," 
Montague. 

•*  As  he  (Callius)  had  no  great  stock  of 
•irgnment,  and  but  small  forecast,  anything 
at  a  plunge  would  be  received  which  came 
to  his  relief."— Warbubtox. 

DIVERS.  Different.  Severai,. 
Sundry.  Various.  Manifold. 
Multifarious. 

Of  all  these  terms  Different  is 
the  most  indefinite.  It  is  equally 
applicable  to  few  and  to  many ;  and, 
inasmuch  as  its  primary  force  is  to 
designate  quality,  it  is  applicable  to 
any  number,  even  to  as  few  as  two ; 
as  "  they  are  not  the  same,  but  two 
different  persons  or  things."  Several 
(O.  Fr.  several,  sevrer,  to  sever  ;  from 
Lat.  sipiirare,  to  separaie)  indicates 
more  than  two,  but  not  very  many, 
the  exact  number  being  unknown  or 
not  taken  account  of.  Sundry  (A.  S. 
mndrig,  sundru,  sujidrian,  to  separate) 
is  very  like  it,  but  indicates  discon- 
nectedness as  well  as  plurality.  If  I 
say  there  were  several  persoLS  present, 
I  refer  only  to  number ;  if  I  say, 
sundry  persons  were  present,  or  per- 
sons of  sundry  professions,  I  draw 
attention  to  an  absence  of  internal 
relation,  or  to  diversity  of  character. 
Divers  and  VAnious  are  more  strong 
still,  indicating  a  diversity  and 
variety  of  kind  over  and  above  plu- 
rality. Sundry  implies,  primarily, 
separation,  which  tnay  be  without  of 
necessity  implying  an  internal  differ- 
:»nce  of  nature,  as, "  at  sundry  times  ;  " 
OivERS  does  imply  this,  as,  "  in  divers 
manners."  Various  applies  to  time 
and  to  character,  as  "  various  dresses," 
''various periods,"  "various colours." 
There  seems  a  very  slight  difference 
between  Divers  (Fr.dirers)  and  Vari- 
ous ;  but  Divers  rather  refers  to  a 
marked  diversity  of  character  or 
nature.  Various  to  such  differences 
as  the  eye  takes  cognizance  of,  or 
as  strike  the  observation,  without  so 
strong  a  distinction  between  them. 
So  we  might  say,  "  divers  colours," 
and,  '*  various  shades  of  the  same 
col/mr." 


'*  To  Sisera  a  prey  of  divers  colours,  a 
prey  of  divers  colours  of  needlework,  oi 
divers  colours  of  needlework  on  both  sides, 
meet  for  the  necks  of  them  that  take  the 
spoil," — Bible. 

"  Black  and  white  and  every  other 
colour,  is  caused  by  different  motions  made 
upon  the  eye  by  objects  differently  modi- 
fied."—CuDWORTH. 

"  Like  kings,  we  lose  the  conquests  gained 
before. 

By  vain  ambition  still  to  make  them  more ; 

Each  might  his  severai  province  well  com- 
mand. 

Would  all  but  stoop  to  what  they  under- 
stand." Pope. 

"  Here  I  had  ended ;  bat  experience  finds 
That  sundry  women  are  oi sxindry  minds; 
Vt'^ith  various  crotchets  filled,  and  hard  to 

please. 
They  therefore  must  be  caught  by  vanoiu 

ways."  Dryden,  Ovid. 

It  deserves  to  be  noted  that  there  is 
asense  of  Various,  namely,  exhibiting 
variety  of  state  or  appearance,  in 
which  the  term  is  applicable  to  a 
single  object,  as  in  the  following  : — 

"  The  principle  (of  religion)  lies  in  a  nar- 
row compass,  but  the  activity  and  energy 
of  it  is  dififtisive  and  various," — BiSHOP 
Hall. 

Manifold  (Eng.  many  and  fold)  is 
the  English  equivalent  of  the  Latin 
multiplex.  It  is  applicable  both  to 
single  objects  and  to  a  plurality ;  but 
in  tlie  latter  case  the  diversity  is  in  re- 
lation to  some  one  object  or  subject 
which  exists,  appears,  or  acts  in 
numerous  and  divers  ways.  It  thus 
differs  from  Multifarious  (Lat.  mul- 
tifdrius),  in  which  the  different  things 
have  less  the  appearance  of  a  com- 
mon nature  and  inter-relation.  Multi- 
fariousness stands  to  the  manifold  as 
diversity  to  difference.  As  manifold 
is  a  term  of  harmonious  variety,  mul- 
tifarious falls  only  a  little  short  of 
incongruity  and  discordance.  Unity 
in  plurality  belongs  to  the  manifold, 
to  which  the  multifarious  adds  di- 
versity in  plurality. 

'*  O  Lord  how  manifold  are  Thy  works, 
in  wisdom  hast  Thou  made  them  all." — 
Ehiglish  Psalms. 

"  The  generic  words  which  abound  in 
language,  assort,  and,  if  I  may  use  the 
expression,  pack  up  under  a  compai-atively 
small  number  of  comprehensive  terms  th« 
multifarious  objects  oi'  human  knowledge." 
—Stewart. 


S48 


DIVINER.    Prophet. 

The  DiviNEU  (Lat.  dlvindref  to 
fudge  of'  things  by  divine  or  heavenlij 
prognostication)  discovers  what  is 
hidden  ;  the  Prophet (Gr.  <7rpo<prtrn<;), 
as  restricted  to  its  modern  conversa- 
tional sense,  predicts  that  which  shall 
come  to  pass.  In  times  when  super- 
natural powers  and  processes  have 
ceased,  a  practised  acquaintance  with 
the  relation  which  externals  bear  to 
mind,  character,  and  sentiment  is  the 
only  instrument  of  divination.  A 
knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  cer- 
tain principles  involve  certain  conse- 
quences, and  an  observation  of  the 
way  in  which  like  causes  produce 
like  eflfects  are  the  only  aflBatus  con- 
stituting a  prophet. 

DO.    Act. 

One  DoEs'(A.  S.  don,  to  do)  a  thing ; 
one  Acts  (Lat.  tigtre,  part,  actus)  tor 
the  sake  of  doing  it.  Do  supposes  an 
object  which  tenninates  the  action  and 
is  its  effect.  Action  terminates  in 
itself  and  may  be  the  object  of  doing. 
Wisdom  dictates  that  in  all  we  do  we 
should  act  with  reflexion. 

DOCILE.  Tractable.  Amen- 
able.    Facile. 

Docix.v.(La.t.d)ictlis,easilytaught)im- 
plies  more  than  Tractable  (Lat.  trac- 
tdhilis,  that  may  be  handled,  yielding). 
Tractable  denotes  no  more  than  the 
absence  of  refractoriness.  Docile  the 
actual  quality  of  meekness.  A  tract- 
able animal  may  go  in  the  right  path 
when  led;  a  docile  animal  is  easily 
led ;  or,  again,  he  may  be  made  tract- 
able by  severe  training,  but  if  na- 
turally docile  he  will  not  require  this. 

Amenable  (Fr.  amener,  to  lead  to) 
is  commonly  used  of  human  beings 
who  are  willing  to  be  guided  by  per- 
suasion, entreaty,  and  reason,  with- 
out requiring  coercion.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  this  is  a  modern  and 
conversational  use  of  the  term.  The 
older  application  appears  in  the  ex- 
ample. As  Docile  means  easy  to 
teach,  it  is  only  by  analogy  that  it 
can  be  ajjplied  to  irrational  animals. 
But  the  analogy  is  the  more  easy  by 
reason   of  the    fact  that  intellectual 


SYNONYMS  [diviner] 

aptitude,  as  in  the  Old  English  word 
docible,  so  far  as  it  ever  belonged  to 
the  term,  has  entirely  departed  from 
it.  The  elephant  is  at  once  docible 
and  docile.  Docility  is  a  quality  at 
once  passive,  and,  to  a  certain  extent, 
by  implication,  active.  The  docile 
person  first  receives  the  impulse  of 
another  and  then  follows  it  voluntarily. 

"  The  Persians  are  not  wholly  void  of 
martial  spirit,  and  if  they  are  not  naturally 
brave,  they  are  at  least  extremely  docile, 
and  might,  with  proper  discipline,  be  mads 
excellent  soldiers." — Sir  W.  Jones. 

"  Indeed,  the  common  men,  I  presume, 
were  not  less  tractable  for  want  of  spiri- 
tuons  liquors." — ^AjfSON's  Voyages. 

"  The  sovereign  of  this  country  is  not 
amenable  to  any  form  of  trial  known  to  the 
laws." — Junius. 

The  docile  is  easily  taught  or  led,  the 
tractable  easily  managed,  the  amen- 
able easily  governed  and  persuaded. 

Facile  (LaX.fdcilis,  easy)  expresses 
the  weak  and  excessive  aspect  oi 
amenable.  The  facile  is  ductile  to  a 
fault,  yielding  to  those  who  though 
strong  enough  to  ask  are  too  weak 
to  guide  or  advise,  or  whose  craft 
would  make  others  their  dupes  and 
tools.  The  word  meant  at  the  first 
easy  to  be  performed,  thence  easy  to 
be  surmounted  or  mastered,  next  easy 
to  be  approached  or  treated  with,  and 
finally  easy  to  persuade. 

"  Since  Adam  and  hia  facile  consort  Eve 
Lost  Paradise  deceived  by  me." 

Milton. 

DOCTRINE.  Dogma.  Tenet. 
Principle. 

Doctrine  (Lat.  doctrina,  instruc- 
lion,  learning)  means  any  speculative 
truth  recommended  by  a  teacher  or  a 
school  of  thinkers,  whether  in  re- 
ligion, science,  or  philosophy. 

"  It  is  by  an  evident  abuse  and  perver- 
sion of  Mr.  Locke's  doctrine  that  Dr.  Reid 
pretends  that  it  is  favourable  to  Bishop  Ber- 
keley's notion  of  there  being  no  material 
world,  when  in  reality  our  author's  own 
principles  are  much  more  favourable  to  that 
notion  than  Mr.  Locke's." — Priestlet. 

Dogma  (Gr.  ioy/xa.  in  opinion,  a 
philosophic  dogma)  is  at  present  em- 
ployed of  such  doctrine  as  is   put 


[doleful] 


forth  authoritativeljr  under  a    rigid 
definition,  and  especially  in  theology. 

"  Diodoras  Siculus  affirms  the  Chal- 
dseans  likewise  to  have  assei-ted  this  dogma 
of  the  world's  eternity.  The  Chaldteans 
affii'm  the  nature  of  the  world  to  be  that  it 
was  neither  generated  from  the  beginning, 
uor  will  ever  admit  corruption.'  — CuD- 
WORTH. 

Tenet  (Lat.  thiere,  to  hold,  mean- 
ing he  holds;  formerly  tenent,  they 
hold)  is  a  matter  of  philosophy  or  re- 
ligion, which,  as  resting  on  its  own 
intrinsic  merits,  is  firmly  held  as  true. 
The  term  expresses  doctrine  in  its 
peculiarity  ana  distinctiveness.  There 
18  a  milder  force  in  Tenet  than  in  Doc- 
trine, which  latter  is  graver  and  more 
important,  or  in  Dogma,  which  is 
more  energetic  and  authoritative. 

"  In  recommending  the  doctrine  which 
this  book  particnlarly  enforces,  I  know  that 
I  am  justified  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by 
the  Church,by  the  tenets  of  the  most  learned 
and  >-irtuous  of  the  dissenters,   and  the 

freatest  divines  of  this  country,  who  have 
isplayed  their  abilities  either  by  the  press 
or  the  pulpit."— Knox,   Christian  Philo- 


DISCKTMINATED. 


340 


A  Principle  is  a  central  or  re- 
presentative truth  in  philosophy,  sci- 
ence, ai't,  religion,  or  morals,  which 
is  fundamental  and  general,  and  out 
of  which  otlier  matters  of  a  specula- 
tive or  practical  character  flow,  and 
become  its  practical  illustrations  (Fr. 
principe,  Lat.  principium), 

"  He  who  fixes  upon  false  principles  iTe&ds 
upon  infirm  ground,  and  so  sinks  ;  and  he 
wno  fails  in  his  deductions  from  right  pri7h- 
ciples  stumbles  upon  firm  ground,  and  so 
fails."— South. 

DOCUMENT.     Muniment. 

In  the  sense  in  which  these  words 
are  synonymous  they  represent  the 
same  thing  under  diflerent  views. 
The  Document  (Lat.  d'6ctimentumf  a 
proof  )  serves  the  purpose  of  evidence, 
the  Muniment  (Lat.  munlmentum,  a 
defence)  the  purpose  of  proving  pos- 
session in  particular.  The  first  is  for 
proof,  the  other  for  protection.  Docu- 
ments which  prove  a  man's  title  to 
his  estates,  or  those  which  are  kept  by 
public  bodies,  as  charters,  grants,  and 
the  like,  proving  their  property  or 
privileges  are  tailed  muniments. 


DOLE.     Pittance. 


Dole,  connected  with  deal,  ig 
portion  distributed.  Pittance  (Er. 
pitance,  pittance,  of  niuch  disputed 
origin ;  there  is  a  L.  Lat.  pietantia, 
see  Littue).  The  pietantia  of  the 
middle  ages  was  the  zest  or  relish 
given  to  make  the  bulk  of  the  fare 
more  palatable,  till  the  word  came  to 
mean,  as  with  us,  the  whole  allow- 
ance of  a  donation  in  any  form,  but 
small  in  amount.  In  the  Dole  the 
leading  idea  is  the  contracted  liberality 
of  the  giver,  in  Pittance  the  scant 
measure  of  the  receiver. 

DOLEFUL.  Rueful.  Piteous. 
Woeful. 

Doleful  (O.  Fr.  dol,  ^rief,  with 
termination  -ful)  is  exciting  or  ex- 
pressing sadness,  and  is  ajiplicable 
to  anything  which  has  that  efiect, 
as  a  doleful  sight  or  sound.  Rueful 
(A.  S.  hreow,  grief,  repentance)  is  at 
present  more  commonly  used  in  the 
sense  of  expressing  misery  in  the 
countenance.  Piteous  is  expressing 
sorrow  or  misery  in  such  a  way  as 
to  excite  pity.  Woeful  means  not 
so  much  exciting  or  expressing  woe 
or  misery  as  accompanied  by  it.  In 
the  phrase,  a  woeful  visage,  it  bears 
the  loi-mer  meaning,  but  in  the  phrase, 
a  woeful  day  or  woeful  time,  it  signi- 
fies tlie  latter.  A  doleful  counte- 
nance, sound,  sight,  story.  A  rueful 
visage.  A  piteous  tale,  sight,  cry. 
A  woeful  narrative  or  event. 

"  How  dolefully  this  dole    thou   dost  re- 
hearse." SPENSKB. 


Ruefully  dismayed 


Drydkn. 


Formerly  Piteous  had  almost  uni- 
versally the  sense  only  of  feeling,  nol 
exciting,  pity,  in  which  it  is  still 
sometimes  employed,  as  in  Thom- 
son:— 

"  Him,  piteous  of  his  youth,  and  thi 
short  space 
He  has  enjoyed  the  vital  light  of  heaven. 
Soft  disengage,  and  back  into  the  streaar 
The  speckled  captive  throw." 

Though  Spenser  has — 

"  That  piteotu  strained  voice." 


3.50 


srNONTMs  [domestic] 


"  It  is  a  woful  inheritance  that  makes 
men  heirs  of  the  vengeance  of  God."— Bp. 
Hall. 

DOMESTIC.   Servant.  Menial. 

The  first  is  one  species  of  the 
second.  Menial  (O.  Fr.  rnaisnier, 
one  of  the  household,  mesnte)  is  one 
who  performs  inferior  offices  of  ser- 
vice, which  the  term,  however,  does 
not  define.  A  Domestic  (Lat.  dimes- 
ticus,  one  oj  a  family)  is  a  servant 
actually  employed  in  the  house.  A 
Servant  (  Fr.  servant)  is  a  paid  atten- 
dant of  any  kind.  A  farm  servant  or 
a  gardener  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  a 
domestic. 

"  A  servant  dwells  remote  from  all  know- 
ledge of  his  lord's  purposes ;  he  lives  as  a 
kind  of  foreigner  under  the  same  roof,  a 
domestic,  and  yet  a  stranger  too." — South. 

"  The  women  servants  perform  only  the 
most  menial  offices." — Swift. 

DORMANCY.    Abeyance.    Ex- 

PrCTANCY. 

These  are  used  of  powers,  privi- 
leges, possessions,  and  claims  not  in 
action,  enjoyment,  or  exercise.  That 
is  Dormant  (Fr.  dormir,  part,  dor- 
mant, to  sleep)  which  possesses  an  in- 
herent activity,  vitality,  and  power, 
but  is  3S  yet  quiescent ;  as,  dormant 
claims,  titles,  powers,  passions. 

That  is  in  Abeyance  (Fr.  abeiance, 
buyer,  to  gape,  connected  with  the 
English  bay,  as  when  a  savage  beast 
stands  at  bay,  that  is,  open-mouthed ; 
hence  abeyance,  open-mouthed  expec- 
tation) which  the  law  contemplates  as 
of  the  nature  of  an  unvested  inheri- 
tance, which  thus  wants,  as  it  were, 
to  \^  vested.  Abeyance  is  thus,  in  its 
geitj^l  application,  dormancy,  with 
expectation  of  revival. 

Expectancy  (Lat.  expectdre,  to 
wait)  regards  the  same  things  from 
the  other  side,  that  is,  the  side  not  of 
tlie  possession  or  privilege  but  of  the 
person  anticipating  them.  As  dor- 
mancy is  temporary  extinction  of 
power,  so  abeyance  is  temporary  ex- 
tinction of  possession,  while  expec- 
tancy is  active,  and  has  reference  to 
the  future,  the  past,  or  the  present. 

DOUBT.     HesiTATioN. 

Doubt  (O.  Fr.  douter,  Lat.  diibttdre, 
to  doubt)  relates  both  to  matters  of 
belief    and    to  matters  of   conduct, 


Hesitation  ('Lat.  hcesitare,  to  stick 
fast,  to  be  at  a  loss)  only  to  matters  ol 
conduct.  We  doubt  about  entertain- 
ing opinions  ;  we  sometimes  hesitate 
to  express  them.  We  doubt  for  want 
of  scientific  evidence.  We  hesitate 
for  want  of  practical  knowledge.  We 
doubt  through  ignorance.  We  hesi- 
tate through  fear,  caution,  misgiving. 
Doubt  is  uncertain  about  principles, 
hesitation  about  consequences. 
"  Modest  doubt  is  called 
The  beacon  of  the  wise." 

Shakespeare. 
.  "But  in  an  age  of  darkness  he  (Gregory 
VII.)  had  not  all  the  knowledge  that  was 
requisite  to  regulate  his  zeal ;  and  taking 
false  appearances  for  solid  truths,  he,  with- 
out hesitation,  deduced  from  them  the  most 
dangerous  consequences." — Jortin. 

DOUBTFUL.  Dubious.  Uncer- 
tain. 

Doubtful  (see  Doubt)  is  used  in 
all  the  senses  of  entertaining  doubt, 
exhibiting  doubt,  adjnitting  of  doubt, 
characterized  by  doubt ;  but  Dubious 
is  never  used  in  tlie  abstract,  but  only 
in  the  concrete.  So  we  might  say, 
"  It  is  doubtful  whether  such  is  really 
the  case."  We  could  not  say,  **  It  is 
dubious."  We  speak  of  doubtful  facts 
of  history,  not  of  dubious  facts,  ex- 
cept in  the  sense  of  facts  about  which 
persons  are  dubious ;  but  we  might 
say,  "  The  most  eminent  historians 
are  dubious  as  to  the  fact." 

Uncertain  (Lat.  incertus)  diflfers 
from  Doubtful  and  Dubious,  as  not 
necessarily  implying  any  tendency  to 
discredit,  but  simply  expressing  lack 
of  knowledge  sufficient  to  decide ; 
hence  it  may  be  used  of  matters  of 
which  the  motive  cause  lies  in  our- 
selves, while  doubt  refers  to  matters 
beyond  our  control.  "  1  doubt  that  it 
is  so,"  would  mean,  "  I  am  inclined 
to  think  it  is  or  may  not  be  so."  "  I 
am  uncertain,"  would  mean  only,  "  I 
am  not  sure  whether  it  is  so  or  not." 
"  Do  you  purpose  to  leave  town  to- 
morrow?" "  I  am  uncertain."  Not, 
"  I  doubt."  "  Doubt,"  says  Taylor, 
*'  has  not  studied,  uncertainty  has  not 
judged.  Doubt  is  the  hesitation  of 
i»-norance,  uncertainty  of  irresolu- 
tion. Doubt  is  open  to  inquiry, 
uncertainty  to  conviction."  And  so 
it   may   be   said    that    doubtful  ex- 


[draw] 


DISCRIMINATED, 


35 


presses  a  positive,  uncertain  a  nega- 
tive state  of  mind.  Regarding  the 
term  Uncertain  objectively  and  not 
subjectively,  tliat  is,  as  belonging  to 
the  thing  and  not  the  person,  the  un- 
certain is  that  which  might  be  com- 
batted,  not  having  in  it  incontrover- 
tible truth.  When  a  thing  is  uncer- 
tain, it  is  because  as  yet  sufficient 
reasons  have  not  been  produced  for 
believing  it.  As  uncertainty  is  opposed 
to  conviction,  so  doubt  is  opposed  to 
belief.  We  are  in  doubt  how  to  act ; 
we  are  uncertain  whether  v.-e  will  act 
or  not.  Of  the  two,  Douutfui,  and  Du- 
Hioi's,  doubtful  is  the  more  objective, 
dubious  the  more  subjective.  The 
former  denotes  what  in  its  nature  is 
inadequately  evidenced,  the  latter 
what  tends  to  make  us  doubt.  When 
Milton  speaks  of  "  dubious  light,"  he 
means  such  as  makes  those  halt  who 
walk  in  it;  and  so  Swift,  "Persons 
of  great  fame  bu^t  dubious  existence." 
The  direct  use  would  seem  to  be  that 
of  Pope  in  the  example  below. 

"  The  wisdom  of  a  law-maker  consisteth 
uot  only  in  a  platform  of  justice,  but  in  the 
application  thereof,  taking  into  considera- 
tion by  what  means  laws  maybe  made  cer- 
tain, and  what  are  the  causes  and  remedies 
of  the  doubtfulness  and  uncertainty  of  law." 
—Bacon. 

"  She  (Minerva)  speaks  with  the  dubious- 
ness of  a  man,  not  the  certainty  of  a  god- 
dess."—Pope. 

DOWER.    Jointure. 

These  terms  express  the  property 
of  the  wife  under  different  aspects. 
The  Jointure  (Fr.  jointure,  joindre  ; 
Lat.  jungcrBf  to  join)  is  the  estate 
settled  on  the  wife  to  be  enjoyed  by 
her  after  her  husband's  decease. 

The  DowK  Y  or  Dower  (  Fr.  doVMire, 
Lat.  dbtdrium)  is  the  money,  goods, 
or  estate  which  a  woman  brings  to  her 
husband  on  her  marriage,  as  well  as 
that  portion  of  a  man's  real  estate 
which  his  widow  enjojs  during  her 
life,  or  to  which  the  wife  is  entitled 
ftt  the  death  of  her  husband.  The 
'cinture  regards  the  woman  as  a  Avife, 
the  dower  as  a  widow  also. 

DRAIN.     Exhaust. 

To  Drain  (A.  S.  drehnigean)  is  to 
draw  off  so  as  to  leave  empty  or  dry. 

Exhaust  (Lat.  exhaurlre,  part,  ex- 
hanstus)  is  much  the  same;  but  there 


is  a  slight  difference  in  their  applica- 
tion. D  R  A I N  is  used  in  a  physical  and 
analogous  sense,  as  to  drain  a  field, 
or  a  country  of  its  resources  ;  but  Ex- 
haust is  used  also  in  a  more  purely 
metaphysical  way  of  abstract  things ; 
as,  to  exhaust  efforts,  speculation,  con- 
jecture, strength,  patience.  To  ex- 
iiaust  also  points  more  strongly  to  an 
original  limitation  of  the  su])ply,  and 
its  subsequent  coming  to  an  end. 
Hence  Drain  commonly  refers  to  some 
involuntariness  of  expenditure,  while 
Exhaust  may  refer  to  what  has  all 
along  been  spent  ■purposely.  As,  "  The 
country  was  drained  of  its  resources 
by  a  protracted  and  expensive  war." 
"  1  brought  with  me  twentj--  pounds 
from  home,  but  1  have  exhausted 
my  supply."  The  terms  are  used  to- 
gether in  the  following: 

"  He  himself,  through  terror,  permitted 
those  of  Rome  to  exhciust  and  drain  the 
wealth  of  England." — Camdex. 

DRAMA.     Play. 

Play  (A.  S.  plega)  is  always  par- 
ticular or  specific. 

Drama  (Gr.  ipa/xa.)  is  general, 
though  capable  of  individual  appli- 
cation. The  play  is  a  dramatic  com- 
position, tragic  or  comic,  in  which 
characters  are  represented  with  dia- 
logue and  action  under  a  common 
plan,  or  with  a  view  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  result.  The  drama  com- 
prises the  whole  theatrical  system  and 
literature,  of  which  the  play  is  a  sam- 
ple or  particular  exhibition.  • 

DRAW.  Pull.  Drag.  Hawl. 
Tug.     Pluck. 

To  Draw,  a  later  form  of  dr*^ 
(A.  S.  dragan)  is  to  cause  to  mot;; 
by  force  employed  in  the  direction  of 
one's  self  or  in  the  line  of  one's  own 
movements.  It  varies  in  degree  from 
drawing  a  heavy  load  or  a  tight  cork 
to  a  hair  trigger.  But,  light  or  heavy, 
it  is  commonly  implied  that  some  kind 
of  aptitude  or  provision  exists  for 
drawing.  In  this  respect,  draw  differs 
from  Drag,  which  implies  a  natural 
inaptitude  for  drawing,  or  positive  re- 
sistance, as  a  heavy  box  without 
wheels,  or  a  captive  struggling  with 
his  captor. 

To  Pull  (A.  S.  pullian)  is  applied 


352 


SYNONYMS 


[dreadful] 


to  Buch  cases  of  drawing  as  do  not 
admit  of  continuous  draught,  or  inde- 
finite change  of  place,  but  where  tlie 
draught  is  checked  and  limited ;  as,  to 
pull  a  bell,  a  door,  or  the  oar  of  a 
boat. 

Hawl,  Haul,  or  Hale  (A.S.  holiim, 
to  get)  is  to  pull  or  draw  with  force 
and  sustained  effort,  so  as  to  trans- 
port from  one  place  to  another. 

Tug  (A.  S.  teogan,  to  pull)  is  to 
pull  with  gi-eat  effort,  as  in  a  boat  to 
pull  with  the  stream,  and  to  tug 
against  it. 

Pluck  (A.  S.  pluccian)  is  to  pull 
with  sudden  force  or  effort,  commonly 
resulting,  but  not  necessarily,  in  the 
detaching  of  the  thing  plucked  from 
that  to  which  it  was  united,  as  feathers, 
fruits,  flowers. 
"He  cast  him  down  to  gronad,  and  all 

along 
Dretv  him  through  dirt  and  mire  withont 

remorse. 
And  foully  battered  his  comely  corse." 

SPKNSER. 

"  He  would  make  the  rigours  of  the  Sab- 
bath give  way  to  the  pulling  of  an  ox  or  a 
6heep  oat  of  the  ditch."—  South, 

•'  For  six  long  years  immured  the  captive 

knight 
Had  dragg'd  his  chains,  and  scarcely  seen 
the  light."  Drydkn. 

"  While  romp-loving  miss 
Is  fiUuVd  about  in  gallantry  robust." 
Thomson. 
"  Must  either  pay  his  fine  for  his  presump- 

tioa. 
Which  is  six  hundred  ducats,  or  for  six  years 
Tvg  at  an  oar  i'  the  gallies." 

Beaumont  and  Flktchhb. 

*'  Indnstiious  Moll  with  many  a  pluck 
Un wings  the  plumage  of  each  duck." 

Smakt. 

DREADFUL.  Fearful.  Fright- 
ful. Terrible.  Tremendous.  Ter- 
rific. Horrible.  Horrid.  For- 
midable.   Awful.     Dire. 

Dreadful  (A.  S.  drczd,  dreedauy  to 
fear),  like  awful,  has  lojt  its  original 
sense  of  feeling  dread,  or  awe  (see 
Awe),  and  means  now  only  inspiring 
dread;  but  dread  is  not  exactly  the 
same  as  fear,  and  so  dreadful  may 
mean  inspiring  a  mixed  feeling  of  fear 
*nd  reverence,  or  of  the  dangerous 
and  the  sublime,  as  a  dreadful  thun- 
derstorm 


Fearful  would  denote  no  more 
than  a  sense  of  personal  danger. 
Dreadful  seems  to  convey  more  than 
Fearful  ;  for  Fearful  is  rather  that 
xfhich  irispires  fear  by  its  impression 
upon  the  senses.  Dreadful  by  what 
we  know  or  suspect  as  belonging  to  its 
nature  or  powers.  So  we  may  speak 
of  "  dreadful  accounts  of  a  foreign 
war,"  but  not  "fearful  accounts." 
On  the  other  hand,  the  news  of  a 
large  army  attacking  our  own  coun- 
try would  be  a  fearful  report. 

"  For  this  reason  (that  man  may  repent' 
it  is  that  He  hath  annexed  so  many  dread- 
ful threatenings  against  the  breakers  of 
His  law,  and  so  many  gi-acious  promises  to 
them  that  keep  it." — Bkveridge. 

Fr[ghtful  (A.  S.  fyrhtu,  fear)  is 
said  of  anything  which  causes  vivid 
alarm  by  sudden  impression  upon  the 
senses  in  sight  or'  sound,  but  espe- 
cially the  former.  There  is  a  sudden- 
ness in  Frightful  which  does  not  be- 
long to  either  Fearful  or  Dreadful. 

"  One  cannot  conceive  bo  frightful  a  state 
of  a  nation.  A  maritime  country  without 
a  marine  and  without  commerce,  a  con- 
tinental country  without  a  frontier,  and  for 
a  thousand  miles  surrounded  by  powerful, 
warlike,  and  ambitious  neighbours." — 
Burke. 

Terrible  (Lat.  terribiUs,  terrere, 
to  frighten)  denotes  what  is  to  be 
dreaded  for  its  effects  upon  us,  though 
there  may  be  in  it  nothing  frightful. 
Death  by  accident  is  a  frig-htful  thing 
to  witness;  but  there  are  many  to 
whom  death,  in  its  calmest  aspects 
and  happiest  circumstances,  is  still 
terrible.  The  temble  excites  appre- 
hension. That  which  is  terrible  affects 
us  by  pressing  upon  us  a  realization 
of  some  danger  without  actually  in- 
volving us  in  it.  The  lion's  roar  is 
still  terrible,  though  we  know  that  he 
is  caged. 

"  How  shall  they  be  able  to  abide  His 
presence  at  that  day  when  the  gloriousness 
and  majesty  and  terribleness  of  His  appear- 
ance will  infinitely  exceed  all  that  the 
tongue  of  man  can  express  or  the  heart  of 
mail  conceive  P  " — SoUTH. 

Terrible  is  a  far  graver  word  ..iian 
Frightful.  The  forn-.er  never  lends 
itself  to  a  light  meaning.  Whereas 
Frightful  is  fometimes  employed  in 


[dregs] 


DISCRIMINATED 


353 


the  sense  of  exciting  a  fantastic  fear 
by  ugliness  of  aspect. 

Tremendous  (Lat.  trtmendus,  that 
is  to  be  trembled  at,  trhnere,  to  tremble) 
denotes  rather  what  is  fitted  by  its 
nature  or  appearance  to  inspire  a 
kind  of  fear,  without  implying  that 
we  ourselves  have  any  cause  to  fear 
it,  as  "a  tremendous  cataract,"  ^'a 
tremendous  wind,"  "&  tremendous 
noise,"  "  a  tremendous  size."  The 
tremendous  occupies  a  position  mid- 
way between  the  awful  and  the  terri- 
ble, with  more  of  power  than  the  first 
and  less  of  dread  than  the  second. 

"If anything  could  raise  his  passion,  it 
was  the  nonsensical  discourses  of  deists  and 
Christian  infidels ;  and  he  thought  he  might 
be  justly  angry  with  such  wretches  thiit, 
like  the  giants  of  old,  durst  make  war  upon 
tremendous  Omnipotence." — Glanvill. 

Terrific  (Lat.  terryiciis,  causing 
terror)  is  only  a  more  learned  or  rhe- 
torical form  of  Terrible,  used  as  a 
term  of  greater  dignity. 
•'  The  serpent,  subtlest  beast  of  all  the  field, 
Of  huge  extent  sometimes,  with  brazen  eyes. 
Terrific."  Milton. 

Horrible  and  Horrid  (Lat.  hor- 
ribilis,  hori^dus,  horrire,  to  shudder 
at)  diflfer  as  the  possible  from  the 
actual :  "  a  horrible  supposition," 
"  a  horrible  alternative,  "  horrid 
scenes,"  "  homd  deeds ;"  but  Horri- 
ble is  often  used  in  the  latter  sense. 
The  idea  of  horror  is  a  recoilihg  of 
the  whole  nature,  such  as  makes  the 
countenance  rigid,  or  expresses  itself 
in  the  look  or  posture.  The  Horrible 
is  more  in  the  imagination,  the  Hor- 
rid in  experience  and  observation. 
"  Swift  in  her  walk,  more  swift  her  winged 

haste, 
A  monstrous  phantom,  horrible  and  vast. 
As  many  plumes  as  raise  her  lofty  flight. 
So  many  piercing  eyes  enlarge  her  sight." 

Drydkn,  Virgii. 
"  Thus,  when  black  clouds  draw  down  the 

neighbouring  skies. 
Ere  yet  abroad  the  winged  thunder  flies. 
An  horrid  stillness  first  invades  the  ear, 
And  in  that  silence  we  the  tempest  fear." 
DRYDEJf. 

Formidable  (L&t.  formidabtliSjfor- 
rnidare,  to  dread)  relates  to  contingent 
and  not  necessary  fear.  Things  are 
formidable  only  when  we  are  com- 
pelled or  perhaps  go  out  of  our  way 
to  encounter  them  ;  as,  "  a  formidable 


undertaking,"  "  a  formidable  foe,"  or 
when  we  think  of  what  inight  be  if  we 
did  encounter  them. 

"  Before  the  gates  they  sate 

On  either  side,  a.  formidable  shape." 
Milton. 

Awful  commonly  excludes  or 
hardly  admits  the  idea  of  a  sense  of 
personal  peril,  though  it  implies  a 
vague  dread.  It  is  closely  linked 
with  the  exercise  of  the  imagination 
and  the  belief  in  unseen  presences 
and  powers.  An  awful  solitude  is  one 
in  which  the  mind  is  left  to  its  own 
fancie's,  when  it  feels  itself  alone,  and 
is  inclined  to  people  the  blank  with 
vague  creations  of  its  own.  The 
awful  is  to  tbe  imagination  what  the 
frightful  is  to  the  eye  or  the  ear,  and 
the  fearful  to  the  understanding. 

"  A  subject  bears  a  reverential  fear  to  his 
prince  fi-om  the  sense  of  his  majesty  and 
grandeur,  and  thus  much  more  the  majesty 
and  greatness  of  Almighty  God  excites  re- 
verence and  awfulness,  though  there  were 
no  other  ingredient  in  that  fear." — Halk. 

It  should  be  observed  that  of  these 
synonyms  some  are  capable  of  a  good 
sense,  others  not;  to  the  latter  kind  be- 
long Frightful,  Horrible,  and  Hor- 
rid. On  the  other  bandit  might  be  said 
that  the  majesty  of  God  is  dreadful, 
His  justice  fearful.  His  presence  ter- 
rible. His  might  ti-emendous.  His  ma- 
terial manifestations  of  Himself  have 
been  terrific,  and  His  holiness  is  awful, 
while  His  power  being  irresistible  and 
perfect  could  never  receive  so  weak 
an  epithet  as  formidable. 

Dire  (Lat.  dims)  expresses  the 
evil  or  the  terrible  as  actually  exist- 
ing or  endured,  and  not  only  as  an 
object  of  dread.  The  dire  is  more  im- 
mediate, active,  and  operative  than 
the  dreadful  or  the  terrible.  Lat. 
dtrce  (res  understood)  meant,  1,  por- 
tents, 2,  imprecations. 

DREGS.  Dross.  Sediment.  Scum. 
Refuse. 

The  distinctive  differences  between 
such  synonyms  as  these  are  only  im- 
portant as  regulating  their  moral  or 
metaphorical  application. 

Dregs  (Icel.  dregg)  was  used  for- 
merly in  the  singular  by  Shakespeare 
and  Spenser. ,  It  is  corrupt  matter  pre- 


354 


SYNONYMS 


[drench] 


cipitated  or  gepai-ated  from  a  liquid, 
especially  in  process  of  manufacture, 
Kid,  for  the  immediate  purpose,  use- 
less and  valueless.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Sediment,  which  is  never  em- 
ployed in  any  secondary  sense,  we 
find  all  the  rest  so  employed.  Tlie 
more  usual  applications  of  the  term 
dregs  are  two:  1,  "To  drain  to  the 
dregs,"  that  is,  to  exhaust  in  the  en- 
durance of  labour,  pain,  punishment, 
and  the  like — an  ancient  Hebrew 
image  ;  and,  2,  "The  dregs  of  society 
or  the  people,"  signifyino^  the  very 
lowest  and  vilest  orders.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  little  peculiar  and  original : — 

"  This  manner,  however,  of  drawing  off 
a  subject  or  a  peculiar  mode  of  writing  to 
the  dregs,  effectually  precludes  a  revival  of 
that  subject  or  manner  for  some  time  for 
the  future.  The  sated  reader  turns  from 
it  with  a  kind  of  literary  nausea."— Gold- 
smith. 

Dross  is  the  refuse  matter  which, 
as  it  were,  falls  (A.  S.  dros,  dreosan, 
to  fall)  from  metals  in  smelting  the 
ore ;  sometimes  used  of  their  oxida- 
tion or  rust.  It  is  a  symbol  of  wortli- 
lessness. 

•• '  I  know,  0  Lord,  that  Thy  judgments 
are  right,'  says  the  Psalmist,  '  and  that 
Thou  in  faithfulness  hast  afflicted  me  ;'  the 
furnace  of  affliction  being  meant  but  to  re- 
fine us  from  our  earthly  dressiness,  and 
soften  us  for  the  impression  of  God's  own 
stamp  and  image." — Boyle. 

^v.V)i-MTi'ii'r{l^diX.std'imentnm,asettUng 
down,  from  sedirej  to  settle)  is  the  mat- 
ter in  a  liquid  compound  which  sub- 
sides to  the  bottom,  and  which  there- 
fore, unless  it  be  heterogeneous,  is  un- 
like the  former  in  not  being  refuse, 
except  as  to  the  insoluble  or  undis- 
solved portions  of  it. 

"  There  is  also  a  sort  of  water  of  which 
there  is  only  one  small  pond  upon  the  is- 
land, t^  far  distant  as  the  lake,  and  to  ap- 
pearance very  good,  with  a  yellow  sediment 
at  the  bottom." — Cook's  Voyages, 

Scum  (O.  Fr.  escume,  O.  H.  G. 
scum,  foam)  is  the  extraneous  im- 
purities which  rise  to  the  surface  of 
liquids  in  boiling  or  fermentation.  It 
is  a  symbol  of  contemptible  worthless- 
ness  and  impurity. 

"  The  great  and  the  innocent  are  in- 
sulted by  the  scum  and  refuse  of  the 
peopi e .  '—Addison. 

Refuse  (Fr.  refva,  refuseTf  to  refuse) 


meauis  no  more  than  waste  or  rejected 
matter,  which,  whether  valuable  or 
not,  or  available  for  other  purposes  or 
not,  is  not  required  for  the  purpose 
in  hand.  Refuse  is  often  used  also 
in  an  analogous  sense  of  anything 
which  has  simply  done  its  part,  and 
has  become  superfluous,  without  in- 
volving any  strong  idea  of  worthlesa- 
ness  or  impurity. 

DRENCH.  Soak.  Steep.  Im- 
brue.    Saturate.     Imbue. 

To  Drench  (A.  S.  drencan,  to  give 
to  dnnk,  to  drench)  is  to  saturate  with 
moisture  or  liquid  by  pouring  it  upon 
the  object. 

To  Soak  (A.  S.  socian)  is  to  cause 
to  lie  in  a  fluid  till  the  substance  has 
imbibed  what  it  is  capable  of  contain- 
ing. 

To  Steep  (compare  Germ,  stippen,  to 
dip)  is  to  immerse  something  commonly 
for  the  purpose  of  causing  some  altera- 
tion in  it,  or  applying  it  to  a  specific 
purpose  after  it  has  been  so  immersed, 
but  not  necessarily  soaking  it,  of  which 
the  texture  may  possibly  render  it  in- 
capable. It  is  often  used  to  express 
the  abeyance  of  the  faculties  of  the 
mind  in  sleep  or  forgetfulness. 

"  Mars  driven  from  the  dreadful  field 

That  he  had  drenched  wilh  blood." 

CowPER,  Jliad. 

"  When  they  appear  it  is  not  unlikely  but 
that  they  soak  their  vehicles  in  some  vapor- 
ous or  glutinous  moisture  or  other,  that  they 
may  become  visible  to  us  at  a  more  easy 
rate."— More,  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 
"  The  prudent  sibyl  had  before  prepared 
A  sop  in  tionej steeped,  to  charm  the  guard." 
Drydkn,  Virgil. 

Saturate  (Lat.  sUtilrdre,  to  fill) 
bears  reference  to  the  structure  or  tex- 
ture of  a  substance,  and  means  to  sup- 
ply with  as  much  moisture  as  it  will 
naturally  absorb. 

"  Innumerable  flocks  and  herds  covered 
that  vast  expanse  of  emerald  meadow  satu- 
rated with  the  moisture  of  the  Atlantic.'' — 
MaCA-ULA?. 

Imbrue  is  from  an  old  Eng.  hruBy 
from  the  Italian  bevere,  and  the  Lat. 
btbcre,  to  drink.  It  differs  from  Imbue 
(Lat.  imbuere),  as  to  Imbrue  is  to  wet, 
to  Imbue  is  to  wet  or  moisten  with 
some  particular  liquid,  and  for  some 
particular  purpose,  as  that  of  staining. 


[dress] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


355 


Imbrue  is  almost  confined  to  the 
moistening  with  tears  and  with  blood. 
This  is  a  matter  of  usaee.  Imbue  has 
the  secondary  sense  of  tinging  with  a 
certain  character,  or  affecting  with 
certain  principles,  views,  doctrines, 
and  the  like. 
"  The  stream  with  blood  of  Scots  imbrued." 

MlLTOJT. 

"  Thy  words  with  grace  divine  imbued. 
Bring  to  their  sweetness  no  satiety.'' 

Milton. 

DRESS.  Attire.  Apparel.  Ar- 
ray. Costume.  Habit.  Clothes. 
Clothing.  Garment.  Vesture. 
Vestment.  Raiment.  Habiliment. 

Dress  (O.  Fr.  dresser,  to  set  tip, 
originally  from  Lat.  direct-us,  upright, 
to  arrange)  is  used  generically  of 
what  is  employed  to  cover  the  body, 
regarded  as  a  whole,  though  it  be  of 
more  articles  than  one,  and  of  a 
more  or  less  careful  arrangement  and 
elftborate  character.  The  dress  is 
well  or  ill  fashioned  and  carelessly 
worn  or  carefully  arranged,  costly  or 
inexpensive,  simple  or  complicated, 
with  or  without  ornaments,  and  in 
its  extended  idea  includes  far  more 
than  what  is  merely  necessary  to 
clothe  the  body.  Hence  the  terra 
Dress  readily  lends  itself  to  a  secon- 
dary meaning,  that  of  aspect  or  cha- 
racter, as  it  impresses  the  sight  or 
judgment,  as  in  the  following  : 

"  Christianity  is  that  very  religion  itself 
(natural  religion)  in  a  better  dress." — 
Pkarce,  Sei-mons. 

Clothes  (A.  S.  cldth,  a  cloth)  are 
articles  of  dress.  And  yet  they  are 
restricted  to  those  which  are  directly 
so,  that  is,  to  what  is  worn  simply  to 
cover  the  body  or  protect  it  from  the 
weather. 

**  And  Jacob  rent  his  clothes." — Bible. 

Clothing  is  dress  divested  of  the 
idea  of  ornament,  and  regarded  simply 
in  its  material,  as  a  savage  might  be 
clothed  in  the  skins  of  beasts,  or  a 
rich  man  in  purple  and  fine  linen.  It 
is  a  broader  term  than  Clothes,  ai,d 
would  include  what  were  not  in  them- 
selves clothes.  A  magazine  of  ar- 
ticles of  clothing  would  contain  laces, 
buttons,  &c.  It  has  a  very  generic 
tud  abstract  meaning. 


"  With  him  the  clothing  ia  neither  woollen, 
nor  linen,  nor  silk,  satin,  or  velvet.  It  ii 
drapery.  It  is  nothing  more." — Sir  J 
Reynolds. 

Nearly  allied  is  Raiment  (O.  Fr. 
rai,  order,  from  which  O.Fr.  arrai, pre- 
paration, &c.),  which  is  the  represen- 
tative name  for  dress  when  regarded 
as  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  as 
to  be  provided  with  shelter,  food, 
and  raiment. 

"  Having  food  and  raiment,  let  as  be 
therewith  Kontent."~Bible. 

Attire  (O.  Fr.  atirer,  to  adorn) 
denotes  highly  ornamental  or  official 
dress,  as,  "  gorgeously  attired," 
"  meanly  clad." 

"  Earth  in  her  rich  attire."    Milton. 

Apparel  (Fr.  appareitler,  to  match 
things,  pareilheing  I  -at.  pcinculus,  from 
par,  equal)  is  clothing  regarded  as  a 
luxury  of  life,  as  Raiment  is  a  neces- 
sary. So  we  mightsay,  "Wealth  in  the 
East  often  consists  in  the  possession 
of  costly  apparel  and  stuffs." 
"  Costly  thy  habit  as  thy  purse  can  bny. 
But    not    expressed    in    fancy,   rich,   not 

gandy. 
For  the  apparel  oft  i)roclaiin8  the  man." 
Shakespeare. 

Array    (see   Ralment)  ^ives  the 
idea  of  vai-ious  articles  of  dress  and 
ornament,  not  called  so  till  ranged  in 
order  upon   the  person,  and   would 
include   such   ornaments  as  are  not 
articles  of  apparel  or  clothing,  as,  for 
instance,   rings   on    the    fingers,  or 
decorations  for  the  head. 
"  Dry  up  your  tears,  and  stick  your  rose- 
mary 
On  this  fair  corse,  and  as  the  custom  is. 
And  in  her  best  array,  bear  her  to  church." 
Shakkspkare. 

Costume  (Fr.  coutume,  Lat.  con- 
suettidmem)  is  a  doublet  of  the 
word  custom,  and  is  to  national  dress 
what  Habit  (Fr.  habit,  a  fashion, 
dress,  Lat.  hUUitum)  is  to  the  dress  of 
sections  or  orders  of  men,  as  we 
speak  of  the  costume  ol"  a  period,  the 
habit  of  an  ecclesiastic. 

"  Sergius  Panlus  wears  a  crown  of  laurel. 
This  is  hardly  reconcilable  to  strict  pro- 
priety and  the  costume,  of  which  Raffaele 
was  in  general  a  good  observer." — Sir  J, 
Reynolds. 

Habit  is  commonly  of  a  plain  noW 


356 


SYIkONYMS 


[drift] 


more  or  less  flowing  character.  We 
do  not  speak  of  the  habit  of  a  soldier, 
but  of  a  monk,  or  a  lady's  riding- 
habit. 

"  Habited  like  a  juryman." 

Churchill. 

Vesture  (Lat.  vestire,  to  clothe) 
conveys  the  idea  of  a  costly  garment 
of  a  flowing  character;  while  Vest- 
ment is  an  official  vesture,  especially 
of  ministers  of  religion. 

♦'  Upon  My  vesture  shall  they  cast  lots." 
—Bible. 

'*  Bring  forth  vestments  for  all  the  wor- 
shippers of  Baal ;  and  they  brought  them 
forth  vestments." — Ibid. 

Garment,  which  is  an  abbreviated 
form  of  gameimnt  (O.  Fr.  garnement, 
garnir,  (o/tM7m/j)  is  any  article  of  cloth- 
ing of  a  main  character,  and  connected 
with  the  trunk  of  the  body.  Hats, 
laces,  boots,  and  the  like,  though 
articles  of  clothing,  would  hardly  be 
called  garments. 

"  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh,  aloes, 
and  cassia." — English  Psalms. 

Habiliment  (Fr.  habillement,  habil- 
ler,  to  dresn),  more  commonly  used  in 
the  plural,  is  much  the  same  as  Gar- 
M  ENT,  having  a  more  formal  force ; 
but  not  so  much  so  as  Vestment. 
Official  robes  might  suitably  be  termed 
habiliments.  Speed  speaks  of"  kingly 
habiliments,"  and  Knox  (Essays)  of 
the  "  habiliments  of  a  soldier." 

DRIFT.  Tendency.  Gravita- 
tion. 

Drift  {i.e.  driven)  is  commonly 
emjUoyed  of  the  argumentative  mean- 
ing- or  purpose  of  connected  words, 
as  in  a  speech  or  written  composition, 
though  not  confined  to  this. 

Tendency  (f.at.  tendcre,  to  stretch, 
to  tend  in  any  direction)  is  applied  to 
subjects ;  as,  the  tendency  of  certain 
principles;  and  means  not  the  mental 
aim,  but  the  moral  and  practical  issue 
or  consequence.  "  I  could  hardly 
make  out  the  drift  of  his  speech,  but 
It  seemed  to  me  to  have  a  revolu- 
tionary tendency." 

"  But  so  strangely  perverse  is  his  com- 
mentator, that  he  will  suppose  him  to 
mean  anything  rather  than  what  the  ob- 
vious drift  of  his  argument  requires."— 
WAaBUBTOK. 


"  This  truth.  Philosophy,   though   eagle- 
eyed 
In  Nature's  tendencies,  oft  overlooks." 

COWPER. 

Gravitate  (Ijdil. grdvitatem,  heavi- 
ness) is  employed  of  the  general  tenor 
both  of  speech  and  action  which  tends 
to  a  certain  point  or  direction  with  or 
without  any  conscious  or  intended 
bias. 

"  To  act  with  any  people  with  any  degree 
of  comfort,  I  believe  we  must  contrive  a 
little  to  assimilate  to  their  character ;  we 
must  gravitate  towards  them  if  we  would 
keep  in  the  same  system  or  expect  that  they 
should  approach  to  us." — BuEKE. 

DRINK.    Draught.    Beverage. 

POTIOV. 

A  Drink  (A.  S.  drencun,  to  drink^ 
is  commonly  a  compound  for  refresh- 
ment or  health. 

A  Draught  is  a  long-drawn  drink 
either  of  water  or  artificially  com- 
pounded liquid,  medicinal  or  other- 
wise. 

Beverage  (O.  Fr.  bovraige,  dnnk, 
and  boivre,  to  drink,  Lat.  bihere)  is  a 
compoundnot  otherwise  than  pleasant. 

Potion  (Lat.  ■potionem)  is  usually 
a  liquid  medicine;  but  the  word  is 
more  literary  than  conversational. 
It  is  the  origin  of  the  word  poison. 

DROLL.  Ludicrous.  Ridicu- 
lous.    Comical.     Laughable. 

Of  these,  Laughable,  exciting  or 
worthy  of  laughter,  may  be  regarded 
as  the  generic  term,  the  others  ex- 
pressing different  modifications  of 
the  laughable. 

"  Nature  hath  framed  strange  fellows  in 
her  time, 

Some  that  will  evermore  peep  through 
their  eyes, 

And  laugh  like  parrots  at  a  bagpiper ; 

And  other  of  such  vinegar  aspect 

That  they'll  not  show  their  teeth  in  the 
way  of  smile, 

Though  Nestor  swear  the  jest  be  laugh- 
able." SHAKtSPEARE. 

Droll  (Fr.  drSle,  Icel.  troll,  hob- 
goblin) denotes  the  combination  of 
the  laughable  witli  the  unfamiliar  or 
odd.  A  droll  person  is  an  oddity; 
a  droll  story  is  not  simply  funny,  but 
amusing  from  a  disconnectedness  and 
unexpected  combination  of  incidents. 

••  This  never  transported  him  to  anything 
which  looked  like  malignancy ;  yet  in  th» 


[drop] 


little  rubs  and  vexations  3f  life  'twas  apt  U, 
show  itself  in  a  drollish  and  witty  kind  of 
peevishness." — Sterne 

Ludicrous  (Lat.  ludicer,  or  litdicrtis, 
done  in  sport)  denotes  that  which  is 
personally  lauohable,  but  without 
any  necessary  admixture  of  contempt 
or  pity,  in  this  differing  from  Ridicu- 
lous ( Lat.  ridtcalus,  causing  laughter), 
'.vhich  conveys  tlie  idea  of  the  con- 
temptible in  things  and  the  humilia- 
ting in  persons,  or  the  petty  and 
trifling,  where  some  degree  of  gravity 
is  claimed. 

"According  to  that  hypothesis  it  would 
follow  that  every,  the  smallest  and  most 
contemptible  animal  that  could  see  the  son 
had  a  higher  degree  of  entity  and  per- 
fection in  it  than  the  sun  itself.  A  thing 
ric^tcuZow^Zy  absurd."— CuDWORTH. 

"  He  has  therefore  in  his  whole  volume 
nothing  burlesque,  and  seldom  anything 
ludicrous  or  familiar." — Johnson,  Life  of 
WaUer. 

Comical (Gr.  xfWjuVxoV,  comic yKoofxoi, 
a  revel)  denotes  what  is  demonstra- 
tively and,  as  it  were,  dramatically 
laughable,  admitting  of  surrounding 
incidents  or  circumstances,  as  "to  be 
in  a  comical  position,"  "  a  book  with 
comical  illustrations." 

"  He  (Daniel  Whitby)  was  suspended, 
and  at  length  made  a  pretended  recanta- 
tion, which  cost  him  nothing  but  the  plea- 
sure of  out-witting  his  governors  by  a  part 
acted  in  a  comicalt  way."— Wood,  AthencB 
Oxon. 

DROOP.      Languish.      Flag. 
Pine. 
Droop  is  allied  to  dro-p,  and  is  ap- 

fdied  to  anything  which  occupies  a 
ess  erect  position  than  ordinary.  The 
snowdrop,  as  its  name  implies,  droops, 
that  is,  hangs  down  its  head  more 
than  the  generality  of  flowers.  The 
flag  droops  when  there  is  not  suflicient 
force  of  wind  to  unfold  it  horizon- 
tally. The  human  head  or  form 
droops  under  soitow  or  sickness. 
Languish  (Lat.  langucre,  to  be  weak, 
faint)  is  only  applicable  to  things 
possessing  some  kind  of  vital  energy, 
which  has  become  dull  or  weak  under 
a  softening,  depressing,  or  sickly  in- 
fluence. To  Flag  (of.  Icoi.fiaka,  to 
droop)  commonly  bears  reference  to 
growth,movement,progress, or  efforts; 
while    Pine   (A..    S.   pinan)  is    only 


DISCRIMINATED. 


357 


used  of  sentient  beings,  and  means  to 
languish  under  certain  causes,  as  dis- 
tress, anxiety,  disappointment,  capti- 
vity, desire,  longing,  desertion,  or  so- 
litude. The  plant  does  not  pine, 
though  it  may  droop  and  languish. 

"  Upon  her  face  there  was  the  tint  of  grief. 
The  settled  shadow  of  an  inward  strife. 
And  an  unquiet  drooping  of  the  eye. 
As  if  its  lid  were   charged   with   unshed 
tears."  Byron. 

**  If  this  harmonical  temperature  of  the 
whole  body  be  distributed  and  put  out  oi 
tune,  weakness  and  languishing  will  imme- 
diately seize  upon  it."— Cudworth. 
"  The  wounded  bird,  ere  yet  she  breathed 

her  last, 
With  gagging  wings  alighted  on  the  mast, 
A  moment  hung,  and  spread  her  pinions 

there, 
Then  sudden  dropt,  and  left  her  life  in  air." 

Pope,  Iliad. 
"  Loathing  from  i*acks  of  husky  straw  he 

turns, 
AndpiniTig  for  the  verdant  pasture  mourns.* 
RowE,  Lucan. 

DROP.     Fall.     Sink.     Tumble. 

Drop  (A.  S.  dropian)  has  more 
than  one  sense ;  as,  to  distil  or  fall  in 
globules;  or,  again,  to  descend  sud- 
denly, abiiiptly,  and,  in  some  cases, 
on  purpose.  To  Fall  (A.  S.  feallan, 
cf.  Lat. /« //ere,  todeceive)is  involuntary 
or  mecnanical,  except  in  the  plirase 
to  fall  down  in  worship,  or  at  the  feet 
of  any  one.  It  may  be  more  or  less 
rapid  or  sudden,  as  the  apple  falls 
from  the  tree,  the  river  falls  into  the 
sea,  the  tide  falls,  or  the  mercury  in 
the  barometer.  To  Sink  (A.  S.  sin- 
can)  is  to  fall  gradually  and  compara- 
tively slowly.  It  is  metaphorically 
used  in  the  sense  of  being  overwhelmed 
or  depressed,  declining,  decaying,  and 
decreasing  in  bulk.  To  Tumble  (Fr. 
tomber)  is  to  fall  awkwardly  or  without 
design,  so  losing  tlie  centre  of  gravity. 
There  are  many  analogous  applica- 
tions in  which  these  distinctions  are 
preserved,  as,  for  instance  :  Words 
drop  fi'om  the  lips,  or  an  observation 
is  di'opped  accidentally ;  a  subject  is 
dropped.  To  fall  from  a  high  estate. 
Words  sink  into  the  heart,  or  great 
men  sink  in  public  estimation.  To 
tumble  from  tne  seat  of  power ;  the 
cataract  tumbles  over  the  rocks. 
"  When  the  sound  of  dropping  nuts  ifl 
heard,"  biiYAJfl. 


358 


•'  He  rushed  into  the  field  and  foremost 
fighting/e//."  Byeon. 

"  The  stone  sunk  into  his  forehead."  - 
English  Bible. 

*'  He  who  tu7Jibles  from  a  tower  surely 
has  a  greater  blow  than  he  who  slides  from 
a  mole-hill."— South. 

DROWSY.    Sleepy.    Lethargic. 

Drowsy  (A.  S.  drusiauy  to  be  slug- 
gish) and  Sleepy,  or  inclined  to  sleep 
( A.S.  sl&Pf  sleep),  are  almost  identical ; 
but  drowsiness  is  a  heavy,  and  often 
abnormal  sleepiness.  Persons  com- 
plain of  drowsiness  when  they  wisb 
to  keep  awake,  and  say  they  feel 
sleepy  when  it  is  time  to  go  to  rest 
for  the  night.  An  artificial  heaviness, 
produced,  for  instance,  by  drugs  or 
an  intoxicating  draught,  would  be 
called  drowsiness  rather  than  sleepi- 
ness. 

Lethargic,  from  lethargy  (Gr. 
XnQapyitt)  is  always  abnormal,  sup- 
posing some  foreign  influence,whether 
used  physically  of  an  involuntary  and 
strong  tendency  to  sleej)  morbidly  ;  or 
morally,  in  the  sense  of  insensateness 
and  invincible  sluggishness,  oblivion, 
indolence,  or  indifference. 

"  Above  is  perpetual  gloom.  The  sun  is 
not  seen,  nor  the  breeze  felt.  The  air 
stagnates,  and  pestilential  vapours  diffuse 
drowsiness,  lassitude,  and  anxiety." — Ad- 
venturer. 

*'  I  rather  choose  to  endure  the  wounds  of 
those  darts  which  envy  casteth  at  novelty, 
than  to  go  on  safely  and  sleepily  in  the  easy 
ways  of  ancient  undertakings." — Raleigh. 

"Does  Lear  walk  thus?  speak  thus? 
Either  his  notion  weakens,  or  his  discern- 
ings  are  letharqied." — Shakespeark. 

DRUNKENNESS.  Intoxica- 
tion.    Inebriation.     Inebriety. 

Drunkenness  is  specifically  the 
becoming  intoxicated  by  strong  drink, 
and  is  used  to  express  both  the 
casual  state  and  the  habit. 

Intoxication  (Lat.  toxictim,  poison, 
Gr.  To^ixo'v,  a  poison  in  which  arrows, 
To^cL,  were  dipped)  includes  cases  in 
which  the  same  effect  is  produced  by 
other  causes  than  drinking,  as,  for 
instance,  the  fumes  of  tobacco. 

Ineuriation  (Lat.  tnebriare,  to  make 
drunk)  diffei's  from  intoxication  in 
being  confined  to  the  results  of  drink- 
ing, and   from   drunkeuueas,  in   de- 


SYNONYMS  [drowsy] 

noting  the  pi'ocess  or  the  state,  but 
not  the  habit.  Inebriety  expresseg 
tlie  state  and  the  habit,  but  not  the 
process.  Intoxicate  lends  itself  most 
easily  of  all  to  a  secondary  applica- 
tion ;  so  that  a  man  is  said  to  be  intoxi- 
cated with  success,  pleasure,  and  the 
like. 

"The  dissolution  and  dru7ikenness  of  that 
night  was  so  great  and  scandalous,  in  a 
nation  which  had  not  been  acquainted  with 
such  disorders  for  many  years  past,  that 
the  King,  who  still  stood  in  need  of  the 
Presbyterian  party,  which  had  betrayed  all 
into  his  hands,  for  their  satisfaction  caused 
a  proclamation  to  be  published  forbidding 
the  drinking  of  healths."— Ludlow,  Me- 
moirs. 
"  King  was  a  name  too  proud  for  man  to 

bear 
With  modesty  and    meekness  ;    and   the 

crown. 
So  dazzling  in  their  eyes  who  set  it  on. 
Was  sure  to  intoxicate  the  brows  it  botmd." 
COWPER. 

"  That  'tis  good  to  be  drunk  once  a 
month,  is  a  common  flattery  of  sensuality, 
supporting  itself  upon  physick  and  the 
healthful  effects  of  inebriation."— BROvnx, 
Vulgar  Errors. 

"  Paroxysms  of  inebriety."  — Darwin. 

DUMB.  Mute.  Speechless. 
Silent.     Voiceless.     Noiseless. 

Dumb  (A .  S.  dumb,  mute)  commonly 
signifies  unable  to  speak,  whethei 
from  temporary  or  permanent  and 
natural  causes,  as  "  dumb  brutes,'' 
"  struck  dumb  with  amazement." 

"  In  the  first  case  the  demoniac  or  mad- 
man was  dumb  ;  and  his  dumbness  probably 
arose  from  the  natural  turn  of  his  disorder, 
which  was  that  species  of  madness  called 
melancholy,  of  which  taciturnity  or  dumb- 
ness is  a  very  common  effect."— Farmer. 

Mute  (Lat.  mutus,  dumb)  is  com- 
monly employed  of  the  human  race, 
I  and  refers  to  articulate  speech,  which 
for  some  peculiar  reason  is  temporarily 
suspended,  as,  "  Mute  in  astonish- 
ment," "  In  spite  of  all  interrogations 
he  remained  mute."  Many  are  mute 
by  nature  who  are  not,  strictly  speak- 
ing, dumb;  that  is,  they  have  no 
imperfection  of  the  vocal  organs;  but, 
being  without  the  sense  ot  hearing, 
they  have  no  notion  of  the  sounds 
which  they  ought  to  utter.  Poeti- 
cally, Mute  is  used  in  the  sense  o/ 
dumb,  as  "  mute  fishes." 


[durable] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


359 


"Hail   native  Langnage,  that  by  sinews 

weak 
Didst  move  my  first  endeavouring  tongue 

to  speak. 
And  midst  imperfect  words  with  childish 

trips 
Half    unpronounced,    slide    through    my 

infant  lips. 
Driving  dumb  silence  from  the  portal  door 
Where  he  had  mutely  sat  two  years  before." 
Milton. 
Speechless  (A.  S.  spSc,  speech)  re- 
lates only  to  articulate  sounds,  and 
means  destitute  or  deprived,  whether 
permanently  or  for  a  time,  of  the 
faculty  of  speech. 
"  From  his  slack  hand  the  garland  wreath'd 

for  Eve 
Down  drop'd,  and  all  the  faded  roses  shed. 
Speechless  he  stood  and  pale,  till  thus  at 

length. 
First  to  himself,  he  inward  silence  broke." 
MiLTOy. 
Silent  (Lat.  sWere,  lo  be  silent)  is 
very  general,  and  relates  to  anything 
characterized  by  the  absence,  tempo- 
rary or  permanent,  of  speech  or 
sound.  It  is  applicable  not  only  to 
living  beings,  but  to  anything  pro- 
ducing sound,  as  "  a  musical  instru- 
ment,^' or  even  to  localities,  as  ''the 
silent  woods." 

"  But  man  is  frail,  and  can  but  ill  sustain 
A  long  immimity  from  grief  and  pain. 
And  after  all  the  joys  that  plenty  leads 
With  tiptoe  step  vice  silently  succeeds." 
COWPKB. 

"The  Voiceless  woods"  (Fr.  voix, 
Lat.  vocem,  a  voice)  would  mean  the 
absence  of  animal  sounds,  "  The 
Noiseless  woods"  (0.  Fr.  noise,  a 
quarrel,  Lat.  nausea,  disgust,  annoy- 
ance, Braciiet)  the  absence  of  all 
sounds,  whether  vocal  or  otherwise. 

*'  The  Niobe  of  nations,  there  she  stands. 
Childless  and  crownless  in  her  voiceless 

woe. 
An  empty  urn  within  her  withered  hands. 
Whose  holy  dust  was  scattered  long  ago." 
Byron. 
"  For  her,  O  sleep,  thy  balmy  sweets  pre- 
pare ; 
The  peace  I  lose  for  her  to  her  transfer ; 
Hrish'd  as  the  falling  dews  whose  noiseless 

showers 
Impearl  the  folded  leaves  of  evening  flowers. 
Steal  on  her  brow."  CoNGEEVK. 

DUPLICITY.  Double-dealing. 
(See  Deception.) 

The  former  relates  to  character  (  Lat. 
duplex,  dupticis,  double),  the  latter  to 


action.  Duplicity  (Lat.  dupUcitatem, 
a  being  double  Aoubtfulness)  of  character 
may  lead  to  Double-dealing  in  par- 
ticular cases.  Duplicity  is  that  sus- 
tained form  of  deception  which  con- 
sists in  entertaining  one  set  of  feelings, 
and  acting  as  if  influenced  by  another. 
Double-dealing  is  acting  in  such  a 
way  as  to  have  a  double  line  of  con- 
duct, and  commonly  to  give  the  im- 
pression of  consulting  the  wishes  or 
interests  of  others,  while  one  is  really 
following  one's  own. 

"I  find  in  you  no  false  duplicity."— 
Chauckr. 

"Maskwell  in  the  '  Double -dealer,' dis- 
closes by  soliloquy  that  his  motive  for 
double-dealing  was  his  passion  for  Cynthia." 
— Cumberland. 

DURABLE.  Lasting.  Perma- 
nent.    Enduring.     Persistent. 

Of  these.  Lasting  (A.  S.  l<zstany 
"to  observe,  perform,  last,  remain": 
Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.)  is  the  most 
general — remaining  longer  in  exis- 
tence, and,  by  an  extension  of  mean- 
ing, remaining  long  unimpaired. 
Lasting  and  Durable  seem  to  share 
between  them  the  moral  and  phy- 
sical import  of  endurance.  Durable 
stone.  A  lasting  friendship.  The 
former  too  resists  wear,  the  latter 
survives  the  lapse  of  time. 

"  The  ancients  depicted  friendship  in  the 
bearings  and  strength  of  a  young  man, 
bareheaded,  rudely  clothed,  to  signify  its 
activity  and  lastingness,  readiness  of  action 
and  aptness  to  do  service." — Bishop  Tay- 
lor. 

Durable  (Lat.  durdbilis,  durdre, 
act.  and  neut.,  to  harden)  is  lasting, 
with  specific  reference  to  physical 
influences ;  as  a  "  durable  material " 
is  one  which  will  bear  wear  and  tear, 
weather,  and  the  like.  That  which  is 
not  durable  perishes  quickly. 

"A  Gothic  cathedral  raises  ideas  of 
grandeur  in  our  minds  by  its  size,  its 
height,  its  awful  obscurity,  its  strength, 
its  antiquity,  and  its  durability."— Bl^^ib,. 

Permanent  (Lat.  permUnere,  to  stay 
to  the  end)  combines  the  two  ideas 
of  absence  of  internal  and  of  external 
change.  A  permanent  monument  is 
not  only  durable,  but  it  is  established 
so  as  to  remain  unmoved.  It  lasts 
both  in  time  and  place.  The  opposite 
to  Permanent  is  temporary. 


360 


"The  earth,  great  mother  of  us  all, 
That  only  seems  unmoved  and  permanent." 
Spenser. 

Enduring  (^see  Dcrablf.)  is  em- 
ployed of  what  resists  moral  influences 
of  deterioration  or  destruction,  as 
"  enduring  happiness,"  "  an  enduring 
friendship."  It  involves  such  ideas 
as  remaining  firm  under  trial,  suffer- 
ing, perhaps,  witliout  resistance,  but 
at  least  without  yielding. 

"  Ye  have  in  heaven  a  better  and  an  en- 
during substance." — Bible. 

Persistent(  Lat.  persistere,  to  remain 
steadfastlif)  means  lasting  through  na- 
tive tenacity,  and  so  contmuing  or  last- 
ing in  spite  of  influences  which  might 
have  been  sufficient  to  destroy  natures 
changeable  or  less  tough.  It  has  a  phy- 
sical character,  as  a  botanical  tei-m,  in 
the  sense  of  not  falling  off  until  the 
part  which  bears  it  is  wholly  matured ; 
e.g.  the  leaves  of  evergreen  plants. 
In  the  following  it  indicates  a  sustain- 
ing will  or  purpose,  as  reflected  in  the 
expression  of  the  eye  itself : — 

"  Modred's  narrow  foxy  face. 
Heart-hiding  smile,  and  grey,  persistent 
eye."  Teitoyson. 

DUTY.     Obligation. 

The  distinction  commonly  made  be- 
tween these  is  that  Duty  (literally, 
what  is  due)  rises  out  of  permanent 
relationships  between  persons,  while 
Obligation  (Lat.  ohligationem,  obli- 
gdre,  to  bi7id)  flows  from  the  applica- 
tion of  moral  principles  to  particular 
cases.  Obligations  in  this  way  would 
often  be  duties,  while  duties  would 
often  be  based  upon  obligations.  An 
obligation  in  its  broadest  sense  is  any- 
thing which  constrains  us  to  act;  as,  a 
vow,  promise,  oath,  contract ;  but  is 
hardly  applicable  to  the  coercive  power 
of  law,  or  to  such  matters  as  flow 
from  natural  piety,  as  the  duty  of 
parents  and  of  children.  Duty  is  a 
graver  term  than  Obligation.  A  duty 
hardly  exists  to  perform  trivial  things; 
but  there  may  be  an  obligation  to  do 
them.  It  is  the  dutv  of  peers  to 
attend  the  queen  at  the  oj)ening  of 
parliament.  We  should  hardly  say 
that  to  attend  in  t'veir  robes  was  a 
duty,  though  they  a-e  obliged  to  do 
this.  Law  and  conscience  dictate  to 
ft  man  what  is   his  duty,   and  the 


SYNONYMS  [duty] 

neglect  of  it  is  a  violation  of  right  or 
virtue.  Oblig  ation  is  more  practical, 
and  is  dictated  rather  by  usage  and 
propriety.  Obligation  has  also  very 
often  the  sense  of  the  power  that  binds, 
while  Duty  is  the  thing  enforced. 
A  duty  never  can  be  against  reason  ; 
an  obligation  may  be  even  absurd,  as 
depending  upon  custom.  Obligation 
is  defined  by  the  extent  of  the  power 
which  obliges;  duty  by  the  ability  of 
the  subject  who  performs. 

"  As  the  will  of  God  is  our  rule,  to  inquire 
what  is  our  duty,  or  what  we  are  obliged  to 
do,  in  any  instance,  is  in  effect  to  inquire 
what  is  the  will  of  God  in  that  instance, 
which  constantly  becomes  the  whole  busi- 
ness of  morality." — Paley. 

"The  various  duties  which  have  now  been 
considered  all  agree  with  each  other  in  one 
common  quality,  that  of  being  obligatory 
upon  rational  and  voluntary  agents;  and 
they  are  all  enjoined  by  the  same  authority, 
the  authority  of  conscience." — StewarT, 
Outlines  of  Moral  Philosophy. 


E. 


EAGER.  Earnest. 
Eag  er  (0.  Fr.  ai^7*c,Lat.  dcrem,  s/uu^), 
active)  denotes  an  excited  desii'e  or 
longing,  and  an  intentness  upon  pur- 
suit of  some  object ;  as,  hounds  eager 
in  the  chase,  "lie  who  is  eager  seeks 
to  gain  or  enjoy  with  the  least  pos- 
sible delay,  and  is  proportionately 
stimulated  to  action.  The  term  may 
relate  to  what  is  praisewortliy  or  the 
contrary. 

"  The  insect  youth  are  on  the  wing. 
Eager  to  taste  the  honied  spring. 
And  float  amid  the  liquid  noon." 

Gray, 
Earnest,  orig.  a  substantive  (A.  S. 
eornost,  earnestness),  is  always  used  in 
a  good  sense ;  and  though  earnestness 
may  grow  into  specific  eagerness,  it 
by  no  means  implies  this.  Eagerness 
relates  to  the  object,  earnestness  to  the 
occupation,  the  state  or  habit.  Ear- 
nestness is  a  combination  of  sincerity 
and  energy.  We  should  say  equally 
of  the  hypocrite  and  of  the  sluggard 
that  he  was  not  in  earnest  in  religion. 
"And  we  may  learn  hence  that  the 
greatest  gilt  of  prayer,  and  earnestness  and 
frequency  in  it,  is  do  good  mark  of  god\» 


[earnest] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


361 


ness,  except  it  be  attended  •with  sincere, 
coiistant,  and  virtuous  endeavours."— 
GLAIfVILL. 

EAGERNESS.  Avidity.  Gueedi- 
NESs.  Acquisitiveness. 

Eagerness  (see  above)  difters  from 
Avidity  (Lat.  dviditdtem,  UvMus,  \ 
greedy),  in  that  the  latter  implies  more 
of  appetite  and  desire  of  possession, 
and  is  not  employed  of  any  thingbesides 
matters  of  enjoyment  and  such  posses- 
sion ;  whereas  Eageiiness  is  applic- 
able to  an  excited  desire  to  gain  ends  of 
other  kinds ;  as,  for  instance,  the  young 
soldier  may  be  eager  for  opportunities 
of  distinguishing  himself,  or  accept 
the  post  of  danger  with  eagerness, 
where  the  term  Avidity  would  be 
wholly  out  of  i)lace. 

Greediness  (A.  S.  grkd'w)  is  a 
low,  animal,  or  selfish  form  of  desire. 
Eagerness,  as  we  have  seen,  may  in 
certain  cases  be  praiseworthy ;  but 
Avidity  and  Greediness  are  always 
used  in  an  unfavourable  sense,  though 
this  in  some  cases  is  slight,  as  to  seize 
an  opportunity  with  avidity.  1 1  never 
reaches  the  coarseness  of  greediness. 
"  For  him,  ye  gods,  for  Crastinus,  whose 

spear 
With  impious  eagerness  began  the  war. 
Some  more  than  common  punishment  pre- 
pare." RoWE,  Lucan. 

"  In  all  which  we  may  see  an  infinite 
avidity,  and  such  as  cannot  be  satisfled  with 
any  finite  object." — FoTHKRBY,  Atheo- 
viastix. 

"  To  work  all  uncleauness  with  greedi- 
ness."— Bible. 

Acquisitiveness  (Lat.  acgziirtre, 
part,  acqahitus,  to  acquire)  is  an  active 
but  milder  form  of  greediness.  It  is 
a  propensity  of  which  the  nature  is  a 
love  of  gain.  It  does  not  despise  even 
small  gaii's.  It  is  an  animal  instinct 
and  may  be  seen  in  some  animals,  as 
the  magpie  and  the  monkey.  It  is 
commonly  unscrupulous  and  leads  to 
theft,  peculation,  and  fraud.  It  is 
a  kind  of  spurious  and  unprincipled 
industry.  The  older  force  oi  the  word 
was  passive,  not  active. 

"He  died  not  in  his  acquisitive,  but  in 
his  native  soil." — WoTTON. 

EARLY.    Soon.    Betimes. 
Early  (A.  S.   terliche)  is  used  as 
au  adjective  as  well  as  an  adverb.     1 1 


is  essentially  relative,  and  implies 
some  ordinary  or  fixed  point  of  time, 
in  advance  of  which  something  else 
takes  place,  as  "to  rise  early, '^  "  an 
eai'ly  spring." 

Soon  (A.  S.  sona)  indicates  always 
a  short  interval  posterior  to  any  given 
moment  or  the  present  moment,  as 
"  soon  after  sunrise,"  "I  will  go  soon." 

Betimes  (be  or  bi,  and  time,  the  s 
having  been  added  afterwards,  i.e., 
by  time)  denotes  some  space  in  the 
early  part  of  which  something  else  is 
done.  It  has  a  practical  force,  and 
commonly  means  in  good  time  for  all 
needful  purposes,  or  for  some  specific 
object. 

"Samuel  began  his  acquaintance  with 
Qt)d  early,  and  continued  it  long.  He  began 
it  in  his  loug  coats,  and  continued  it  to  hia 
grey  hairs." — Bishop  Hall. 

"  'Tis  sooner  past,  'tis  sooner  done. 
Than  summer's  rain  or  winter's  sun  ; 
Most  fleeting  when  it  is  most  dear, 
'Tis  gone  while  we  but  say  'tis  here." 
Carkw. 
"  When  the  fii-st  rays  their  cheering  crim- 
son shed. 
We'll  rise    betimes    to    see    the   A-ineyard 
spread."  Parnell. 

EARNEST.    Pledge. 

Earnest  (Welsh  eriies)  is  a  woid 
of  very  uncertain  history  ;  so  is  also 
Pledge  (Fr.  pleige).  As  used  figura- 
tively, there  is  some  distinction  be- 
tween them.  Earnest  is  less  strong 
than  Pledge.  After  a  pledge  we 
expect  by  personal  right ;  after 
an  earnest  we  expect  by  natural 
sequence.  A  pledge  is  some  kind  of 
security  actually  given  for  the  future. 
An  earnest  often  involves  no  more 
security  than  that  of  a  high  proba- 
bility. If  I  say,  "  I  pledge  my  word 
that  itohall  be  so,"  I  leave,  as  it  were, 
a  deposit  in  honour  that  I  will  do  what 
I  say.  If  I  say,  "  His  early  school 
successes  were  an  earnest  of  his  bril- 
liant career  in  after  life,"  I  mean  no 
more  than  that  they  raised  expectations 
which  were  afterwai'ds  fulfilled. 

"  They  (afllictious)  may  be  testimonies 
o/  earnests  of  Gods  favour  ;  for  whom  He 
loves  He  rebukes  and  chastens,  even  as  a 
father  a  sou  Lu  whom  he  delighteth." — 

Wn,KINS. 

•*  If  a  pawnbroker  recei\  es  plate  or  jewels 
A3  a  pledge  or  security  for  the  repayment  of 


362 


money  lent  thereon  at  a  day  certain,  he 
has  them  upon  the  express  contract  or  con-    : 
dition  to  restore  them  if  the  pledger  per-    [ 
forms  his  part  by  redeeming  them  in  due 
time."— Blackstone. 

EASE.     Quiet.     Rest.     Repose,    j 

Ease  (Fr.  aise)  means  tlie  absence    : 
of  any  cause  of  trouble.    This  may  be 
either  internally  as  regards  oneself,  or   j 
externally  as  regards  what  one  has  to 
do.     Hence  the  twofold  meaning  into   ; 
which  the  word  runs  out,  of  quiet  and 
facility.      In   the   former   application 
E AS  E 18  freedom  from  trouble,  pain,  or    ; 
restraint  from  without  or  from  within.    ' 
We  speak  of  ease  of  body  or  ease  of  | 
mind ;  in  the  latter  freedom  from  diflfi-    ! 
culty  or  opposition. 

Quiet  (Lat.  qniitem)  denotes  the 
absence  of  a  disturbing  cause,  as,  e.^. 
harassing  thoughts  or  noises,  and  is 
inapplicable  to  the  bodies  of  men. 

Rest  (A.  S.  restan,  to  stay^  remain; 
cf.  Ger.  rasten)  denotes  primarily  the 
cessation  of  motion,  and,  as  a  particu- 
lar application  of  this,  the  cessation 
from  active  or  laborious  movement. 

As  a  synonym  with  Repose  (Fr. 
repos,  from  reposer,  to  rest),  it  may 
mean  any  cessation  which  is  a  relief 
from  exertion.  We  may  rest,  for  in- 
stance, in  a  standing  posture  ;  but 
repose  implies  the  placing  of  aU  parts 
of  the  body  in  a  posture  of  rest. 

•*  What  joy  within  these  sunless  groA'es, 

Where  lonely  Contemplation  roves. 
To  rest  in  fearless  ease!  "  Langhorne. 

"  Secure  the  sacred  quiet  of  thy  mind." 
Dryden,  Ovid. 
*'  So  forth  she  rode,  without  repose  or  rest." 
Spenser. 

EASE.     Easiness.     Facility. 

In  the  sense  in  which  it  is  a  syno- 
nym with  these.  Ease  commonly  re- 
fers to  specific  action.  Easiness  to 
inherent  quality.  "  He  lifted  the 
heavy  weight  with  ease,  being  appa- 
rently assured  beforehand  of  the  easi- 
nets  of  the  task." 

Facility  (Ltit.  fdcMtdtem)  is  less 
objective,  and  more  subjective.  We 
speak  of  ease  in  reference  to  the  task, 
of  facility  in  reference  to  a  person's 
power  of  performing  it ;  so  that  by 
practice  and  natural  strength  a  man 
may  perform  with  comparative  facility 


SYNONYMS  [ease] 

a  task  in  itself  by  no  means  easy. 
Ease  is  also  more  applicable  to  purely 
physical  undertakings.  Facility  to 
mental.  Ease  is  opposed  to  effort, 
facility  to  difficulty.  The  intelligent 
man  solves  a  problem  with  facility; 
the  strong  man  lifts  a  weight  with 
ease. 

"  It  must  be  likewise  shown  that  these 
parts  stand  in  such  a  relation  to  each  other 
that  the  compai-ison  between  them  may  be 
easily  made,  and  that  the  affection  of  the 
mind  may  result  from  it." — BuRKE. 
"  Refrain  to-night. 

And  that  shall  lend  a  kind  of  easiness 

To  the  next  abstinence." 

Shakespeare. 

"  Some  gentlemen  are  not  terrified  by 
the  facility  with  which  government  has 
been  overturned  in  France." — Burke. 

EBULLITION.  Effervescence. 
Fermentation.     Ferment. 

Ebullition  (Lat.  cbullire,  to  boil 
up)  is  the  process  of  boiling,  or  the 
agitation  of  a  liquid  owing  to  the 
escape  of  bubbles  caused  by  the  con- 
version of  a  part  of  the  liquid  into 
vapour. 

Effervescence  (Lat.  effe^'vesccre, 
to  boil  up  or  over)  is  caused  hy  the 
escape  from  a  fluid  of  gas,  as  m  the 
mixture  of  carbonated  alkali  and  acid. 

Ferment  (hat.  fermentum)  is  the 
state,  Fermentation  the  process  of  fer- 
menting. When  used  metaphorically, 
Ebullition  is  employed  of  sudden 
bursts  of  anger  or  ill-temper.  Effer- 
vescence is  used  less  commonly,  but 
employed  of  the  natural  exhibition  of 
liveliness  and  good  spirits.  Fermen- 
tation and  Ferment,  of  a  state  of  ill- 
suppressed  discontent  or  impatience, 
and  especially  among  a  number  of 
persons.  But  Ferment  is  commonly 
appropriated  to  the  emotional,  and 
Fermentation  to  the  material.  A  hive 
of  working  bees  is  in  a  state  of  fermen- 
tation. It  is  dangerous  to  approach 
if  some  exciting  cause  has  thrown 
tliem  into  a  ferment. 

"  There  are  many  young  members  in  the 
House  (such  of  late  has  been  the  rapid  suo- 
cession  of  public  men)  who  never  saw  that 
prodigy  Charles  Townshend,  nor  of  course 
know  what  a  ferment  he  was  able  to  excite 
in  everything  by  the  violent  ebullition  of 
his  mixed  virtues  and  failings."— Burke. 

"  The  wild  gas,  the  fixed  air  is  plainly 


[eccentric] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


363 


broke  loose,  but  we  ought  to  suspend  our 

t'ndgnient  until  the  first  effervescence  is  a 
ittle  subsided,  till  the  liquor  is  cleared,  and 
until  vre  see  something  deeper  than  the 
agitation  of  a  troubled  and  frothy  surface." 
—Burke. 

"  The  naticsn  is  in  too  high  ^ferment  for 
me  to  expect  either  fair  war  or  even  fair 
quarter  from  a  reader  of  the  opposite  party." 
— Dryden. 

"  It  18  not  ^fermentative  process,  for  the 
solution  begins  at  the  surface  and  proceeds 
towards  the  centre,  contrary  to  the  order  in 
which  fermentation  acts  and  spreads." — 
Paley. 

ECCENTRIC.  Singular. 
Strange.     Ood.     Grotesque. 

Eccentric  (L.  Lat.  eccentrtcusj  out 
of  the  centrej  Gr.  ixxErrpof )  is  only  em- 
ployed of  persons,  and,  again,  only  of 
what  meets  the  observation  in  refer- 
ence t()  conduct,  as  the  appearance, 
dress,  and  the  behaviour.  No  pecu- 
liarity of  countenance  or  form,  how- 
ever striking,  would  be  called  eccen- 
tric; for  eccentricity  implies  a  will, 
nature,  or  habits,  which,  as  it  were, 
move  in  a  different  orbit  from  those  of 
other  people. 

Singular  (Lat.  singYdaris,  one  at  a 
time,  alone  of  its  kind),  on  the  other 
hand,  is  applied  to  the  whole  person 
or  to  any  aspect  of  his  character,  to 
his  ideas,  to  his  whole  life,  or  to  any 
particular  act,  as  standing  by  itself 
Dut  of  the  common  course,  and  even 
to  phenomena,  circumstances,  or  occur- 
rences. Singularity  is  less  demonstra- 
tive than  eccentricity,  and,  unlike 
eccentricity,  may  be  restricted  in  some 
persons  to  matters  which  do  not  meet 
the  eye.  So  one  may  be  singular,  that 
is,  unlike  his  neighbours  or  the  gene- 
rality of  people  in  the  opinions  which 
be  holds ;  or  the  singularity  may  ap- 
pear in  some  one  feature  of  his  cha- 
racter only,  or  in  some  one  solitary 
act,  as  in  some  determination  which 
he  makes. 

Strange  (O.  Fr.  estru7ige,  Lat. 
eitruneus)  is  of  equally  comprehensive 
application,  but  bears  reference  to  the 
experience  of  the  witness,  to  which  it 
is  foreign  and  alien;  so  that  what 
Bfems  strange  to  one  person  may  not 
be  so  to  another,  who  can  better  in- 
terpret it,  or  has  by  a  larger  experience 
been  made  familiar  with  it.     It  is  a 


OTaver  word  than  Singular.  It  is  the 
difficultyofcomprehensionor  interpre- 
tation which  constitutes  the  Strange, 
whence  the  word  Strange  is  often 
coupled  with  mysterious,  and  is  usu- 
ally associated  with  the  undesirable. 

Odd  (N.  odde,  from  oddr,  a  point ; 
i.e.  not  even,  level,  but  having  a  unit  on 
one  side  higher  than  on  the  other;  see 
Wedgwood)  implies  disharmony,  in- 
congruity, or  unevenness.  An  odd 
thing  or  person  is  an  exception  to 
general  rules  of  calculation  and  proce- 
aure,  or  expectation  and  common  expe- 
rience. Like  Singular  and  Strange, 
it  has  a  very  wide  application,  and  is 
not  restricted  to  what  is  purely  of  a 

g^sonal  nature.  It  is  less  grave  than 
tkange,  and  denotes  an  impression 
not  so  much  of  surprise  or  bewilder- 
ment as  of  incongruity,  as  strangeness 
does  of  unfamiliarity,  singulai-ity  of 
isolation,  and  eccenti'icity  of  iiTegu 
larity. 

"  Genius,  a  bustling  lad  of  parts. 
Who  all  things  did  by  fits  and  start* ; 
Nothing  above  him  or  below  him. 
Who'd  make  a  riot  or  a  poem, 
From  eccentricity  of  thought 
Not  always  do  the  thing  he  ought." 

Lloyd. 

"  Though,  according  to  the  common  course 
and  practice  of  the  world,  it  be  somewhat 
singular  for  men  thoroughly  to  live  up  to 
the  principles  of  religion,  yet  singularity  in 
this  matter  is  so  far  from  being  a  reflection 
upon  any  man's  prudence,  that  it  is  a  singu- 
lar  commendation  of  it." — TiLLOXSON. 

"  Though  the  common  experience,  says 
he,  and  the  ordinary  course  of  things  hav« 
justly  a  mighty  influence  on  the  minds  of 
men  to  make  them  give  or  refuse  credit  to 
anything  proposed  to  their  belief,  yet  there 
is  one  case  wherein  the  strangeness  of  the 
facts  lessens  not  the  assent  to  a  fair  testi 
mony  given  to  it." — Warburton. 

"  But  oh,  how  oddly  will  it  sound,  that  I 
Must  ask  my  child  forgiveness." 

Shakespeare. 

The  Grotesque  (literally  the  cha- 
racter of  the  strange  figures  which 
serve  to  ornament  grottoes)  belongs 
only  to  matters  of  representation,  ex- 
pression or  action.  The  grotesque 
is  a  combination  of  force  with  sti-ange- 
ness.  It  is  ti-uth  in  grimace,  a  natural 
thing  put  forth  in  an  unnatural  way, 
or  an  incident  with  a  curious  jumble 
of  surroundings.    The  grotesque  con* 


364 


tains  the  elements  of  the  wild,  the 
incongruous,  the  whimsical,  the  un- 
couth. 

"  Grotesque  painting  is  the  just  resem- 
blance of  this  ;  and  Horace  begins  his  Art 
of  Poetry  by  describing  such  a  figure  with  a 
man's  head,  a  horse's  neck,  the  wings  of  a 
bird,  and  a  fish's  tail,  parts  of  different 
species  jumbled  together  according  to  the 
mad  imagination  of  the  dauber." — Dkyden. 

ECONOMICAL.  Saving.  Fru- 
gal. Thrifty.  Parsimonious. 
Sparing.     Penurious. 

Of  these,  Saving  {safe,  Fr.  sauf, 
Lat.  salvus)  means  avoiding  unneces- 
sary expenses,  whether  it  be  with  or 
againstthe  natural  inclination,  whether 
as  a  habit  or  for  a  particular  purpose, 
whether  with  or  without  sufficient 
leason ;  but  it  has  accumulation  for  Its 
object. 

Economical  (Gr.  oixovo^ijto;,  good 
at  managing  a  household)  implies  a 
good  deal  more,  as  not  only  saving  of 
waste  and  unnecessary  expense,  but 
careful  and  fi-ugal  management  and 
prudence  in  expenditure.  The  econo- 
mical person  not  only  abstains  from 
extravagance  and  waste,  but  spends 
Judiciously  and  well.  Economy  is  a 
term  susceptible  of  the  highest  appli- 
cations. It  is  the  prudent,  just,  and 
advantageous  employment  of  the  parts 
of  a  whole  or  system,  hence  we  speak 
of  the  economy  of  nature,  providence, 
religion,  of  time  and  talents.  It  is 
suitable  to  the  largest  fortunes,  and 
runs  up  into  the  highest  forms  of 
administration.  It  deals  with  large 
expenditures,  and  constitutes  the 
wealtli  of  a  state.  Economy  is  the 
whole  and  extended  form  of  that  of 
which  management  is  a  part  and 
lower  form. 

Frugal  {LB,t.  fruordlis,  thnfty)  re- 
lates more  specifically  to  matters  of 
consumption.  So  that  one  may  be 
frugal  even  of  time.  It  is  opposed  to 
lavish,  and  belongs  especially  to  mat- 
ters of  food  and  dress.  It  conveys 
the  idea  of  not  using  or  spending 
superfluously,  and  when  used  of  mat- 
ters of  consumption  points  to  a  sim- 
plicity of  manners. 

Thrifty  (connected  with  thrive, 
Dan.  thrif,  good  luck)  connects  the 
ideas  of  fi-ugality  and  industry,  or 
•uch  careful  expenditure  as  comes  of 


SYNONYMS  [economical] 

a  knowledge  of  the  value  of  moLey, 
and  results  in  the  competent  posses- 
sion of  it,  and  in  prosperity  in  general. 
Pa  rsimonious  (Lat.  parsHmdnia,par- 
ch-e,  to  spare)  is  commonly  employed 
in  a  bad  sense  of  excessive  economy, 
and  a  closeness  bordering  upon  nig- 
gardliness, or,  at  least,  of  continuous 
effort  at  saving.  Parsimony  is  exer- 
cised in  small  matters,  and  is  the  re- 
trenchments of  trivial  expenses.  It 
is  minute  and  rigorous.  It  levies 
taxes  on  small  outgoings,  and  is  the 
way  by  which  the  poor  grow  rich. 

Sparing  (A.  S.  spdrian,  to  spare) 
has,  like  Parsimonious,  a  somewhat 
unfavourable  sense,  indicating  a  re- 
i  luctance  to  spend  where  spending  is 
necessary,  or  would  be  at  least  more 
graceful.  It  is  more  specific,  as  Par- 
simonious is  more  general  and  habi- 
tual. It  commonly  implies  ampler 
means  than  the  possessor  is  inclined  to 
make  use  of.  One  speaks  of  being 
economical  of  time  and  sparing  of  time 
and  trouble.  Aseconomy  gains  byju- 
dicious  spending,  parsimony  gains  by 
scrupulous  spending,  and  sparing  by 
not  spending,  or  not  till  a  cheap  op- 
portunity has  been  found.  Economy 
suits  lai'ge  fortunes,  parsimony  small 
fortunes,  sparing  uncertain  fortunes. 

The  PENURious(Lat.  phiuria,  want, 
need)  is  one  who  suffers  want  in  the 
extremity  of  his  sparing. 
"  The  charitable  few  are  chiefly  they 
Whom  Fortune  places  in  the  middle  way. 
Just  rich  enough,  with  economic  care. 
To  save  a  pittance,  and  a  pittance  spare. 
Just  poor  enough  to  feel  the  poor  man's 

moan. 
Or  share  those  sufferings  which  may  prove 
their  own."  Harte. 

"  He  was  not  hitherto  a  saver."— Syriyr. 

"The  father  was  more  given  to  fru- 
galitye,  and  the  sonne  to  ryotousnesse." — 
GoLDYNG. 

'*  Domestic  industry  and  economy,  or  the 
qualities  distinguished  by  the  homely  titles 
of  thriftiness  and  good  housewifely,  were 
always  till  the  present  century  deemed 
honourable." — Knox,  Essays. 

"Parsimony, and  not  industry, is  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  the  increase  of  capital. 
Industry  indeed  provides  the  subject  which 
/?arstnio?iy  accumulates;  but  whatever  in- 
dusti*y  might  acquire,  \i  parsimony  did  not 
save  and  store  up,  the  capital  would  never 
be  the  greater."— Smith,  Wealth  of  Na 
tions. 


[edifice] 


"And  tanght  at  schools  mnch  mythologie 

stuC 
But  sonnd  religion  sparingly  enough." 

COWPER. 
"  I  ever  held  a  scanty  and  penurious  jus- 
tice to  partake  of  the  nature  of  a  wrong." — 
BURKK. 

ECSTASY.  Rapture.  Trans- 
port.    Frexxy. 

Ecstasy  (Gr.  Ixc-Taa-if)  is,  literally, 
o  standm^  or  being  apart,  as  if  tlie 
soul  left  tlie  body  for  a  time,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  notion ;  a  state  in 
which  the  mind  is  carried  away  be- 
yond the  reach  of  ordinary  impres- 
sions. It  is  now  commonly  used  only 
of  excessive  and  overpowering  Joy.  An 
ecstasy  of  delight,  and  sometimes  an 
ecstasy  of  grief.     It  is  a  passive  state. 

Rapture  (Lat.  rUptre,  part,  rapt  us, 
to  seize),  on  the  other  hand,  is  ener- 
getic and  active,  when  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  are  keenly  alive  and  in- 
tensified, and  is  never  associated  with 
the  painful. 

Transport  (Lat.  transportdre,  to 
carry  across)  is  not  so  strong  a  term, 
and  is  more  variously  applied.  Ec- 
stasy and  Rapture  are  states  of  de- 
light. Transport  relates  to  vehement 
emotion  of  any  kind,  as  grief,  joy, 
rage,  astonishment. 

Vnv.NZY  (Yr.fr^nesie,  originally  from 
<ppiw(rtg,  inflammation  of  the  brain, 
phreintis)  is  stronger  than  Transport, 
and  is  applied  to  all  that  transport  re- 
lates to,  and  to  the  higher  spiritual 
emotions  besides ;  as  the  frenzy  of 
poetry,  or  of  inspiration  ;  the  frenzy 
of  genius,  when  a  more  than  common 
or  human  influence  enraptures  the 
mind  ;  and  the  frenzy  of  wrath.  In 
all  the  rest  the  individual  is  master  of 
his  own  acts.  In  frenzy  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  himself  acted  upon  by 
some  power,  which  makes  him  an  in- 
strument, and  carries  him  into  sub- 
jection. 
"  What!  are  you  dreaming,  son?  with  eyes 

esist  upwards 
Like  a  mad  prophet  in  an  ecsiasie." 

Dryden. 
"  The  latent  Damon  drew 
Such  maddening  draughts  of  beauty  to  his 

soul. 
As  for  a  while  o'erwhelmed  his  raptured 

thought 
"Vith  luxury  too  daring."         Thomsom. 


1>ISCRIMINATED. 


366 


"With  transport  views  the  airy  xcU  ni* 
own. 

And  swells  on  an  imaginary  throne." 

POPK. 

"  What/re?!^,  shepherd,  has  thy  soul  pos- 
sessed ? 

The  vineyard  lies  half  pruned  and  half  un- 
dressed." Dryden,  Virgil. 

EDIFICE.  Building.  Struc- 
ture.    Fabric.     Construction. 

An  Edifice  (Lat.  (tdtficitim,  a 
building  of  any  kind)  is  commonly 
applied  to  inhabited  buildings  of  some 
size  and  pretension,  or  to  such  as  are 
at  least  from  time  to  time  occupied, 
as  a  palace  or  a  cathedral ;  not  an 
obelisk. 

"  Should  I  go  to  church. 
And  see  the  holy  edifies  of  stone, 
And  not  bethink  me  straight  of  dangeroni 

rocks. 
Which  touching   but    my  gentle   vessel't 

side. 
Would  scatter  all  her  spices  on  the  stream, 
Eui'obe  the  roai-ing waters  with  mysilks?" 
Shakespeare. 

Building  (O.  Sw.  bylja,  to  build; 
the  A.  S.  byldan  bein^  to  em-bold-en) 
is  used  in  an  indetenninate  way,  when 
no  characteristic  idea  is  attached  ;  as 
a  mass  of  building,  public  and  private 
buildings. 

"And  Jesus  answered  and  sayde  unto 
hym,  Seyst  thou  these  great  byldinoesf"— 
Bible,  1551. 

Structure  (Lat.  struct iira,ajitting 
together,  a  structure)  is  used  of  almost 
anything  which  is  regarded  as  made 
of  parts  or  particles  put  together, 
whether  natural  or  artificial,  and  has 
the  sense  of  composition,  or  mode  of 
putting  together,  or  formation;  as 
the  structure  of  the  globe,  the  struc- 
ture of  a  natural  rock,  the  structure 
of  a  poem  or  a  discourse.  When 
used  in  a  sense  more  closely  synony- 
mous with  Building,  it  draws  the  at- 
tention to  the  internal  putting  together 
of  the  parts*  rather  than  to  any  pur- 

{)Ose  of  it.  A  curious  structure,  a 
ofty  structure,  an  insecure  structure. 
It  would  be  incongruous  to  say, 
"The  citizens  needed  some  public 
structure  in  which  to  hold  municipal 
meetings."  Here  Edifice  otBuilding 
would  be  used;  but  it  might  be  added, 
**  The  plans  of  an  eminent  architect 


366 


were  adopted,  and  the  result  is  a  com- 
modious and  handsome  structura." 

"But  this  is  yet  a  weak  piece  of  struc- 
ture, because  the  supporters  are  subject  to 
much  impulsion,  especially  if  the  line  be 
long."— Beliquia  T^ottoniana. 

Fabric  CFt.  fabriqiie,  La.t.fabr'icay 
any  artistic  production)  is  used  not 
only  of  structures  in  the  sense  just 
given,  but  also  of  textile  substances. 
In  the  architectural  sense.  Fabric  de- 
notes more  art  and  design,  Structure 
more  care  and  orderly  arrangement. 
"  The  baseless /oAnc  of  a  vision. 


Construction  (Lat.  constrtictio- 
nerri)  does  not  imply  that  unity  of 
form  or  plan  which  is  expressed  by 
both  Fabric  and  Structure.  York 
Minster  is  a  marvellous  fabric  or 
structure.  A  Roman  mosaic  pave- 
ment, or  London  Bridge,  is  an  elabo- 
rate fabric.  The  Dutch  dykes  are 
other  constructions  on  which  the  lives 
of  thousands  depend.  The  term  Con- 
struction is  the  abstract  of  which 
Structure  is  the  concrete.  It  is  also 
the  process  of  which  structure  is  the 
result. 

"From  the  raft  or  canoe  -which  first 
served  to  carry  a  sarage  over  the  river,  to 
the  construction  of  a  vessel  capable  of  con- 
veying a  numerous  crew  in  safety  to  a  dis- 
tant coast,  the  progress  in  improvement  is 
immense."— Robertson. 

EDUCATION.  Instruction. 
Breeding.  Training.  Edifica- 
tion. 

Instruction  (Lat.  instruct lonem^  a 
constructing)  and  education  are  as 
parts  to  the  whole.  Instruction  is 
mental,  education  is  moral  as  well  as 
mental. 

Education  (Lat.  educationemy  edii- 
care,  to  rear,  educate)  is  more  appli- 
cable to  the  younger  portion  of  life, 
when  the  mind  and  the  moral  nature 
areunstockedand undeveloped;  while 
instruction  may  be  given*  or  received 
on  specific  points  or  departments  of 
knowledge  at  all  periods.  Instruc- 
tion makes  men  wiser;  education 
ou^ht  to  make  them  wiser  and  better ; 
and  Breeding  (A.  S  br^dan,  to 
nourish)  will  make  them  more  polished 
and  agrf-eable. 

Training    (Fr.   trainer,    Ut   drag, 


SYNONYMS  [EDUCATIONJ 

draw)  is  development  by  instruction, 
exercise,  and  discipline,  and  is  appli- 
cable to  the  whole  nature  of  a  man, 
or,  specifically,  to  the  faculties  which 
he  possesses.  It  denotes  no  more  than 
a  process  of  purposed  habituation, 
and  is  equally  applicable  to  the  physi- 
cal and  mental  powers,  so  that  it 
may  include  both  at  the  same  time. 

Edification  (Lat.  (tdtficationeniy  a 
constructingj  an  edifice)  is  an  improve- 
ment in  a  moral  or  religious  sense. 
It  is,  unlike  the  rest,  applicable  to  tlie 
effect  of  a  single  cause,  without  con- 
tinuous or  sustained  influence  :  one 
may  be  edified  by  a  casual  remark  of 
another.  He  who  is  edified  is  con- 
scious of  an  accession  to  his  stock  of 
practical  knowledge,  and  an  increase 
of  his  moral  strength. 

"  Out  of  these  magazines  I  shall  supply 
the   town  with  what  may   tend   to   their 
edification.'" — Addison, 
The  following  is  Hooker's  account: — 

"  Now  men  are  edified  when  either  their 
understanding  is  taught  somewhat  whereof 
in  such  actions  it  behoveth  all  men  to  con 
sider,  or  when  their  hearts  are  moved  with 
any  affection  suitable  thereto,  when  their 
minds  are  in  any  sort  stirred  up  into  that 
reverence,  devotion,  attention,  and  due  re- 
gard which  in  these  cases  seemeth  requi- 
site." 

"  If  what  I  have  said  in  the  beginning  of 
this  discoui'se  be  true,  as  I  do  not  doubt  but 
it  is,  namely,  that  the  difference  to  be  found 
in  the  manner  and  abilities  of  men  is  owing 
more  to  their  educatioii  than  anything  else, 
we  have  reason  to  conclude  that  great  care 
is  to  be  had  of  the  forming  children's  minds, 
and  giving  them  that  seasoning  early,  which 
shall  influence  their  minds  always  after." — 
Locke. 

"  The  coldness  of  passion  seems  to  be  the 
natural  ground  of  ability  and  honesty  among 
men,  as  the  government  or  moderation  of 
them  the  great  end  of  philosophical  and 
moral  instructions."— Sm  W,  Temple. 

"  I  shall  also  be  bold  enough  to  afiirra 
that  among  the  ancients  there  was  not 
much  delicacy  of  breeding,  or  that  polite 
deference  and  respect  which  civility  obliges 
us  either  to  express  or  counterfeit  towards 
the  persons  with  whom  we  converse," — 
Burke. 

"  So  to  his  steed  he  gott,  and  gan  to  ride 
As  one  nnfitt  therefore,  that  all  might  see 
He  bad  not  trayned  been  in  chevalree." 
Spenser, 

EDUCE.       Extract.       Elicit. 

Eliminate.     Enucleate.     Evolve. 

All  these  terms  stand  for  processes 


[efface] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


367 


of  exhibition  of  one  thing  out  of 
another.  But  they  have  their  distinct 
churacteristics. 

We  Educe  (Lat.  idiic^re,  to  draw 
out)  not  material  but  moral  results; 
and  this  as  against  some  counter- 
agency  or  influence  of  a  contrary  ten- 
dency, or  a  result  unlike  in  character 
to  the  quarter  or  source  from  which  it 
is  drawn.  As  Pope — 
•'  The  eternal  art  educes  good  from  ill." 
We  Extract  (Lat.  extrahere,  part. 
extractus,  to  draw  out)  simply  as 
against  the  natural  tendency  of  things 
or  substances  to  retain.  1  he  term  is 
applicable  both  morally  and  physically. 
We  Elicit  (Lat.  Ulcere,  part,  eticri- 
tus,  to  entice)  only  moral  things,  and 
by  moral  means.  It  is  to  bring  truth 
to  light  by  indirect  means,  and,  as  it 
were,  coax  it  out.  Argument  and 
inquiry  are  the  common  means  of 
eliciting ;  but  the  force  of  circum- 
stances also  is  said  to  have  the  same 
effect.  In  the  case  of  the  thing 
elicited  there  is  presumed  to  be  an 
inherent  tendency  to  keep  the  fact  or 
truth  in  reserve  which  will  not  yield 
to  direct  force,  but  only  to  influence 
operating  indirectly. 

Eliminate  and  Enucleate  stand 
closely  related ;  but  their  purpose  is 
in  the  main  different.  We  eliminate 
a  thing  (Lat.  eCiminare,  to  turn  out  of 
doors)  by  turning  it,  as  it  were,  out  oj 
doors,  separating  and  excluding  it 
from  the  matter  in  hand,  as  in  algebra 
we  eliminate  an  unknown  quantity ,that 
is,  cause  it  to  disappear  from  an  equa- 
tion ;  hence,  sometimes,  elimination 
is  the  act  of  obtaining  by  separation. 
We  Enucleate  (Lat.  inucleare,  to 
take  out  the  kernel)  for  the  opposite 
purpose,  that  is,  not  to  exclude,  but 
to  obtain  and  expose,  though  we  may 
.  afterwards  dispose  in  any  way  of  the 
thing  80  obtained  or  disposed. 

To  Evolve  (Lat.  evolv^re,  to  unrol) 
expresses  nearly  the  same  thing  as 
Enucleate,  but  implies  a  more  con- 
tinuous and  elaborate  process.  It  is, 
moreover,  used  both  of  the  thin^  un- 
folded, and  of  the  thing  brought  to 
lieht  out  of  that  which  is  so  unfolded. 
We  educe  by  tact  and  contrivance. 


We  extract  by  method.  We  elicit  b^ 
management  and  ingenuity.  We  elimi- 
nate with  a  practical  view  of  clearing 
what  is  superfluous  to  consideration. 
We  enucleate  the  little  germ  of  what 
is  valuable  from  the  husk  of  what  is 
worthless.  ^Ve  evolve  by  pains  that 
which  we  desirt  to  take  to  ourselves 
as  wrapt  up  in  much  for  which  we 
have  no  use  or  regard. 

EFFACE.      Obliterate.      Ex 
punge.     Erase.     Cancel. 

All  these  terms  apply  to  characters 
impressed  or  inscrioed. 

Efface  (Fr.  effacer)  is  to  render 
illegible  or  indiscernible,  as  the  letters 
from  a  monument,  or  the  efiigy  and 
letters  from  a  coin,  or  any  representa- 
tion upon  a  surface.  It  is  also  used 
metaphorically  in  the  sense  of  re- 
moving traces,  as  "  to  efface  recollec- 
tions from  the  mind."  But  the  term 
implies  nothing  of  mode  or  purpose  ; 
so  that  thing^s  may  be  purposely 
effaced,  or  effaced  by  the  lapse  of 
time,  corroding  influences,  and  the 
like.  Such  effacing  may  come  short 
of  the  entire  removal  of  the  thing. 

Obliterate  (Lat.  obUterare,  to  hlot 
out;  lithuj  a  letter)  only  applies  to 
what  conveys  a  symbolical  meaning ; 
e.».  letters.  A  fresco  painting,  for  in- 
stance, would  be  a  direct  representa- 
tion, and  so  might  be  effaced,  but  not 
obliterated ;  but  the  term  is  used 
analogously  to  the  effacing  of  letters. 
So  we  might  say,  not  indeed,  "  The 
painting  itself,"  but  "  every  trace  ol 
it  was  obliterated." 

Expunge  (Lat.  ex-pungh-e,  to  prick 
out,  to  erase  from  a  list  by  points,  set 
above  or  below)  is  to  strike  out  with 
the  point  of  the  pen,  and  is  always 
designedly  done ;  while  obliteration, 
like  effacement,  may  be  the  result  of 
undesigned  influences. 

Erase  is  to  scratch  out  (Lat 
erddtre);  while  Cancel  (Lat.  can- 
celli,  lattice  work)  is  to  draw  lines 
diagonally  across  writing,  so  as  prac- 
tically to  remove  it,  without  actually 
erasing,  expunging,  or  obliterating  it. 
Cancelled  writing  loses  its  force,  but 
not  its  legibility.  It  is  in  their  meta- 
phorical applications  that  the  distinc- 


568 


SYNC  NYMS 


[efficient] 


tions  of  these  words  are  more  clearly 
prominent.  Memories  and  impres- 
sions are  effaced  ;  traces,  vestiges  are 
obliterated  ;  offences  and  injuries  are 
expunged ;  gratitude,  good  and  kindly 
thoughts,  are  erased  ;  obligations,  ne- 
cessity, favours,  debts,  are  cancelled. 

"  Thus  the  ideas,  as  well  as  children,  of 
our  youth  often  die  before  us,  and  our 
minds  represent  to  us  those  tombs  to  which 
we  are  api)roaching,  where,  though  brass 
and  marble  remain,  yet  the  inscriptions  are 
effaced  by  time,  and  the  imagery  moulders 
away." — LoCKE. 

"  The  sin  (rf  Judah  is  said  to  be  writ  upon 
the  table  of  their  hearts,  as  if  their  memory 
of  and  affection  to  it  could  scare-e  be  oblife- 
ra^erf."— Whitby. 

"  Is  every  word  in  the  declaration  from 
Downing  Street,  concerning  their  conduct, 
and  concerning  ours  and  that  of  our  allies, 
so  obviously  false,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
give  some  new-invented  proofs  of  our  good 
faith,  in  order  to  expunge  the  memory  of 
this  perfidy  ?  "— BuKKK. 

"  A  king  is  ever  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  infamous  flatterers,  who  find  their  ac- 
count by  keeping  him  from  the  least  light 
of  reason,  till  all  ideas  of  rectitude  and  jixs- 
tice  are  erased  from  his  mind." — Jbid. 

"  The  handwriting  against  him  may  be 
cancelled  in  the  court  of  heaven,  and  yet 
the  enditement  run  on  in  the  court  of  con- 
science."—South. 

EFFICIENT.  Effective.  Effec- 
tual.    Efficacious. 

Efficient  (Lat.  effjictre,  to  effect) 
means  actively  operative,  and  is  used 
of  persons,  of  things,  and  of  causes  in 
a  philosophical  sense,  as  an  efficient 
cause,  an  efficient  officer.  An  efficient 
cause  is  the  motive  principle,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  final  cause  or 
design,  the  material,  and  the  formal 
cause.  Efficient  is  peculiarly  appli- 
cable to  persons. 

Effective  means  producing  a  deci- 
ded effect,  as  an  effective  remedy , an  ef- 
fective picture,  an  effective  speech.  It 
is  not  a  quality  of  persons.  Effectual 
is  Jinally  effective,  or  producing,  not 
effect  generally,  but  the  desired  effect 
in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  nothing  to 
be  done.  An  effectual  remedy  is  one 
which  needs  not  to  be  repeated. 

Efficacious  (Lat.  efficacem)  means 
possessing  the  quality  of  being  effec- 
tive, which  is  latent  in  the  thing  until 
it  18  put  into  operation.    It  is  not  em- 


ployed of  persons.  An  efficacious 
remedy  is  had  recourse  to,  and  proves 
effective  if  it  does  decided  good,  effec- 
tual if  it  does  all  the  good  desired. 

"  The  Church  was  not  impaired.  Her 
estates,  her  majesty,  her  splendour,  her 
orders  and  gradations  continued  the  same. 
She  was  preserved  in  her  full  efficiency, 
and  cleared  only  of  a  certain  intolerance 
which  was  her  weakness  and  disgrace.'' — 
Burke. 

"The  House  of  Commons  will  lose  that 
independent  character  which,  inseparably 
connecting  the  honour  and  reputation  with 
the  acts  of  this  House,  enables  us  to  afford 
a  real,  substantial,  and  effective  support  to 
his  Government." — Ibid. 

"  The  extreme  dishonour  and  even  peril 
of  this  situation  roused  her  old  age  at  length 
to  the  resolution  of  taking  some  effectual 
measures." — Bishop  Hurd. 

"  Rules  themselves  are  indeed  nothing 
else  but  an  appeal  to  experience;  conclu- 
sions drawn  from  wide  and  general  obser- 
vation of  the  aptness  and  efficacy  of  certain 
means  to  produce  those  impressions." — 
Ibid. 

EFFIGY.  Image.  Figure.  Por- 
trait. 

The  Effigy  (Lat.  effigies;  e,  out  ofy 
and  Jingtre,  to  form)  is  intended  not 
only  to  represent,  but  to  take  the 
actual  place  of  the  thing. 

The  Image  (Lat.Vmog-inem)  is  sim- 
ply to  represent  it. 

The  Figure  (Lat. /%?tra) shows  its 
attitude  and  design  or  occupation. 
The  effigy  is  commonly  popular ;  the 
image  architectural  or  commemora- 
tive ;  the  figure  symbolical  or  expres- 
sive. Effigies  of  obnoxious  rulers. 
Images  of  saints.  Heraldic,  eques- 
trian, weeping  figures. 

We  speak  of  Portraits  (  Fr.portrait, 
Lat.  protnthere,  in  mediaeval  Lat.  to 
draw)  of  illustrious  persons.  Portrait 
conveys  the  idea  oi  an  exact  resem- 
blance, the  verb  portray  being  used  in 
the  sense  of  drawing  a  likeness  or  de- 
scription, and  employed  not  only  of 
persons  but  of  scenes,  transactions, 
characters,  and  the  like.  Image  and 
Figure  are  used  of  mental  and  rhe- 
torical similitudes. 

EFFORT.  Attempt.  Endeavour. 
Essay.  Trial.  Exertion.  Experi- 
M  FNT.     Experience. 

Effort  (Ft.  t'efforcer,  to  make  an 


effort] 


effort,  force,  strength)  is  a  specific 
putting  forth  of  strength,  whether 
physical  or  mental,  in  performing  an 
act,  or  aiming  at  an  ohject.  It  im- 
plies external  hardness  or  difficulty. 
Its  opposite  is  ease. 

An  Attempt  (O.  Fr.  atempter,  Lat. 
attentdre,  to  attempt)  is  a  trying  to  do 
something  in  particular.  It  may  be  a 
trial  of  skill  or  strength;  as,  to  at- 
tempt to  scale  a  wall,  or  to  untie  a 
knot,  or  comprehend  an  expression. 
Efforts  are  strong  or  weak  ;  attempts 
are  successful  or  unsuccessful,  and 
often  need  fortune  as  well  as  strength. 
Where  the  woi-d  Attempt  isemployed, 
without  anything  to  qualify  it,  it  im- 
plies that  tlie  thing  attempted  was  not 
achieved. 

ENDEAVOun  (Fr.  en  devoir,  iri  duty, 
te  mettre  en  devoir,  to  make  it  one's 
duty)  is  of  wider  meaning  than  both 
Effort  and  Attempt,  and,  indeed, 
comprehends  both.  It  is  to  use  all 
available  means  and  resources  in  one's 
power  to  bring  about  an  object.  It  is 
labour  directed  to  some  specific  end. 
Effort  is  energetic  or  laborious  endea- 
vour. Endeavour  is  continuous  and 
sustained  attempt. 

Essay  (Fr.  essayer,  to  try;  Lat. 
ezf{ginm,  a  standard  weight)  is  com- 
monly connected  with  one's  own 
natural  powers,  of  which  some  trial  is 
niade,  as  to  essay  to  write,  to  speak, 
to  sing.  When  spoken  of  matters 
wholly  extraneous  to  one's  self,  it 
has  the  meaning  of  to  test  or  try  the 
strength,  value,  or  purity;  and  in 
matters  of  effort  implies  some  degree 
of  the  ineffectual. 

Trial  is  the  trvi'iff  (Fr.  trier,  to  sort; 
Lat.  tj-\idre,  to  break  (grain)  small)  or 
testing  in  any  manner,  as  by  experi- 
ment, by  experience,  by  examination, 
and  is  applicable  to  one's  own  strength 
or  powers  and  qualities,  or  the  quali- 
ties of  things  external  to  ourselves. 

Exertion  (Lat.  exs(irire,  to  thrust 
forth)  is  the  active  exercise  of  any 
power  or  faculty  of  which  we  may  be 
possessed  ;  as,  to  exert  the  mind,  the 
Umbs,  or  one's  powers  geneially,  as 
e.g.  one's  interest  on  behalf  ofanother. 
It  admits  all  degrees  of  effort,  and 
even  natural  action  without  effort. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


369 


Experiment  (Lat.  experimentum) 
is  a  process  instituted  for  the  sake  of 
arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  a  general 
principle  or  truth.  Experiment  is  to 
the  general  law  what  test  is  to  the 
particular  case.  Less  strictly  it  is  a 
trial  made  to  test  one's  own  powers  or 
something  else,  and  conducted  by 
reason  and  the  light  of  nature. 

"  From  whence  it  seems  probable  to  me 
that  the  simple  ideas  we  receire  from  sen- 
sation and  reflection  are  the  boundaries  of 
oar  thoughts,  beyond  which  the  mind,  what- 
ever efforts  it  would  make,  is  not  able  to 
advance  one  jot ;  nor  can  it  make  any  dis- 
coveries when  it  would  pry  into  the  nature 
and  hidden  causes  of  those  ideas." — Locke. 

"  I  am  afraid  they  have  awaked. 
And  'tis  not  done.  The  attempt  and  not  the 

deed 
Confounds  us."  Shakespeare. 

"  It  ought  to  be  the  first  endeavour  of  a 
writer  to  distinguish  nature  from  custom, 
or  that  which  is  established  because  it  is 
right  from  that  which  is  right  because  it  is 
established." — Rambler. 
"  Yet  such  a  tongue  alike  in  vain  essays 
To  blot  with  censure  or  exalt  with  praise." 

HooLE. 
"  To  bring  it  to  the  trial  will  you  dare  ? 
Our  pipes,  our  skill,  our  voices  to  compare?" 
Drtdex. 

"  Exertings  of  the  senses  of  seeing  and 
hearing." — Hale. 

"  These  records  of  wars,  intrigues,  fac- 
tions, and  revolutions  are  so  many  collec- 
tions of  experiments,  by  which  the  politician 
or  moral  philosopher  fixes  the  principles  of 
his  science,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  phy- 
sician or  natural  philosopher  becomes  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  of  plants,  minerals, 
and  other  external  objects  by  the  experi- 
ments which  he  forms  vonceming  them." — 
Hume. 

Experience  (Lat.  erpHrientia,  ex- 
ph-tri,  to  try)is  practical  acquaintance, 
by  personal  observation,  trial,  or  feel- 
ing of  effects.  In  a  fuller  sense  it  is 
repeated  trial,  varied  observation,  and 
prolonged  acquaintance.  It  includes 
also  the  condition  of  the  peraon  as  tlie 
possessor  of  the  sum  and  substance  of 
the  facts,  feelings,  or  truths  so  ac- 
quu-ed. 

"And  so  for  the  evidence  of  experience, 
I  am  by  that  to  u  great  degree  assured  of 
the  succession  of  night  and  day,  winter  and 
summer,  and  have  no  such  reason  to  doubt 
■K-hethe^  the  house  wherein  now  I  am  shall 
the  nex'c  minute  fall  upon  me,  or  the  earth 
open  and  swallow  it  up,  as  to  be  in  continual 
fp»r  of  such  accidents."— WiLKiNS,  Natural 
Hecigion. 


370 


SfNONYMS 


[egotistical] 


EGOTISTICAL.  Opinionated. 
Selfish.     Conceited. 

The  Ec.OTisTiCALman  (Fr.  egdisme, 
Lat.  tgo,  I)  is  full  of  himself  in  talk, 
as  the  Selfish  man  is  full  of  self  in 
plans,  wishes,  and  desires.  The  egotis- 
tical man  acts  out  of  self-conceit.  He 
is  a  centre  of  interest  and  importance 
in  his  own  estimation. 

The  Opinioxateo  (Lat.  op'mionem, 
opinion)  man  is  self-conceited  on  the 
particular  point  of  his  own  judgment, 
a»d  obstinately  tenacious  of  his  own 
opinions.  Both  the  egotistical  and 
opinionated  man  are  innocent  in  com- 
parison with  the  selfish,  who  is  read;/ 
not  only  to  thinkof  himself  first  on  all 
occasions,  but  even  to  gratify  his  de- 
sires at  the  expense  of  others. 

The  Conceited  (Eng.  conceit,  an 
idea,  a  conception ;  Fr.  concevoir,  to  con- 
ceive) man,  full  of  conceit  or  estima- 
tion of  himself,  overrates  his  own  capa- 
city or  recommendations.  This  may 
be  in  some  things,  and  not  in  others, 
in  which  he  may  foi-m  a  just  or  even 
too  loAv  an  estimate. 

"The  gentlemen  of  Port  Royal,  who 
were  more  eminent  for  their  learning  and 
their  humility  than  any  other  in  France, 
banished  the  way  of  speaking  in  the  first 
person  out  of  all  their  works,  as  rising  from 
vain-glory  and  self-conceit.  To  show  their 
particular  aversion  to  it,  they  branded  this 
form  of  writing  with  the  name  of  an  egotism, 
a  figure  not  to  be  found  among  the  ancient 
rhetoricians." — Spectator. 

"  People  of  clear  heads  are  what  the 
world  calls  opinionated." — Shenstone. 

"  But  men  aj-e  led  into  this  mistake  by 
laying  too  much  stress  upon  etymology. 
For,  selfishness  being  derived  from  self, 
they  learnedly  infer  that  whatever  is  done 
to  please  one's  own  inclination  must  fall 
under  that  appellation,  not  considering  that 
derivatives  do  not  always  retain  the  full 
latitude  of  their  roots." — Seaech. 
The  old  foi-ce  of  the  term  conceit,  that 
is,  a  conception  or  thought,  and  thence 
a  forced  thought,  as  a  verbal  conceit, 
or  play  on  words,  and  afterwards  a 
false  or  undue  conception  of  one's  own 
attractions  or  powers,  appears  in  the 
following : — 

"  That  groom  that  conceited  himself  an 
emperor  thought  all  as  irrational  as  dis- 
oyal  that  did  not  acknowledge  him." — 
Olanvill. 

ELDER.     SiiMou.     Older. 

Ei,DER  (A.  S.yldrn,  compar.  ofeuldf 


old)  and  Senior  (Lat.  senior,  older ^ 
are  used  both  as  adjectives  and  sub 
stantives,  Older  only  as  a  comparative 
adjective,  in  the  sense  of  older  persons. 
As  adjectives, Elder  andSENioRrelate 
only  to  persons, Elder  signify ing  more 
advanced  age,andSENiOR  implying  also 
that  priority  or  precedence  which  such 
advancement  confers  or  has  brought 
with  it.  Older  is  applicable  to  any 
person  or  thing  which  has  existed 
comparatively  long  ;  as  this  man,  this 
house,  this  infant  is  older  than  the 
other. 

"Hei-eof  it  came  that  the  word  (^elder) 
was  always  used  both  for  the  magistrate 
and  for  those  of  age  and  gravity,  the  same 
beai'ing  one  signification  almost  in  all  Ian 
guages."— Raleigh. 

"The  names  of  lord,  signior,  seigneur, 
sennor,  in  the  Italian,  French,  and  Spanish 
languages,  seem  to  have  at  first  imported 
only  elder  men,  who  thereby  were  grown 
into  authority  among  the  several  govern- 
ments and  nations  which  seated  themselves 
into  those  countries  upon  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire." — Sir  W.  Temple. 


ELEVATION.  Height.  Alti- 
tude. 

Elevation  (Lat.  ctivdtionem,  levis, 
light)  is  the  situation  of  an  object 
raised  above  others.  Height  is  the 
comparative  measure  of  the  elevation. 
Such  and  such  a  degree  of  elevation 
indicates  the  specific  height  of  an  ob- 
ject. But  height  is  the  more  general 
term  ;  elevation  is  always  considerable 
height.  The  least  degree  of  elevation 
is  height.  A  plant  may  have  a  steir 
three  inches  in  height  (not  elevation). 
Elevation,  unlike  Height,  is  used  to 
denote  a  moral  quality.  Elevation  of 
mind  is  above  low  or  vulgai*  senti- 
ments and  aims. 

Altitude  lends  itself  (Lat.  uMtu- 
(Unem,  height;  altus,  high)  to  physical 
as  elevation  to  moral  associations.  Al- 
titude is  height  in  elevation  accurately 
measured.  It  is  the  degree  of  space 
extended  upwai'ds  from  a  given  level. 
Physical  geography  gives  the  altitude 
of  mountains  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  In  astronomy  altitude  is  mea- 
sured by  the  degrees  on  the  aic  of  a 
vortical  circle. 


[emancipation]     discriminated. 


371 


ELIGIBLE.  Desirable  Pre- 
ferable. 

Eligible  (Lat.  idgere,  to  seUct) 
means  primarily  worthy  of  being 
chosen,  or  qualified  to  be  chosen.  It 
denotes,  therefore,  an  alternatiye — 
that  of  choosing  something  else,  or 
not  choosing  this. 

Desirable  (Fr.  dtsir,  Lat.  disid^- 
rium)  is  of  wider  application,  and  con- 
veys no  idea  of  comparison  or  selec- 
tion. It  relates  to  any  kind  of  choice, 
not  only,  for  instance,  of  possession, 
like  Eligible,  but  of  conduct,  as  e.g. 
action,  or  the  abstaining  from  action ; 
and,  in  short,  of  anything  that  is  to  be 
wished,  as  a  desii'able  resideiice^  a  de- 
sirable measure,  a  desirable  abstinence 
from  food. 

Preferable  ('Lat.  preeferre,  to  pre- 
fer) is  that  which  is  comparatively  de- 
sirable or  specifically  eligible,  as  eligi- 
ble is  sivgularly  desirable. 

"A  life  of  virtne  and  religion  will,  not- 
withstanding, to  a  considering  man  be  far 
more  easy  and  far  more  eligible  than  the 
contrary  way  of  living." — Sharp. 
*'  O,  wherefore  did  God  grant  me  my  re- 
quest. 
And  as  a  blessing  with  such  pomp  adorned? 
Why  are  His  gifts  desirable,  to  tempt 
Our    earnest    prayers,    then,   given    with 

solemn  hand 
As  graces,  draw  a  scorpion's  tail  behind  ?  " 

Milton. 
The  older  form  is  prefer rible. 

"  Which  hypothesis,  if  it  appear  but  pro- 
bable to  an  impartial  inquiry,  will  even  on 
that  account  be  j^referrible  to  both  the  for- 
mer, which  we  have  seen  to  be  desperata." 
— Glanvill. 

ELOCUTION.  Eloquence.  Ora- 
tory.    Rhetoric. 

Elocution  (Lat.  iKcntionem,  il^qui, 
lo  speak  forth)  turns  more  upon  the 
accessory  graces  of  speaking  in  public, 
as  intonation,  gesture,  and  delivery  in 
general;  Eloquenck,  on  the  matter 
and  the  natural  gifts  or  attainments  of 
the  speaker.  The  actor  must  practise 
elocution ;  but,  as  his  words  are  found 
him,  he  cannot  be  eloquent.  The  ora- 
tor needs  eloquence  as  a  natural  gift, 
which  may  be  enhanced  and  rendered 
more  effective  by  a  studied  elocution. 

Oratory  (Lat.  orator,  an  orator) 
compreliends  both  the  art  and  the 
practice  of  the    orator,    and,    in   an 


extended  sense,  the  combined  pro- 
ductions of  orators  ;  as,  the  oratory  of 
Greece  and  Rome. 

Rhetoric  (Gr.  fi  pmofiKn  Tiyjri)  is 
strictly  the  theory  or  science  of  which 
oratory  is  the  practice.  It  is  only  by  a 
kind  of  poetic  licence  that  Eloquence 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  expressiveness* 
as,  the  silent  eloquence  of  a  look,  for 
instance.  Rhetoric  is  commonly  em- 
ployed, like  the  adjective  rhetorical, 
in  the  sense  of  a  particular  figure  of 
rhetoric,  or  of  a  phrase  which  illustrates 
it,  and  is  intended  to  be  rather  efiec- 
tive  than  literally  and  exactly  true. 
"  Soft  elocution  does  thy  style  renown, 
And  the  soft  accents  of  the  peaceful  go^vn." 
Drydex. 

"  If  I  mistake  not,  our  modern  doqutmce 
is  of  the  same  style  or  species  with  that 
which  ancient  critics  denominated  Attic 
eloquence  ;  that  is,  culin,  elegant,  and  sub- 
tle, which  instructed  the  reason  more  than 
affected  the  passions,  and  never  raised  its 
tone  above  argument  or  common  discourse." 
—Hume. 

"  Their  orators  thou  then  extoll'st  as  those 
The  top  of  eloquence,  statists  indeed. 
And  lovers  of  their  country,  as  may  seem  ; 
But  herein  to  our  prophets  much  beneath. 
As  men  divinely  taught,  and  better  teach- 
ing 
The  solid  rules  of  civil  government 
In  their  majestic  unaffected  style 
Than  all  the  oratory  of  Greece  and  Rome." 
Milton. 

"  The  power  of  eloquence  having  after 
the  days  of  Pericles  become  an  object  of 
greater  consequence  than  ever,  this  gave 
birth  to  a  set  of  men  till  then  unknown 
called  Rhetoricians,and  sometimes  Sophists, 
who  arose  in  multitudes  during  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  ^var,  such  as  Protagoras,  Pro- 
dicus,  Thrasymus,  and  one  who  was  more 
eminent  than  all  the  rest,  Gorgias  of  Leon- 
tium.  The  Sophists  joined  to  their  art  of 
rhetoric  a  subtle  logic,  and  were  generally  a 
sort  of  metaphysical  sceptics." — Blair. 

EMANCIPATION.      Manumis- 

SIGN. 

Both  these  terms  are  framed  in  con- 
sonance with  certain  usages  of  the  an- 
cient Roman  law  in  regard  to  slaves 
set  at  liberty.  The  former  (Lat.  eman- 
cipalioneni)  is  from  the  preposition 
e,  out,  and  numcipium,  a  foi-nuil  pur- 
chase, in  which  the  buyer  laid  his  hand 
on  the  thing  bought — mttnus,  thehand^ 
and  cHphe,  to  take.  Hence  emancipa- 
tion was  the  voluntary  setting  free 
from  the  condition  of  such  servitude 


372 


SYNONYMS  [emblem] 


as  had  made  the  slave  the  property  of 
his  master.  It  is  used  metaphorically 
of  a  moral  liberation  from  what  may 
be  conceived  to  exercise  a  personal 
power  over  a  man  and  to  bring  him 
into  a  subjection.  Such,  for  instance, 
is  the  power  of  ignorance,  prejudice, 
or  error. 

Manumission  (Lat.  miinumissionem, 
mtLnu  mitth'e,  to  send  away  by  hand)  has 
no  such  moral  association,  and  denotes 
simply  the  formal  giving  of  a  slave  his 
liberty,  unless  it  be  employed  rhetori- 
cally. 

EMBLEM.  Sign.  Symbol.  Sig- 
nal.    Devick. 

Of  these,  Sign  (Lat.  signum)  is  the 
most  generic,  the  others  being  species 
of  signs.  Sign  has  the  manifold  mean- 
ings of  a  mark  inscribed,  as  the  sign 
of  the  cross ;  a  token,  as  a  sign  of 
peace  ;  an  indication,  as  a  sign  of  a 
man's  intentions ;  or  a  proof,  as  a  sign 
that  it  rained  last  night.  The  sign  is 
natural  or  artificial,  the  signal  is  al- 
ways conventional. 

Unlike  sign,EMBLEM  (Lat.  emblema, 
Gr.  efA.^Xt>fxct,  a  raised,  strictly  speak- 
ing, a  mooable,  ornament)  is  always 
•visible  to  the  eye — an  object  repre- 
senting or  symbolizing  another  object 
or  an  idea  by  natural  aptness,  or  by 
association :  as  a  circle,  the  emblem 
of  eternity ;  a  sceptre,  the  emblem  of 
power. 

"A  Symbol,"  says  Coleridge  (Lat. 
synib'dlum,  Gr.  erv/xBoXov)  "is  a  sign 
included  in  the  idea  which  it  repre- 
sents— an  actual  part  taken  to  repre- 
sent the  whole,  or  a  lower  form  or 
species  used  as  the  representative  of  a 
higher  in  the  same  kind ;"  as  the  lion 
is  the  symbol  of  courage,  the  lamb  of 
meekness. 

Signal  is  a  specific  sign  either  con- 
ventionally agreed  upon,  or  illustrat- 
inguomething  else  by  a  pre-established 
connexion  in  the  mind.  TeaTs  are 
generally  a  sign  of  grief.  The  firing 
of  a  gun  is  in  some  places  the  signal 
of  sunset. 

Device  (Fr.  devise)  is  an  emblema- 
tic mark,  figure,  or  ornament,  like 
Kmiu,f.m  in  bf'ing  illustrative,  but  un- 
like It  in  relating  not  to  natural  con- 


nexions, but  to  arbitrary  associations  ; 
as  an  heraldic  device.  Unlike  Emblem 
also  is  Device,  in  including  words  and 
characters  as  well  as  figures  or  objects 
of  representation  ;  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  form  of  a  motto.  A  Device  is  often 
an  emblematic  metaphor;  and  it  is 
commonly  personal,  while  an  emblem 
is  more  general. 

"Why  may  he  not  be  emblem'd  by  the 
cozening  fig-tree  that  our  Saviour  cursed  ?" 
— Feltham, 

"  We  come  now  to  the.  signatures  of 
plants.  I  demand  whether  it  be  not  a  very 
easy  and  genuine  inference  from  the  observ- 
ing that  several  herbs  are  marked  with  some 
mark  or  sign  that  intimates  their  virtue, 
what  they  are  good  for,  and  there  being 
such  a  creature  as  man  in  the  world  that 
can  read  and  understand  these  signs  and 
characters,  hence  to  collect  that  the  Author 
both  of  man  and  them  knew  the  nature  of 
them  both  ?  "—Sir  T.  More. 

An  emblem  is  always  of  something 
simple.    A  symbol  may  be  of  some- 
thing complex,  as  of  a  transactioc  . 
which  another  and  inferior  transac- 
tion may  be  made  to  symbolize. 

"  His  laying  his  hand  upon  the  head  of 
his  sacrifice  was  a  si/jnbolical  action,  by 
which  he  solemnly  acknowledged  to  God 
that  he  had  justly  deserved  to  suffer  that 
death  himself  which  his  sacrifice  was  suffer- 
ing for  him." — Scott,  Christian  Life. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  consequence 
we  do  not  speak  of  actions  as  emble- 
matic. 
"  Gk)d  and  thou  know'st  with  what  a  heavy 

heart 
I  took  my  farewell  when  I  should  depai-t. 
And  being  shipp'd,  gave  signal  with  my 

hand 
Up  to  the  cliff  where  I  did  see  thee  stand." 

Drayton. 
A  signal,  unlike  the  rest,  is  always  a 
thing  specifically  given  or  made. 
,  "  A  banner  with  this  strange  device. 
Excelsior."  LoNGFBIXOW. 

EMBRYO.    FffiTus. 

Embryo  (Gr.  ifxt^viv,  foetus)  is  tlie 
rudimental  state  of  the  young, whether 
of  plants  or  animals. 

FcETus  (  Lat.ybfMs)  is  not  used,  like 
Embryo,  of  plants,  but  of  animals  only, 
and  is  the  development  of  the  embryo. 
It  is  used  both  of  viviparous  and  ovi- 
parous animals.  The  embryo  beoomes 
the  fnetus  when  it  has  acquired  form 
and  lineaments. 


[empire] 


DISCRIMINATED 


373 


"  Many  of  these  trees  produce  the  em- 
bryos of  the  leaves  and  flowers  in  one  year, 
and  bring  them  to  perfection  the  following. 
These  tender  embryos  are  \\Tapped  up  witli 
a  compactness  which  no  art  can  imitate,  in 
which  state  they  compose  what  we  call  the 
bud."— Palky. 

"  Flies,  caterpillars,  and  worms  being 
ripened  to  fcetat ion  by  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
they  live  upon  leaves  and  grass,  and  take 
their  food  without  the  care  or  assistance 
of  those  parents  that  produced  them." — 
Hale. 

I-IMINENT.  Illustrious.  Dis- 
tinguished.    Prominent. 

Eminent (Lat.  iniinire,  to  standout) 
is  only  employed  of  persons:  when 
things  stand  out  conspicuously,  they 
are  called  Probhnent.  So  the  eminent 
characters  of  history,  and  the  pro- 
minent events.  Persons  are  eminent 
who  stand  above  their  fellows.  This 
may  be  by  the  accident  of  birth,  by 
merit,  by  high  station,  by  talent,  by 
virtue,  and  even  by  vices,  if  they  be 
conspicuous  enough.  Therefore  as  a 
social  term  it  is  plain,  as  a  moral  one 
it  is  dubious. 

"  While  others  fondly  feed  ambition's  fire. 
And  to  the  top  of  human  state  aspire. 
That  from  their  airy  eminence  they  may 
With  pride  and  scorn  the  inferior  world 
survey."  HuGHES. 

Illustrious  (Lat.  illustris)  is  used 
strictly  only  of  persons,  inasmuch  as 
human  acts  or  character  can  alone 
make  things  illustrious,  as  being  the 
agents  or  the  recipients  of  what  is 
illustrious.  Thus,  we  speak  of  illus- 
trious heroes,  illustrious  nobles,  illus- 
trious titles.  If  we  speak  of  illustrious 
deeds  or  events,  it  is  as  being  done  or 
brought  about  by  human  agency.  The 
State  or  the  historian  render  deeds  or 
men  illustrious.  A  striking  object  of 
Nature,  for  instance,  might  be  famous, 
but  never  illustrious.  The  illustrious 
adds  to  the  idea  of  celebrated  that  of 
a  striking  character  for  greatness,  wis- 
dom, or  goodness.  It  involves  some 
degree  of  esteem. 

"  Comparisons  should  be  taken  from  il- 
lustrious noted  objects,  which  most  of  the 
readers  have  either  seen  or  can  strongly 
conceive." — Blair, 

Distinguished  (Lat.  distingutve,  to 
distinguish),  in  like  manner,  directly 
relates  to  persons  and  to  deeds,  and 
to  persons  lor  the  sake  of  their  deeds. 


Distinguished  conveys  the  idea  of 
social  eminence  or  prominence  as  the 
result  of  public  services  rendered,  or 
merit  publicly  exhibited. 

"  Few  are  formed  with  abilities  to  dis- 
cover new  possibilities  of  excellence,  and  to 
distinguish  themselves  by  means  never 
tried  before."— J?am6Zer. 

A  thing  or  person  is  prominent  by 
position,  eminent  by  station,  distin- 
guished by  peculiarities  of  good  or  ill, 
and  illustrious  by  the  testimony  and 
consent  of  others. 

"  Lady  Macbeth's  walking  in  her  sleep  is 
an  incident  so  full  of  tragic  horror  that  it 
stands  out  as  a  prominent  feature  in  the 
most  sublime  drama  in  the  world." — Cum- 
berland. 

EMIT.  Exhale. 
Emit  (Lat.  imitth-e,  to  send  forth) 
is  the  wider  term,  as  it  includes  the 
more  and  the  less  substantial.  To 
P^mit  is,  however,  not  commonly  used 
of  heavy  and  dense  substances;  in 
that  case  we  use  discharge.  The 
cannon  emits  smoke,  but  does  not 
emit  shot.  We  speak  of  water,  flame, 
gas,  smoke,  light,  steam,  smell,  and 
the  like,  as  emitted. 

Exhale  (Lat.  exhaldre,  to  breathe 
out)  is  used  only  of  the  lightest  even 
of  these ;  as  to  exhale  odours,  vapours, 
effluvia.  Strictly,  both  Emit  and  Ex- 
hale relate  to  the  propulsion  of  natti- 
ral,  not.artiiicial  things.  It  is  only  in 
poetry,  for  instance,  that  the  bow 
emits  the  arrow. 

"  Lest,  wrathful,  the  far-shootmg  god 
Emit  his  fatal  arrows."  Prior. 

"  Is  there  not  as  much  reason  that  the 
vapours  which  are  exhaled  out  of  the  earth 
should  be  carried  down  to  the  sea,  as  that 
those  raised  out  of  the  sea  be  brought  up 
upon  the  diy  land  ?"— Ray. 

EMPIRE.  Kingdom.  Dominion. 
{•See  Realm.) 

Empire  (Fr.  empire,  Lat.  impcrium) 
cairies  with  it  the  idea  of  a  vast  and 
complicated  o^overnment,  varying  in 
its  relationship  and  degiee  of  power 
in  regard  to  the  many  subordinate  and 
independent  sovereignties  or  commu- 
nities included  under  it. 

Kingdom  (king,  A.  S.  cyning  ;  cyriy 
tribe,  -ing,  son  of,  or  belonging  to)  is 
more  definitely  the  territory  subject 
to  a  king  or  queen ;   while  Dominion 


374 


SYNONYMS  [eMPIKE] 


(Lat.  d^mVnnSy  a  lord)  has  the  vague 
meaning  of  j)olitical  subjection  or  sub- 
ordination of  any  kind,  whether  at  home 
or  abroad,  and  is  even  applicable  to  the 
lordship  which  man  exercises  over  the 
brute  creation.  In  their  figurative 
uses  the  parallel  distinctions  are  ob- 
served :  as  the  empire  of  mind  or  rea- 
son ;  the  kingdoms  of  animal,  mineral, 
and  vegetable  nature  ;  the  dominion 
of  the  passions. 

"If  vice  had  once  an  ill  name  in  the 
world,  was  once  generally  stigmatized  \^^th 
reproach  and  ignominy,  it  would  qnickly 
lose  its  empire,  and  thousands  that  are  now 
slaves  of  it  would  become  proselytes  to 
virtue."— Sharp. 

"  The  great  and  rich  kingdom  of  Gra- 
nada. "—B  acon. 

"  The  safety,  honour,  and  welfare  of  our 
sovereign  and  her  dominions." — Book  of 
Common  Prayer. 

EMPIRE.     Reign.    Kingdom. 

Empire  (Lat.  imptriiim)  stands  to 
States  as  Reign  (L^t. regnum)  toper- 
sons  and  dynasties.  The  most  glorious 
epoch  of  the  Babylonian  Empire  was 
the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar;  of  the 
Persian  Empire,  the  reign  of  Cyrus  ; 
of  that  of  the  Greeks,  the  reign  of 
Alexander ;  of  theRoman  Empire,  the 
reign  of  Augustus.  A  reign  is  short 
or  long,  glorious  or  inglorious.  An 
empire  is  lasting  or  ephemeral,  and 
more  or  less  extensive.  Empire  and 
Kingdom  (Eng.  kingy  and  termination 
-rfom,  signifying  condition)  are  diffe- 
renced most  obviously  by  being  subject 
in  the  former  case  to  an  emperor,  in  the 
latter  to  a  king.  But  this  is  not  the  sole 
difference.  An  empire  denotes  a  State, 
extensive,  and  composed  of  many  dif- 
ferent peoples  ;  a  kingdom,  one  more 
limited,  and  more  strongly  marked 
by  the  unity  of  its  people.  In  kingdoms 
there  is  a  ii.aiked  uniformity  of  funda- 
mental laws,  while  varieties  of  customs 
do  not  affect  the  unity  of  political  ad- 
ministration. The  unity  of  an  empire 
depends  on  the  submission  of  certain 
chiefs,  or  the  recognition  of  a  univer- 
sal head.  The  earliest  portions  of  the 
Roman  history  belong  to  the  history  of 
a  kingdom — that  is,  of  one  people,  one 
by  origin  or  incorporation.  Its  latest 
portions  constitute  a  history  of  an  em- 
pire— that  is,  of  several  nations  which 


were  one  in  &t  bmission  to  the  central 
power,  but  not  in  absolute  uniformity 
of  laws.  The  royal  government  is 
narrower,  and  it  is  more  exact  and 
minute.  The  imperial  government  is 
wider  and  slighter,  contenting  itself 
in  some  senses  with  receiving  the 
homage  of  princes  on  behalf  of  their 
subjects.  Political  advantages  for  the 
people  and  for  the  ruler  go  to  consti- 
tute and  preserve  kingdoms.  Empires 
are  founded  by  ambition,  and  are 
seldom  supported  but  by  force  of 
arms. 

EMPLOY.     Use. 

Employ  (Fr.  employer,  Lat.  impCi- 
care,  in  mediaeval  documents  used 
to  mean  "  to  employ  for  some  one's 
profit:"  Braciiet;)  and  Use  (Fr. 
user,  Lat.  iiti,  part,  mus)  are  some- 
what differenced  in  usage.  We  al- 
ways employ  when  we  use;  but  we 
do  not  always  use  when  we  employ. 
Yet  the  difference  is  very  slight.  Use 
implies  more  entire  assumption  into 
our  service  than  Employ.  As  regards 
things,  the  terms  are  well-nigh  inter 
changeable.  We  use  or  employ  means  ; 
we  use  or  employ  violence ;  but  as  re- 
gards persons,  we  employ  a^'ents,  and 
we  use  instruments.  We  do  not  use 
persons,  except  in  some  low  sense,  as 
machines  or  tools.  Such  respect  is 
due  to  others  when  performing  our 
behests.  So  a  monarch  negotiating 
with  a  foreign  court  would  employ, 
not  use,  an  ambassador.  The  more 
moral  and  dignified  uses  are  expressed 
by  Employ.  Use  expresses  the  action 
of  making  use  of  a  thing  according  to 
the  right  or  the  liberty  which  one  has 
of  disposing  of  it  at  will,  or  for  one's 
advantage.  To  employ  expresses  the 
application  which  one  makes  of  a  thing 
according  to  its  own  properties,  and 
the  power  one  has  of  turning  it  to  par- 
ticular ends.  One  employs  things, 
persons,  means,  resources,  as  one 
thinks  fit,  in  regard  to  the  object 
which  one  has  to  accomplish;  and  one 
employs  well  or  ill  according  as  the 
things  employed  are  or  are  not  suited 
to  their  office,  and  to  the  effect  which 
one  desires,  and  to  the  result  one 
wishes  to  obtain.  Use  is  applicable 
to  things  moral,  as  to  use  threats,  per- 


[empty] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


375 


suasion,  artifice,  exaggeration.  Em- 
ploy is  used  also  in  the  sense  of  putting 
into  activity  as  regards  persons,  that 
is,  giving  them  employment. 

"  Had  Jesns,  on  the  coJitrarj',  made 
choice  of  the  great  and  learned  for  this 
employment,  they  had  discredited  their  ovrn 
success.  It  might  have  been  then  objected 
that  the  Gospel  had  made  its  way  by  the 
aid  of  human  poA-er  or  sophistry." — War- 
BURTO'. 
"  I  would,  my  son,  tKat  thon  would'st  use 

the  power 
Which  thy  discretion  giA'es  thee,  to  control 
And  manage  all."  COWPER. 

It  may  be  added  that  Use  has  a 
general  and  abstract  force,  which  is 
never  apparent  in  Employ.  We  may 
use  simply ;  we  never  employ  but  for 
a  specific  purpose,  A  man  uses,  or 
has  the  use  of,  his  hands  when  he 
simply  exercises  a  natural  power. 
He  employs  them  for  purposes  which 
by  the  inferior  animals  are  effected 
in  other  ways. 

EMPLOYMENT.  Business.  Avo- 
cation. Occupation.  Engagement. 
Vocation. 

Employment  {see  Employ)  is  used 
in  the  twofold  sense  of  employing  and 
being  employed.  The  same  remark 
holds  good  of  occupation  and  engage- 
ment. In  the  passive  sense.  Employ- 
ment is  any  fixed  way  of  passing  the 
time,  whether  in  duty  or  pleasure,  or 
ways  more  indiflferent.  It  may  be 
active  or  meditative,  specific,  or  habi- 
tual. 
"  Poets  we  prize,  when  in  their  verse  we 

find 
Some  great  employment  of  a  worthy  mind." 
Waller. 

Business  (A.  S.  hysig,  busy)  is  more 
active  employment,  which  at  the  time 
engrosses  the  time  and  attention  as  of 
primary  importance ;  as  in  the  com- 
mon phrase,  "I  will  make  it  my  busi- 
ness to  attend  to  it."  Business  is  re- 
sponsible employment.  We  choose  our 
employments  ;  our  business  claims  us. 
"It  seldom  happens  that  men  of  a 
studious  turn  acquire  any  degree  of  reputa- 
tion for  their  knowledge  of  business."— 
PORTEUS. 

Avocation  (Lat.  a:v6cationem,a call- 
ing off,  iyiterruption,  diversion).  The 
term  is  commonly  used  of  the  minor 
afiairs  of  life,  less  prominent  and  en- 


grossing than  Business,  and  of  such 
calls  as  are  beside  the  man's  duty  or 
business  of  life.  It  very  commonly, 
therefore,  occurs  in  the  plural  number, 
as  "  multifarious  avocations,"  *'  em- 
ployments of  every  degi'ee  of  urgency 
and  responsibility." 

"  In  the  time  of  health  visits,  businesses, 
cards,  aud  I  know  not  how  many  other  avo- 
cations, which  they  justly  style  diversions, 
do  succeed  one  another  so  thick,  that  in  the 
day  there  is  no  time  left  for  the  distracted 
person  to  converse  with  his  own  thoughts." 
— Boyle. 

Occupation  (Lat.  occUpittionem)  is 
used  of  such  employment  ag  has  be- 
come, or  tends  to  become,  habitual 
as  a  favourite  occupation,  which  may 
be  one  of  seriousness  or  sport;  an 
occupation  in  life,  meaning  a  trade  or 
calling. 

"  These  were  their  learned  speculations. 

And  all  their  constant  occupations. 

To  measure  wind  and  weigh  the  air, 

And  turn  a  circle  to  a  square." 

Butler. 

Engagement  (Fr.  engager,  to  bind, 
lit.  by  a  pledge,  Fr.  gage)  is  an  engross- 
ing occupation,  not  compulsory  nor 
systematic,  but  casual,  yet  at  the  time 
lea^'ing  little  or  no  room  for  other 
employments. 

"  Portia,  go  in  a  while, 

And  by  and  by  thy  bosom  shall  partake 

The  secrets  of  my  heart. 

All  my  engagements  I  will  construe  to 
thee."  Shakespeare. 

Vocation  (Fr.  vocation)  is  literally 
a  calling.  It  conveys  the  idea  of  syste- 
matic employment  in  an  occupation 
appropriate  to  the  person  employed. 
It  implies  specific  aptitude  in  the  per- 
son, the  result  of  training. 

"  If  wit  or  wisdom  be  the  head,  if  honesty 
be. the  heart,  industry  is  the  right  hand  of 
everyvocatiori,  without  which  the  shrewdest 
insight  and  the  best  intention  can  execute 
nothing." — Barrow. 

EMPOWER.     See  Authorize. 

EMPTY.  Vacant.  Hollow. 
VoiD.     Blank. 

Empty  (A.  S,  cemtig)  has  reference 
to  foreign  or  dissimilar  substances ; 
while  Hollow  (A.  S.  holh,  an  empty 
space)  has  reference  to  internal  discon- 
tinuity of  substance ;  as  an  empty 
purse,  a  hollow  beech. 

Vacant  (Lat.  vUcdre,  to  be  empty) 


376 


SYNONYMS 


[enactment] 


belongs  to  what  might  be  filled,  or  is 
intended  to  be  filled  or  occupied,  but 
at  present  is  not  60 ;  as  a  yacant  chair, 
a  vacant  office. 

Void  (Lat.  vidtius,  bereaved)  de- 
notes some  place  so  suiTounded  as  to 
be  unoccupied.  A  plot  of  ground, 
for  instance,  in  the  middle  of  a  city 
unbuilt  upon  might  be  called  void ;  it 
is  the  absence  of  filling  up  in  other 
than  a  purely  geometi-ical  sense.  An 
empty  place  would  be  in  an  excep- 
tional or  casual  state.  A  void  place 
might  be  intended  to  be  always  void, 
in  the  sense  of  provisionally  unoccu- 
pied. That  which  is  void  conveys  an 
impression  of  want  or  emptiness  which 
may  be  felt. 

When  Void  is  followed  by  of,  it  is  a 
predication  which  amounts  to  a  strong- 
privative  expression,  signifying  the 
utter  lack  of  something  in  an  object 
capable  of  containing  it,  or  which 
might  naturally  be  expected  to  contain 
it,  as  void  of  understanding. 

"  All  empty  is  the  tonne  "  (barrel). 
Chaucer. 

"  The  pope  had  accursed  the  English 
people  because  they  suffered  the  bishops' 
sees  to  be  vacant  so  long  a  time."—  HoLlN- 


Vacant  is  used  in  an  abstract  and  a 
metaphorical,  not  a  purely  physical 
application.  A  vacant  space,  or  a 
vacant  office ;  but  not  a  vacant  vessel. 

"Yet  it  has  been  noted  that  many  old 
trees,  quite  decayed  with  an  inward  hollow- 
ness,  have  borne  as  full  burdens  and  con- 
stantly as  the  veiy  soundest." — Evelyn. 
"And  the  void  helmet  followed  as  he 
.  pulled."  COWPKR,  Iliad. 

Blank  (Fr.  blanc,  white)  relates 
only  to  superficial  nakedness  in  a  uni- 
form substance.  The  unprepared  sur- 
face is  blank.  The  blank  paper  is 
unwritten  upon ;  the  blank  wall  is 
uncoloured  or  undecorated.  Blank- 
ness  affects  the  vision,  and  presents 
to  the  eye  an  impression  of  monoto- 
nous incompleteness,  without  a  touch 
of  relief.  It  is  vacancy  made  visible. - 
Poets  and  rhetoricians  speak  of  blank 
astonishment,  dismay,  disappoint- 
ment, despair.  Udal,  on  St.  Mark, 
speaks  of  the  Sadducees  as  "  put  to  a 
foyle  and  blanked."  But  Blank,  as  it 
has  the  idea  of  vacancy  unfilled,  sug- 
gests aoraetimes  that  of  vacancy  that 


may  be  filled.      A  blank  papei  and  a 
blank    lottery  ticket  represent  these 
two  aspects. 
"  These  touched  by  Reynolds,  a  dull  bM.nk 

becomes 
A  lucid  mirror  in  which  nature  sees 
All  her  reflected  features."        CowPER. 

ENACTMENT.  Mandate.  Ordi- 
nance. 

Enactment  (Fr.  en-,  and  act,  to  put 
into  act)  is  the  making  a  thing  into  a 
law,  the  giving  to  it  legal  validity  and 
authority.  This  may  be  the  act  of 
one  or  many,  according  as  the  source 
of  authority  is  personal  or  collective. 
The  latter  is  in  modern  times  so  far  the 
most  common  principle  of  legislation 
that  the  term  usually  expresses  that 
last  step  in  the  process  of  legislation, 
by  which  a  Bill  passes  into  law. 

A  Mandate  (Lat.  mandnre,  part. 
mandatus,  to  command)  is  tm  official  or 
authoritative command,but  not  applied 
to  the  acts  of  collective  legislation. 
The  source  of  a  mandate  is  always 
personal. 

An  Ordinance  (Lat.  ordinare,ordt' 
nem,  order)  is  a  nile  of  action  perma- 
nently established  by  authority.  Any 
statute,  law,  edict,  decree,  or  rescript 
may  be  called  an  ordinance  when  it 
is  regarded  in  this  light.  The  ordi- 
nance is  always  a  thing  of  wide  esta- 
blishment, and  is  not  applicable  to 
matters  of  domestic  management,  or 
connected  with  the  administration  of 
minor  associations.  An  ordinance  is 
an  operative  act  of  sovereign  power. 

ENCROACH.  Intrench.  In- 
trude.    Invade.     Infringe. 

Encroach  (Fr.  en,  m,  croc,  a  hook) 
is  to  come  gradually,  insensibly, 
or  imperceptibly  upon  another's  land, 
or,  metaphorically,  upon  his  rights. 
It  is  this  silence  and  indirectness 
which  characterize  Encroachment,  so 
that  the  trespass  is  made,  and  the  foot- 
ing established  before  the  process 
was  heeded. 

"  Disobedience,  if  complied  with,  is  in 
flaltely  encroacfwig ;  and  having  gained 
one  degree  of  liberty  upon  indulgence  wiS 
demand  another  upon  claim." — South. 

Intrench  (i.e.  entrench,  Fr.  en,  tn. 
aud  Eng.  trench ;  Fr.  trancher,  to  cut 


[endowment]        discriminated. 


377 


is  an  old  term  of  feudal  history,  lit^ 
rally  meaning  to  push  forward  the 
trench  of  fortified  line,  and  so  to  tres- 
pass on  another's  temtory,  as  when 
the  king  intrenched  upon  the  nobles, 
or  the  nobles  upon  the  king.  The 
term,unlike  ENCROACH,denotes  a  direct 
and  decisive  act,  though  it  may  be  an 
indirect  result  rather  than  a  direct  pur- 
pose, as  if  by  performing  a  certain 
act,  or  claiming  a  certain  privilege,  a 
noble  entrenched  on  a  prerogative  of 
the  crown.  Men  encroach  gradually ; 
they  intrench  presumptuously. 

"It  is  not  easily  apprehended  to  be  the 
portion  of  her  care  to  give  it  spiritual  milk  ; 
and  therefore  it  intrenches  rery  much  upon 
impiety  and  pa~tive  relinquishing  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children." — iJiSHOP  Tavlok. 

To  Intrude  (\.ViiAntrudcre,  to  thrust 
into)  is  to  thrust  one's  self  in  an  abrupt 
or  unwelcome  manner  upon  the  pre- 
sence or  society  of  another ;  while  to 
Invade  (Lat.  invddcre,  to  enter  upon^ 
to  attack)  denotes  a  direct,  positive, 
and  open  violation  of  another  s  rights. 
Men  often  encroach  when  they  would 
hesitate  to  invade.  Invasion  carries 
with  it  the  idea  of  an  overt  act  of 
hostility ;  often  done  suddenly  and 
without  warning,  but  always  as  the 
commencement  of  such  hostilities. 

Infringe  (Lat.  infringtre,  to  break 
into,  to  break  against)  is  positively  to 
violate,  or  negatively  to  disregard  a 
direct  law,  treaty,  obligation,  or 
right. 

"  Others  have  ceased  their  curiosity,  and 
consider  every  man  who  fills  the  mouth  of 
report  with  a  new  name  as  an  intruder 
upon  their  retreat,  and  disturber  of  their 
repose." — Rambler. 

"  The  Philistines  have  invaded  the  land." 
—  E7ig.  Bible. 

"  We  scarce  ever  had  a  Prince  who,  by 
fraud  or  violence,  had  not  made  some  in- 
fringement on  the  Constitution." — Buekk. 

ENDLESS.       Eternal.       Evfk- 

LA8TING. 

Endless  (A.  S.  ende,  and  privative 
termination  -less)  is  applicable  to  the 
idea  of  infinity  of  space,  and  of  time, 
Everlasting  only  to  infinite  duration 
of  time.  Eternal  to  chronic  period 
without  either  beginning  or  end  (O.  Fr. 
tternel,  Lat.   xUrnus,    for   ^vtfernus, 


<evum,  age).  Endless  admfts  the  idea 
of  intermediate  though  not  of  final 
cessation.  That  might  be  called  end- 
less which  is  perpetually  recurrent,  as 
endless  disputes.  Everlasting,  on  the 
other  hand,  implies  no  intermission 
j    as  well  as  no  end. 

I        ENDOW.     Endue.     Invest. 

!        Endow  (Fr.  endoner,  to  endow;  Lat. 

j  dotdre)  retains  its  etymological  force, 
and  in  its  metaphorical  use  signifies 
to  furnish  with  something  which  is  of 
the  nature  of  a  gift.  "  Man  is  en- 
dowed with  reason,"  implies  that 
reason  is  regarded  as  a  faculty  in  the 
nature  of  a  gift  bestowed  characteris- 
tically upon  him  by  his  Maker. 

Endue,  another  fonn  of  Endow, 
has  a  similar,  yet  less  forcible,  mean- 
ing ;  possibly  a  confusion  between 
Fondue  (O.  Fr.  endoer,  endouer)  and 
the  Lat.  indnere,  to  clothe  with,  to  deck 
— a  weaker  metaphor  than  that  of 
dowry— may  have  contributed  to  this 
result. 

Invest  (Lat.  investire,  to  clothe)  is 
more  external  than  Endue.  We  may 
say  a  lover's  imagination  endues  or 
invests  his  mistress  with  every  grace  ; 
but  when  the  idea  is  that  of  clothing 
with  office  or  authority,  we  use  the 
tenn  Invest. 

We  are  commonly  said  to  endow 
with  privileges  or  substantial  benefits, 
to  endue  with  moral  qualities,  and  to 
invest  with  dignity,  authority,  and 
power. 

"  And  yet  I  do  not  take  humility  in  man 
to  consist  in  disowning  or  denying  any  gift 
or  ability  that  is  in  him,  but  in  a  just  valua- 
tion of  such  gifts  and  endoivments,  yet  rather 
thinking  too  meanly  than  too  highly  of 
them." — Hay. 

"  Now  an  unintelligent being,'tis  evident, 
cannot  be  endued  with  all  the  perfections  of 
all  things  in  the  world,  because  intelligence 
is  one  of  those  perfections." — Clarke. 

"And  what  were  all  his  most  rightful 
honours  but  the  people's  gift,  aud  the  invest- 
ment of  that  lustre,  majesty,  and  honour 
which  for  the  public  good,  and  no  otherwise, 
redounds  from  a  whole  nation  into  one 
persoji  ? "—  Milton. 

ENDOWMENT.  Gift.  Present. 
Benefaction. 

In  their  simplest  signification  the 
distinction  between  these  is  obvious. 


378 


An  Endowment  is  a  gift  in  perpetuity, 
of  Avhich  the  usufruct  is  continually 
accruing;  as  to  give  a  sum  of  money, 
of  which  the  interest  may  serve  to 
endow  a  public  institution. 

A  Gift  is  usually  from  one  who  is 
in  some  sense  a  superior,  and  intended 
to  benefit  the  person  to  whom  it  is 
given. 

A  Present  (Lat.pr<Ese«fare,  to  place 
before,  to  present)  is  commonly  from 
an  equal  or  an  inferior,  as  a  mark  of 
affection  or  respect,  or  from  a  desire 
to  please  or  to  gain  favour.  Of  these, 
Gift  is  the  most  generic,  endowments 
and  presents  being  forms  of  gifts. 
One  selects  tiseful  things  for  gifts, 
agreeable  things  for  presents.  As  they 
relate  to  moral  and  intellectual  things, 
gifts  and  endowments  differ  in  that  a 
gift  commonly  ends  as  it  were  with 
itself,  while  an  endowment  gives  the 
power  of  other  things  ;  and  so  Gift  is 
the  more  specific,  Endowment  more 
general.  1  he  gift  of  speech,  the  gift 
of  eloquence  ;  the  endowments  of  the 
understanding.  Accordingly,  endow- 
ment contains  the  idea  of  something 
to  be  improved  by  exertion,  which 
gift  does  not.  The  powers  of  the  early 
church,  such  as  the  performance  of 
miracles,  the  power  of  tongues,  and 
the  like,  were  both  gifts  and  endow- 
ments—gifts of  the  Spirit  when  re- 
garded as  supernaturally  given,  en- 
dowments when  regarded  as  faculties 
which  might  be  exercised  as  occasions 
presented  themselves.  Anything  is  a 
gift  which  is  parted  with  to  another 
gratuitously  and  without  recompense. 
An  endowment  has  great  and  perma- 
nent value,  a  gift  has  some  consider- 
able value,  a  present  may  have  a  costly 
character  or  not.  It  is  sometimes  of 
trifling  value,  the  motive  being  regard 
or  politeness. 

A  Benefaction (Lat.  bhi^factionem) 
is  a  gift  sufiiciently  important  to  be  of 
lastingvalue,but  not  like  Endowment, 
amounting  to  a  maintenance  of  the  iu- 
stitmion  or  the  individual  on  which  it 
is  conferred.     (See  Endow.) 

"Such  a  stock  of  industry  as  will  do 
them  more  real  service  than  any  other  kind 
oT  benefaction,  if  they  will  bat  make  use  of 
it  and  improve  it." — Attkrburv 


SYNONYMS  [endurance] 

ENDURANCE.   Patience.   Re- 

SIGNATION.       EorTITUDE. 

Endurance  (0.  Fr.  endurer,  to  en- 
dare)  is,  as  the  term  expresses,  the 
power  or  act  of  enduring,  that  is,  ol 
suffering  without  sinking,  and  may  be 
a  physical  or  mental  quality.  It  im- 
plies a  continual  pressure  of  a  harass- 
ing nature  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
competent  constitutional  power  of 
passive  resistance  on  the  other. 

"  When  she  with  hard  endurance  had 
Heard  to  the  end."  Spenser. 

Patience  (Lat.  pUtientia,  pUti,  to 
suffer)  is  endurance  which  is  morally 
acquiescent.  The  opposite  to  endu- 
rance is  simply  exhaustion,  the  oppo- 
site to  patience  is  repining,  or  in-ita- 
bility  and  impatience.  T  may  endure 
impatiently.  The  qualities  of  patience 
are  gentleness  and  serenity  in  bearing 
that  which,  without  being  agonizing, 
is  wearing  or  vexatious,  whether  in- 
ternally or  from  the  conduct  of  others. 
There  is  a  sense  in  which  patience  is 
active,  or,  at  least,  more  than  purely 
passive,  as  in  the  patient  teacher  of 
dull  or  inattentive  pupils.  Fortitude, 
on  the  otlier  hand,  is  purely  passive. 
He  is  truly  enduring  who  suffers  with 
constancy  any  hardships,  injustice, 
contradictions,  persecutions,  on  the 
part  of  men.  He  is  patient  who  suffers 
with  moderation, with  sweetness, with- 
out murmuring,  without  resistance. 
Men  are  sometimes  patient  under 
some  forms  of  evil  and  not  others ;  as 
for  instance,  they  will  bear  resignedly 
what  comes  in  the  course  of  circum- 
stances, not  the  ill-treatment  of  men. 
Job  in  his  sufferings  was  patient, 
David  under  the  curses  of  Shimei  was 
enduring.  The  martyr  endures  with 
an  admirable  patience.  The  enduring 
man  may  suffer  and  be  in  exasperation, 
the  patient  man  suffers  and  is  calm. 

"  In  the  New  Testament  it  is  sometimes 
expressed  by  the  word  uttojuovJ),  which  signi- 
fies God's  forbearance  and  patient  waiting 
for  our  repentance  ;  sometimes  by  the  word 
«voX'i»  which  signifies  holding  in  His  wrath, 
and  restraining  Himself  from  punishing, 
and  sometimes  by/uiaxfoSj^'a.  which  signifies 
the  extent  of  His  patience,  His  long-sufiFer- 
ing  and  forbearing  for  a  long  time  the 
punishment  due  to  sinners." — Tillotsox. 
Still  Patience  applies  only  to  evils 
actually  hanging  over  us  ;  while  Re  • 


[energy] 


8IGNATI0N  (Lat.  rtsignare,  to  give  back, 
resign)  extends  to  the  possible  as  well 
as  the  actual,  and  is  unresisting,  un- 
murmuring acquiescence  in  the  issue 
of  circumstances  or  the  exercise  of  the 
will  of  another.  Resignation  is  more 
like  to  patience  than  to  fortitude,  in- 
asmuch as  it  implies  non-resistance  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  always 
passive.  It  applies  not  to  passing 
pains  orevils,  but  afflictions  of  a  severe, 
prolonged,  and  seemingly  hopeless 
character.  It  is  a  religious  submis- 
sion extending  to  the  giving  up  of 
earthly  hope.  Fortitude  and  patience 
may  be  stoical  or  constitutional;  re- 
signation is  always  on  principle. 

"  Resignation  superadds  to  patience  a 
snbmissive  disposition  respecting  the  intel- 
ligent cause  of  our  uneasiness.  It  acknow- 
ledges both  the  power  and  the  right  of  a 
superior  to  afflict." — CoQAN. 

Fortitude  (hat.  fortttiKTinetn)  is  a 
more  energetic  quality,  and  might  be 
defined  as  passive  courage  or  resolute 
endurance.  It  not  only  bears  up 
against  the  present,  and  is  resigned  to 
what  may  be  in  the  future,  but  it  looks 
as  it  were  the  future  in  the  face,  and 
is  prepared  for  yet  worse  things. 

y  Fortitude  expressss  that  firmness  of 
mind  whicB  resists  dangers  and  snfiFerings." 
— COGAN. 

ENEMY.  Adversary.  Anta- 
gonist.    Opponent.     Foe. 

Enemy  (O.  Fr.  enemi,  Lat.  ^iiimlcus) 
is  one  who  is  actuated  by  unfriendly 
feelings,  and  in  consequence  attempt- 
ing or  desiring  the  injury  of  another. 
An  enemy  may  be  o])en  or  secret, 
collective  or  personal.  The  term  is 
employed  of  man's  relationship  to 
things  as  well  as  persons,  as  an  enemy 
to  truth,  an  enemy  to  falsehood. 

A  Foe  (A.  S.  fdh)  is  a  personal 
enemy,  one  who  bears  a  more  ener- 
getic and  specific  hatred  than  Enemy. 

"  He  who  does  a  man  an  injury  generally 
becomes  the  rancorons  enemy  of  the  injured 
man." — Mickle. 

"  Curst  be  the  verse,  how  well  soe'er  it 
flow. 
That  tends  to  make  olc  worthy  man  my 
foe"  Pope. 

Adversary,  Antagonist,  and  Op- 
ponent denote  primarily  personal  op- 
position, and  only  secondarily  personal 


DISCRIMINATED. 


379 


ill-uill,  which  in  some  cases  may  not 
exist  at  all ;  as  in  the  case  of  an  adver- 
sary at  fence,  an  antagonist  at  chess, 
and  a  political  opponent.  Adversary, 
Antagonist,  and  Oppsnf.nt  arenever, 
like  Enemy  and  FoE,used  collectively, 
as  of  a  hostile  army.  A  n  adversary 
(Lat.  adversdrius)  is  one  who  takes  an 
opposite  part,  which  he  sustains,  or  a 
side  on  which  he  enlists  himself, 
whether  singly  or  witli  others,  and 
on  behalf  of  which  he  strives  for 
victory.  An  antagonist  (Gr,  avrS- 
ymvia-rng,  an  opponent,  rival)  is  purely 
personal ;  in  the  case  of  antagonists, 
It  is  person  against  person,  not 
party  against  party,  or  cause  against 
cause.  An  opponent  (Lat.  opponens, 
part.  o£ oppontre,  to  oppose)  is  simjily 
one  who  thwarts  another,  or  seeks  to 
stop  his  proceedings,  without  of  neces- 
sity coming  into  conflict  with  him,  but 
seeking  to  neuti-alize  his  acts  or  mea- 
sures. The  term,  however,  has  an 
almost  technical  sense — that  of  an 
adversary  in  argument ;  where  words 
are  the  weapons,  we  employ  the  term 
Oppon ENT.  The  enemy  makes  war  an d 
desires  to  destroy,  and  would  wound 
the  very  person.  The  adversary  con- 
tends for  the  possession  of  something 
of  which  he  would  deprive  his  com^- 
petitor  ;  the  antagonist  tries  to  stop, 
to  disarm,  to  defeat.  Some  nations 
seem  instinctively  to  be  natural  ene- 
mies to  each  other.  A  man  who  has 
the  power  and  the  will  to  bribe,  is 
often  the  most  formidable  of  adver- 
saries. The  Duke  of  Wellington  and 
Napoleon  were  illustrious  antagonists. 
"  Truth  seems  to  be  considered  by  all 
mankind  as  something  fixed,  unchangeable, 
and  eternal.  It  may  therefore  be  thought 
that  to  vindicate  the  permanency  of  truth 
is  to  dispute  without  an  adversary." — 
Beattie. 

"  The  race 
Of  Satan,  for  I  glory  in  the  name. 
Antagonist  of  heaven's  Almighty  King." 
Milton. 
"  The  leading  views  of  the  earliest  and 
most  enlightened  patrons  of  the  economical 
system  have,  in  my  opinion,  been  not  more 
misrepresented  by  its  opponents  than  mis- 
apprehended by  some  who  have  adopted  its 
'  oiiclusions.'" — Stewart. 

ENERGY.      Activity.     Poxy  •-. 
Force.     Vicovr.     STRENC'.-n. 

Energy  (Gr.  Ivipyna.,  action,  o;  ^* 


380 


SYNONYMS 


[enervate] 


twn).  An  energy  may  lie  donnant, 
as  "  the  dormant  energies  of  nature." 
From  this  the  word  passes  to  signify 
power  forcibly  exerted,  as  energy  of 
manner  or  of  utterance.  It  is  the 
manifestation  of  living  power.  In 
this  sense  it  is  only  used  of  beings 
possessing  will ;  so  vital  energy,  not 
mechanical  energy. 

"  The  great  energies  of  nature  are  known 
to  us  only  by  their  eifects  ;  the  substances 
which  produce  them  are  as  much  concealed 
from  our  senses  as  the  Divine  essence  it- 
self."—Paley. 

Activity  (Lat.  actlvus,  active} 
means  no  more  than  vigorous  opera- 
tion, or  the  faculty  of  it.  This  is  not 
necessarily  attended  by  gi-eat  power, 
Lor  is  it  restricted  to  the  vital  ener- 
gies, or  an  exhibition  of  the  will,  or  a 
working  in  any  one  given  direction. 
It  may  be  intellectual,  physical,  in- 
stinctive, chemical,  mechanical.  Ac- 
tivity is  not  so  much  power  or  energy 
as  a  mode  in  which  a  certain  degree 
of  power  or  energy  is  manifested. 

"  Orl.  He  is  simply  the  most  active 
gentleman  in  France. 

"  Co7ist.  Doing  is  activity,  and  he  will 
still  be  doing."— Shakespeare,  Hen.  V. 

PowEU  (Fr.  pouvoir,  to  be  able),  in 
its  primary  meaning,  is  ability  to  act, 
regarded  as  latent,  and  thence  ability, 
regarded  as  manifest  or  exerted.  It 
is  also  capable  of  a  passive  significa- 
tion. Power  may  be  predicated  of  the 
mind  of  man,  of  intelligent  beings,  of 
natural  forces,  or  mechanical  agents, 
or  conventional  qualifications  ;  legal 
power  is  authority  in  superiors,  and 
freedom  in  equals,  and  right  in  all. 
The  following  extract  relates  to  power 
in  its  metaphysical  or  psychological 
sense. 

"  Power  then  is  active  and  passive. 
Faculty  is  active  poicer  or  capacity  ;  ca- 
pacity is  passive  power." — Sir  \V.  Hamil- 
rojf. 

Mechanically,  Powi.r  commonly  re- 
lates to  the  work  to  be  effected,  as 
FoRC  E  to  that  which  is  directly  exerted 
by  the  machine.  The  force  of  an 
engine  relates  to  the  pressure  exer- 
cised upon  the  rails,  the  power  to  the 
quantity  or  weight  of  the  load  drawn. 

FoRC E  (  Fr.  forcey  Lat./o'-fis,  strong) 
is  active  power  specifically  exerted.    | 
In  mecha  ncs  it  is  the  name  given  to    j 


whatever  produces  or  may  produce 
motion.  In  its  other  applications,  it 
still  relates  to  some  external  effect 
produced.  So  we  might  say  of  an 
orator,  that  he  combined  force  of  rea- 
soning with  energy  of  expression. 

"  Thy  tears  are  of  no  force 
To  mollify  this  flinty  man." 

Hayward. 
Strength  (A.  S.  streng,  strong)  is 
the  quality  of  being  strong,  which 
may  be  active  or  passive,  while  Force 
is  always  active.  Strength  is  often 
used  in  the  sense  of  power  to  resist 
force,  as  the  strength  of  a  rope  or  a 
castle.  It  has  also  the  meaning  of 
measurement  of  force,  as  the  strength 
of  an  army  or  an  alcohol.  It  may  be 
said  generally  that  force  is  strength 
exerted.  An  argument,  for  instance, 
is  strong  when  the  consideration 
which  it  involves  is  of  weight ;  but  it 
has  no  force  till  it  is  applied.  A  man 
collects  his  strength  in  order  to  strike 
with  force.  Strength  is  powerful  in 
resistance,  force  in  attack. 
"  More  huge  in  strength  than  wise  in  works 
he  was."  Spenser. 

Vigour  (Lat.  vXgbrem)  is  that  men- 
tal or  physical  strength  which  results 
from  a  sound  natural  condition,  as 
the  vigour  of  intellect,  the  vigour 
of  an  arm,  the  vigour  of  a  plant,  the 
vigour  of  an  administration.  Vigour, 
like  activity,  is  rather  a  mode  of 
power  than  power  itself.  It  is  the 
passive,  as  activity  is  the  energetic 
condition  of  vital  power.  It  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  exhibition  of  physical 
strength,  as  "  the  vigour  of  his  arm," 
or  intellectual,  as  of  his  mind,  or  even 
to  a  sound  and  healthy  state  of  ani- 
mal or  vegetative"  life.  Vigour,  and 
its  derivatives,  however,  when  directly 
associated  with  power,  commonly  im 
})ly  active  strength,  or  the  power  of 
action  and  exertion,  in  distinction  to 
passive  strength,  or  power  of  en- 
durance. Men  act  or  move,  but  do 
not  suffer  with  vigour. 
"  The  vigour  of  this  arm  was  never  vain." 
Drydkn. 

ENERVATE.  Enfeeble.  De- 
bilitate.    Weaken. 

Of  these.  Weaken  (A.  S.  urfc, 
weak^    pliant)   is   the   generic    term, 


[ensure] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


381 


predicable  of  any  case  of  lessened 
power,  force,  or  strength.  Ener- 
vate, Enfeeble,  and  Debilitate  are 
only  employed  of  human  powers. 
Enervate  (Lat.  e-7iervdre,  to  take  out 
the  sinews,  to  weaken)  is  to  impair  the 
moral  powers,  as  Debilitate  may  be 
more  specifically  applied  to  thephysi- 
ca],  and  Enfeeble  to  the  intellectual 
and  physical.  Debility  (Lat.  d'cbiCita- 
tcm,a  disabled  condition)  is  that  weak- 
ness which  comes  from  a  chronically 
morbid  state  of  the  functions  ;  while 
persons  may  be  enfeebled  by  the  effect 
of  age  alone,  or  as  the  temporary 
effect  of  sickness. 

"  In  a  word,  we  onght  to  act  in  party 
with  all  the  moderation  which  does  not 
absolutely  enervate  that  vigour,  and  quench 
that  fervency  of  spirit  without  which  the 
best  wishes  for  the  public  good  must  evapo- 
rate in  empty  speculation." — Burke. 
Enfeeble  does  not  express  sostrongly 
ns  Debilitate  an  organic  cause  of  cor- 
poreal weakness.  Disease  debilitates, 
fear  enfeebles. 

"  Abject  fear,  which  views  some  tremen- 
dous evil  impending  from  which  it  cannot 
possibly  escape,  as  it  depresses  the  spirits, 
so  it  enfeebles  the  corporeal  fi"ame,  and  it 
renders  the  victim  an  easy  prey  to  the  evil 
Jie  dreads." — CoGAN. 

"  Sometimes  the  body  in  full  strength  we 

find. 
While  various  ails  debilitate  the  mind." 
JfiNYNS, 

"  That  the  power,  and  consequently  the 
security,  of  the  monarchy  may  not  be  weak- 
ened  by  diversion,  it  must  descend  entire  to 
one  of  the  children." — Smith,   Wealth,  of 

Nations. 

ENFORCE.     Urge. 

Urge  (Lat.  urgere)  is  only  by  poets 
employed  directly  of  physical  sub- 
stances, as  Gray: — 

"  To  chase  the  rolling  circles'  speed 
Or  urge  the  flying" ball." 
It  is  commonly  used  of  moral  pressure 
upon  individuals,  and  of  the  subject 
itself  which  is  so  pressed ;  as,  to  urge 
an  argument,  or  petition,  or  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  it,  as  the  expediency  or 
necessity  of  a  particular  line  of  con- 
duct. 

To  Enforce  (O.  Fr.  enforcer,  Mod. 
Fr.  enforcir,  hat.fortis,  strong)  is  to  en- 
due with  force,  or  to  bring  into  opera- 
tion that  which  has  a  Ibrce  of  its  own; 


as,  to  enforce  a  command  of  one's  own, 
or  to  enforce  the  law  or  obedience  to 
it.  It  is  never,  except  by  poets,  used 
of  physical  propulsion,  as  by  Shake- 
speare— 

*'  Stones   enforced   from   the  old  Assyrian 
slings." 

Urge  has  a  more  purely  moral  cha- 
racter than  Enforce.  It  has  more  of 
argument,  persuasion,  entreaty,  ex- 
postulation; Enforce  more  of  autho- 
rity and  power.  We  urge  persons 
by  endeavouring  to  bring  them  to  see 
objects  in  tlie  same  light  as  ourselves. 
We  do  not  enforce  persons,  but  that 
which  has  a  binding  or  compelling 
power  against  them. 

ENLIGHTEN.  Illumine.  Il- 
luminate. 

To  Enlighten  is  to  throw  light 
upon  and,  more  commonly,  metapho- 
rically, the  light  of  truth'  and  know- 
ledge. 

Illumine  (Lat.  iUum'indre)is  so  to 
enlighten  as  to  penetrate  the  sub- 
stance. 

Illuminaie  is  to  throw  light  upon 
in  the  sense  of  enlighten,  and  also  in 
the  sense  of  to  light  up,  whether  by 
light  itself,  as  in  the  festive  illumina- 
tions of  a  city,  or  by  rich  colouring,  as 
an  illuminated  manuscript.  It  is  to 
be  remarked  that  while  enlightened 
is  used  as  an  epithet — an  enlightened 
person  or  enlightened  society — we  do 
not  employ  illumined  or  illuminated 
in  this  way,  but  borrow  the  Italian 
word  illuminati,  the  enlightened.  » 

"  The  light  itself  became  darkness  ;  and 
then  was  a  proper  season  for  the  great  Eit- 
lighte?icr  of  the  world  to  appear." — Seckjer. 
"  Illumine  with  perpetual  light 
The  dulness  of  our  blinded  sight." 
Church  Hymn. 
"That  need  no    sun  t'  illuminate  their 
spheres."  Spewskr. 

In  old  English  writers,  however, 
the  verbs  illume,  illumine,  and  illu- 
minate were  used  interchangeably. 

ENSURE.    Secure. 

Sure  is  from  the  French  sur,  and 
this  fi*om  the  Lat.  sechrus,  without 
care,  and,  reflexively,  beyond  the  need 
of  care,  that  is,  safe.  These  words 
therefore  have  the  same  etymological 


382 


SYNONYMS 


[entangle] 


basis.  That  which  is  secure  is  safe 
from  danger,  intact,  not  liable  to  be 
altered  or  removed.  That  which  is 
ensured  is  free  from  uncertainty, 
fixed,  not  liable  to  prevention,  frustra- 
tion, defeat.  Things  actual  and  pre- 
sent are  secured,  things  future  or  con- 
tingent are  ensured.  That  which  is 
secured  to  us  is  ours,  and  will  remain 
so  ;  that  which  is  ensured  will  become 
so.  We  seeure  by  exercising  a  power 
to  retain  ;  we  ensure  by  controlling 
means  which  will  confer.  He  who 
secures  knows  how  to  preserve;  he 
who  ensures  knows  how  to  acquire. 

ENTANGLE.     Implicate.     Iv- 

VOLVE. 

Entangle  (etym.  doubtful)  is  so  to 
involve  as  to  render  extrication  a 
matter  of  bewildering  difficulty.  It 
is  used  both  physically  and  metapho- 
rically. 

Implicate  (Lat.  impPicdre,  to  enfold) 
and  Involve  (Lat.  involvere,  to  en- 
wrap) are  used  only  in  the  metapho- 
rical sense.  The  difference  lies  rather 
in  the  customary  applications  of  these 
terms  than  in  any  essential  unlike- 
ness  of  meaning.  We  are  entangled 
in  difficulties  or  difficult  relationships, 
as  untoward  alliances  and  acquam- 
tanceships ;  we  are  implicated  in 
blame,  faults,  crime,  transactions,  the 
term  being  always  employed  in  au 
unfavourable  sense.  We  are  involved 
in  things  external  which  take  strong- 
effect  upon  us,  as  in  debt,  in  ruin,  in 
the  untoward  consequences  of  con- 
duct or  actions.  The  term  is  used 
also  of  things,  while  implicate  is  con- 
fined to  persons,  as  we  say  the  subject 
is  involved  in  doubt,  difficulty,  mys- 
tery, obscurity  ;  or,  this  involves,  that 
is,  implies,  or  draws  after  it,  the  ne- 
cessity of  something  else. 

*•  It  (integrity)  is  much  plainer  and 
easier,  much  the  safer  and  more  secui'e  way 
of  dealing  in  the  world  ;  it  has  less  of 
trouble  and  difficulty,  of  entanglement  and 
perplexity,  of  danger  and  hazard  in  it." — 
i^pectator. 

"  He  is  much  t^o  deeply  implicated  to 
make  the  presence  or  absence  of  these 
notes  of  the  least  consequence  to  him." — 

State  Trials. 

"  The  kings  of  Syria  and  of  Egypt,  the 
Kings  of  Pergamus  and  Macedon,  M'ithout 


intermission  worried  each  other  for  above 
two  hundred  years,  until  at  last  a  strong 
power  arising  in  the  west  rushed  upon 
them  and  silenced  their  tumults  by  involv- 
ing all  the  contending  parties  in  the  same 
destruction  "-  BuRKE. 

ENTEKfAIN.     IIakbour. 

These  terms  are  sometimes  used 
metaphorically  of  the  thoughts,  and 
of  some  sentiments,  as  hopes,  friend- 
ship, enmity,  and  the  like. 

In  such  cases.  Entertain  'Fr.  en- 
tretenir)  is  less  voluntary  than  Har- 
bour (O.  H.  G.  hereherga,  camp,  lodg- 
ing, Fr.  auberge).  To  entertain  an 
unfavourable  opinion  of  another  may 
be  the  result  of  calm  judgment  and 
unhappy  experience ;  to  harbour  such 
thoughts  rather  implies  that  their 
soundness  has  not  been  proved,  but 
that  we  readily  lend  ourselves  to  the 
supposition  with  some  hope  that  it 
may  be  true,  finding,  as  it  were,  a 
place  for  it  in  our  minds.  We  enter- 
tain charitable,  we  harbour  unchari- 
table thoughts. 

"  The  not  entertaining  a  sincere  love  and 
affection  for  the  duties  of  religion  does  both 
naturally,  and  by  the  just  judgment  of  God 
besides,  dispose  men  to  errors  and  decep- 
tions about  the  great  truths  of  religion." — 
South. 

The  unfavourable  sense  of  Harbour 
in  regard  to  thoughts  has  no  doubt 
sprung  from  its  older  use  in  regard  to 
obnoxious  persons,  as  seen  in  the 
following : — 

"They  judged  that  all  men  who  sus- 
pected any  to  have  been  in  the  rebellion 
were  bound  to  discover  such  their  suspicions 
and  to  give  no  harbour  to  such  persons ; 
that  the  bare  suspicion  made  it  treason  to 
harbour  the  person  suspected,  whether  he 
was  guilty  or  not."— Burnet. 

ENTHUSIAST.  Fanatic.  Vi- 
sionary.    Zealot.     Bigot. 

Enthusiast  (lv9ovtria.^ot>,  1  am  in- 
spired, hBiOQ,  hBov<;,)  is  one  who  is 
influenced  by  a  peculiar  fervour  or" 
mind.  Enthusiasm  is  at  present  em- 
ployed in  the  sense  of  an  overweening 
attachment,  not  necessarily  irrational 
— in  certain  limits  even  admirable — 
for  some  cause  or  subject;  as,  au 
enthusiastic  lover  of  music.  Enthu- 
siasm then  begins  to  be  blameworthy 
and  i)erilous  when  the  feelings  have 
overmastered  the  judgment.     In  re- 


[entice] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


383 


ligion,  enthusiasm  is  often  taken  to 
mean  the  influence  of  spirit  as  supei-- 
«eding  the  ordinary  processes  of  reve- 
lation by  instruction.  In  that  sense 
it  is  spoken  of  in  the  following : — 

"  Enthusiasm  is  that  temper  of  mind  in 
which  the  imagination  has  got  the  better 
of  the  judgment.  In  this  disordered  state 
of  things,  enthusiasm,  when  it  happens  to 
be  turned  upon  religious  mattez's,  becomes 
fanaticism."—  Wars  urtox. 

"  From  the  consequences  of  the  genius 
of  Heniy,  Duke  of  Visco,  did  the  British 
American  empire  arise  ;  an  empire  which, 
unless  retarded  by  the  illiberal  and  in- 
human spirit  of  vqM^iovls  fanaticism,  will 
in  a  few  centuries  perhaps  be  the  glory  of 
the  world." — MiCKLE. 

Fakatic  (Lat.  fcinadcxis,  J'dnum,  a 
temple)  is  employed  to  designate  one 
whose  overheated  imagination  has 
wild  and  extravagant  notions,  espe- 
cially upon  the  subject  of  religion, 
which  render  him  incapable  of  using 
his  judgment  and  dangerous  to  others. 
For  enthusiasm  is  a  solitary,  fanati- 
cism a  social  passion. 

A  Visionary,  as  the  term  expresses, 
IS  one  who  is  moved  by  visions,  and 
influences  of  the  imagination,  mistaken 
for  realities.  He  forms,  therefore,  im- 
practicable schemes,  and  creates  for 
himself  a  present  or  future  state  of 
things,  which  persons  of  calm  judg- 
ment know  to  be  incapable  of  realiza- 
tion. 

"  I  know  not  whether  the  French  did 
not  derive  their  ideas  of  teaching  things  in- 
stead of  words  from  some  celebrated  writers 
of  our  own  country,  who,  with  all  their 
good  sense  and  genius,  were  visionaries  on 
the  subject  of  education." — Knox. 

Zealot  (Gr.  ^^nXwrn;,  a  rival,  a  zea- 
lot) and  Bigot  (a  word  of  unknown 
origin,  of  which  more  than  one  pos- 
sible account  has  been  given  ;  but  the 
meaning  of  which  has  probably  been 
aftected  by  confusion  with  the  word 
beguin,  or  more  commonly,  fern,  be- 
guine,  begging  devotees  of  Flanders, 
early  in  the  13th  cent.)  represent,  the 
one  actively,  the  superstitious  parti- 
zan,  the  other,  more  passively,  the 
superstitious  believer  and  adherent. 

"A  furious  zealot  may  think  that  he 
does  God  service  by  persecuting  one  of  a 
different  sect.  St,  Paul  thought  so,  but  he 
confesses  he  acted  sinfully  notwithstanding 
he  acted  ignorantly."— Gilpin. 


A  zealot  is  in  action  what  a  bigot  is 
in  opinion. 

•'They  are  terribly  afraid  of  being  called 
bigots  and  enthusiasts,  but-  think  there  is 
no  danger  of  falling  into  the  opposite  ex- 
treme of  lukewarmness  and  impiety." — 
PORTKUS. 

ENTICE.  Allure.  Decoy.  Se- 
duce.   Tempt. 

Entice  (O.  Fr.  enticer)  is  to  draw 
on  or  instigate  by  means  of  a  feeling 
internal  to  one's  self,  as  hope  or  desire. 

Allure  (Fr.  a  leurre,  to  the  bait, 
for  animals)  is  to  do  the  same  thing 
by  means  of  something  external  to 
one's  self,  as  prospect  of  gain. 

Decoy  (Lat.  de,  and  the  O.  Fr. 
coif  or  coy,  Lat.  quietus,  quiet)  is  to 
lead  on  quietly  into  the  snare,  as  op- 
posed to  violent  and  noisy  modes  ot 
capture.  As  the  decoy  was  a  term 
employed  for  the  bird,  or  likeness  ot 
one,  used  to  lead  the  others  into  the 
snare,  the  verb  to  decoy  has  the  force 
of  leading  on  gradually  into  a  snare 
from  which  there  is  eventually  no 
escape,  as  "to  decoy  troops  into  an 
ambush." 

To  Seduce  (Lat.  shlnccre,  to  lead 
aside)  is  to  draw  aside  from  the  path 
of  duty,  integrity,  or  chastity  by  false 
or  alluring  representations. 

To  Tempt  (Lat.  tentdre,  to  try,  to 
put  to  the  test)  is  to  bring  an  influence, 
commonly  no  creditable  one,  to  bear 
upon  another  to  induce  him  to  do  some- 
tiling.  Tempt  is  stronger  than  either 
Entice  or  Allure,  and  needs  moral 
eflfort  at  resistance.  It  will  be  observed 
that  Entice,  Tempt,  and  Allure  do 
not  absolutely  imply  the  success  of  the 
means  used,  which,  however,  is  the 
case  witli  Seduce  and  Decoy. 

"  My  son,  if  sinners  e7itice  thee,  consent 
thou  not." — Book  of  Proverbs. 

"  Among  the  Athenians,  the  Areopagites 
expressly  forbade  all  allurements  of  elo- 
quence."— Hume. 

"  Man  is  to  man  all  kind  of  beasts,  a 
fawning  dog,  a  roaring  lion,  a  thieving  fox, 
a  robbing  wolf,  a  dissembling  crocodile,  a 
treacherous  decoy,  a  rapacious  vulture/' — 
Cowley. 

"An  ingenuous  young  man  takes  up  the 
book  from  the  laudable  motive  of  improving 
his  mind  with  historical  knowledge,  but  as 
he  reads  he  finds  himieM seduced  and  cheated 


384 


ArNONYMS  [entire^ 


into  irreligion    and  libertinism.''— Knox, 
Essays. 

"  Adam  also  was  tempted  and  overcomed ; 
Chryste  beeyng  tempted,  overcame  the 
temptovr." — Udal,  St.  Luke. 

ENTIRE.  Whole.  Complete. 
Total.     Integral.     Perfect. 

Entire  (O.  Vr.  entier,  Lat.  integer) 
and  Whole  (A.  S.  hdl,  healthy,  whole) 
are  very  nicely  distinguished.  In 
most  cases  the  words  are  simply  inter- 
changeable. The  entire  house  and  the 
whole  house  are  the  same  thing.  But 
Whole  relates  to  what  is  made  up  of 
parts,  and  a  whole  thing  is  a  thing  in 
which  no  part  is  wanting.  Entire  does 
not  relate  to  any  idea  of  parts,  but 
simply  to  perfect  and  undiminished 
unity.  So  that  in  cases  in  which  the 
idea  is  not  resolvable  into  parts  Entire 
is  used  where  Whole  could  not  be.  So 
we  say,  a  whole  orange,  a  whole  num- 
ber, the  whole  quantity.  But,  ''  His 
character  or  disposition  was  marked 
by  an  entire  absence  of  'selfishness, " 
"entire  ignorance,"  "entire  confi- 
dence," "entire  control,"  and  the  like. 
In  a  word,  Whole  means  geometrical 
unity  unbroken  ;  Enti  u  e  also  points  to 
moral  indeficiency. 

"  Christ,  the  bridegroom,  praises  the 
bride.  His  Church,  for  her  beauty,  for  her 
entire)iess."—Biss.OP  Hall. 

*'  Upon  this  question,  what*  supported  or 
kept  up  *his  chain,  would  it  be  a  sufficient 
answer  to  say  that  the  first  or  lowest  link 
hung  upon  a  second,  or  that  next  febove  it, 
the  second,  or  rather  the  first  and  second 
together,  upon  the  third,  and  so  on  ad  in- 
finitum, for  what  holds  up  the  wlmleV — 
Woolaston. 

Complete  (Lat.  complhe,  part,  com- 
pletus,  to  Jill  up)  denotes  the  possession 
of  all  that  is  needful  to  constitute  a 
thing,  or  to  fulfil  a  purpose  or  a  defini- 
tion. A  thing  is  entire  which  is  not 
broken,  or  mutilated,  nor  divided  ;  it 
is  complete  when  it  wants  nothing. 
Entire  relates  rather  to  what  implies 
a  thing  in  its  integrity.  Complete  to 
what  implies  a  thing  in  its  perfection. 

"  These  discourses  which  I  have  written 
concerning  perception,  judgment,  reason- 
ing, and  disposition,  are  the  fonr  integral 
parts  of  logic.  This  sort  of  parts  goes  to 
make  up  the  completeness  of  any  subject." 
—Watts. 

Total  (Lat.  t'olus,  whole)  means 
complete  in  amount,  so  that  in  mattt* 


which  do  not  relate  to  mere  quantity 
we  cannot  use  the  term.  We  say,  a 
complete  house,  meaning  one  fur- 
nished with  eveiy  requirement  of  a 
house  ;  an  entire  house,  meaning  the 
whole  and  not  a  part  of  it ;  but  we 
could  not  say  a  total  house ;  but  the 
total  sum,  amount,  total  darkness,  be- 
cause the  mere  perfection  of  quantity 
is  all  that  is  regarded. 

Integral  (Lat.  inttger,  whole,  en- 
lire), MVe  Entire,  does  not  convey  any 
idea  of  parts,  but  the  simple  absence 
of  detraction  or  diminution,  and  is 
applicable  both  to  abstract  ideas  and 
to  the  physical  conformation  of  things. 
That  IS  integral  which  is  essential, 
complete,  and  whole,  and  yet  itself 
bears  relation  to  a  larger  whole,  of 
which  it  is  a  part  so  truly  that  it  could 
not  be  wanting  without  deficiency  in 
that  larger  whole. 

Perfect  (Lat.  perfeclus,  part  of 
perftccre,  to  make  thoroughly)  is  a 
more  comprehensive  word,  relating 
not  only  to  quantity  but  also  to  quality. 
A  perfect  thing  is  not  only  complete 
in  all  its  parts,  but  they  are  in  the 
best  condition  and  of  the  best  kind. 
The  term  embraces  the  ideas  of  the 
utmost  possible  excellency,  physical 
and  moral  also. 

"  God  made  thee  perfect,  not  immaculate." 
Milton. 

ENTRANCE.     Ingress. 

The  Entrance  (Fr.  entrer,  to  enter) 
has  the  manifold  application  of  the  act, 
the  way,  the  place,  and  sometimes  the 
right  of  entering. 

Ingress  (Lat.  ijigressiojiem)  shares 
only  the  first  of  these  and  the  laat. 
Nor  is  it,  like  Entrance,  ever  used  of 
mental  but  only  of  physical  subjects. 
We  cannot,  for  instance,  speak  of  the 
ingress  as  of  the  entrance  of  a  thought 
into  the  mind.  Ingress  is  a  material 
enti-ance  of  a  formal  or  systematic 
character. 

ENTRAP.    Lvveigle.    Ensnare. 

To  Entrap  (originally  from  O.  H* 
G.  trapo,  a  trap,  snare,  whence  O.  Fr. 
entraper)  and  Ensnare  (Icel.  snam, 
a  cord,  snare)  seem  to  be  thus  diffe- 
renced in  their  moral  application :  men 
are  entrapped  when  they  fall  sudden  U 


DISCRIMINATED. 


[envious] 

and  unawares  yictims  to  the  designs 
of  others ;  they  are  ensnared  when- 
ever, under  false  impressions  of  their 
own,  they  have  found  their  way  into 
difficulties,  as,  for  instance,  by  their 
own  passions,  prejudices,  or  igno- 
rance. 

To  Inveigle  (possibly  a  con-up- 
tion  of  O.  Fr.  aveugler,  to  blind)  im- 
plies the  process  of  gradual  deception, 
or  luring  on  by  little  and  little  by  any 
arts  calculated  to  win  over  to  the  pur- 
pose of  another.  As  Entrap  and  En- 
snare point  more  directly  to  the  re- 
sult, so  Inveigle  expresses  more  im- 
mediately the  process,  which  may  be 
by  any  sort  of  enticement,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, false  views  of  what  is  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  party,  coloured  represen- 
tations, coaxing,  flattery,  and  the 
like. 

"  The  Pharisees  and  Herodians,  as  we 
find  in  the  fifteenth  verse  of  this  chapter, 
had  taken  connsel  together  how  they  might 
entrap  our  Saviour  in  His  talk,  and  for  that 
end  they  put  several  ensnaring  questions  to 
Him."— Sharp. 

"A  sergeant  made  use  of  me  to  inveigle 
country  fellows  and  list  them  in  the  service 
of  the  Parliament." — Taller. 
"  I  have  an  entrapping  question  or  two 

more 
To  put  unto  him,  a  cross  interrogatory. 
And  I  shall  catch  him."        Bek  Jonson. 

ENUNCIATION.     Expression. 

To  Enunciate  (Eat.  enuntiare)  is 
to  make  known,  to  bring  forward,  or 
bring  out. 

To  Express  (Lat.  exprimcre,  part. 
erpressHS,  to  press  forth)  is  to  represent 
a  thing  in  its  natural  form  or  fea- 
tures. One  enunciates  that  it  may 
be  thoroughly  intelligible,  one  ex- 
presses that  it  may  be  clearly  per- 
ceived. The  features  and  gestures 
combine  to  express  tlie  movements  of 
the  mind.  Silence  is  sometimes  more 
expressive  than  speech.  Enunciation 
should  be  distinct,  expression  lively. 
The  merit  of  enunciation  lies  in  clear 
and  choice  language  and  in  appro- 
priate diction.  Expression  is  given  in 
many  ways,  but  demands,  especially, 
the  suitableness  of  the  terms  to  the 
ideas,  and  a  warmth  and  energy  of 
words. 


385 


ENVIOUS.    Invidious.  Jealous. 

Suspicious. 

Envious  (Fr.  envie,  Lat.  invidiaj 
envy)  denotes  the  feeling  of  unhappi- 
ness  or  uneasiness  produced  by  the 
contemplation  of  any  g-ood  belonging 
to  another. 

"  Envy  is  a  certain  grief  of  mind  con- 
ceived upon  the  sight  of  another's  felicity, 
whether  real  or  supposed,  so  that  we  see 
that  it  consists  partly  of  hatred,  and  parti; 

of  grief." — South. 

iNvioxijLS,  though  coming  from  the 
same  root,  has  a  different  meaning, 
and  shows  that  the  closest  synonyms 
are  not  always  those  which  are  etymo- 
logically  cognate.  It  is  used  now, 
not  of  persons  but  things,  and  not  in 
the  sense  of  possessing  hut  o{  provoking 
envy,  or,  by  an  extension  of  meaning, 
ill-will.  An  invidious  task  or  office  is 
one  which  cannot  be  exercised  with- 
out causing  discontent,  or  which  re- 
quires tact  to  avoid  sucli  a  result. 

"  Pythagoras  was  the  first  who  abated  of 
the  invidiousness  of  the  name,  and  from 
o>^  brought  it  down  to  <pi\ir(ypoi  from  a 
master  to  a  lover  of  wisdom,  from  a  pro- 
fessor to  a  candidate." — South. 

Jealous  (L.  Lat.  zilosus,  from  Gr. 
l^riXog ;  meaning  emulation  and  some- 
timeB;>jto*sv)isafeelingofenvymixed 
with  rivalry.  I  am  jealous  of  another 
when  he  stands  in  some  relation  to  a 
third  person  which  I  should  desire  to 
occupy  myself.  It  is  this  kind  of  per- 
sonality which  mainly  causes  envy  to 
differ  from  jealousy.  As  Envious  re- 
lates to  states  or  possessions  merely, 
and  Jealous  to  the  same  things  in 
further  relation  to  persons,  it  follows 
that  the  subject-matter  of  jealousy  is 
less  definable.  We  are  jealous,  not 
only  of  the  actual  but  the  possible, 
whence  the  alliance  between  jealousy 
and  suspicion. 

Suspicion  (Lat  suspicionem)  is  more 
general.  It  denotes  an  inclination  to 
believe  in  the  existence  of  something 
which,  nevdrtheless,does  not  rest  upon 
anything  worthy  to  be  called  evidence. 
This  may  relate  simply  to  matters 
of  fact  as  such,  as  a  physician  migbt 
say,  "  I  suspect  the  existence  of  or- 
ganic disease  ;"  but  it  relates  more 
commonly  to  thoughts  of  the  charac- 
c  c 


386 


SYNONYMS 


[epicure] 


ter,  conduct,  and  designs  of  other 
persons,  and  wears  an  inauspicious  or 
unfavourable  air.  Jealousy  is  a  pain- 
ful apprehension  of  rivalry  ;  suspicion 
of  wrong  or  harm. 

"  Jelousie, 
Of  whiche,  if  I  the  propertie, 
Shall  telle  after  the  nicetee. 
So  as  it  woi-cheth  on  a  man, 
A  fever  it  is  cotidian."  GowKR. 

"  Suspicion  may  be  excited  hy  some  kind 
of  accusation,  not  supported  by  evidence 
sufficient  for  conviction,  but  sufficient  to 
trouble  the  repose  of  confidence." — Cogan. 

It  may  be  added  that  jealousy  is 
therefore  in  some  sense  just  and  rea- 
sonable, inasmuch  as  it  tends  to  pre- 
serve a  good  which  belongs  to  us  or 
which  we  claim,  while  envy  is  a  mad- 
ness which  cannot  permit  the  good  of 
others.  Nations,  like  individuals,  may 
be  jealous  of  each  other.  It  belongs 
to  the  rivalry  of  their  position  as  re- 
gards commerce  and  the  arts,  or  power 
and  prosperity  generally. 

When  the  terms  apply  to  what  is 
possessed  by  others.  Envy  is  a  stronger 
term  than  Jealousy.  The  first  belongs 
to  the  character,  the  second  may  be  a 
passing  feeling.  One  may  be  occa- 
sionally jealous  without  being  natu- 
rally envious. 

EPICURE.  Gourmand.  Volup- 
tuary.   Sensualist. 

An  Epicure  (Eptcunts,  the  Greek 
philosopher  who  assumed  pleasure, 
not  merely  sensual,  but  the  most  re- 
fined, to  be  the  highest  good)  is  one 
who  is  devoted  to  sensual  enjoyments, 
but  most  especially  the  luxuries  of  the 
table.  With  him  the  quality  and  not 
the  quantity  of  things  is  their  recom- 
mendation. 

The  Gourmand (Fr.g-ou7'/nand),  on 
the  other  band,  is  a  greedy  and  raven- 
ous eater.  As  the  epicure  is  to  the 
gourmand,  so  is  the  Voluptuary  (Lat. 
v(iliipta:i'uiy  and  -tuarius,  v'bluptas, 
pleasure)  CO  the  Sensualist  (Lat. 
.^ensunlis,  sensitive,  sensual).  As  the 
voluptuaiy  lives  for  pleasure,  but  is 
nice  in  bin  tastes,  so  the  sensualist 
gratifies  his  animal  propensities  with 
little  discrimination.  He  is  a  coarse 
voluptuary. 


"  The  truth  is,  their  very  fasts  and  humi- 
liations have  been  observed  to  be  nothing 
else  but  a  religious  epicurism,  and  a  neat 
contrivance  of  luxury." — South. 

"  That  great  gourmond,  fat  Apicing." 
Ben  Jonson. 

"  In  vain  doth  the  scornful  voluptuary 
ask  for  an  account  of  it  (the  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding),  which  can  neA'er 
be  given  him,  for  it  hath  no  alliance  with 
any  of  the  pleasures  of  sense  in  which  he 
delights  ;  nor  hath  he  any  ideas  by  which 
the  perception  of  it  may  be  conveyed  to 
him."— liiSHOP  Atterbury. 

"The  beggar  who  behind  the  hedge 
di>'ides  his  offals  with  his  dog,  has  often 
more  of  the  real  sensualist  than  he  who 
dines  at  an  elegant  table." — MiCKLE. 

EPIDEMIC.  Sporadic.  Ende- 
mic.    Epizootic. 

These  terms  are  distinguished  in 
their  medical  application. 

An  Epidemic  disease  (Gr.  imW^jof, 
among  the  people)  is  one  of  which  the 
cause  acts  upon  a  large  number  at  the 
same  time  by  reason  of  its  wide  diflfu- 
sion. 

A  Sporadic  disease  (Gr.  a-rropahw^j 
scattered)  is  a  disease  which  occui-s  in 
isolated  cases  without  any  concate- 
nating influence. 

An  Endemic  disease  (svhfxo?,  dwell' 
ing  at  home)  is  a  disease  peculiar  to  a 
nation  or  a  number  of  people,  and  is 
an  epidemic  having  its  origin  in  or 
connected  with  the  local  or  personal 
peculiarities  of  those  among  whom  it 
prevails.  An  Epizootic  disease  is  au 
epidemic  among  cattle  (jm,  upon,  (^aJov, 
c?i  animal). 

"  A  sporadical  disease  is  what,  in  a  par- 
ticular season,  affects  but  few  people." — 
Abbuthnot. 

"  A  traveller  on  his  way  to  Italy,  found 
himself  in  a  country  where  the  inhabitants 
had  each  a  large  excrescence  depending 
from  the  chin,  a  deformity  which  as  it  was 
endemic,  and  the  people  little  used  to 
strangers,  it  had  been  the  custom  time 
immemorial  to  look  upon  it  as  the  greatest 
b  eauty.  "—Goldsmith  . 

"  We  have  seen  no  traces  of  those  dread- 
ful exterminating  epidemics  which,  in  con- 
sequence of  scanty  and  unwholesome  food 
in  former  times,  not  unfrequently  wasted 
w^ole  nations."— Burke. 

EPISODE.    Digression. 

The  first  is  a  species  of  the  second. 
A  Digression  (Lat.  <i^rfssiouem)  is 


r^QfjALJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


387 


in  this  connexion  a  deviation  fi-om 
the  straight  line  of  narrative  or  argu- 
ment. 

An  Episode  (Gr.  ItteiVoSo?)  is  such  a 
digression  as  constitutes  in  itself  a 
separate  though  subordinate  incident, 
action,  or  story.  A  digression  may  be 
voluntary  or  involuntary.  It  may  be 
made  for  the  purpose  of  giving  variety, 
or  it  may  be  the  result  of  inexactness 
and  inconsecutiveness  of  treatment. 
An  episode  is  always  designed.  It  is 
like  a  place  of  halting  and  refresh- 
ment on  the  main  road  of  travel,  to 
which  the  mind  turns  aside  for  new 
pleasures.  It  is  commonly  also  of  in- 
terior dignity  to  the  main  argument, 
and  delights  by  touches  of  simplicity 
or  humbler  manners. 

EPISTLE.     Letter. 

The  Letter  (Lat.  pi.  liter cb)  is  an 
ordinary  written  communication  on 
ordinary  topics. 

The  Epistle  (  Gr.  iTria-ToKri ,  a  message, 
spoken  or  written)  is  a  more  formal, 
and  oft*'U  public,  communication  of 
the  kind :  as  the  letters  of  Madame  de 
Sevigny,  the  epistles  of  Horace  or  St. 
Paul.  When  letters,  fi-om  the  interest 
of  their  style  and  subjects,  have  passed 
into  the  public  literature,  there  is  a 
tendency  to  give  them  the  name  of 
epistles.  Epistles  are  sometimes  in 
verse.  Whatever  may  form  the  sub- 
ject of  conversation  may  form  the  sub- 
ject of  a  letter. 

"  I  answer,  that  the  Epistles  were  written 
upon  several  occasions,  and  he  that  will 
read  them  as  he  ought  must  observe  what 
'tis  in  them  is  principally  aimed  at,  find 
what  is  the  argument  in  hand,  and  how 
managed,  if  he  will  understand  them  aright 
and  profit  by  them."— Locke. 

"You  have  frequently  pressed  me  to 
make  a  collection  of  my  letters  (if  in  truth 
there  be  any  that  deserve  a  preference)  and 
give  them  to  the  public." — Melmoth, 
Hiny. 

EPITHET.     Adjective. 

An  Epithet  (Gr.  ETridiTov,  lit,  a 
thins  added,  from  BTtiriOivai,  to  add)  is 
neany  equivalent,  etymologically,  to 
Adjective  (Lat.  adjectlvus,  from  ad- 
jicire,  to  add).  It  used  to  be  employed 
of  any  qualifying  term,  whether  sub- 


stantive or  adject,  ve,  as,  '  He  applied 
to  me  the  epithet  of  liar."  But,  of 
late,  there  has  been  a  tendency  among 
rhetoricians  to  limit  the  term  to  adjec- 
tives, and  yet  further,  to  such  adjec- 
tives as  express  inherent  and  not  ad- 
vent itiotis  qualities;  so  green  is  an 
epithet  of  grass,  because  grass  is,  pre- 
sumably, always  green ;  but  short 
would  not  be  an  epithet  of  grass,  be- 
cause it  is  sometimes  long.  The  mean- 
ing of  adjective  is  well  known.  Epi- 
th  et  belongs  to  rhetoric.  Ad j  ectiv  e  to 
grammar.  The  use  of  an  adjective  is 
to  complete  the  just  idea  or  represen- 
tation of  a  thing.  That  of  an  epithet 
is  to  give  life  and  force.  Take  away 
the  adjective  and  the  sense  is  incom- 
plete or  dijQFerent,  take  away  the  epi- 
thet and  it  is  comparatively  feeble. 
A  good  man  is  merciful  to  his  beast: 
strike  out  the  adjective  good  and  the 
sense  is  destroyed.  Pale  death  visits 
all.  Strike  out  the  epithet  pale  and 
the  sense  is  as  good,  but  the  image 
less  lively. 

"  The  character  of  Bajazet,  the  son  and 
successor  of  Amui-ath,  is  strongly  expressed 
in  his  surname  of  Iklerim,  or  the  lightning, 
and  he  might  gloiy  in  an  epithet  which 
was  drawn  from  the  fiery  energy  of  his  soul, 
and  the  rapidity  of  his  destructive  march." 
— Gibbon. 

"The  true  genuine  sense  of  a  nonn 
adjective  will  be  found  to  consist  in  this, 
that  it  imparts  the  general  sense  of  pertain- 
ing to,  or  being  affected  with." — Wilkins. 

EQUAL.  Even.  Equable.  Like. 
Alike,     Uniform.     Level. 

Equal  (Lat.  cequdlis)  is  applied  to 
number,  degree,  and  measurement, 
and  any  subject  that  admits  of  them, 
as,  "  Things  of  equal  size,"  "  Equal 
in  degree,"  "  This  is  equal  to  that," 
"  I  am  not  equal  to  the  task."  It  is 
applicable,  not  only  to  two  or  more 
things,  but  to  one  and  the  same,  in 
the  sense  of  fair,  equable,  but  an  ex- 
ternal standard  of  comparison  is  always 
supposed. 

"  In  sober  silence,  we  can  but  admire 
Beauty  with  temper,  taste  and  sense  com- 

bined. 
The  body  only  equaird  by  the  mind." 

WA-BTON. 

Even  (A.  S.  efen)  is  superficial 
equality  or  sameness  of  level.  An 
even  balance  is  when  one  scale  is  not 


388 


SYNONYMS  [equity] 


higher  or  lower  than  another ;  an  even 
road  is  one  which  has  no  superficial 
elevations  and  depressions ;  an  even 
temper  is  not  unduly  excited  or  de- 
pressed ;  an  even  number,  as  opposed 
to  odd,  is  one  that  being  divisible  by 
two  does  not  rise  higher  in  one  division 
than  the  other.  It  will  be  seen  that, 
as  Equal  is  almost  always  applied  to 
more  than  one  thing,  so  Even  is  com- 
monly said  of  one. 

"And  shall  lay  thee  even  with  the 
ground." — Bible, 

Equable  (Lat.  ceqiidMlis,  equal  and 
similar)  denotes  the  equality  of  con- 
tinuous proportion  ;  a  vessel  sails  at 
an  equable  rate  when  it  makes  as 
much  in  one  hour  as  in  the  preceding. 
As  Equal  and  Even  denote  modes  of 
the  fixed,  so  Equable  belongs  to  ac- 
tion, operation,  or  movement. 

"  If  bodies  move  equably  in  concentric 
circles,  and  the  squares  of  their  periodical 
times  be  as  the  cubes  of  their  distances  from 
the  common  centre,  their  centripetal  forces 
will  be  reciprocally  as  the  squares  of  the 
distances, "— Chkyne. 

Like  (A.  S.  lie)  always  denotes  two 
or  rrjore  things.  It  expresses  all  that 
is  expressed  by  Equal,  with  the  addi- 
tional signification  of  resemblance. 

Alike  (pref.  o-,  i.e.  A.  S.  on-,  and 
like)  expresses  reciprocal  resemblance 
between  two  or  more.  In  the  term 
Like,  the  resemblance  is  with  an  exter- 
nal object.  John  is  like  James,  or  John 
and  James  are  alike,  or  these  six  are 
like  those  six,  or  the  twelve  are  alike. 

•♦The  darkness  and  light  to  Thee  are 
both  alike."— Bible. 

"  Can  any  distinction  be  assigned  between 
the  two  cases,  between  the  producing  watch 
and  the  producing  planet,  both  passive  un- 
conscious substances  ;  both  by  the  organiza- 
tion which  was  given  them  producing  their 
like  without  understanding  or  design — both, 
that  is,  instrnments?"— Paley. 

Uniform  (Lat.  un^formis,  unus,  one, 
and  forma,  form)  is,  in  many  cases,  an 
interchangeable  word  with  Equable, 
Equable  motion  is  uniform  motion; 
but  uniformity  is  more  widely  applic- 
able than  equability,  as  it  is  predic- 
able,  not  only  of  continuous  equality, 
but  of  what,  on  successive  trials  of 
observation  or  experience,  strikes  us 
as  continuous  identity  of  object,  as, 
*'  The  uniformity  of  a  man's  opinions." 


"Analogies,  harmonies,  ana  agreements 
are  discovered  in  the  works  of  nature  and 
its  several  parts  explained  that  is,  reduced 
to  general  rules,  which  rules,  grounded  on 
the  analogy  and  uniformness  observed  in 
the  production  of  natural  effects,  are  most 
agreeable,  and  sought  after  by  the  mind.' 
—Berkeley. 

Level  (0.  Fr.  livel,  Lat.  libella,  dim. 
of  libra,  a  level- line)  is,  in  its  strict 
geometrical  sense,  coincident  with  the 
plane  of  the  horizon.  As  Even  relates 
to  the  quality  of  the  surface  per  se,  so 
Level  relates  to  it  as  a  plane  and  to  its 
horizontal  line.  A  level  plank  on  a 
level  floor  is  itself  level,  but  it  is  even 
if  it  have  a  well-polished  surface, 
though  it  be  set  up  on  end. 
"  And  when  along  the  level  seas  they  flew. 
Scarce  on  the  surface  curled  the  briny 
dew."  Pope. 

EQUITY.     Justice. 

Justice  (Lat.  jmtttia,  Justus,  just) 
and  Equity  (epquitatem,  justice,  cour- 
tesy) are  intrinsically  the  same ; 
but,  in  the  technical  sense,  equity  is 
the  moral  redressing  of  what  is  legal, 
where,  owing  to  the  imperfection  oi 
human  laws,  what  is  legal  is  not 
exactly  just.  A  court  of  equity  is 
also  sometimes  styled  a  court  ot 
justice. 

The  following  remarks  may  serve  to 
illustrate  the  difference  generally  be- 
tween the  two.  Justice  is  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  personal  rights,  and  rights 
of  property  between  man  and  man. 
Equity  is  concerned  chiefly  with  man 
himself.  Our  life,  faculties,  work,  the 
fruits  of  our  work,  our  fortune,  reputa- 
tion, honour,  are  exclusively  our  own. 
Justice  forbids  violence  to  be  done 
against  these,  and  compensates  for  it 
if  done.  Our  wants,  miseries,  errors, 
faults,  wrongs,  are  not  ours  exclu- 
sively ;  they  come  of  the  weakness  of 
humanity.  Equity  compassionates 
these  things,  and  binds  one  to  do  good 
to  another,  if  it  be  in  his  power. 
Justice  in  a  manner  isolates  us  one 
from  another,  and  guards  against  the 
occasion  which  may  make  us  enemies. 
Equity  unites  us,  regarding  us  as 
members  of  the  same  body.  Wrong 
not  another,  and  recompense  whom 
you  have  wronged,  is  the  language  of 

{■  ustice.   Do  to  that  other  as  you  would 
>e  done  by.  is  the  language  of  equity. 


[EEADICATEj 


Justice  ensures  to  indiviJuals  all  that 
law  accords  to  them,  and  so  implies 
communities  living  under  positive  rule. 
Equity  is  based  upon  natural  law,  and 
IS  an  expression  of  human  sentiment, 
rather  than  political  enactment.  Jus- 
tice is  the  inflexible  guardian  of  the 
public  safety,  and  being  inflexible  re- 
gards nothing  but  the  fact,  whereas 
equity  will  consider  motives  and  in- 
tentions, and  modify  its  decisions  ac- 
cordingly. I  have  received  injury, 
justice  grants  me  redress,  but  if  the 
oftence  have  been  in  any  degree  by 
en-or,  or  if  the  penalty  which  1  have 
the  right  to  enforce  should  involve 
tJie  ruin  of  the  other,  equity  suggests 
the  question,  "ought  I  to  pursue  tlie 
case  .'  "  All  that  the  law  declares  is 
just.  It  belongs  to  equity  to  temper 
the  rigour  of  its  decrees. 

"  From  this  method  of  interpreting  laws 
by  the  reason  of  them,  arises  what  we  call 
equity,  which  is  thus  defined  by  Grotius  : — 
'.The  correction  of  that,  wherein  the  law,  by 
reason  of  its  universality,  is  deficient.'" — 
Blackstojte. 

It  should  be  obsei-ved  that  this  defi- 
nition, which  goes  to  the  root  of  the 
matter,  is  Aristotle's  definition  of 
equity — iTdiiKilct,  Bk.  V.  N.  Ethics. 

"  Justice  is  twofold,  namely,  general  or 
strict  justice,  which  consists'  in  observing 
the  laws,  and  the  aim  of  which  is  public 
good;  and  particular  justice,  or  equity, 
which  aims  at  the  goorl  of  individuals,  and 
is  then  observed  when  one  obtains  no  more 
good,  and  suffers  no  more  evil  than  is  agree- 
»ble  to  humanity  and  common  sense." — 
Beattik. 

EQUIVALENT.  Equal.  Tan- 
tamount. 

The  most  generic  of  these  is  Equal 
(Lat.  (Equdlis)  of  which  the  others 
naay  be  regarded  as  specific  modifica- 
tions. Equal  expresses  the  fact  that 
two  things  a^ree  in  anything  which  is 
capable  of  ofegi-ee,  e.g.  in  quantity, 
quality'  value,  bulk,  number,  propor- 
tion, rate,  rank,  and  the  like. 

Equivalent  {epqiavUlens,  part.)  is 
equal  in  such  properties  as  a^ect  our- 
selves or  the  ui-e  xuhich  we  make  of  things, 
such  as  value,  force,  poAver,  efifect, 
impact,  and  the  like. 

Tantamount  (Fr.  lant,  so  much, 
and  O.  Fr.  amonter,  to  amount  to)  ex- 
01  esses    such    equivalence   as   is   re- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


389 


stricted  to  questions  of  our  own  estima- 
tion. Equal  is  absolute,  Equivalent 
relative,  Tantamount  more  relative 
still,  or  more  exclusivel}''  so. 

EQUIVOCATE.     Prevaricate. 

To  Equivocate  (Lat.  <Equiv6cus, 
ambiguous)  is,  strictly,  to  make  use  of 
expressions  whicli  do  not  necessarily 
violate  truth,  because  they  may  be 
taken  in  more  senses  than  one  ;  the 
equivocating  person  giving  himself 
the  benefit  of  this  ambiguity,  in  the 
hope  that  the  other  party  may  take 
his  expressions  in  the  sense  favourable 
to  the  speaker. 

To  PRtVAiiiCATE  (Lat.  ■prcEvai^cart, 
to  straddle,  to  walk  crookedly)  is  applied 
often  to  an  advocate  guilty  of  collu- 
sion with  the  opposite  party.  In  its 
modern  and  familiar  use,  as  Equivo- 
cate relates  to  the  management  of 
words,  so  PnEVAUicATE  relates  to  the 
management  of  the  matter.  To  pre- 
varicate is  to  deal  with  the  subject  in 
a  loose,  evasive  way,  shuffling  or 
quibbling  so  as  to  avoid  disclosing  the 
truth. 

"  Tresham,  a  little  before  his  death  in 
the  Tower,  subscribed  his  own  hand  that 
he  had  not  seen  Qarnett  in  sixteen  years 
before,  when  it  was  evidently  proved,  and 
Garnett  confessed,  they  had  been  together 
the  summer  before  ;  and  all  that  Garnett 
had  to  say  for  him  was,  that  he  supposed  he 
meant  to  equivocate." — Stillingfleet. 

The  following  quotation  explains 
the  legal  origin  of  the  term  Prevari- 
cate : — 

"  There  lay  an  action  of  prevarication 
when  the  accuser,  instead  of  urging  the 
crime  home,  seemed  rather  to  hide  or  ex- 
tenuate the  guilt.  Hence  the  civilians  de- 
fine a  prevaricator  to  be  one  that  betrays 
his  cause  to  the  adversary,  and  turns  on  the 
crimmals  side,  whom  he  ought  to  prose- 
cute."— Kennet,  Rmn.  Antiq. 

ERADICATE.  Extirpate.  Ex- 
terminate. 

Eradicate  (Lat.  eradicdre)  lite' 
rally,  to  pluck  up  by  the  root,  and 
Extirpate  (Lat.  exstirpare,  to  pull  up 
by  the  stem,  svii-pem)  are  in  their  ideas 
very  similar,  nor  is  Exterminate  very 
different  (Lat.  extermtTiare,  ex,  out,  and 
tenmniis,  a  border,  to  remove  utterly  out 
of  botinds).  Their  difference  lies  in 
their  application.  W^  eradicate  for 
the  sake  of  destroying  the  thing  eradi- 


390 


SYNONYMS 


[errand] 


cated ;  we  extirpate  for  the  sake  of 
the  bettering  of  what  is  left  behind. 
*Ve  eradicate  what  has  taken  strong 
hold,  and  as  it  were  deep  root.  So 
we  speak  of  eradicating  vices,  extir- 
pating heresies  or  sects,  and  extermi- 
nating bodies  of  living  individu-als,  as 
a  colony,  a  race,  a  tribe. 

"  Hence  an  attempt  to  eradicate  religions 
fears  may  be  destructive  to  a  principle  of 
action  which  is  not  only  natural  in  itself, 
but  has  proved  highly  beneficial.  What  is 
the  proper  inference  ?  That  it  is  the  pro- 
vince of  true  philosophy  to  give  these  prin- 
ciples a  right  direction  and  a  due  influence, 
and  it  will  then  rejoice  that  a  total  eradica- 
tion has  not  been  accomplished." — CoGAK. 

"  The  vicious  ar^,  the  disorderly  members 
of  a  moral  state  ;  and  were  not  the  Supreme 
Governor  more  mild  than  His  representa- 
tives, they  would  be  immediately  extirpated 
from  the  society  they  offend  and  insult." — 
Ibid. 

"  The  Spaniards,  in  order  to  preserve  the 
possession  of  America,  resolved  to  extermi- 
nate the  inhabitants." — Robertson. 

ERRAND.     Message. 

Eruand  (A.  S.  krende,  a  message) 
is  an  object  for  which  one  goes  some- 
where, or  is  sent  by  another.  If  the 
object  be  to  communicate  with  another 
in  words,  then  the  errand  is  so  far  a 
message.  But  the  errand  may  be  not 
of  this  kind,  as  an  errand  to  buy  some- 
tbing  at  the  market. 

A  Message  (Fr.  message,  L.  Lat. 
missattcum)  is  a  verbal  communication 
sent  from  one  person  to  another, 
whether  orally  or  in  writing.  An 
errand  is  an  act ;  a  message  is  a  thing 
of  words. 

"  He  would  understand  men's  tme  errand 
as  soon  as  they  had  opened  their  mouths 
and  began  their  story  in  appearance  to 
another  purpose." — LoCKE,  Memoirs  of  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury. 

"  His  winged  messengers. 
On  errands  of  supernal  grace." 

Milton. 
*'  To  verify  that  solemn  message,  late 
On  which  I  sent  thee  to  the  Virgin  pure. 
In  Galilee.,  that  she  should  bear  a  Son, 
Great  in  renown,  aad  called  the   Son  of 
God."  Ibid. 

ERROR.  Mistake.  Blundeu. 
Hallucination. 

An  Error  (Lat.  $rrorem,  errare,  to 
wander)  is  any  deviation  fi'om  the 
standard   or   course  of  right,   truth, 


justice,  or  accuracy,  which  is  not  in- 
tentional. 

A  JMistake  (prefix,  mis-,  and  taxe, 
to  take  wrongly)  is  an  error  committed 
under  a  misapprehension  or  miscon- 
ception of  the  nature  of  a  case.  An 
error  may  be  from  the  absence  of 
knowledge  ;  a  mistake  is  from  insuffi- 
cient or  false  observation. 

Blunder  (Icel.  blunda,  to  doze, 
s/»»i6er,  with  freq.  su&x,-eren:  Skeat, 
Etym.  Diet.)  is  a  practical  error  of 
a  peculiarly  gross  or  awkward  kind, 
committed  through  glaring  ignorance, 
heedlessness,  or  awkwardness.  A 
blunder  is,  perhaps,  ciBteris  paribus, 
the  most  irretrievable  ;  for  an  error 
may  be  overlooked  or  atoned  for,  a 
mistake  may  be  rectified;  but  the 
shame  or  ridicule  which  is  occasioned 
by  a  blunder,  who  can  counteract  ?  In 
the  broadest  sense  of  the  term  Error, 
it  may  be  regarded  as  the  generic 
term,  under  which  mistake  is  in- 
cluded ;  so  that  a  mistake  might  be 
defined  an  eiTor  of  perception.  To 
miss  intellectual  truth  is  error;  to 
confound  physical  facts  is  mistake. 
To  say  that  the  Trojan  war  ended  in 
the  victory  of  the  Trojans  would  be 
an  error  ;  to  speak  to  a  person  in  the 
street,  thinking  he  was  somebody  else, 
would  be  a  mistake.  There  is  a  meta- 
phorical sense  in  which  all  error  has 
been  resolved  into  mistake,  that  is, 
upon  the  supposition  that  all  know- 
ledge is  based  upon  the  observation  of 
external  facts  or  objects.  In  that  way, 
as  all  truth  comes  of  right  perception, 
so  all  error  would  be  wrong  percep- 
tion or  mistake.  This  is  Locke's 
meaning  when  he  says — 

"  Knowledge  being  to  be  had  only  of 
visible  certain  truth,  error  is  not  a  fault  of 
our  knowledge,  but  a  mistake  of  our  judg- 
ment, giving  assent  to  that  which  is  not 
true." 

"  For  my  part,  as  I  was  never  distln 
guished  for  address,  and  have  often  even 
blundered  in  making  my  bow,  such  bodings 
as  these  had  like  totally  to  have  repressed 
my  ambition."— Goldsmith. 

Strictly  speaking  the  Hallucina- 
tion (Lat.  alucindri,  to  uunderin  mind) 
is  an  illusion  of  the  perception,  a 
phantasm  of  the  imagination.  The 
one  comes  of  disordered  vision,  the 


[ESCAPE] 


other  of  discrdered  imagination.  It 
is  extended  in  medical  science  to  mat- 
teis  of  sensation,  where  there  is  no 
corresponding  cause  to  produce  it. 
In  its  ordinary  use  it  denotes  an  un- 
accountable error  in  judgment  or  fact ; 
especially  in  one  remai-kable  other- 
wise for  accurate  information  and  right 
decisions.  It  is  an  exceptional  error 
or  mistake  in  those  otnerwise  not 
likely  to  be  deceived. 

"  A  few  hallucinatiojis  about  a  subject  to 
which  the  greatest  clerks  have  been  gene- 
rally such  strangers,  may  warrant  us  to 
dissent  fi-om  his  opinion  without  obliging 
ns  to  be  enemies  to  bis  reputation." — 
Boyle. 

Levity,  inadvertence,  and  ignorance 
are  the  causes  of  errors,  mistakes,  and 
blunders.  Persons  of  plain  character, 
oj)en  manners,  without  reserve,  but 
without  reflexion,  commit  blunders. 
Error  belongs  to  false  principle, 
blunder  to  its  false  application.  It  is 
possible  to  blunder  by  mistake,  and 
then  there  are  two  faults  in  one. 
Blunders  are  over  when  they  are 
committed,  and  so  are  mistakes, 
though  their  consequences  may  be 
serious,  but  error  may  be  perpe- 
tuated. When  this  is  so,  it  is  because 
they  are  diflaised  or  supported  by 
authority.  A  blunder  is  confusion  ot 
thought,  leading  to  confusion  of  action; 
a  mistake  is  a  false  choice ;  error  is  the 
practical  contradiction  of  truth. 

ERUPTION.     Explosion. 

Eruption  (Lat.  iruptionem,  a  break- 
ing out)  is  the  breaking  or  bursting 
forth  from  inclosure  or  confinement. 
This  is  so  often  attended  by  sudden 
and  loud  noise  that  sound  is  com- 
monly associated  with  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  many  eruptions  take  place 
without  much  noise,  indeed  without 
any,  as  an  eruption  of  armed  men,  an 
eruption  of  the  skin. 

Explosion  (Lat.  explosionem,  lit.,  a 
driving  ojf'  by  clapping)  is  essentially 
the  breaking  out  of  a  sudden  and  loud 
noise.  This  may  be  the  eflfect  of 
eruption  or  not.  The  eruptions  of 
Vesuvius  often  occasion  explosions  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  explosion  of 
gunpowder  would  never  be  called 
an  eruption,  however  true  it  may  be 


DISCRIMINATED. 


391 


that  there  is  an  eruption  of  minute 

f)articles.  Explosion  seems  to  have 
ent  itself  more  readily  to  the  moral  in 
its  metaphorical  uses,  and  Eruption  to 
the  social,  as  we  frequently  speak  of 
an  explosion  of  anger,  or  even  folly, 
and  an  eruption  of  political  discon- 
tent. 

"  The  confusion  of  things,  the  eruptions 
of  barbarians,  the  straits  of  emperors,  the 
contentions  of  princes,  did  all  turn  to  ac- 
count for  him.^'— Barrow,  Pope's  Supre- 
macy. 
"  When,   to  the  startled  eye,  the  snddea 

glance 
Appears  far  south  eruptive  through  the 

cloud. 
And  following  slower,  in  explosion  vast. 
The  thunder  raises  his  tremendous  voico." 
Thomsok. 

ESCAPE.  Elude.  Evade.  Shun. 
Avoid.     Eschew. 

Escape  (O.  Fr.  escaper)  is  to  obtain 
security  from  peril,  danger,  confine- 
ment, or  evil  of  any  form,  whether 
threatened  or  inflicted,  by  persons  or 
otherwise.  Sometimes  the  term  is  used 
metaphorically  in  the  sense  of  having 
been  overlooked,  as,  we  say  the  circum 
stance  escaped  my  notice.  In  its  com 
mon  application,  Escape  involves  the 
idea  of  successful  effort  to  avoid  dan- 
ger, or  the  power,  coercion,  or  even 
observation  of  another. 

"  Sailors  that  escaped  the  wreck. 

Shakkspearb. 

To  Elude  (Lat.  HFulere,  to  deceive, 
frustrate)  is  to  escape  by  artifice, 
vigilance,  or  dexterity,  and  implies 
some  person  or  force  at  work,  from 
which  we  escape ;  as  to  elude  an 
officer,  detection,  an  argument,  a  blow, 
inq^uiry,  search,  comprehension,  ana- 
lysis. In  the  last  four  examples, 
Elude,  like  Escape,  assumes,  meta- 
phorically, an  active  force  in  matters 
without  action. 

"  The  gentle  Delia  beckons  from  the  plain. 
Then  hid  in  shades  eludes  her  eager  swain." 
PoPK. 

To  Evade  (Lat.  cvadire,  togoforthy 
escape)  is  to  go  out  of  the  way  or 
reach  of  a  thing  or  person.  It  is 
commonly  done  by  dexterity,  inge- 
nuity, or  subterfuge,  but,  in  its  literal 
sense,  and  as  said  of  one  person  in 
regard  to  another,  it  is  sometimes 
used  of  voluntary  avoidance  or  with- 


392 


SYNONYMS 


[essay] 


drawal ;  as,  '*  I  wished  to  accost  him, 
but  he  evaded  me,"  that  is,  literally 
walked  away. 

"  The  heathen  had  a  method  more  truly 
their  own  of  evading  the  Christian  mira- 
cles."—Trknch. 

Shun  (A.  S.  scij.7iia7i,  to  shun,  avoid) 
carries  with  it  the  notion  of  wary  and 
often  systematic  avoidance,  as  of  one 
knowing  too  well  the  nature  of  the 
object  of  avoidance,  or  holding  it  in 
personal  dislike. 

"It  is  not  supposed  that  we  should  have 
power  always  lo  resist,  unless  vre  before- 
hand do  what  is  in  our  power  to  shu7i 
temptation." — Atterbury. 

Avoid  (which  originally  meant  to 
empty,  Fr.  voider;  with  prefix  a, 
which  is  Fr.  es-,  Lat.  ex,  out)  is  a 
weaker  tenn,  meaning  no  more,  lite- 
rally, than  to  leave  a  void  space  be- 
tween one's  self  and  the  object,  to  keep 
clear  of  it.  Avoid  admits  of  many 
degrees  of  force  in  the  feeling  which 
prompts  the  avoidance ;  we  may  avoid 
a  thing  as  involving  certain  destruc- 
tion, or  we  may  avoid  as  a  simple 
nmtter  uf  prudence  or  taste,  as  to  avoid 
giving  offence.  Caution  and  pru- 
dence, followed  by  ordinary  steps  or 
exertions,  may  enable  us  to  avoid 
without  the  art  implied  in  eluding  or 
the  repugnance  implied  in  shunning. 

"  Nor  can  a  man  pray  from  Lis  heart 
that  God  would  not  lead  him  into  tempta- 
tion, if  he  take  no  care  of  himself  to  avoid 
it."— Mason. 

Eschew  (connected  with  the  Ger- 
man scheuen,  to  avoid,  scheu,  Eng. 
shy,  as  in  the  plirase, "  to  fight  shy  ")  is 
to  avoid  on  the  score  of  wrong,  or  a 
feeling  of  distaste  or  uncongeniality. 

"  Not  only  to  eschew  evil,  but  do  good  in 
the  world."— Bkveridge. 

ESSAY.  Treatise.  Disserta- 
tion.   Tract.     Monograph. 

Essay  (O.  Fr.  essai,  a  trial;  Lat. 
exUgiiim,  trial  by  rveight)  is  a  modest 
term  to  express  an  author's  attempt 
to  illustrate  some  point  of  knowledge 
or  learning  by  general  thoughts  upon 
it.  It  is  tentative  rather  than  ex- 
haustive or  scientific.  The  complete- 
ness of  the  work  often  surpasses  the 
tentative  character  of  the  title  given 
to  it,  as  in  the  case  of  Locke's  *'  Es- 
say on  the  Human  Understanding." 


A  distinction  between  the  treatise  and 
the  essay  is  drawn  in  the  following  :— 

"  To  \f rite  inst  treatises  requirsti  leisors 
in  the  writer  and  leisure  in  the  reader,  and 
therefore  are  not  so  fit  neither  in  regard  of 
your  highnesses  princely  aftairs  nor  in  re- 
gard of  my  continual  service  ;  which  is  the 
cause  that  hath  made  me  choose  to  ^^Tite 
certain  brief  notes,  set  down  rather  signi- 
ficantly than  curiously,  which  I  have  called 
essays.  The  word  is  late,  but  the  thing  is 
ancient.  For  Seneca's  epistles  to  Lucilius, 
if  you  mark  them  well,  are  but  essays,  that 
is,  dispersed  meditations,  though  conveyed 
in  the  form  of  epistles."— Bacon. 

A  Treatise  (Lat.  tractdtum,  treat- 
ment, a  treatise)  is  more  formal  and 
scientific  than  an  essay.  As  an  essay 
gives  rather  the  thoughts  and  im- 
pressions of  the  writer,  so  a  treatise 
gives  rather  what  has  been  said  in 
connexion  with  the  subject,  and  is  an 
accurate  or  learned  exposition  of  it. 

A  Diss  ehtation(  Lat.  dissertdtionem, 
dissertdre,  to  discuss)  is  of  an  argumen- 
tative character,  giving  what  may  be 
said  for  and  against,  and  involving 
views  of  the  writer  upon  subject- 
matter  capable  of  being  regarded  in 
different  lights,  as,  "Newton's  Dis- 
sertations on  the  Prophecies." 

"Beside  the  repetition  of  the  Augustan 
confession,  before  mentioned,  concerning 
the  Lord's  Supper,  the  divines  of  Wittem- 
burgh  laboured  other  articles  with  the 
ambassadors,  in  single  dissertations,  drawn 
up  by  Melancthon,  as  it  appeared." — 
Strype. 

A  Tract  (Lat.  tractdtum,  treat- 
ment, a  treatise)  is  of  a  simpler  and 
shorter  character,  not  argumentative, 
simply  didactic,  and  commonly,  as 
now  used,  of  a  religious  nature.  The 
old  word  was  tractate. 

"  Most  remarkable  was  his  skill  in  mathe- 
matics, being  accounted  the  Archimedes  of 
that  age,  having  \vritten  many  tractates 
in  that  faculty,  which  carry  with  them  a 
very  good  regard  at  this  day." — Fuller, 
Worthies. 

Monograph  (Gr.  /oo'vo?,  or,£  only, 
and  ypa.<p(iv,  to  write)  is  a  ti'eatise 
specially  dedicated  to  the  elucidation 
of  one  point  or  subject,  upon  which 
the  object  is  to  concentrate  as  much 
light  as  possible.  The  word  is  re- 
cent. 

ESSENCE.    Substance. 

Both  are  tenus  of  the  scholaftk 


[establish] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


393 


philosophy.  The  Essence  (Lat.  es- 
sentia) is  the  aggregate  of  notions 
which  constitute  a  complex  notion, 
the  enumeratioa  of  which  is  its  defini- 
tion. This  is  called  by  logicians  the 
Formal  cause.  It  is  the  logical  ac- 
count of  a  thing.  And  2nd,  the  term 
Essence  is  employed  to  denote  tlie 
constituent  qualities  which  go  to 
make  up  an  object  or  class  of  objects 
without  which  they  would  not  be  what 
they  are.  Hence  it  denotes  the  charac- 
ter which  belongs  to  the  class  or  com- 
mon nature  as  distinguished  from  the 
accidents  or  individual  varieties  in  the 
members  of  thst  class;  as  e.g.  the  pos- 
session of  reason  is  essential  to  man, 
but  not  the  having  white  or  black 
hair.  From  this  primary  force  the 
term  has  wandered  into  other  mean- 
ings, as  with  Milton,  "  Heavenly 
Essences,"  that  is,  beings ;  the  ex- 
tracted and  refined  qualities  of  a  sub- 
stance; as  a  plant,  a  drug,  a  per- 
fume. 

Substance  (Lat.  substantia)  de- 
noted that  which  was  the  substratum 
of  existence  in  a  thing,  whether 
material  or  spiritual, — that  in  which 
its  properties  and  accidents  were  in- 
herent, so  that  these  might  undergo 
modification  or  change,  and  yet 
the  thing  itself  would  remain  un- 
altered. From  this  highly  refined 
notion  the  term,  like  Essence,  has  be- 
come materialized  till,  as  has  been  re- 
marked by  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill,  essence 
has  become  ''concrete  enough  to  be 
put  into  a  glass  bottle,"  and  Sub- 
stance has  come  to  mean  first  the  most 
important  part  of  any  matter  of  an 
intellectual  kind,  then  material  pos- 
session, and  matter  itself. 

^  ESTABLISH.  Settle.  Confirm. 
Fix.     Institute.     Found.    Euect. 

To  Establish  (O.  Fr.  establir,  Lat. 
stiibi[ire)  is  to  place  Jirmly,  or  to  make 
Hrm,  and  is  applicable  both  to  what 
has  been  originally  planted  and  to 
what  is  now  planted  for  the  first 
time.  It  is  also  applicable  both  to 
things  and  persons.  It  is  used  of  po- 
sition, opinions  or  belief,  laws,  cus- 
toms, regulations,aud  institutions.  But 
Establish  is  never  used  in  a  purely 
material  sense.    To  establish  is  to  ac- 


cord a  position  and  place  of  residence. 
It  has  reference  to  authority  and  civil 
government.  It  is  to  give  "a  local 
habitation  and  a  name."  An  esta- 
blished fact,  principle,  or  usage  is  one 
which  has  proof,  duration,  and  public 
recognition  in  its  favour. 

"  God,  being  the  author  and  establisher 
of  nature,  and  the  continual  sustainer  of 
it  by  His  free  Providence,  it  is  not  likely 
that  He  will  sufl'er  the  laws  and  cause 
thereof  to  be  much  violated,  except  upon 
occasions  very  considerable,  and  for  very 
good  purposes." — Barrow. 

To  Settle  (A.  S.  settan,  to  place, 
setlan,  to  lake  seat)  is  to  establish  in 
reference  to  antecedent  or  anticipated 
uncertainty,  movement,  or  agitation; 
as,  to  settle  a  person  in  life  ;  to  settle 
his  affairs,  that  is,  place  them  in  a 
fixed  and  satisfactory  state ;  to  settle 
a  colony ;  to  settle  the  mind,  or  any 
question  which  agitates  it ;  to  settle 
an  allowance,  that  is,  to  make  it  per- 
manent and  not  variable  ;  to  settle  an 
account  or  a  dispute,  as  involving 
previous  fluctuation  and  agitation ;  or 
to  settle  commotion,  as  a  disturbance. 

"  On  her  (the  Princess  Sophia)  there- 
fore, and  the  heirs  of  her  body,  being 
Protestants,  the  remainder  of  the  crown 
on  the  death  of  King  William  and  Queen 
Ann  without  issue  was  settled  by  statute 
12  and  13  of  William  III."— Blackstoxk. 

To  Confirm  (Lat.  conjirmdre,  to 
makejirm,  establish)  is  to  make  strong 
what  has  been  already  set  up  or  esta- 
blished ;  but  it  is  not  employed  of 
physical,  but  of  mental,  moral,  or 
civil  strengthening — tlie  health,  not 
the  body,  is  confirmed.  So  of  other 
things,  as  order,  truth,  j  ustice,  deter- 
mination, conviction,  authority,  ofl5ce, 
suspicion,  belief,  treaty,  law.  The 
opposite  to  Confirm  is  to  unsettle. 

"According  to  the  politician's  creed, 
religion,  being  useful  to  the  state,  yet  only 
a  well-invented  fiction,  all  experiments, 
that  is,  all  inquiries  into  its  truth,  naturally 
tend  not  to  confirm  but  to  unsettle  this 
necessary  support  of  civil  government." — 
Warbubtox. 

Fix  (Lat'.  Ji^tre,  part  jixus)  is  to 
establish  in  re^rence  to  antecedent  or 
future  variation  or  local  alterable- 
ness.  It  is  to  external  what  Settle  is 
to  internal  change.  And  it  is,  like 
Settle,  used  both  as  an  intransitive 
and  a  transitive  verb.     It  is  to  settlp 


394 


SYNONYMS  [eSTRANGEMENTJ 


definitely  at  one  degree,   or  in   one 
place,  or  in  one  form  or  condition. 

"  From  this  account  of  the  causes  or  re- 
quisites of  fixity  may  be  deduced  the  fol- 
lowing means  of  giving  or  adding /?x«fion 
to  a  body  that  was  before  either  volatile  or 
less /lerf."— Boyle. 

Institute  (Lat.  insUiiCtre,  part,  in- 
itttuUis,  to  set,  place,  institute)  is  used 
only  transitively.  It  does  not  apply 
to  tlie  purely  physical  setting  up  of 
material  objects,  but  to  such  matters 
as  laws,  rules,  orders,  inquiries,  pro- 
cesses or  suits,  and  what  are  charac- 
teristically termed  i7istihitions,  that 
is,  things  which  are  established  so  as 
to  have  pei-manent  operation;  as,  a 
permanent  mode  or  custom,  or  ob- 
servance, or  a  building  devoted  to  the 
permanent  provision  for  some  object, 
as  an  educational  or  charitable  institu- 
tion. As  Establish  stands  to  place,  so 
does  Institute  to  time.  Any  force  or 
influence  may  establish,  but  authority 
only  institutes.  Time,  for  instance, 
which  institutes  nothing,  establishes 
much.  An  institution  is  the  canying 
out  of  some  one's  ideas  in  particular, 
and  giving  them  practical  operation 
and  permanence.  So  Christ  instituted 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  And  did  institute,  and  in  His  holy  Gos- 
pel command  us  to  continue  a  perpetual 
memory  of  that  His  precious  death  until 
His  coming  again."— jBooA  of  Common 
Prayer. 

Found  (O.  Yr.Jojider,  Lat.  fundare, 
to  lay  a  foundation),  unlike  Institute, 
is  employed  of  the  processes  of  mate- 
rial construction.  Analogously,  it  is 
used  of  commencing  by  furnishing 
with  some  amount  of  permanent  sup- 
port capable  of  being  afterwards  ex- 
tended ;  as,  to  found  a  fellowship  in  a 
university.  To  found  is  to  take  the 
first  step  or  measures  for  building, 
erecting,  or  establishing.  Found  is 
the  generic  term.  So  we  speak  of 
founding  an  establishment,  and  in 
some  senses  an  institution. 

'■  Ii  fell  nut,  lor  it  was  founded  on  a 
rock."— Bible. 

To  Erect  (Lat.  irigtre,  part,  irectu^, 
to  .^et  up,  erect)  is  used  both  of  phy- 
nical  and  analogous  setting  up  of  what 
iii  meant  to  remain  standing;  as,  to 


erect  a  sign-post,  a  marble  column, 
or  a  new  commonwealth  or  diocese. 
It  differs  from  Found,  inasmuch  as  it 
means  to  set  up,  while  Found  means 
to  lay  down.  So  a  house  may  be  at 
^he  same  time  founded  upon  a  rock 
and  erected,  but  a  throne  or  a  flag- 
staff is  not  founded,  but  only  erected. 
It  always  indicates  a  change  of  cha- 
racter, and,  when  a])plied  to  insti- 
tutions or  ofliices,  implies  an  elevation 
of  dignity,  as  when  a  province  is 
erected  into  a  kingdom. 

*'  To  erect  a  new  commonwealth." — 
Hooker. 

ESTRANGEMENT.  Aliena- 
tion.    Abstraction. 

These  terms  are  synonymous  in  so 
far  as  they  express  in  common  the 
state  of  being  drawn  away  from  ob- 
jects in  mind  or  person. 

Abstraction  (Lat.  abstractionem, 
a  drawing  away)  expresses  no  moit! 
than  the  being  taken  away  from 
certain  persons,  influences,  or  occu- 
pations, whatever  may  be  the 
feeling  that  withdraws  us,  or  that 
which  we  entertain  to  what  we  leave 
behind ;  as,  absti-action  from  the  world, 
its  cares,  pleasures,  and  pursuits : 
only  a  sufficient  force  is  implied, 
which  is  for  the  most  part  one  of  taste 
and  feeling. 

Estrangement  (O.  Fr.  estranger, 
to  estrange)  and  Alienation  (Lat. 
Uticndtionetn,  a  transferring  of  a  thing, 
a  separation)  denote  a  stronger  and 
more  personal  feeling,  which  posi- 
tively keeps  us  away  through  an 
altered  state  of  affection.  If  there  be 
any  difference  between  them,  it  is 
such  as  flows  from  the  words  them- 
selves. Alienation  expressing  an  in- 
ternal disharmony  of  feeling  caused 
by  some  act,  as,  "His  repeated  of- 
fences have  alienated  my  regard  for 
him ; "  Estrangement  expressing  the 
gradual  operation  of  any  circumstancea 
that  have  caused  separation  of  person 
or  feeling,  as,  "1  have  been  long 
estranged  from  him."  A  revulsion 
of  feeling  alienates ;  absence  and  dis- 
tance may  esti-ange.  The  distinctive 
force  of  Estrangement  and  Aliena- 
tion is  shown  by  the  following  of 
Jeremy  Taylor:— 


[exact] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


395 


•'  If  excommunication  be  incurred  ipso 
facto,  he  that  is  guilty  of  the  fact  deserving 
it,  and  is  fallen  into  the  sentence,  is  bound 
to  submit  to  those  estrangements  and  sepa- 
rations, those  alienations  of  society  and 
avoidings  which  he  finds  from  the  duty  of 
others." 

"A  youthful  passion  for  abstracted  de- 
votion should  not  be  encouraged." — John- 
son. 

EVER.    Always. 

Always  means  at  all  times. 

EvEH  has  the  additional  meaning  of 
at  any  time,\i\  which  it  belongs  pecu- 
liarly to  negative  and  interrogative 
sentences,  as  "  Who  ever  (at  any  time) 
heard  the  like  of  it  ?  "  *'  No  man  ever 
yet  hated  his  own  flesh."  Ever  ex- 
presses uniformity  of  continuance ;  Al- 
ways expresses  uniformity  of  repe- 
tition. So  we  might  say,  "He  is 
ever  at  home,"  or,  "  He  is  always  at 
home ; "  but  we  could  not  say,  "  I 
have  called  several  times,  and  have 
ever  found  him  at  home,"  but  always. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  might  say,  "  I 
have  ever  found  him  a  true  friend," 
that  is,  at  any  time  when  occasion  has 
arisen,  or  continually. 

'*  The  evei-  never  dying  souls  of  wicked 
men."  Bp.  Taylor. 

'•  The  always  wind-obeying  deep." 
Shakespeare. 

EVERY.     Each. 

Every  (i.e.  ever-each,  A.  S,  cefre, 
eeic'),  with  which  Each  is  also  con- 
nected, is  collective.  Each  is  distribu- 
tive. Every  includes  the  whole  class 
one  by  one,  as  all  includes  it  in  a 
mass.  But  Every  supposes  uniformity  ! 
in  detail,  and  excludes  exceptions  and 
diflerences;  Each,  on  the  other  hand, 
implies  these.  Every  man  has  fail- 
ings, this  follows  from  the  constitu- 
tion of  nature.  Each  man  has  his  I 
peculiar  weakness,  this  follows  from 
the  diversity  of  human  temperament. 
This  distinction,  however,  is  not  so 
much  in  the  force  of  the  words  as  in 
the  nature  of  the  things. 

EVIL.     III. 

An  Evil  (A..  ^.  yf'el)  is  anything 
that  causes  harm  or  suffering. 

Ill  (Icel.  illr,  the  same  word, 
radically,  as  A.  S.  yjel)  is  commonly 


applied  to  minor  evils,  and  to  sucli  as 
are  incidental  to  particular  states  j 
while  evil  is  often  the  result  of  our 
own  actions.  We  should  hardly  speak 
of  a  trivial  evil,  but  of  a  trivial  ill, 
the  ills  of  humanity.  Sin  is  of  the 
nature  of  an  evil ;  misfortune  is  an 
ill. 

*'  Thus,  after  having  clambered  with 
great  labour  fi-om  one  step  of  argumenta- 
tion to  another,  instead  of  rising  into  the 
light  of  knowledge,  we  are  devolved  back 
into  dark  ignorance,  and  all  our  effort  ends 
in  belief  that  for  the  evils  of  life  there  is 
some  good,  and  in  confession  that  the  reason 
cannot  be  found." — JoHKSOX. 

"  The  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to." 

Shakespeare. 

EXACT.  Accurate.  Correct; 
Precise.  Nice.  Particular.  Punc- 
tual. 

Exact  (Lat.  exigcre,  part,  exactus 
to  enforce)  is  applicable  both  to  per- 
sons, their  habits  or  style,  and  to  pro- 
ductions of  men.  Exactness  is  that 
kind  of  truth  which  consists  in  the 
conformity  to  an  external  standard  or 
measure,  or  has  an  internal  corre- 
spondence with  external  requirement. 
As  an  exact  amount  is  that  which  is 
required,  the  exact  time  that  which 
agrees  with  the  sun  or  the  clock,  an 
exact  man  is  he  who  conforms  to  the 
external  requirements  of  time  and 
rule.  An  exact  statement  accords 
with  the  facts  to  be  expressed.  Cor- 
rectness applies  to  the  style,  exact- 
ness to  the  matter.  He  is  an  exact 
writer  who  attends  to  truth  of  fact 
and  precision  of  ideas;  he  is  a  cor- 
rect writer  who  conforms  to  the  rules 
of  grammar  and  the  requii-ements  of 
usage. 

"  The  Parliament  for  divers  reasons 
thought  it  not  convenient  to  comply  with 
the  king's  propositions,  and  in  answer  to 
the  Scots,  demanded  of  them  an  exact  ac- 
count of  what  was  due  to  them,  retjuiring 
them  to  withdraw  their  garrisons  from 
such  places  as  they  possessed  in  England." 
— Ludlow,  Memoirs. 

As  Exact  refers  to  an  extraneous 
standard,  so  Accurate  (  Lat.  accurdref 
to  prepare  with  care,  part,  accurdtus) 
to  the  attention  which  has  been  ex- 
pended upon  a  thing,  and  the  exact- 
ness which  may  be  expected  from  it. 
Exactness  may    be  fortuitous ;    ac- 


596 


curacy  is  alwajra  designed.  Exact- 
ness is  of  one  point,  or  one  at  a  time ; 
accuracy  is  of  many. 

"  The  knowledge  of  one  action  or  one 
simple  idea  is  oftentimes  sufficient  to  give 
me  the  notion  of  a  relation  ;  but  to  the 
knowing  of  any  substantial  being  an  ac- 
curate collection  of  sundry  ideas  is  neces- 
sary."—Locke. 

Correct  (Lat.  corrigere,  part,  cor- 
rectus,  to  amend,  lo  correct)  applies  to 
what  is  conformable  to  a  moral  stan- 
dard, as  well  as  to  truth  generally,  as 
"  correct  deportment."  Otherwise  it 
closely  resembles  Exact,  but  is  more 
subjective,  Exact  more  objective.  An 
exact  account  means  a  true  account ; 
a  correct  account  means  an  account 
truly  given,  that  is,  without  error  or 
omission  on  the  part  of  the  nan-ator. 
An  exact  drawing  is  one  which  repre- 
sents with  perfect  fidelity,  a  correct 
drawing  one  which  fulfils  all  the  rules 
and  requirements  of  the  art  without 
faults,  an  accurate  drawing  one  which 
observation  and  pains  have  made 
exact. 

"  But  in  such  lays  as  neither  ebb  nor  flow. 

Correctly  c^old  and  regnlarly  low. 

That,  shunning  faults,  one  quiet  temper 

keep, 
We    cannot  blame   indeed,   but  we  may 

sleep."  Pope. 

Precise  (Fr.  pr6cUy  Lat.  prcscisiis, 
cut  off,  shortened)  denotes  the  quality 
of  exact  limitation,  as  distinguished 
from  the  va^ue,  loose,  doubtful,  inac- 
curate ;  and,  in  its  application  to  per- 
sons, means  scrupulous.  It  has  a  pecu- 
liar application  to  words  and  expres- 
sions, as  "  The  law  is  precise  upon  this 
point,"  where  we  could  not  have  used 
any  of  the  preceding  terms.  The  idea 
of  precision  is  that  of  casting  aside  the 
useless  and  the  superfluous.  Precise 
has  a  closer  connexion  than  Exact, 
Accurate,  or  Correct,  with  the  way 
or  nianner  of  expressing  wliat  is  true 
or  right.  Hence  a  person  may  be  too 
precise  ;  he  could  never  be  too  exact, 
accurate,  or  correct.  It  is  most  de- 
sirable that  men  should  be  exact  in 
duties  and  obligations,  accurate  in 
statements  and  representations,  cor- 
rect in  conduct,  and  precise  in  the 
ase  of  woi'ds. 

**  Many  cases  happen  in  which  a  man 
rannot  precisely  determine  where  it  is  that 


SYNONYMS  [exact] 

his  lawful  liberty  ends,  and  where  it  is  that 
it  begins  to  be  extravagant  and  excessive." 
— Sharp. 

Nice  (said  to  be  from  Fr.  nice^ 
foolish,  simple;  Lat.  nescius,  ignora7it; 
but  possibly  a  distinct  word :  see 
Wedgewood)  means  delicate  in  opera- 
tion or  production,  exact,  fastidiously 
discriminating.  Nice  denotes  an  union 
of  delicacy  and  exactness,  as  "  a  nice 
distinction,"  "a  nice  point." 

"  By  his  own  nicety  of  observation  he  had 
already  formed  such  a  system  of  metrical 
harmony  as  he  never  afterwards  much 
needed  or  much  endeavoured  to  improve." 
— JonNSON,  Life  of  Waller. 

Particular  (L&t.  particiddns,  of  or 
concerning  a  part ;  gen.  as  opposed  to 
universal),  as  applied  to  persons, 
means  attentive  to  things  singly  or  in 
detail,  and  so  combines  the  exact  in 
observation  with  the  nice  in  feeling. 
It  relates  to  the  matters  of  ordinary 
life  and  every-day  choice  and  prefe- 
rence. In  this  sense  the  term  is  of 
modern  application.  Having  passed 
fi'om  the  thing  to  the  person,  it  is 
said  of  one  who  pays  attention  to  de- 
tails, whether  in  observation,  duty,  or 
I  taste,  as  distinguished  from  one  who 
I  treats  them  generally,  carelessly,  indis- 
criminately, or,  as  it  were,  in  the  rough. 
Punctual  (Lat.  punctum,  a  point) 
stands  to  the  mode  of  doing  things  as 
Particular  to  the  things  themselves. 
The  punctual  man  is  prompt  and 
exact,  especially  as  to  the  time  ap- 
pointed. It  had  originally  the  sense 
of  Exact  or  Accurate,  as  Burnet, 
"  punctual  to  tediousness  in  all  he 
relates." 

"  The  andeviatmg  and  punctual  san." 
COWPER. 

EXACT.     Extort. 

To  Exact  (Lat.  extgh-e,  part,  exac- 
tus,  to  enforce)  and  to  Extort  (eitor- 
^uere,  part,  extorttis,  to  twist  out)  agree 
in  expressing  a  forcible  mode  of  re- 
quiring ;  but  Exact  has  commonly  the 
sense  of  rigidly  insisting  upon  what  is 
due, while  Extout  relates  to  the  unjust 
exaction  of  what  is  not  due.  Men 
exact  tribute,  obedience,  demonstra- 
tions of  respect;  they  extort  money 
under  exorbitant  charges  or  false  pre- 
tences. The  term  is  also  applied  to 
the  compulsory  procuiing  or  eliciting 


[examination]      discriminated. 


397 


of  what  others  are  unwilling  to  give, 
as  to  "  extort  a  confession." 

"  'Tis  no  dishonour  to  confer  yonr  grace 
On  one  descended  from  a  royal  race ; 
And  were  he  less,  yet  years  of  service  past 
From  gratefal  souls  exact  reward  at  last." 
Drydkx. 

•'  Extortion  is  an  abuse  of  the  public  jus- 
tice, which  consists  in  any  ofHcer's  unlaw- 
fully taking  by  colour  of  his  office  from  any 
man  any  money  or  thing  of  value  that  is 
not  due  to  him,  or  more  than  is  due,  or 
oefore  it  is  dne." — Blackstoxe. 

EXAGGERATION.  Hyberbole. 

Exaggeration  (literally  a  heainng 
up ;  Lat.  exagg^rationem)  is  any  re- 
presentation beyond  the  limits  of 
truth,  whether  bj"-  language  or  in  any 
other  way,  as,  for  instance,  in  pictorial 
exhibition. 

Hyperbole  (Gr.  vTripSoXn)  is  rheto- 
rical exaggeration,  a  figure  of  speech 
in  which  the  strict  proportion  of  truth 
is  exceeded  under  the  influence  of 
strong  feeling,  or  to  produce  some 
impression.  The  hyperbole  may  be 
exaggerative  in  statements  of  the  less 
and  the  more,  as  well  as  of  the  greater 
and  better. 

EXAMINATION.  Search.  In- 
quiry. Research.  Investigation. 
Scrutiny.  Exploration.  Exploi- 
tation.    Inspection.     Inquisition. 

All  these  terms  agree  in  denoting 
some  kind  and  degree  of  effort  at  the 
finding  out  of  what  is  not  known. 

To  Examine  (Lat.  exdmtnare,  to 
weigh ;  examea,  the  tongue  of  a  balance) 
is  literally  to  test  bij  a  balance,  and  by 
an  extension  of  meaning,  in  any  ap- 
propriate or  received  method.  The 
subject  of  examination  is  always  pre- 
sent and  known,  and  the  object  of  it  is 
to  procure  a  fuller  and  deeper  insight 
into  it,  or  a  closer  observation  of  it ; 
whether  it  be  a  raatei-ial  substance  or 
composition,  a  fact, a  reason,  cause,  mo- 
tive, or  claim,  the  truth  of  a  statement, 
or  the  simple  force  and  meaning  of 
it,  a  theor}',  or  anything  which  chal- 
lenges inquiry,  an  offender  in  refe- 
rence to  his  guilt,  or  a  scholar  for  his 
attainments.  Examination  is  a  thing 
of  detail,  consisting  of  a  complex  in- 
quiry or  inspection  of  particulars,  for 
the  purpose  of  coming  to  a  general 


conclusion  or  result  as  to  the  character 
or  state  of  the  object  examined. 

"  The  nroper  office  of  examination,  in- 
quiry, ana  ratiocination  is,  strictly  speak- 
ing, confined  to  the  production  of  a  just 
discernment  and  an  accurate  discrimina- 
tion."—Coqan. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  Search  (O. 
Fr.  sercher,  L.  Lat.  circdre,  to  turn 
round,  in  looking  for  something  :  see 
Littre,  8. v.  Chercher)  implies  the 
looking  for  something  remote  from 
present  observation.  In  this  way 
search  may  precede  examination. 
The  botanist  or  the  entomologist,  for 
instance,  first  searches  for  specimens, 
and  then  examines  them.  Search  is 
more  laborious,  examination  more 
close.  One  examines  for  the  sake 
of  information  or  knowledge ;  one 
searches  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  and 
possessing.  Examination  ought  to  be 
careful  and  accurate;  search,  active 
and  industrious. 
"  She  was  well  pleased,  and  forth  her  dam 

zells  sent 
Throngh  all  the  woods,  to  search  from  place 

to  place. 
If  any  track  of  him  or  tidings  they  might 

trace."  Spenser. 

Inquiry  (Lat.  inquircre,  to  seek 
after)  is  the  aiming  at  or  discovery 
of  truth  by  question,  either  formal, 
verbal  interrogation,  or  a  recourse  to 
the  proper  means  and  sources  of 
knowledge,  when  the  object  has  been 
shaped  into  a  question  or  problem  for 
solution. 

"  And  all  that  is  wanting  to  the  perfection 
of  this  art  (medicine)  will  undoubtedly  be 
found,  if  able  men,  and  such  as  are  instructed 
in  the  ancient  rules,  will  make  a  further  m- 
quiry  into  it,  and  endeavour  to  arrive  at  that 
which  is  hitherto  unknown  by  that  which  ia 
already  known," — Drydex. 

Research  is  laborious  and  sus- 
tained search  after  objects,  not  of 
physical,  but  mental  observation  and 
knowledge.  It  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
accumulated  results  as  well  as  the 
process  of  t=uch  inquiry,  as  a  "man  of 
great  research." 

"  Nature,  the  handmaid  of  God  Almighty, 
doth  nothing  but  with  good  advice,  if  we 
make  researches  into  the  true  reason  of 
things."— Howell. 

Investigation  (Lat.  investlgatio- 
nem  ;  lestigium,  a  footstep)  is  not  need 
of  any  physical  tracking,  but  of  the 


398 


SYNONYMS  [example] 


patient  inquiry  into  matters  of  science 
or  knowledge  along  a  strict  path,  and, 
as  it  were,  step  by  step.  The  subject 
of  investigation,  like  that  of  examina- 
tion, and  unlike  that  of  search,  is  never 
absolutely  unknown,  but  it  is  always 
partially  so.  Investigation  commonly 
implies  the  inquiry  into  the  more 
hiddenconnexions  of  something  which 
is  itself  familiar ;  as  e.g.  into  the 
causes  of  natural  plienomena.  In- 
vestigation is  literally  a  mental  track- 
ing where  facts  or  appearances,  being 
successively  observed  and  examined, 
lead  the  mind  on  to  some  complex 
truth  or  fact,  which  is  the  goal  of  the 
inquiry. 

"Now  all  this  that  I  have  said  is  to 
show  the  force  of  diligence  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  trith,  and  particularly  of  the  noblest 
of  all  truths,  which  is  that  of  religion."— 
South. 

Scrutiny  (Lat.  sd'htinium,  a  search, 
inquiry ;  scrutdri,  to  search)  involves 
nothing  unknown  in  itself,  and  is  con- 
fined to  minute  examination  of  what  is 
known  and  present.  It  relates  to 
other  matters  than  mere  physical  sub- 
stances. A  microscopic  examination 
of  an  insect,  for  instance,  would  not 
be  called  a  scrutiny.  '' A  scrutiny  of 
voters,  and  their  votes."  When  the 
object  is  purely  material  or  physical, 
we  call  the  process  Inspection  (Lat. 
inspectionem,  inspwtre,  to  look  into),  as 
'^  an  inspection  of  a  regiment,"  "an 
inspection  of  accounts."  But  inspec- 
tion may  be  a  single  act ;  scrutiny  is 
always  a  complex  process. 
"Thenceforth  I   thought  thee  worth   my 

nearer  view 
And  narrower  scrutiny."  Miltok. 

"  With  narrow  search,  and  with  inspection 

deep. 
Considered  every  creature."  Jbid. 

Exploration  (hat.  eipldrationem)  is 
an  inquiry  ranging,  or  a  search  direc- 
ted, over  an  extensive  area,  whether 
geographically  or  in  a  metaphorical 
sense,  for  the  purpose  of  exacter 
knowledge  of  the  whole  area,  or  of 
finding  some  specific  object  of  search 
comprised  or  supposed  to  be  comprised 
in  if. 

"  On  the  report  of  the  cowardly  explorers 
of  the  land  they  relapse  again  into  their  old 
delirium.  '  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord 
brought  us  into  this  land,  to  fall  by  the 


sword,  that  our  wives  and  children  should 
be  a  prey  ? '  "— Warburtok. 

Exploitation  (Fr.  exploiter,  to  cul- 
tivate, to  make  the  most  of;  Lat.  exptici- 
tare)  is  a  French  term  used  in  reference 
to  mining,  and  denotes  such  explora- 
tion as  has  for  its  object  the  making 
available  of  mines  of  metals  and  mine- 
rals ;  hence,  secondarily,  of  investiga- 
tion for  the  development  of  what  is 
useful  or  valuable. 

Inquisition  has  the  same  origin  and 
meaning  as  Inquiry,  but  adds  to  it 
a  peculiar  exactness  and  searching 
closeness  often  the  accompaniment  of 
judicial  rigour,  or  official  minuteness. 
Its  subject  is  the  dealings  of  men. 

"  Let  not  search  and  inquisition  fail 

To  bring  again  these  foolish  runaways." 
Shakespeare. 

EXAMPLE.  Sample.  Prece- 
dent. Instance.  Exemplification. 
Copy.  Pattern.  Model.  Illus- 
tration.    Case. 

Example  (Lat.  exemplum,  eximh-e, 
to  take  out  as  a  sample)  is  literally  a 
portion  taken  out  of  a  larger  quantity, 
to  show  the  nature  of  the  whole — the 
sense  in  which  we  now  use  the  word 
Sample.  By  an  extension  of  mean- 
ing, it  is  used  to  signify  something  to 
be  imitated  or  followed,  as  a  model, 
copy,  pattern,  or  precedent ;  or, 
negatively,  to  be  avoided  as  a  caution, 
as,  "  to  make  an  example  of  a  per- 
son ; "  and,  finally,  an  instance  serving 
for  illustration  of  a  rule,  precept,  or 
principle  of  science. 

The  discrimination  to  be  drawn  be- 
tween example  and  Instance  (Lat. 
instantia)  is  as  follows :  an  example 
is  a  permanent  instance ;  an  instance 
is  a  specific  example.  An  example, 
in  the  full  sense  of  the  term,  is  neces- 
sarily a  complete  setting  forth  of  that 
to  which  it  belongs.  An  example  of 
injustice  must  contain  nothing  which 
is  not  referable  to  injustice.  An  in- 
stance of  injustice  may  result  from 
injustice  and  other  things  in  combi- 
nation besides.  An  example  proves 
a  rule ;  an  instance  does  not,  nor 
does  it  imply  the  existence  of  any- 
thing BO  methodical.  Example  has 
an  active.  Instance  a  passive,  signifi- 
cation.    An  example  may  be  a  per- 


[example] 


son  or  a  thing.  An  instance  is  always 
an  occurrence  or  a  thing  done.  An 
example  instructs,  an  instance  illus- 
trates or  represents.  JNIen  may  be 
personally  examples  of  virtue  or  vice, 
while  their  actions  may  be  instances 
of  virtue  or  vice .  Yet  Inst  a  xc  e  enters 
more  into  the  reason  of  things,  while 
Example  belongs  more  to  the  nature 
of  facts.  We  act  upon  or  follow  ex- 
amples ;  we  reflect  upon  instances. 
An  example  might  do  no  more  than 
show  us  what  we  should  do,  imitate, 
or  avoid.  An  instance  would  involve 
the  reason  why. 

"  He  copies  from  his  master,  Sylla,  well. 
And  would  the  dire  example  far  excel." 

RowE,  Lucan. 
"  Whole  troops  of  heroes  Greece  has  yet  to 

boast. 
And  sends  thee  one,  a  sample  of  her  host. 
Such  as  I  am,  I  come  to  prove  thy  might." 
Pope,  Iliad. 
"  Most  remarkable  instances  of  »u£Fer- 
ing."— Attkrbury. 

An  instance  of  suffering  sets  forth  to 
our  comprehension  the  nature  of  that 
suffering.  An  example  of  suffering 
would  teach  us  how  to  suffer,  or  to  be 
ready  to  incur  suffering.  We  mi^ht 
say  of  a  certain  person,  "  He  often 
does  very  mean  things,  and  this  is  an 
instance  of  it ; "  where  we  could  not 
correctly  use  the  term  Example.  We 
might  use  the  terra  Exemplification  ; 
but  this  rather  implies  that  we  wanted 
to  prove  or  establish  to  the  under- 
standing or  conviction  of  another  the 
meanness  of  which  we  speak.  An 
exemplification  is  the  evolution  of 
an  example,  or  the  appending  of  it  to 
certain  principles  already  enunciated. 
This  may  be  an  exercise  of  creative 
ingenuity  or  adaptative  reflexion. 

When  we  do  this  in  a  vivid  man- 
ner, it  may  be  called  an  Illustra- 
tion (Lat.  illustrdtionem,  in  rhet.  a 
vivid  representation,  illustrdre,  to  make 
bright  or  clear),  which  term  is  also 
generally  applicable  to  the  coming 
home  to  the  common  under-sj^ndin^ 
of  some  general  truth  in  a  distinct  and 
instructive  way.  The  peculiarity  of 
an  illustration  is  that  it  may  be  not  at 
all  of  the  nature  of  a  sample  or  in- 
stance, but  a  similar  or  analogous 
case  put  side  by  side  of  another  for 
the  purpose  of  explanation  bjr  cor- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


399 


respondence ;  or  it  may  be  an  em- 
bodiment in  a  mora  concrete  ana 
practical  form  of  what  has  been  ex- 
pressed in  more  abstract  terms.  It 
deals  with  the  fact  as  such,  not  in  its 
cause  or  reason. 

"  A  moral  precept  conveyed  in  words  a 
only  an  account  of  truth  in  its  effects  ;  a 
moral  picture  is  truth  exemplified;  and 
which  is  most  likely  to  gain  upon  the  affec- 
tions it  may  not  be  difficult  to  determine." 
— Lanqhornk. 

•'While  the  storm  was  in  its  fury  any 
allusion  had  been  improper,  for  the  poet 
could  hare  compared  it  to  nothing  more 
impetuous  than  itself;  consequently  he 
could  have  made  no  illustration."  — 
Dbtdkn. 

Copy,  Pattern,  and  Model  stand 
in  close  relationship.  A  copy  (Fr. 
copie,  copia,  plenty,  a  multiplication  oj 
the  oHginal)  has  the  double  meaning 
of  a  pattern  and  an  imitation  of  it,  or 
of  the  thing  to  be  imitated  and  the 
thing  imitating.  A  pattern  (Fr. 
patron,  patron,  master  of  a  shop,  (^;e.  ; 
and  so  model  by  which  the  workman  is 
guided,  pattern)  is  anything  proposed 
for  imitation.  It  has  sometimes  the 
sense  of  Sample,  as  a  "  pattern  of 
cloth,"  and  sometimes  of  design,  as 
"an  elegant  pattern."  Model  (Fr. 
modele),  in  addition  to  the  meanings 
of  pattern,  has  that  of  a  perfect  pat- 
tern, or  the  best  of  the  kind.  When 
employed  in  matters  connected  with 
imitative  art,  Copy  is  usually  for  de- 
lineation. Pattern  for  embroidery  or 
textile  manufacture.  Model  for  plastic 
or  constructive  purposes.  In  moral 
and  secondary  applications,  to  copy 
the  conduct  of  another  is  no  more 
than  to  imitate  his  doings.  The  term 
has  no  high  moral  signification,  like 
Pattern  andMoDEL;indeed,itisoften 
used  to  depreciate  an  imitation  as  ser- 
vile, or  as  one  that  ought  not  to  have 
been  made  at  all.  In  this  application 
Pattern  is  the  more  specific,  Model 
the  more  general.  Pattern  belongs  to 
some  department  of  conduct.  Model 
to  conduct  and  character  generally  or 
as  a  whole.  Pattern  regards  the 
guidance  of  othei-s,  Model  the  integ- 
rity and  completeness  of  the  thing  or 
person  in  itself.  A  man  may  be  a 
pattern  of  honesty,  for  instance,  with- 
out being  a  model  citizen. 


400 


"The  Sorbonjsts  were  the  original,  and 
our  schismatics  in  England  were  the  copiers 
of  rebellion.  That  Paris  began  and  London 
f ol  1  owed. " — D  R  VDE  Jf . 
"  A  housewife  in  bed,  at  table  a  slattern, 
For  all  an  example,  for  no  one  a  pattern.''' 
Swift. 

"  Socrates  recommends  to  Alcibiades  as 
the  model  of  his  devotions  a  short  prayer 
which  a  Greek  poet  composed  for  the  use  of 
his  friends." — Addison. 

Prfcedent  (Lat.  prcecidenx,  goinor 
before,  part,  oi' priEcidtire)  is  somet'.nng 
whicli  comes  down  to  us  with  the 
sanction  of  usage  and  common  con- 
sent, as  a  guide  to  conduct  or  judg- 
ment, and,  in  the  legal  sense  of  the 
term,  has  force  in  other  cases ;  while 
an  example  has  no  force  beyond  it- 

Case  (Lat.  casus,  cMtre,  a  falling 
out)  is  used  in  a  loose  way  of  an  oc- 
currence of  a  certain  general  character, 
which,  and  not  the  law  or  principle  of 
it,  is  all  that  occupies  the  mind,  as  a 
sad  case,  a  case  of  tever  (in  medicine), 
a  case  of  felony  (in  law).  It  is  evi- 
dent that  a  particular  case  may  become 
a  precedent. 

"  For  much  he  knows,  and  just  conclusions 

draws 
From  various  precedents  and  various  laws." 
PoPK. 
"  Yet  on  his  way  (no  sign  of  grace. 
For  folks  in  fear  are  apt  to  pray) 
To  Phoebus  he  preferred  his  case. 
And  beg'd  his  aid  that  dreadful  day." 
Gray. 

EXASPERATE.        Aggravate. 

IituiTATK.     Provoke.     Aggrieve. 

Both  persons  and  feelings  are  said 
to  be  Exasperated,  but  more  com- 
monly the  former  (Lat.  exasptrdrey 
to  make  rough  or  fierce ^  asper,  rough). 
It  is  to  provo're  bitter  feeling,  or  to 
intensify  it. 

To  Aggravate  (Lat.  aggrtvarey  to 
make  heavier,  to  annoy)  is  to  make  less 
tolerable  or  excusable,  and  is  only 
properly  applicable  to  evils  or  offences, 
though  it  has  come  to  be  used  in  the 
Bense  of  Irritate  and  Exasperate. 
In  this  latter  sense  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  idea  is  to  make  to  feel  a 
burden  or  a  grievance. 

Irritate  (Lat.  irrilare),  unlike  the 
others,  is  employable  in  a  physical 


SYNONYMS  [exasperate] 


sense,  as  "  to  iiritate  the  skin  ;  "  but 
there  is  always  a  relation  to  persons 
and  their  feelings,  to  both  of^  which 
the  tenn  is  directly  applicable.  To 
Irritate  is  less  strong  than  the  others, 
and  denotes  the  excitement  of  slight 
resentment  against  the  cause  or 
object. 

To  Provoke  (Lat.  provocare,  to 
challenge,  to  stir  up)  is  stronger,  and 
expresses  the  rousing  of  a  feeling  of 
decided  anger  and  strong  resentment 
by  injury  or  insult,  such  as  naturally 
tends  to  active  retaliation.  To  Exas- 
perate is  stronger  still,  and  denotes  a 
provocation  to  unrestrained  anger  or 
resentment,  based  upon  a  determined 
resentment  or  ill-will.  Provoke  ex- 
presses a.  design  on  the  part  of  the 
provoker  to  rouse  the  person  provoked 
to  defend  himself.  A  troublesome 
person  aggravates  us  by  his  importu- 
nities, a  careless  servant  by  his  re- 
peated acts  of  negligence  or  disobe- 
dience, a  clever  debater  irritates  his 
political  opponent  by  his  sarcasms, 
and  would  be  glad  if  he  could  cany  it 
on  to  exasperation.  An  enemy  pro- 
vokes by  his  insults.  A  repetition 
of  disagreeable  words,  action,  or 
events,  in'itates.  Aggrieve  (see 
Gri  ef),  is  capable  of  a  milder  force, 
and  bears  the  meaning  of  such  hurl 
as  accrues  to  the  sense  of  dignity  or 
of  right.  He  is  aggrieved  who  feels 
himself  to  have  been  treated  diffe- 
rently from  what  he  had  a  right  to 
r^xpect.  It  is  by  an  unusual  analogy 
that  South  employs  the  tern,  of  bodily 
pain . — 

"Those  pains  that  afflict  the  body  are 
afflictive  just  so  long  as  they  actually  pos- 
sess the  part  that  they  aggrieve." 

Susceptible  persons  and  persons  of  ner- 
vous temperament  are  easily  irritated. 
Proud  persons,  as  over-estimating 
what  is  due  to  their  ease,  dignity, 
consideration,  or  comfort,  are  pro- 
voked. As  irritation  may  come  from 
circumstances,  so  provocation  is  the 
result  of  treatment,  or  supposed 
treatment,  by  other  persons.  Persons 
of  ardent  temperament,  strong  in 
their  loves  and  hates,  are  most  capable 
of  being  exasperated.  Provoke  cliffers 
frwn  the  rest  in  being  applicable  ^o 


[excellence]        discriminated. 


401 


other  feelings  than  those  of  personal 
annoyance.  Persons  are  proroked.  to 
emulation  and  even  to  laughter. 

"  To  exasperate  you,  to  awaken  your  dor- 
mouse valour." — Shakespeare. 

"  Cornelius  Kufus  is  dead,  and  dead  toe 
by  his  own  act!  a  circumstance  of  great 
aggravation  to  my  affliction." — Melmoth, 
Pliny. 

"  Dismiss  the  man,  nor  irritate  the  God, 
Prevent  the  rage  of  Him  who  reigns  above." 
Pope. 

"  The  reflection  calculated  above  all 
others  to  allay'the  haughtiness  of  temper 
which  is  ever  finding  out  provocations,  and 
which  renders  anger  so  impetuous,  is  that 
which  the  Gospel  proposes,  namely,  that 
we  oui"selves  are,  or  shortly  shall  be,  sup- 
pliants for  mercy  and  pardon  at  the  mercy- 
seat  of  God."— Paley. 

EXCEED.  Excel.  Surpass. 
Transcknd.     Outdo. 

To  Exceed  (Lat.  eictdire,  to  go 
out  or  beyond)  is  a  relative  term,  im- 
plying some  limit,  measure,  or  quan- 
tity already  existing,  whether  of  bulk, 
stature,  weight,  distance,  number,  or 
power,  moral,  mental,  or  mechanical. 
It  is  also  used  intransitively  and  ab- 
stractedly, as  "  The  temperate  man 
will  be  careful  not  to  exceed ; "  but 
even  here  the  measure  of  sufficiency 
and  sobriety  is  understood. 

To  Excel  (Lat.  excellhe)  is  never 
employed  but  in  an  honourable  sense. 
It  is  to  go  far  in  good  qualities  or 
laudable  actions  or  acquirements,  or, 
Bpecifically,  as  a  transitive  verb,  to  go 
beyond  others  in  such  things. 

To  Surpass  (Fr.  siivpasser)  is  to  go 
beyond  another,  or  others,  not  being 
restricted,  like  Excel,  to  what  is  laud- 
able, but  being  said  of  anything  which 
admits  of  degree  of  power  and  move- 
ment in  the  human  mind,  character, 
and  actions,  especially  in  competition. 
It  is  used  directly  both  of  persons 
and  the  particulars  above  mentioned, 
and  is  used  both  subjectively  and  ob- 
jectively ;  of  things  and  our  estimation 
of  them. 

Transcend  (Lat.  transcendere,  to 
climb  over,  to  surpass)  is  to  excel  in  a 
signal  manner,  soaring,  as  it  were, 
aloft,  and  surmounting  all  barriers. 
It  belongs  less  to  persons  than  to 
qualities  and  subjects  of  thought. 


To  Outdo  is  equivalent  to  the  Latin 
or  French  surpass.  It  is  accordingly 
a  familiar  tei-m,  with  an  application 
also  familiar.  Hence  it  has  sometimes 
the  undignified  force  of  get  the  better 
of  another  in  no  very  honourable* way, 
as  a  synonym  with  outwit.  To  outdo 
is  simply  to  do  something  better  than 
another,  and  to  reap  some  personal 
advantage  by  the  fact.  As  excellence 
is  always  good,  so  excess  is  always 
evil,  no  matter  what  the  nature  of 
the  case ;  but  this  force  belongs  to 
the  noun  only,  the  verb  being 
applicable  to  both  good  and  evil. 
To  exceed  the  limits  of  truth,  justice, 
propriety,  or  to  exceed  another  in 
virtue  or  attainments.  In  short,  ex- 
ceed is  a  term  of  praise  or  dispraise, 
of  favourable  or  unfavourable  force, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  case, 
by  which  the  tei-m  has  to  be  inter- 
preted. 

"  Excessive  lenity  and  iudolgence  are 
ultimately  excessive  rigour."  —  Knox, 
Ensays. 

"  Who  all  that  time  was  thought  exceeding 

wise. 
Only  for  taking  pains  and  telling  lies." 
Dkyden. 

"  Though  the  comprehension  of  oiu*  un- 
derstanding comes  exceeding  short  of  the 
vast  extent  of  things,  yet  we  shall  have 
cause  enough  to  magnify  the  bountiful 
Author  of  our  being." — LoCKE. 

•*  To  mark  the  matchless  workings  of  the 

Power 
That   shuts   within   its    seed    the    future 

flower. 
Bids  these  in  elegance  of  form  excel, 
111  colour  these,  and   those  delight   the 

smell."  CoWPER. 

"  He  soai-sat  employment  surpassing  his 
ability  to  manage." — Barrow. 
"  Then  let    the    firmament   thy   wonder 

raise, 
'Twill  raise  thy  wonder  but  transcend  thy 

praise."  Vouxo. 

"  I  grieve  to  be  outdone  by  Ghiy."— 
Swift. 

excellence.  Si;perioritv, 
Excellence  is  an  absolute  term, 
SvPERiORiTv  (Fr.  supirioHtif  L.  Lat. 
supeHoritatem)  is  a  relative  term,  de- 
noting the  being  more  excellent  than 
others  or  another.  But  Superiority  is 
also  applicable  to  differences  of  social 
or  official  grade,  while  Excellence  ia 

D  D 


402 


SYNONYMS 


[except] 


applicable  only  to  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  qualities.  It  may  be  ob- 
served that  where  no  qualifying  terms 
are  added,  superiority  means  intellec- 
tual excellence,  and  excellence  means 
moral  superiority.  An  excellent  man 
is  a  very  good  man.  A  superior  per- 
son is  one  of  marked  intelligence  and 
attainments. 

"  Him  whom  Thou,  profusely  kiud, 
Adorn'st  with  every  excellence  refined." 
Beattik. 

"  The  sense  of  all  which  is  to  oblige  us  to 
treat  all  men  as  becomes  us  in  the  rank 
^nd  station  we  are  placed  in,  to  honour 
those  which  are  our  superiors  whether  in 
place  or  virtue  ;  to  give  that  modest  defe- 
rence to  their  judgments,  that  reverence 
to  their  persons,  that  respect  to  their 
virtues,  and  homage  to  their  desires  and 
commands,  which  the  degree  or  kind  of 
theh*  superiority  requires."— ScoTT,  Chris- 
tian Life. 

EXCEPT.     Besides.     Unless. 

Except  (O.  Fr.  excepter,  to  except) 
is  exclusive,  Besides  (literally,  by 
the  side)  is  additive.  ^' There  was  no 
one  present  except  him,"  means,  take 
him  away,  and  nobody  was  there. 
"  There  was  no  one  present  besides 
him,"  means,  he  was  there,  and  along- 
side of  him  was  nobody. 

Except  and  Unless  (A.S.on-lescin, 
to  unloose,  dismiss)  were  formerly  used 
interchangeably,  but  the  distinction 
is  now  drawn  as  follows :  Except  re- 
lates to  some  general  rule,  fact,  or 
case,  to  which  it  introduces  au  excep- 
tion. Unless  denotes  a  diminution, 
which  being  given  something  else 
takes  place ;  tor  instance,  "  Unless 
we  make  haste,  we  shall  be  de- 
stroyed," is  tantamount  to, — our  pre- 
sent case,  minus  making  haste, equals 
destruction. 

"  God  and  His  Son  except, 
Nought  valued  he  nor  feertod," 

MiLTOK. 

"  I  am  the  first  and  I  am  the  last,  and 
beside  Me  there  is  no  God."— Eng.  Bible. 

"Seeing  then  no  man  can  plead  elo- 
quently unless  he  be  able  first  to  speak,  it 
foUoweth  that  ability  of  speech  is  in  this 
case  a  thing  most  necessary."— HooKER. 

EXCESS.   Superfluity.   Redun- 
dancy. 
Excess  (Lat.  eicesms,  a  standing  out 


or  beyond)  denotes  what  is  beyond  a^ 
average,  or  a  fixed  or  a  just  amount. 

"  Since  both  the  ill  and  good  you  do  alike 

my  peace  destroy, 
That  kills  me  with  excess  of  grief,  this  with 

excess  of  j  oy. "  Walsh  . 

Superfluity  (Lat.  superjiuitatem) 
has  reference  to  purposes  and  require- 
ments. That  is  superfluous  which  is 
more  than  is  wanted,  or  is  rendered 
useless  by  its  abundance.  An  excess 
of  rain  would  be  a  fall  of  rain  exceed- 
ing the  average  ;  a  superfluity  would 
be  such  a  quantity  as  could  not  be  put 
to  account. 

"  How  farre  are  they  of  from  good  scho- 
lers  that  can  not  finde  in  their  hartes  to 
depart  with  a  title  of  the  aboundaunce  and 
superjluitie  of  their  temporall  goodes  tc 
helpe  their  neighbours  neede." — TyndalL. 

Redundancy  (Lat.  rcdundantia,  an 
overflowing)  is  superfluous  abundance. 
It  is,  however,  applied  especially  tc 
certain  matters  of  supply,  as  of  natura" 
supply  ;  as  we  speak  of  a  redundancy 
of  bile  ;  of  one's  copiousness  of  words 
or  expressions ;  as,  a  redundancy  o^ 
language.  An  exuberance  of  supplj, 
is  redundancy. 

"  Wars  seem  to  be  in  a  manner  a  nattu'a 
consequence  of  the  over-plenitude  and  re- 
dundanq/  of  the  number  of  men  in  the 
world," — Hale. 

EXCESSIVE.  Immoderate.  In- 
temperate. 

For  the  idea  of  Excess  see  Exceed 
and  Excess.  It  relates  to  mere 
amount,  and  is  not  necessarily  con- 
nected with  moral  agents. 

This  is  the  case  with  Immoderate 
(Lat.  im-mMcrdtuSf  not  measured,) 
and  Intemperate  (Lat.  intempe- 
ratus,  untempered),  which  differ  in 
that  the  former  is  applicable  both 
to  agents  and  quantities,  the  latter  to 
agente  alone.  That  is  Immoderate 
which  exceeds  just,  reasonable,  or 
ordinary  bounds  generally ;  Intem- 
perate applies  to  the  unrestrained 
indulgence  of  the  desires,  or  undue 
licence  given  to  the  will,  or  the  acting 
or  speaking  without  self-control.  Im- 
moderate is  statical,  belonging  to 
Juantity,  as  immoderate  ambition ; 
Ni  EMPFP  'te  is  dynamical, belonging 


[excite] 


to  force  and  action ;  as,  intemperate 
speech,  enjoyment,  licence  of  feeling 
or  language. 

"  Excessive  lenity  and   indulgence   are 
nltimately     excessive     rigour."  —  Knox, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


403 


In  old-fashioned  English  Immoderate 
was  used  in  the  simple  sense  of  exces- 
sive.   "  The  immoderateness  of  cold  or 
heat." 
"  Whence  multitudes  of  reverend  men  and 

critics 
Have  got  a  kind  of  intellectnal  rickets. 
And  by  th'  immoderate  excess  of  study 
Have  found  the  sickly  head  t'  outgrow  the 

body."  Butler. 

♦'  The  people  at  large,  who  behaved  very 
unwisely  and  intemperately  on  that  occa- 
•ion."— BuRKB. 

EXCITE.  Animate.  Encourage. 

To  Excite  (Lat.  extKtare)  is  to  in- 
spire desire  or  awaken  passion. 

To  Animate  (Lat.  iin1.ma.re)  is  to 
push  forward  or  instigate  in  an  action 
already  commenced  tor  the  purpose 
or  with  the  effect  of  preventing  a  re- 
laxation or  remissness. 

To F  couRAG E(Fr.enco!tr«o-cr,c<EJ/r, 
the  he^  ()  is  to  dissipate  fear  or  mis- 
giving by  tke  hope  of  success,  so  that 
the  active  of  glory  or  interest  shall 
jirerail  over  the  appearances  of  diffi- 
culty or  dange.\ 

iiXCITE.  Aw/.tEM.  Rouse  or 
Arouse.     Incite.     ^Stimulate. 

To  Excite  (Lat.  eicitare,  to  sum- 
moHy  stimulate)  is  to  call  out  into 
greater  activity  what  before  existed 
in  a  calm  or  calmer  state,  or  to  rouse 
to  an  active  state  faculties  or  powers 
which  before  were  dormant.  The 
*erm  is  also  used  of  purely  physical 
action.     We  excite  heat  by  friction. 

Awaken  (A.S.dwacnan)  is  to  rouse 
fi^ai  a  state  of  sleep,  or,  analogously, 
to  rouse  anything  that  has  lain  quiet, 
and,  as  it  were,  dormant,  as  to  awaken 
suspicion  or  love,  and  is  applicable 
only  to  intelligent  subjects.  It  de- 
notes a  gentler  and  more  continuous 
or  less  abrupt  influence  than  Excite, 
though  the  effect  produced  may  be 
equally  great.  The  passions  generally 
are  excited,  as  the  stronger  passions 
are  provoked  or  roused,  except  when 


"  provoked  "  has  the  sense  of  calling 
forth  externally,  as  contempt,  laugh- 
ter, a  smile. 

Rouse  (A.S.  hrisciati,  to  shake^  vi- 
brate) is  to  av/aken  in  a  sudden  or 
startling  manner,  so  as  to  bring  into 
an  energetic  state  by  a  strong  im- 
pulse. 

To  Incite  (Lat.  incitdre,  to  urge 
forward)  is  to  excite  to  a  specific  act 
or  end  which  the  inciter  has  in 
view. 

To  Stimulate  is  to  quicken  into 
activity  (Lat.  stimYdare,  iiimulus,  a 
goad),  and  to  a  certain  end.  INIen  are 
excited  when  their  passions,  desires, 
or  interest  are  roused ;  they  arc  sti- 
mulated when  they  are  induced  to 
make  greater  exertions,  as  by  a  hope 
of  reward  or  any  other  external  im- 
pulse. They  are  awakened  out  of  in- 
difference, roused  out  of  lethargy  and 
torpor,  incited  by  the  designing  in- 
fluence of  others,  stimulated  by  new 
motives  of  action. 

"Hope  is  the  grand  exciter  of  industry." 
— Barkow. 

"  When  their  consciences  are  thorouglily 
awakened  by  some  great  affliction,  or  the 
near  approach  of  death  and  a  lively  sense 
of  another  world." — Tillotsox. 

"  His  present  fears  rather  than  any  true 
penitence  rotisedhlm  up."— Watkrland. 

"  The  absence  of  Duke  Robert,  and  the 
concurrence  of  many  circumstances,  alto- 
gether )-esembling  those  which  had  been  so 
favourable  to  the  late  monarch,  incited'hiva. 
to  a  similar  attempt." — Burke. 

Men  are  incited  to  what  otherwise 
they  would  not  have  given  their 
efforts.  They  are  commonly  stimulated 
to  something  which  they  are  pursuing, 
or  intending  to  pursue,  but  with  want 
of  energy.  There  are  some  persons 
so  hard-hearted  that  the  greatest  suf- 
ferings in  others  excite  in  them  no 
feeling  of  generosity  or  even  pity. 
Others  again  are  so  excitable  by  all 
that  goes  on  around  them,  that  they 
are  always  changing  theii-  moods  ac- 
cording to  the  impressions  made  upon 
them  by  change  of  circumstances. 
One  seeks  to  excite  the  man  who  is 
wanting  in  specific  interest,  or  reso- 
lution, or  who  is  acting  lazily  or  lan- 
guidly, or  who  halts  or  draws  back. 


404 


SYNONYMS 


[excuse] 


One  seeks  to  incite  the  man  who 
seems  to  take  an  ohject  too  little  to 
heart,  and  in  whom  no  motive  seems 
to  exist  strong  enough  to  quicken  his 
thoughts  and  movements. 

"  The  nature  of  imperfect  animals  is  such 
that  they  are  apt  to  have  but  a  dnll  and 
sluggish  sense,  a  flat  and  insipid  taste  of 
good,  unless  it  be  quickened  and  stimulated, 
heightened  and  invigorated  by  being  com- 
pared to  the  contrary  evil." — CuDWORTH. 

EXCUSE.  Pardon.  FonoivE. 
Condone. 

We  Excuse  (Lat.exciisave,to  release 
from  a  charge,  to  excuse)  whenever  we 
exempt  from  the  imputation  of  hlame, 
or,  hy  an  extension  of  meaning,  re- 
gard as  not  absolutely  calling  for 
blame,  and  so  admitting  of  being 
viewed  leniently.  When  used  re- 
flex! vely  it  sometimes  means  no  more 
than  to  decline,  or  to  take  such  ex- 
emption to  one's  self.  Instances  of  these 
uses  are  as  follows  :  "  I  excuse  his 
conduct,  considering  the  extraordinary 
provocation  under  which  he  acted." 
"  I  have  received  his  invitation,  but 
intend  to  excuse  myself"  (or  to  send 
an  excuse),  the  force  of  the  phrase 
being  to  relieve  one's  self  from  the 
blame  of  neglect  by  an  apology. 

We  excuse  a  small  fault,  we  Par- 
don (Fr.  pardon7ier,  L.  Lat.  perdbndre) 
a  great  fault  or  a  crime.  We  excuse 
commonly  what  relates  to  ourselves. 
We  pardon  offences  against  rule,  law, 
morals.  We  excuse,  ordinarily  speak- 
ing, when  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  are  such  that  a  kindly  nature  is 
justified  in  viewing  them  leniently. 
VVe  pardon  as  a  summary  act  of  power, 
generosity,  or  mercy.  Kings  pardon 
criminals,  and  friends  may  excuse  each 
other.  Pardon  is  always  from  a  su- 
perior. Excusing  may  come  fiom  a 
superior  or  an  equal.  We  also  excuse 
from  obligations  which  are  not  moral, 
but  only  social,  official,  or  conven- 
tional, as  if  the  Queen  should  excuse 
the  attendance  on  some  particular  oc- 
casion of  an  officer  of  state.  We  ex- 
cuse an  apparent  fault,  we  pardon  a 
real  one.  Tolerance  excuses,  indul- 
gence pardons. 

*'  Homicide  in  self-defence  upon  a  sudden 
affray  is  also  excusable  rather  than  justifi- 
able by  the  English  law."— Blackstowb. 


"  His  (the  king's)  power  oipardanivg  waa 
said  by  our  Saxon  ancestors  to  be  derived  a 
lege  jure  dignitatis ;  and  it  is  declared  in 
Parliament  by  Statute  27  Hen.  VIII.  that 
no  other  pereon  hath  power  to  pardon  or 
remit  any  treason  or  felonies." — Ibid. 

Forgive  (A.S.  for-gefan,  to  give 
away,  and  so,  like  Gr.  cL^iivai,  to  remit) 
differs  from  both  in  relating  only  to 
offences  against  one's  self.  It  mean? 
etymologically  the  same  as  Pardon^ 
meaning  to  give  in  such  a  way  as  to 
forego,!. e.,  the  memory  and  the  punish- 
ment of  the  offence.  Omissions  and 
neglects  or  slight  commissions  may  be 
excused,  graver  offences  and  crimes 
pardoned,  personal  insults  and  injuries 
forgiven. 

"  Forgive  ns  onr  trespasses,  as  vreforgwe 
them  that  trespass  against  us." — Lord's 
Prayer. 

Kindness  prompts  to  forgiveness, 
mercy  to  pardon.  We  are  never 
hindered  from  forgiving;  but  the 
nature  of  an  offence  may  be,  in  the 
eye  of  the  law,  such  that  we  may  have 
no  power  or  authority  to  pardon  it. 

Condone  (Lat.  condonare)  has  a 
legal  air,  and  denotes  generally  a  con- 
structive pardon,  that  is,  such  be- 
haviour towards  another  as,  withoi^t 
the  formal  expression  of  forgiveness, 
implies  that  the  offence  has  been  over- 
looked. In  the  ecclesiastical  law  it 
had  the  special  meaning  of  a  pardon 
express  or  implied  on  the  part  of  the 
husband  or  the  wife  for  a  breach  of  the 
marriage  vow. 

"  The  same  (sin)  remaining  in  the  soul  of 
man  in  like  manner  as  it  did  before,  con- 
donation is  only  taken  away  by  a  not  impu- 
tation of  the  guilt." — MouNTAGU. 

EXECRABLE.  Abominable.  De- 
testable. 

That  is  Execrable  which  raises  a 
lively  feeling  of  horror  or  indignation, 
as  being  worthy  of  reprobation  (Lat. 
exsecrari,  to  curse  greatly). 

That  is  Abominable  {see  Abomi- 
nate) which  excites  a  distinct  feeling 
of  personal  desire  of  avoidance  from 
any  motive  but  fear,  as  an  "  abomi- 
nable nuisance."  Hatred  and  contempt 
combined  make  the  abominable  m 
persons.  It  is  employed  of  things  in 
the  sense  of  intensely  disagreeable. 


[exhort] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


405 


Detestable  (Lat.  detestainlis,  d'c- 
testari,  to  cursCj  lit.  invoking  the  deity 
as  a  witness)  is  properly  used  of  such 
abstract  properties,  or  persons  in  re- 
ference to  them,  as  deserve  inoml  re- 
probation on  principle;  as,  detestable 
vices,  cruelty,  cowardice,  tyranny,  or 
tyrants.  They  rise  in  force  in  this 
order,  abominable,  detestable,  exe- 
crable. The  employment  of  these 
terms  as  hyperbolical  expressions  at 
random  has  tended  much  to  confound 
their  relative  character.  The  terms 
are  often  employed  of  productions, 
performances,and  works  of  art,but  De- 
TESTABLE  and  Execrable  might  refer 
to  the  performance,  Abominable  to  the 
subject  represented,  as  in  a  painting. 

"  The  object  of  a  battle  was  no  longer 
empty  glory,  but  sordid  lucre,  or  something 
still  more  execrably  flagitious." — Knox. 
"  Where  all  life  dies,  death  lives,  and  nature 

breeds 
Per»-erse,  all    monstrous,    all    proiligious 

things. 
Abominable,  inntterable,  and  worse 
Than  fables  yet  have  feigned  or  fear  con- 
ceived, 
Gorgons  and  hydras  and  chimeras  dire." 
Milton. 

"Under  the  strong  image  of  the  unfitness 
and  abominah'eness  and  detestablaiess  and 
profaueness  of  any  uncleanness  or  impurity 
appearing  in  the  Temple  of  God,  the  odious- 
ness  of  all  moral  impurity,  of  all  debauched 
practices  whatsoever  in  any  person  who  pro- 
fesses himself  to  be  a  worshipper  of  God,  is 
set  forth  after  a  more  lively  and  affecting 
manner." — Clarke. 

EXERCISE.     Practise.    Exeut. 

Exercise  (Lat.  eierccre)  is  actively 
to  employ  a  povcer  or  property  inhe- 
rent in  or  belonging  to  ourselves, 
whether  physical,  mental,  moral,  or 
social ;  as  to  exercise  one's  self,  one's 
anns  or  legs,  patience  or  cruelty,  au- 
thority or  office,  power  or  influence. 

It  is  less  sustained  than  Practise 
(Fr.  pratiquer)  and  more  sustained 
than  Exert  (Lat.  exstrere,  to  thrust 
forth,  part,  exsertum).  To  exercise 
forbearance  would  imply  a  particu- 
lar case,  to  practise  forbearance 
would  imply  that  it  was  natural, 
or  exhibited  habitually  by  way  of 
self-discipline.  We  may  be  said  to 
practise  not  only  mental  or  moral 
qualities^  but  occupations,  trades, 
arts.     We  exert  force,  strength,  vio- 


lence, ability,  in  the  abstract,  or  any- 
thing within  us  which  is  of  the  nature 
of  an  active  faculty,  as  the  mind,  the 
powers  of  invention  or  imagination, 
the  faculty  of  reasoning,  understand- 
ing, and  the  like :  and  this  commonly 
with  reference  to  some  specific  end  or 
design.  In  order  to  exercise  we  must 
exert  repeatedly.  We  exert  the  voice 
in  order  to  be  audible  to  those  who 
are  deaf  or  distant ;  we  exercise 
it  in  order  to  attain  power,  flexibility, 
clearness  of  enunciation,  and  the  like. 

"  But  we  learn  from  Scripture  further 
that  His  providence  extends  even  in  the 
minutest  instances  to  each  of  us  in  parti- 
cular, and  thatnot  the  smallest  thing  comes 
to  pass  but  by  His  appointment  or  wise  per- 
mission ;  that  His  continual  superinten- 
dency  may  be  ever  exercised  towards  us  for 
our  good." — Secker. 

♦'Discourse  on  subjects  of  little  orno  im- 
portance is  as  necessary  at  times  for  the  re- 
laxation of  our  minds  as  exercise  without 
business  for  the  refreshment  of  our  bodies. 
It  is  a  proper  exertion  of  that  cheerfulness 
which  God  hath  plainly  designed  us  to 
show  on  small  occasions  as  well  as  great." 
—Secker. 

The  idea  contained  in  Practise  is  the 
active  conformity  to  some  established 
rule,  law,  method,  or  custom.     It  is 
therefore  in  its  nature  imitative,  and  a 
thing  of  discipline  whether  in  morals, 
manners,  calling,  art,  or  science. 
"  As  this  advice  ye  practise  or  reject. 
So  hope  success  or  dread  the  dire  effect." 
Pope,  Homer. 

EXHORT.     Persuade. 

Exhortation  (Lat.  exhort dtionem) 
has  for  its  end  something  practical 
either  to  be  done  or  to  be  abstained 
from.  It  is  ordinarily  the  act  of  a 
superior  in  wisdom  or  position. 

PERStrASioN  (Lat.  persudsionem)  in 
the  act  of  an  equal,  or  of  one  who  for 
the  occasion  puts  himself  upon  an 
equality.  The  power  of  persuasion, 
tlierefore,  is  more  purely  moral, 
having  in  it  more  of  one's  own  assent 
and  less  of  another's  entreaty  or  im^ 
pelling.  Exhortation  is  commonly  on 
sterner  matters,  as  matters  of  neces- 
sity or  duty ;  persuasion,  on  matters 
of  self-interest:  but  persuasion  is  not 
of  facts  or  of  the  abstract  truth  of 
propositions.  This  is  expressed  by  the 
word  convinct.  Yet  where  the  subj  ect- 


406 


SYNONYMS  [exist] 


matter  is  of  a  mixed  nature,  in  which 
the  evidence  is  partly  moral  and  not 
simply  logical  or  scientific,  tlie  term 
Persuade  might  be  employed.  If  one 
thought  that  the  moon  was  larger 
than  the  sun,  astronomy  would  con- 
vince him  to  the  contrary.  If  he 
thought  that  vice  would  lead  to  his 
happiness,  morals  would  persuade  him 
to  the  contrary.  Formerly,  persuade 
was  used  in  the  sense  of  inculcate  by 
argument  or  expostulation, "  Persuad- 
ing the  things  concerning  the  king- 
dom of  God."  It  is  now  only  em- 
]iloyed  of  such  inculcation  as  is  suc- 
cessful to  move  another. 

«*  Every  mau  that  will  make  himself  emi- 
nent in  any  virtne  will  be  a  light  to  the 
world ;  his  life  will  be  a  constant  sermon, 
anu  he  will  often  prove  as  effectual  a  bene- 
factor to  those  about  him  by  his  example 
as  others  are  by  their  counsels  and  exhorta- 
eiowj."— Sharp. 

"  We  will  persuade  him,  be  it  possible." 
-  Shakespeaee. 

EXIST.     Be.     Subsist.     Live. 

Be  is  called  the  substantive  verb, 
as  expressing  substance  or  bein^.  It 
is  the  A.S.  bean,  to  be.  Parts  of  what 
grammarians  call  the  conjugation  of 
the  verb  to  be,  are,  in  fact,  radically 
diflerent  derivatives  ;  e.g.,  «s,  is,  teas. 
Analogous  instances  occur  in  other 
languages,  as  in  Latin,  essCy  fid. 
This  verb,  except  seldom,  as  in 
Shakespeare's,  "To  be,  ornottobe," 
is  employed  to  express  relative,  modi- 
fied, or  concrete,  and  not  abstract 
and  independent,  being,  as,  "To  be 
happy,"  "  I  am  miserable,"  "  Her- 
cules was  a  hero,"  "  Three  and  two 
are  five."  Being  thus  subjective,  the 
verb  is  applicable  to  what  has  no  ob- 
jective existence  at  all.  Thus  a  thing 
very  often  is  which  does  not  exist,  as 
''The  philosopher's  stone  is  a  chi- 
mera," in  other  words,  has  no  exis- 
tence. The  common  use  of  the  verb 
to  be  is  that  of  a  copula,  or  the  logical 
link  between  subject  and  predicate. 

In  the  way  of  a  mere  copula,  the 
verb  Exist  (Lat.  exsisttre,  to  come 
forth,  to  exist)  is  not  used,  but  always 
has  a  force  beyond  it,  ever  where  it 
may  seem  that  to  Be  might  have  been 
substituted  for  it,  and  denotes  being 


in  its  totality,  as  a  truth  or  fact,  and 
not  a  mode  or  relationship.  To  exist 
is  emphatically  opposed  to  the  imagi- 
nary, unreal,  or  pretended. 

To  Subsist  (Lat.  subsisttre,  to  stana 
still)  is  a  philosophical  term,  express- 
ing existence  as  based  upon  its  "  for- 
mal cause  ; "  this  being  the  basis  of 
its  existence,  as  the  "  material  cause  " 
was  the  basis  of  our  conception  of  that 
existence.  So  characteristic  w  as  this 
idea  of  a  substratum,thatthe  term  is  ap- 
plied to  the  mere  vegetative  life  of  ani- 
mals as  supported  by  what  tends  to  nou- 
rish them,  as  "  Tigers  subsist  on  flesh," 
&c.  Hence  Subsist  is  commonly  used 
of  relative  or  dependent  existence. 
That  which  is  not  changed  or  de- 
sti-oyed  still  subsists.  Man's  life  is 
uncertain.  The  phoenix  does  not 
exist.  All  that  is  of  human  appoint- 
ment subsists  but  for  a  time. 

To  Live  (A.S.  lybban)  is  to  exist 
with  the  functions  of  vitality,  com- 
prehending every  grade  from  the 
lowest  degree  of  mere  sentience  with- 
out reflexion,  consciousness,  or  will, 
as  in  the  plants,  up  to  the  creatures 
themselves  endowed  with  these. 

"  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  I  am  hath  sent  me  unto  you." — 
Bible. 

"  Whatever  exists  has  a  cause,  a  reason, 
a  ground  of  its  existence,  a  foundation  on 
which  its  existence  relies,  a  ground  of  rea 
son  why  it  doth  exist  rather  than  not  exist, 
either  in  the  necessity  of  its  ovrn  nature, 
and  then  it  must  have  been  of  itself  eternal, 
or  in  the  will  of  some  other  being,  s  nd  then 
that  other  being  must  at  least  in  the  ordei 
of  nature  and  causality  have  existed  before 
it."— CXAEKE. 

"Every  person  hath  his  own  subsistence, 
which  no  other  besides  hath,  although  there 
be  others  beside  that  are  of  the  same  sub 
stance."— HoOKEB. 

"  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  oar 
being." — Bible. 

EXPECT.     Await. 

To  Expect  (Lat.  exspectdre,  to  look 
out  for)  is  a  mental  act,  to  Await 
(  O.  Fr.  awaiter,  orig.  from  Ger.  wahtOy 
a  watch,  from  which  mod.  Ger.  wacht, 
guard,  watch)  is  a  moral  act.  We  ex- 
pect when  we  have  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  something  future  will 
really  happen  in  all  probability.  We 
await  it  when  we  look  upon  it  as 


[expedient] 


certain,  and  have  prepared  ourselves 
to  meet  it.  We  may  expect  what  may 
or  may  not  interest  us  personally  ;  but 
we  await  that  which,  when  it  comes, 
will  affect  ourselves.  The  old  man 
expects  to  die  happy  if  he  awaits 
death  with  serenity  and  hope. 

"  Though  virtne  is  unquestionably  wor- 
thy to    be  chosen  for  its  own  sake,  even 
without  any  expectation  of  reward,  yet  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  is  therefore  entirely 
self-sufficient,  and  able  to  support  a  man 
under  all  kind  of  sufferings,  and  even  death 
itself,  for  its  sake,  without  any  prospect  of 
future  recompense." — Clarkic. 
"  ^neas  heard,  and  for  a  space  resigned 
To  tender  pity  all  his  manly  mind. 
Then  rising  in  his  rage,  he  bums  to  fight; 
The    Greek    awaits    him    with    collected 
might."  Pope,  Homer. 

EXPEDIENT.  Resource.  Shift. 

Co."*  nil  VANCE. 

Expedient  (Lat.  expMit,  il  is  expe- 
dient), SniFT  (A.S.  sciiftan,  to  divide, 
appoint ;  or  Ger.  schieben,  to  shove^ 
shtj't),  and  Contuj^'Ance  (O.  Fr.  cou- 
trover,  to  find)  are  iiQternal  and  artifi- 
cial ;  Resource  (Fr.  Ttfsource,  source  ; 
being  from  50»r(/re,Lat.  mrgereyto  rise) 
is,  or  may  be,  external  and  natural.  A 
conti'ivance  indicates  mechanical  in- 
genuity, or  at  least  ojierative  skill, 
which  may  or  may  not  have  been 
called  for  under  special  circumstances. 
It  is  used  both  oi  the  act  of  contriving 
and  the  thing  contrived.  An  expe- 
dient is  a  contrivance  more  or  less 
adequate  but  irregular,  and  sought  for 
by  tact  and  adaptation  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  ot  the  case.  It  is  a  kind 
of  unauthorized  substitute  for  more 
recognized  modes  of  doing  things.  A 
shift  is  an  expedient  which  does  not 
profess  to  be  more  than  temporary 
and  very  imperfect,  a  mere  evasion  of 
difficulty.  A  resource  is  often  that  on 
which  the  others  are  based.  So  it  may 
be  a  test  of  skill  in  contrivance  to  find 
an  adequate  expedient  in  limited  re- 
sources. Shift  is  in  the  commonest 
matters,  and  usually  relates  to  objects 
trivial  and  external.  Contrivance  to 
matters  of  more  impoi-tance,  and  Ex- 
pedient to  those  even  of  the  highest. 
Differences  are  especially  to  bo  noted 
between  an  expedient  and  a  resource. 
In  the  first  place,  Resource  is  much 
the  graver  term  of  the  two.    The  ex- 


DI8CRIMINATED. 


407 


pedient  is  a  means  for  extricating 
one's  self  from  an  embarrassment,  or  for 
getting  over  a  difficulty  of  any  kind. 
The  resource  is  a  way  of  recovery  from 
some  serious  fall,  or  a  way  out  of 
great  distress.  The  resource  supposes 
an  evil  to  be  repaired,  the  expedient 
only  an  obstacle  to  be  overcome.  We 
have  to  make  use  of  expedients  every 
day  of  our  lives ;  we  have  to  seek  re- 
sources when  calamities  befall  us. 
Experience,  industry,  promptitude, 
cleverness,  will  furnish  us  with  expe- 
dients ;  a  sti-ong  brain,  and  a  resolute 
will,  genius,  fortune,  power,  wealth, 
create  resources.  A  man  who  is  in  debt 
sells  off  a  portion  of  his  property  as  an 
expedient  to  meet  the  aemands  of  his 
creditors ;  when  he  has  mortgaged  or 
sold  it  all  he  has  got  to  the  end  of  his 
resources. 

"Like  tricks  of  state  to  stop  a  raging  Sood^ 
Or  mollify  a  mad-brained  senate's  mood. 
Of  all  expedients  never  one  was  good." 

Dbydkn. 

"  Threatenings   mixed  with  prayers,   his 
last  resource."  Ibid. 

"  I'll  find  a  thousand  shifts  toget  away." 
—Shakespeare. 

"  Government  is  a  contrivance  of  human 
wisdom  to  provide  for  haman  wants." — 
Burke. 


EXPEDIENT.     Fit. 

Expediency  {see  Exfewent)  is  a 
kind  of  Fitness  (O.  Fr.  faict,  fait, 
lorou^htyfor (\  purpose:  Wedgewood; 
but  Skeat,  httjm.  Diet.,  better :  Icel. 
fitja,  to  knit  together),  nhioaely,  that 
kind  which  in  personally  advantageous. 
That  which  s  expedient  is  necessarily 
fit,  for  that  eanuot  conduce  to  an  ad- 
vantageous end  which  is  unsuitable  or 
improper;  but  unless  that  which  is 
fitting  be  required,  and  be  conducive 
to  the  welfare  or  benefit  of  tlie  person, 
then,  however  fitting  it  may  be,  it  will 
answer  no  profitable  end,  and  so  will 
not  be  expedient.  Fitness  regards 
every  kind  of  appropriateness,  as 
moral  fitness ;  expediency  regards 
only  adaptation  to  self-interest,  or  ten- 
dency to  promote  a  proposed  object. 

"  It  is  expedieyit  for  you  that  I  go  away." 
—Bible. 

"  He,  and   He  only,  is  the   competent, 


408 


proper,  and  unerring  jndge  upon  what  per- 
sons and  on  what  conditions  it  \afit  for  Him 
to  bestow  His  lavours." — CiARKE. 

EXPERIMENT.    Trial.   Proof. 

Experiment  (Lat.  expenmenium, 
experiri,  to  try)  relates  properly  to 
the  truth  of  things.  It  determines, 
cleai'S,  removes  doubt  and  ignorance. 

Trial  (Fr.  trier,  to  pick  or  choose) 
concerns  particularly  the  j<se  of  things, 
and  judges  of  what  is  suitable  or  un- 
suitable. 

Proof  (Lat.  pr'6bdre)  relates  more 
lo  the  quality  of  things,  and  deter- 
mines whether  a  thing  is  good  or  bad, 
determines  the  better,  and  reassures 
under  suspicion.  The  object  of  ex- 
periment is  to  know,  of  trial  to  choose, 
and  of  proof  to  be  certain.  By  ex- 
periment we  persuade  ourselves  that 
something  exists  or  not,  by  ti-ial  we 
learn  its  qualities,  and  by  proof  whe- 
ther it  has  the  qualities  we  attributed 
to  it.  Experiment  confirms  our  opi- 
nions. It  is  the  handmaid,  and  in 
some  cases,  the  mother  of  science. 
Trial  corrects  and  guides  our  taste, 
proof  establishes  our  confidence.  It 
IS  our  security  against  error  and  de- 
ception. 

EXPERIMENTAL.    Tf.ntativk. 

Experimental  (Lat.  exptrhnentum, 
a  proof,  trial)  is  in  its  general  sense 
pertaining  to  experiment,  and  in  its 
specific  use  to  some  characteristic  of  ex- 
periment. So  far  as  experiment  means 
trial  distinct  from  expei-ience.  Expe- 
rimental means  hazardous  ;  so  far  as 
Experiment  brings  to  light,  experi- 
mental means  ascertained.  It  is  in  the 
former  sense  that  it  appears  as  a  syno- 
nym with  Tentative  (Lat.  tentativus, 
I e mare,  to  try).  In  this  connexion  the 
Experimental  hazards  results,  the 
Tentativ  f.  hazards  success.  An  expe- 
rimental proceeding  is  entered  upon  to 
see  what  comes  of  it,  a  tentative  pro- 
ceeding with  the  hope  of  some  good 
coming,  even  if  the  trials  be  frequent 
and  the  success  only  occasional.  The 
miracles  of  the  Christian  apostles,  ac- 
cording to  Paley,  were  not  tentative, 
that  is,  they  did  not  succeed  now  and 
then  out  of  a  number    f  trials. 


SYNONYMS  [eXPERIMENTJ 

EXPIATION.  Atonement. 
Expiation  (Lat.  expidre,  to  make 
atonement  for)  is  the  extinction  of 
guilt  by  suffering  or  penalty.  Atone- 
ment adds  to  this  the  idea  of  satisfac- 
tion or  reparation  to  an  injured  party 
(atonement  being  the  setting  at  one). 
The  malefactor,  for  instance,  expiates 
h  is  crim  es  on  tl  1  e  gallows .  I  f  th  is  were 
spoken  of  as  an  atonement,  it  would 
be  under  the  view  of  repai-ation  being 
thus  made,  either  to  the  parties  he 
had  injured,  or  to  humanity,  or  to  the 
State. 

"  It  was  a  common  and  received  doctrine 
among  the  Jews  that  for  some  sins  a  man 
was  pardoned  presently  upon  his  repen- 
tance ;  that  other  sins  were  not  pardoned 
till  the  solemn  day  of  expiation,  which  came 
once  a  year  ;  that  other  sins  which  were  yet 
greater  were  not  to  be  expiatedhnt  by  some 

I    grievous  temporal  affliction." — Sharp. 

j        "  To  atone  or  make  him  at  one  again  with 

!    .he  offender."— Beveridge. 

I       EXPIRE.     Die. 

1  To  Expire  (Lat.  exsplrdre,  to  breathe 
out)  is  appropriately  used  of  animals 
which  "breathe  the  breath  of  life.  Of 
these  it  may  be  said  that  they  live  and 
that  they  die  or  expire.  All  living 
things  either  die  or  expire.  All  things 
that  die  or  expire  are  not  necessarily 
living  things,  for  to  die  is  used  analo- 
gously, as  "to  let  a  secret  die  within 
the  breast,"  and  oftener  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  word  out  or  away.  Trees  live 
and  die,  but  do  not  expire.  The  flame 
of  a  candle,  and  the  periods  of  time, 
neither  live  nor  die,  yet  are  said  to 
expire. 

"  Oh  why  do  wretched  men  so  much  desire 
To  draw  their  days  unto  the  utmost  date. 

And  do  not  rather  wish  them  soon  expire. 

Knowing  the  misery  of  their  estate  ?  " 

Spenser. 

"  In  the  day  that  ye  eat  there  of  ye  shall 
surely  die." — Bible. 

EXPLAIN.  Elucidate.  Illus. 
TRATE.     Exemplify. 

To  Explain  (^Lat.  explanare,  to 
make  plain  or  clear)  is  simply  to  make 
intelligible  by  removing  obscurity  or 
misunderstanding. 

To  Elucidate, (e/«rtt/«re,  to  make 
clear;  liicem,  light)  and  Ir.i.usTRATE 
(illustrare,  lo  light  up)  are  to  make 


[explicit] 

more  fully  intelligible.  Tke  field  of 
explanation  may  be  broad  or  narrow ; 
as,  to  explain  a  word,  or  a  chapter  of 
the  Bible,  while  explanation  in  itself 
is  extended  and  minute.  The  field  of 
elucidation  is  commonly  broad.  We 
do  not  speak  of  elucidating  words, 
but  subjects.  Illustration  is  vivid  eluci- 
dation by  certain  specific  and  effective 
means,  as  similitudes,  comparisons, 
appropriate  incidents  or  anecdotes, 
and  the  like,  graphic  representations 
and  even  artistic  drawings.  Explana- 
tion, however,  depends  as  much  on 
the  mind  and  views  of  the  explainer 
as  upon  the  thing  explained.  A  sub- 
ject could  only  be  elucidated  or  illus- 
trated in  one  way,  but  it  might  be  ex- 
plained in  different  and  even  contra- 
riant  ways, according  to  the  explainers. 
Explanation  is  a  process  by  which  the 
hard  or  uncomj>rehended  becomes  un- 
derstood by  assimilating  it  to  the  easy 
and  familiar,  or  the  more  difl5cult 
is  interpreted  by  the  less  difficult, 
through  the  means  of  principles  al- 
ready accepted  and  known.  A  propo- 
sition seems  paradoxical  so  long  as 
one  does  not  see  the  link  which  con- 
nects it  with  such  known  and  received 
principles;  when  this  is  shown  we 
feel  sometimes  almost  ashamed  that 
we  did  not  see  the  explanation.  In 
works  of  systematic  science  it  is  a  de- 
fect if  explanation  is  needed,  because 
each  succeeding  position  ought  so 
clearly  to  follow  upon  the  preceding 
that  no  room  for  explanation  shall 
exist. 

We  Exemplify  (  Lat.  exemplum,  an 
example,  Sindflfcive,  to  make)  when  we 
explain  or  illustrate  by  producing  an 
example  of  the  law  or  rule.  (See 
Example.) 

"  The  observation  that  old  people  re- 
member best  those  things  which  entered 
into  their  thoughts  when  their  memories 
were  in  their  full  strength  and  vigour  is 
rery  remarkably  exemplified  in  this  good 
lady  and  myself  when  we  are  in  conversa- 
tion."—  Guardian. 

"  I  demanded  of  him  who  was  to  explain 
them.  The  Papists,  I  told  him,  would  ex- 
plain some  of  them  one  way,  and  the  Re- 
formed another.  The  Remonstrants  and 
Anti-remonstrants  gave  their  different 
Bensts,  and  probably  the  Trinitarians  and 
Ihe  Unitarians  will  profess  that  they  under- 


DISCKIMINATED. 


409 


•t«ad  not  each  other's  explications."  — 
Locke. 

"Proof  and  further  elucidation  of  the 
matters  complained  of." — BuRKK. 

"  To  prove  him  and  illustrate  his  high 
worth." -Shakespeare. 

EXPLICIT.  Express.  Explana- 
tory.    Categorical. 

Explicit  (Lat.  eipMcrttus,  disen- 
tangled, part,  of  eipltcdre,  to  unfold) 
denotes  the  entire  unfolding  of  a  thing 
in  detail  of  expression,  and  so  as  to 
meet  every  point  and  obviate  the  ne- 
cessity of  supplement. 

Explanatory  i«,  on  the  other  hand, 
essentially  supplemental,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  explanation  often  arises  from 
matters  not  having  been  made  suffi- 
ciently explicit. 

Express  (Lat.  expressus,  describedy 
especially  in  words,  part.of  expj-^m&j-e) 
combines  force  with  clearness  and  no- 
tice of  detail.  Explicit  calls  attention 
to  the  comprehensiveness  and  pointed- 
ness  of  the  particulars,  Exprkss  to  the 
force,  directness,  and  plainness  of  the 
whole.  An  express  declaration  goes 
forcibly  and  directly  to  the  point.  An 
explicit  declaration  leaves  nothing  am- 
biguous. Philosophically,  it  is  opposed 
to  implicit. 

"The  baptismal  creed,  I  say,  must  ol 
necessity  contain  explicitly  in  it  at  least  all 
the  fundamentals  of  faith."— Clarke. 

"As  to  any  other  method  more  agreeable 
to  them  than  a  congress — an  alternative  ex- 
pressly proposed  to  them — they  did  not  con- 
descend to.signify  their  pleasure." — BuRKE. 

"  Yet  to  such  as  are  grounded  in  the  true 
belief,  these  explaTintory  creeds,  the  Nicene 
and  this  of  Athanasius,  might  perhaps  be 
spai-ed  ;  for  what  is  supernatural  will  always 
be  a  mystery  in  spite  of  exposition." — Dry- 
DEX. 

Categorical  (Gr.  KATnyopiiv,  to 
predicate)  is  a  term  which  w^ears  a 
logical  air.  A  categorical  proposition 
is  distinguished  from  a  hypothetical 
one;  hence,  that  is  categorical  which  is 
a  straightforward  expression  or  state- 
ment distinctly  affirmative  or  negative, 
without  doubt,  hesitation,  qualifica- 
tion, conditions,  or  contingencies, 
plain  and  to  the  point. 

"  They  apjiointed  that  of  the  synod  two 
should  be  chosen  delegates  who  should  im- 
mediately go  to  them,  and  in  the  name  of 
*^  synod  warn  them  to  lay  by  all  other 


410 


answers,  and  at  the  next  session  categori- 
cally answer  whether  they  wonld  exhibit 
their  minds  concerning  the  points  in  con- 
troversy or  no." — Hale. 

EXPLOIT.      Feat.     Achieve- 

MF.N'T. 

Exploit  (Fr.  exploiter,  to  ivork, 
make  the  most  of,  Lat.  eipttc'itare)  is  a 
term  of  chivalrous  character,  indicat- 
ing a  deed  of  which  adventurousness 
and  strength  are  the  cliaracteristics. 

A  Feat  (Fr.  fait,  Lat.  factum,  a 
thing  done,  a  deed)  is  the  same  thing 
on  a  smaller  scale,  and  admitting  a 
larger  admixture  of  the  elements  of 
skill  or  cleverness ;  as  we  might  speak 
of  the  exploits  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  of  a  feat  of  horsemanship. 

Achievement  (Fr.  achever,  to  bring 
tj  a  head,  chef,  chput,  a  head)  points 
not  only  to  the  greatness  of  the  deed 
bttt  to  the  qualities  which  have  led  to 
t,  which  may  have  been  less  showy 
aian  force  and  skill,  and  have  com- 
prised perseverance,  patience,  and  in- 
dustry. 

**  The  spirit-stirring  form 
Of  Caesar,  raptui'ed  with  the  charm  of  rule 
And  boundless  fame,  impatient  for  exploits." 
Ul-IiK. 

"The  warlike  feats  I  have  done." — 
Shakespkare. 

•*  But  loving  virtue,  all  achievements  past. 
Meets  envy  still  to  grapple  with  at  last." 
Waller. 

EXPOUND.     Interpret. 

Expound  (Lat.  exp'onere,  to  set  forth) 
denotes  sustained  explanation ;  while 
i  mere  word  or  phrase  may  be  ex- 
plained, a  whole  work  or  parts  of  it 
may  be  expotinded.  Exposition  is 
continuous  critical  explanation. 

Interpret  (Lat.  interpr'&tdri),  be- 
yond the  mere  sense  of  verbal  transla- 
tion from  one  language  to  another, 
conveys  the  idea  of  pi'ivate  or  per- 
sonal explanation  of  what  is  capable 
of  more  than  one  view.  Hence  inter- 
pretation is  more  arbitrary  than  ex- 
position and  more  theoretical  than 
explanation.  Expound  relates  only 
to  words  in  series,  Interpret  is 
applicable  also  to  anything  of  a  sym- 
bolical character,  as  to  mterpret  a 
dream  or  a  prophecy.  It  has  also,  in 
coirrron  with  $xplairi^  an  application 


STNONYMS  [exploit] 

to  anything  which  may  be  viewed  in 
different  lights,  as  the  actions  of  men. 
In  this  way,  to  explain  conduct  would 
rather  be  to  account  for  it ;  to  inter- 
pret it  would  be  to  assign  motives  or 
significance  to  it.  Explanation  deals 
with  facts,  interpretation  with  causes 
also.  I  explain  when  I  give  the  mean- 
ing of  a  thing,  I  interpret  when  I  give 
mi)  view  of  that  meaning. 

*'  The  Pundits  are  the  expounders  of  the 
Hindu  law."— Sir  W,  Jones. 
"  Are  there  not  many  points,  some  needful 

sure 
To  saving  faith,  that  Scripture  leaves  ob- 
scure ? 
Which  every  sect  will  wrest  a  several  way. 
For  what  one  sect  interprets  all  sects  may." 
Dryden. 


EXPRESS. 
Intimate. 


Signify.     Testify. 


All  these  terms  are  employed  in  the 
sense  of  communicating  to  otliers  what 
is  in  one's  own  mind.  Not  only  words, 
but  gestures,  movements,  and  the  like 
may  serve  to  ExpRESS,which  is  simply 
to  manifest  in  a  plain  manner.  Even 
silence  is  sometimes  expressive.  Ex- 
pression is  good  when  the  idea  is  put 
forth  in  a  just  and  life-like  way  with 
logical  or  descriptive  force  and  accu- 
racyofrepresentation,or  by  any  natural 
or  artistic  media  of  such  manifestations. 
As  Express  is  generally  said  of  feelings 
and  opinions,  so  Signify  (Fr.  signifier, 
Lat.  signXficdre)  is  said  of  wishes,  in- 
tentions, or  desires ;  this  also  may  be 
done  in  various  ways,  by  looks,  words, 
writing,  or  other  acts ;  as,  to  signify 
assent  by  a  nod.  Signify  implies 
more  strongly  than  Express  the  exis- 
tence of  some  person  affected,  while 
Express  is  more  ab.stract,  as,  "  His 
countenance  expressed  disappoint- 
ment," that  is,  would  have  done  so  to 
any  who  might  have  witnessed  it. 
Signified  would  have  implied  infor- 
mation personally  conveyed. 

Testify  (l^^t.  tesltf^icari,  to  bear  wit- 
ness, to  demonstrate)  is  commonly  em- 
ployed of  inner  feeling  as  made  evi- 
dent to  others  ;  as,  to  testify  joy,  sor- 
row, approbation,  one's  sense  of  an- 
other's merit,  and  the  like  ;  "  His 
countenance  testified  satisfaction," 
that  is,  generally,  where  Signified 
would  have  implied  some  person  or 


[EXTENSIVE] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


411 


persons  on  whom  the  expression  took 
effect.  To  signify  is  in  short  a  matter 
of  communication,  to  testify  of  demon- 
stration, to  express  of  declaration. 

To  Intimate  ( Lat.  iniimare,  to  bring 
within,  to  pnbtish)  is  to  express  ^vith- 
out  fulness,  but  with  sufficient  apti- 
tude and  clearness,  avoiding;  all  super- 
fluity of  declaration.  Hence  the  term 
is  well  employed  of  such  manifesta- 
tions of  feeling  a.^  are  indirect,  as, 
"  His  courtly  reception  of  the  dele- 
gates seemed  to  intimate  that  he  was 
not  unfavourably  inclined  to  the  ob- 
ject of  their  mission."  When  one  per- 
son intimates  a  thing  to  another,  it  is 
commonly  something  in  which  that 
other  is  personally  interested. 

"  When  St.  John  Baptist  came  preaching 
repentance  unto  Israel,  the  people  asked 
him,  sajring,  '  What  shall  we  do  ? '  mean- 
ing in  what  manner  they  should  express 
their  repentance."— Sharp. 

"  No  one  ever  saw  one  animal  by  its  ges- 
tures and  natural  cries  signify  to  another. 
This  is  mine.  That  is  yours,  I  am  willing  to 
give  this  for  that." — Smith,  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

"  In  vain  Thy  creatures  testify  of  Thee, 

Till  Thou  proclaim  Thyself." 

COWPER. 

A  demonstrative  expression  is  com- 
monly set  over  against  some  opposite 
feeling  in  another.  Testify,  like  Pro- 
test, wears  an  air  of  demonstration 
against ;  but  this  is  accidental,  not 
essential. 

"  Mr.  Plott,  who,  as  he  since  informed 
me,  had  prevailed  with  them  to  propose 
this  treaty,  earnestly  pressed  me  to  lay 
iold  on  the  opportunity,  intimating  by  his 
words  and  gestures  that  if  I  refused  it  I 
should  not  have  another." — LuDLOW,  3Je- 
moirs. 

EXPRESSION.    Term.    Word. 

Word  is  the  more  general,  but 
could  not  be  called  the  generic  ex- 
pression here,  because  an  expression 
may  consist  of  more  than  one  word. 
Word  (A.  S.  uord)  is  the  spoken  ex- 
j)ression  (which  may  be  reduced  to 
writing)  of  a  conception  or  an  idea. 

A  Term  (Lat.  terniinns),  in  its 
logical  sense,  is  anything  which  may 
form  the  subject  or  predicate  of  a  pro- 
position, and  called  the  term  from  the 
fact  that  it  occupies  a  position  at  one 
or  other  9^}d  of  il  ;  as,  *' Every  man 


is  mortal;"  here  every  man  is  the  one 
term,  and  mortal  the  other.  In  re- 
ference to  the  practical  distinction  be- 
tween these.  Word  represents  gene- 
rally an  utterance  of  our  thouglits  or 
feelings;  Term  is  the  same  thingviewed 
in  connexion  with  a  certain  class  of  ex- 
pressions or  subjects,  as  "  a  scientific 
term,"  "  a  geographical  term,"  and  so 
on,  implying  tliat  it  has  a  specific  stamp;, 
so  we  say  in  reasoning,  "  It  is  above 
all  things  necessary  to  define  the  terms 
employed."  On  the  other  hand,  it 
would  be  utterly  superfluous  to  define 
all  the  words.  In  .nis  way.  Term  is  re- 
stricted to  the  main  parts  of  speech, 
nouns,  verbs,  and  adjectives.  In  a 
looser  way,  it  is  simply  synonymous 

witll  W^ORD. 

ExvnESSios{L^t.expressus,describedj 
especially  in  words;  part,  of  expnmtre) 
in  this  connexion  means  not  so  much 
a  word  or  term,  though  it  may  mean 
this,  as  a  Jiwde  of  speech.  Hence  ex- 
pressions are  very  often  phrases  or 
collocations  of  words.  Any  number 
of  words  which  serve  to  convey  an 
idea  or  statement,  wliether  one  or 
more,  may  be  called  an  expression. 
Even  an  interjection,  as  giving  utter- 
ance to  a  sentiment,  emotion,  or  feel- 
ing, miglit  be  called  an  expression  of 
it.  In  the  choice  of  words  is  shown 
the  jmrity  of  language,  in  the  choice 
of  teims  the  precision  of  speech ;  on 
the  choice  of  expressions  depend  the 
brilliancy  and  effectiveness  of  style. 
Word  is  a  matter  of  simple  speech,  or 
the  science  of  it — that  is,  grammar. 
Usage  determines  its  meaning.  Term 
is  a  matter  of  subject ;  its  force  is  de- 
termined by  agreement.  Expression 
is  a  matter  of  thought ;  its  merit  de- 
pends on  the  turn  given  to  it. 

"  He  (Charles  II.)  never  read  the  Scrip 
tures  nor  laid  things  together  further  than 
to  turn  them  to  a  jest,  or  for  some  lively 
expression." — BuRN'ET. 

"  The  ideas  the  terms  stand  for."— 
Locke. 

"  Man  had  by  nature  his  own  organs  so 
fashioned  as  to  be  fit  to  frame  articulate 
sounds  which  we  call  icords."—lbid. 

EXTENSIVE.     Large. 

Extensive  (Lat.  extensiviis,  exte^- 
dtrey  to  stretch  out)  only  applies  t** 
euperficiai  spreading. 


412 


Large  (Fr.  large j  Lat.  largus^  is 
much  mere  comprehensive  and  vari- 
ously applicable  :  1,  to  superficial  ex- 
tent, in  which  it  is  synonymous  with 
extensive,  as  a  large  field  or  an  exten- 
sive field;  2,  of  size  or  bulk,  as  a  large 
stone ;  3,  of  quantity,  as  a  large  supply; 
4,  number,  as  a  large  number,  or  as- 
sembly;  5,  of  cubic  contents,  as  a  large 
bag.  Both  Large  and  Extensive  are 
employedin  secondary  senses ;  Large 
in  that  case  denoting  abundance  of 
.source  or  supply,  Extensive  denoting 
wideness  of  operation.  A  large  heart, 
large  bounty,  extensive  benevolence. 
Extensive  learning  or  acquaintance 
with  a  subject  in  particular. 

♦'  One  great  cause  of  our  insensibility  to 
the  goodness  of  the  Creator  is  the  veiy  ex- 
tensiveness  of  His  bounty." — Paley. 

"  Circles  are  praised  not  that  abound 

In  largeness,  but  the  exactly  round. 

So  life  we  praise  that  does  excel 

Not  in  much  time,  but  acting  well." 

Waller. 

EXTENT.    Limit. 

Extent  is  superficial  spreading  in 
one  direction,  or  several,  or  all. 

Limit  (Lat.  lirmtem)  is  the  bound- 
ing or  restraining  of  such  extent.  The 
former  term,  therefore,  is  expansive 
in  its  force,  the  latter  restrictive ;  the 
one  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  positive, 
the  other  of  a  negative  idea. 
"What  antic  notions  form  the  human  mind. 
Perversely  mad,  and  obstinately  blind. 
Life  in  its  large  extent  is  scarce  a  span. 
Vet,  wondrous  frenzy,  great  designs  we 

plan, 
And  shoot  our  thoughts  beyond  the  date  of 

man."  Cotton. 

"  Ye  friends  to  truth,  ye  statesmen  who 

survey 
The  rich  man's  joys  increase,  the  poor's  de- 
cay, 
'Tis  yours  to  judge  how  wide  the  limits 

stand 
Between  a  splendid  and  a  happy  land." 
Goldsmith. 

EXTENUATE.     Palliate. 

These  terms  are  all  applicable  to 
moi  al  conduct  and  the  lessening  of  its 
guilt. 

To  Extenuate  (Lat.  exthiudre,  to 
draw  out  tojineness,  ex  and  tennis,  thm) 
is  todirainiph  the  conception  of  crime 
or  guilt  by  the  allegation  of  pleas  or 
the  consideration  of  attendant  circum- 
stancee 


SYNONYMS  [extent] 

To  Palliate  (Lat.  pallium,  a  cover- 
let, an  upper  garment)  is  to  seek  to 
lower  the  intrinsic  guilt  oy  evil  of  the 
thing  itself.  It  is  an  instance  of  the 
departure  of  a  term  from  its  etymo- 
logical meaning  ;  to  palliate  not  sig- 
nifying any  longer  to  hide  a  crime  by 
throwing  a  cloak  over  it,  but  to  soften 
down  the  enormity  of  it.  Wrong  is  ex- 
tenuated by  attendant  circumstances ; 
it  is  palliated  by  sophistry.  Palliation 
is  never  the  same  thing  with  justice, 
but  extenuation  may  be.  Palliation 
is  restricted  to  crime  ;  extenuation  is 
extended  to  guilt  and  punishment, 
and  even  to  ills  generally.  When  we 
speak  of  a  palliation  of  evils,  it  is  as 
opposed  to  lasting  remedies. 

"  As  to  the  other  matters  objected  against 
me,  which  in  their  turn  I  shall  mention  to 
you,  remember  once  more  I  do  not  mean  to 
extenuate  or  excuse." — Burke. 
The  original  sense  of  Palliate  occurs 
curiously  in  the  following  : — 

"Horace  had  his  Maecenas,  and  Virgil  his 
Augustus,  and  it  is  the  accustomed  manner 
of  our  modern  ^vriters  always  to  palliate 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  some 
worthy  patron."— BoULTON,  Medicine. 

EXTERIOR.  External.  Oui- 
WARD.  Extraneous.  Extrinsic. 
Foreign. 

Outward  is  strictly  toward  the  out- 
side, as  "outward  bound," and, by  an 
extension  of  meaning,  of  or  belonging 
to  the  outside.  It  is  thus  the  generic 
terra,  and  may  mean  on  the  surface  or 
contiguous  to  it. 

"He  is  not  a  Jew  which  is  one  out- 
wardly."—Ent/lish  Bible. 

Exterior  and  External  (Lat. 
extra,  extermis,  without)  both  imply 
connexion,  while  Extraneous  (Lat. 
ex trdneus,  from  the  same  root)  implies 
no  connexion  with,  but  detachment  or 
remoteness  from,  the  surface.  Ex- 
terior is  opposed  to  interior,  external 
to  internal.  The  skin  is  ao.  exterior, 
the  dress  an  external,  covering.  That 
which  is  external  is  connected  closely 
with  the  outward  partrj  that  which 
is  exterior  goes  to  constitute  them. 
That  is  extraneous  which  aflfects  us 
from  a  distance,  as  "  extraneous  aid." 
Extraneous  is  an  epithet  of  quali- 
ties, not  substances. 

Extrinsic  (Lat.  exlrinsrcus,  adverb, 


[extravagant]     discriminated. 

from  «nt/iout)lia8thesense  of  External 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  no  essential 
or  inseparable  part,  as,  ''The  intrin- 
sic faculties  of  the  mind  may  be  im- 
proved in  power  by  the  extrinsic  aids 
of  mental  training  ;  "  "The  external 
need  of  dress  is  one  thing,  the  extrin- 
sic superfluity  of  ornament  another." 


413 


Foreign  (0.  Fr.forain,  L.  Lat./(^r- 
cmeus)  means  wholly  beside  the  mark, 
and  has  no  connexion  or  relevancy  at 
all.  That  is  foreign  which  is  inhar- 
monious in  character,  spirit,  or  pur- 
pose. 

"  In  speech  of  man  the  whispering  whicli 
they  call  susunus  in  Latin,  whether  it  be 
loader  or  softer,  is  an  interior  sound,  but 
the  speaking  out  is  an  exterior  sound." — 
Bacon. 

"  The  next  circumstance  to  be  remarked 
is  that  whilst  the  cavities  of  the  body  are 
80  configurated  as  externally  to  exhibit  the 
most  exact  correspondency  of  the  opposite 
sides,  the  contents  of  these  cavities  have  no 
such  correspondency."— Pale Y. 

"  '  If  the  eye,'  says  He,  '  be  single,  thy 
whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light.'  That  is, 
nothing  extrmieous  must  cleave  to  or  join 
with  the  eye  in  the  act  of  seeing,  but  it  must 
be  solely  and  entirely  to  itself  and  its  bare 
object,  as  naked  as  trnth,  as  pure,  simple, 
and  unmixed  as  sincerity."— South. 

"More  observe  the  characters  of  men 
than  the  order  of  things ;  to  the  one  we  are 
formed  by  nature  and  by  that  sympathy 
from  which  we  are  so  strongly  led  to  take 
part  in  the  passions  and  manners  of  our 
fellow-men.  The  other  is  as  it  were  foreign 
and  extrinsical." — Burke. 

EXTRAORDINARY.  Remark- 
able. 

The  Extraordinary  (Lat.  extra- 
ordtnariiis)  is  that  which  is  out  of  the 
ordinary  course,  or  exceeds  ordinary 
limits.  In  those  cases  in  which  it  is 
matter  of  specific  observation,  it  is 
synonymous  with  Remarkable  (Yy. 
remarquer,  to  remark)  ;  but  where  it 
does  not  excite  such  observation  or 
remark,  it  is,  of  course,  not  remark- 
able. An  extraordinary  dress  is  re- 
markable ;  but  this  could  not  be  said 
of  an  "  extraordinary  loan."  The  re- 
markable combines  the  extraordinary 
with  the  noticeable.  It  may  be  ob- 
served that  there  is  a  twofold  sense  of 
ihe  extraordinary — that  which  is  un- 
like the  common  course,  law,  or 
nature  of  the  object,  and  that  which  is 


unlike  the  common  course  of  cur  owi/ 
observation.  The  one  is  extraordinary 
i/i  itself,  the  other  to  us.  The  re- 
markable is  the  exti'aordinary  to  us. 
The  dress  of  an  Asiatic,  while  not 
extraordinary  in  itself,  may  be  extra- 
ordinary, and  therefore  remarkable,  to 
a  European.  In  common  parlance,  that 
is  extraordinary  which  excites  sur- 
prise ;  that  is  remarkable  Avliich  ex- 
cites some  degree  of  admiration  also. 

'*  They  think  to  atone  for  their  sins  and 
neglects  of  this  kind  by  showing  some  extra- 
ordinary bounty  to  the  poor." — Sharp. 

"Above  all  things  this  was  remarkable 
and  admii-able  in  him,  the  arts  he  had  to 
acquire  the  good  opinion  and  kindnesses  of 
all  sorts  of  men." — CoWLEY. 

EXTRA.VAGANT.  Prodigal. 
Lavish.     Profuse. 

Extravagant  (Lat.  extra,  beyond, 
and  vitgari,  to  wander)  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  modes  of  expenditure  of 
money.  Any  person  or  thing  ivhich 
exceeds  due  bounds  in  thought, 
speech,  or  action,  may  be  termed 
extravagant;  as  "extravagant  in 
praise,"  "  extravagant  abuse,"  "  ex- 
travagant compliment."  As  applied 
to  manner  of  living,  extravairance 
comes  of  allowing  the  habituaJ  ab- 
sence of  self-restraint  and  refle.cion, 
a  vague  wandering  of  the  thoughts 
and  desii-es  unrestrained  by  ideas  of 
measurement  and  proportion.  A  man 
of  small  means  may  thus  be  very  ex- 
travagant. 

Prodigal  (L&t.  prodlgere,  to  criv4 
auay,  to  squander)  denotes  a  lovi;  of 
large  and  excessive  expenditure, 
which  comes  of  want  of  recognizing 
the  necessary  limitation  of  all  human 
resources,  and  is  by  its  nature  a  vice 
of  the  rich.  The  poor  man  who  may 
be  extravagant  is  hindered  by  cir- 
cumstances from  being  prodigal, 
though  he  may  have  the  natural  in- 
clination to  be  so.  ExTRAVAGAM  and 
Prodigal  are  both  terms  expressive  of 
character  or  habits,  while  Lavish 
(O.  Eng.  lave,  in  throw  or  pour  out) 
and  Profuse  (Lat.  prcj/Tisu.s,  part,  of 
pr'6fnndh-e,  to  pour  forth)  relate  to 
specific  actions.  To  lavish  is  to  spend 
with  superfluous  and  therefore  foolish 
liberality,  as  the  return  or  good  is  not 
in  proportion  to  the  expenditure  or 


414 


effort.  Men  may  be  lavish  of  much  be- 
sides money  and  treasure,  ase.o-.  praise, 
censure,  as  we  may  be  also  prodigal 
of  time,  strength,  and  the  like.  Pro- 
fuse is  less  strong  than  Lavish,  and 
denotes  the  giving  forth  in  great 
abundance.  This  is  so  likely  to  be 
superfluous,that  Profuse  is  often  used 
in  an  unfavourable  sense,  as  Lavish 
always  is.  Yet  this  is  not  always  so. 
as,  "ornaments  are  profusely  em- 
ployed in  the  building,"  is  not  the 
same  as  if  we  said,  "  too  profusely," 
and  "  profuse  beneficence  is  not  dis- 
praise. ^Ve  are  extravagant  when  we 
spend  more  than  we  can  afford.  We 
are  profuse  when  we  give  away  in 
great  or  excessive  quantities.  Pro- 
Fuseness,  therefore,  is  a  mode  of  ex- 
travagance, namely,  an  extravagant 
expenditure  on  other  objects  than  our- 
selves. A  man  is  extravagant,  for  in- 
stance, in  household  expenses,  house, 
dress,  plate,  diet,  luxuries  of  any  kind. 
A  man  is  extravagant  in  his  praise 
or  compliments  when  he  exaggerates 
them,  profuse  when  he  deals  too 
largely  in  them,  lavish  when  he  thinks 
nothing  of  reserving  or  moderating 
them. 

"Upon  which  accounts  it  hath  been  that 
maoikind  hath  been  more  extravagantly 
mad  in  many  tenets  about  religion  than  in 
anything  else  whatsoevei*.  For  in  other 
things  the  use  of  reason  is  permitted,  but 
in  religion  it  hath  been  almost  universally 
denied. "— GlanVILL. 

"  Prodigality  is  the  devil's  steward  and 
purse-bearer,  ministering  to  all  sorts  of 
vice  ;  and  it  is  hard,  if  not  impossible,  for  a 
■prodigal  person  to  be  guilty  of  no  other  vice 
but  prodigality.''— SoVTK. 

"  Tertullian  very  truly  observeth,  God  is 
not  a  lavisher,  but  a  dispenser  of  His  bles- 
sings."—Fothkrby. 

*'  He  who  with  a  promiscuous,  undistin- 
guishing  profuseness  does  not  so  much  dis- 
pense as  throw  away  what  he  has,  proclaims 
himself  a  fool  to  all  the  intelligent  world 
about  him."— South. 

EXULT.    Rejoice. 

Exult,  true  to  its  etymology  (Lat. 
exsultdre,  to  spring  up),  is  more  de- 
monstrative and  external  than  Re- 
joice (O.  Fr.  rejoir,  N.  Fr.  rejouir; 
Lat.  gaudere,  to  rejoice),  which  is  lively 
and  pleasurable,  but  may  be  compara- 
tively calm.  It  is  possible  to  rejoice 
inwardly.     We  exult  openly.     We 


SYNONYMS  [exult] 


rejoice  in  the  ijossessioii  or  at  the 
accession  of  a  good.  We  exult  when 
it  is  of  such  a  kind  as  to  give  us  an 
advantage.  The  brave  soldier  rejoices 
in  the  victory.  The  savage  warrior 
exults  over  his  fallen  foe. 


FABLE.  Fiction.  Fabrication. 
Parable.  Allegory.  Novel.  Ro- 
mance. 

Fable  (Lat.  fahida,  from  Jdri,  to 
speak)  is  a  feigned  tale  intended  to 
convey  some  lesson  of  instruction,  its 
proper  sphere  being  that  of  prudential 
morality.  Such  being  its  object,  it 
does  not  scruple  to  violate  natural 
truth,  and  to  introduce  talking 
trees,  or  talking  animals,  or  un- 
historic  and  unreal  personages.  The 
fable  is  a  sort  of  dramatic  allegory  in 
v/hich  the  actions  are  probable  and 
natural,  while  the  agents  may  be  un- 
natural. 

"  Fables  were  first  begun  and  raised  to 
the  highest  perfection  in  the  eastern  coun- 
tries, where  they  wrote  in  signs  and  spoke 
in  parables,  and  delivered  the  most  useful 
precepts  in  delightful  stories,  which  for  their 
aptness  were  entertaining  to  the  most  judi- 
cious, and  led  the  vulgar  into  understand- 
ing, by  surprising  them  with  their  novelty." 
—Prior  and  Montague. 

Fiction  (Lat,  Jictionem,  a  fobhioii- 
ing,  a  feigning)  denotes  any  produc- 
tion of  the  imagination,  whether  dieal- 
ing  in  the  natural  or  unnatural.  As 
a  literary  tei-m  it  implies  an  end  of 
amusement  or  instruction,  or  both. 
Fiction  may  be  regarded  as  the  gene- 
ric term,  of  which  the  rest  are  s])ecies. 
It  means,  in  its  broadest  sense,  any- 
ihing feigned.  Fiction  is  opposed  to 
what  is  real,  as  fabrication  is  opposed 
to  what  is  true ;  the  common  end  of 
the  first  is  to  entertain,  of  the  second 
to  mislead  and  deceive,  either  as  to 
the  contents  of  the  work  or  the 
genuineness  of  its  authorship. 

"  The/ictio7i  of  these  golden  apples  kept 
by  a  dragon." — Raleuh. 

"  Our  books  were  not  fabricated  with  an 
accommodation  to  prevailing  usages." — 
Paley. 

A  Fabrication  .(Lat.  f'tihr'icdtidnem^ 
a  framing,  ctfnnructing)  differs  from  a 


[fabric] 


fiction  in  that  the  author,  knowing  it 
to  be  false,  puts  it  forth  as  true. 

A  Parable  (Gr.  Trapa^oXfi,  'jta.pa, 
abiigside,  and  BaXKhv,  to  cast  or  place) 
is  an  illustration  of  moral  or  spiritual 
truth  through  the  vehicle  of  natural 
or  secular  processes  or  occuirences. 
Such  at  least  are  the  parables  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  assume  laws 
in  harmony  between  the  natural  and 
the  s])hitual  world,  so  that  tlie  facts 
of  the  one  may  tend  to  explain  the 
Other.  Unlike  the  fable,  the  parable 
teaches  truth  for  itself,  and  not  as 
being  the  interest  of  man  only ;  and 
having  this  high  and  sacred  end  in 
view,  it  cannot  stoop  to  such  unnatural 
violations  as  the  fable  employs,  being 
animated  by  a  spuut  of  profounder 
reverence.  There  was  a  time,  how- 
ever, when  the  word  parable  was 
taken  to  mean  almost  anything  alle- 
gorical in  speech,  especially  if  more  or 
less  hard  to  understand ;  as  that  which 
the  English  version  of  the  BiiAe  calls 
the  parable  of  Jotham  is  strictly  a 
fable,  as  that  which  it  calls  the  Parable 
of  the  V^ine  is  strictly  an  allegory.  So 
in  Ezekiel,  "Ah,  Lord  God,  doth  he 
not  speak  parables? "  the  word  here  is 
ecjuivalent  to  riddles. 

"The  Holy  Scripture  hath  her  figure 
and  history,  her  mystery  and  verity,  her 
parable  and  plain  doctrine." — Bale. 

AnALLEOORV(aXX>i>'0fia,  aXXof,ot/jer, 
and  ayopsvo),  I  speak)  differs  both  from 
Fable  and  Parable,  in  that  the  pro- 
perties of  persons  are  fictitiously  repre- 
sented as  attached  to  things,  to  which 
tliey  are  as  it  were  transferi'ed.  The 
allegory  may  be  in  any  kind  of  artis- 
tic or  verbal  representation.  A  figure 
of  Peace  and  Victory  crowning  some 
liistorical  personage  is  an  allegory. 
"  I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches," 
is  a  spoken  allegory.  In  the  parable 
there  is  no  transference  of  properties. 
The  parable  of  the  sower  represents 
all  things  as  according  to  their  proper 
nature.  In  the  allegoiy  quoted  above 
the  properties  of  the  vine  and  the  re- 
lation of  the  branches  are  transfen-ed 
to  the  person  of  Christ  and  His  apos- 
tles and  disciples.  A  parable  worked 
out  at  great  length,  as  the  "Pilgrim's 
ProgTess,"  is  called  an  allegory. 

"  Make  no  more  allegories  in  6criptar<* 


DISCRIMINATED. 


415 


than  needs  must ;  the  fathers  were  too  fre- 
quent in  them;  they,  indeed,  before  they 
understood  the  literal  sense,  looked  cut  foi 
an  allegory." — Selden. 

A  Novel  (Fr.  nouvelle,  news,a  tale) 
is  a  fiction  (as  at  present  employed) 
with  something  of  dramatic  plot,  de- 
signed to  show  the  workings  of  human 
passion,  and  is  such  that  in  themselves 
there  is  no  impossibility  in  the  inci- 
dents of  it.  Novels  in  old  English 
bore  the  sense  of  7iews. 

"  Some  came  of  curiosity  to  hear  some 
novels" — Latimer. 

It  then  came  to  mean  a  tale  especially 
of  love  and  jrassion,  which  might  be 
of  the  nature  of  a  subordinate  incident 
in  a  larger  work,  before  it  came  to 
mean,  as  at  present,  a  work  complete 
in  itself. 

'•  The  trifling  novels  which  Ariosto  in- 
serted in  his  poems." — Dkydex. 

The  Romance  {see  quotation)  is  a 
novel  Avhich  deals  in  surprising  and 
adventurous  incidents,  in  order  to 
sti'ike  by  means  of  the  marvellous, 
without  the  historic  probability  of  the 
novel  of  the  present  day.  They  were 
commonly  metrical,  and  turned  on 
chivalry,  gallantry,  and  religion. 

"  The  Latin  tongue,  as  is  observed  by  an 
ingenious  writer,  ceased  to  be  spoken  in 
France  about  the  ninth  century,  and  was 
succeeded  by  what  was  called  the  romance 
tongue,  a  mixture  of  the  language  of  the 
Franks  and  bad  Latin.  As  the  songs  of  chi- 
valry became  the  most  popular  compositions 
in  that  language,  they  were  emphatically 
called  romans  or  roi7iants,  thongh  this  name 
was  at  first  given  to  any  pi£ce  of  poetry." — 
Percy,  Iteliques. 

FABRIC.     Manufacture. 

The  diflference  between  the  above 
is  smiply  determined  by  usage,  except 
that  iNlANUFACTURE  (Lat.  mAnu/ac<us, 
made  by  the  hand)  denotes  a  process  as 
well  as  a  result.  Fabric  the  result 
alone. 

Fabric  (Lat.  j'dbricu^  a  workshop^ 
an  artistic  production)  applies  to  things 
constructed,  and  to  things  woven, 
Manufacture  to  things  produced  by 
art  from  raw  materials  for  personal 
use,  but  not,  like  Fabric,  to  building. 
As  Manufacture  expresses  the  pro- 
cess,  it  is  possible  to  speak  of  the  ma* 
nufacture  of  certain  fabrics. 


416 


SYNONYMS 


[FACE_, 


FACE.     Front. 

Some  confusion  arises  in  the  figu- 
rative use  of  these  terms,  from  the 
literal  meaning  of  them. 

The  Face  (Lat.  fKcies)  is  the  coun- 
tenance or  features. 

llie  Front  (L&t.  frontem)  is  the 
whole  anterior  side  of  the  figure,  and 
so  the  words  might  be  supposed 
simply  applicable  according  to  this 
analogy.  But  .the  analogy  is  not  easy, 
because  the  Latin  frons  means  fore- 
head, and  so  face.  For  instance,  the 
face,  of  a  clock  is  analogous  to  the  face 
of  a  man,  but  we  should  hardly  say, 
the  front  of  a  picture,  but  the  face, 
though  it  be  more  analogous  to  the 
whole  front  of  a  man.  The  face  of  a 
house  is  the  surface  of  the  anterior 
wall  of  it,  as  the  posterior  wall  is  the 
back.  On  the  other  hand,  the  front 
of  a  stage  is  strictly  according  to 
analogy.  Again,  other  conceptions 
enter.  The  face  of  a  thing  is  often 
taken  for  that  part  of  it  which  is  dis- 
tinctively marked  and,  as  it  were, 
featured.  It  is  probably  in  this  way 
that  we  speak  of  the  face  of  a  watch. 

"  The  whole  face  of  the  gi-onnd." — Eng- 
lish. Bible. 

"  A  band  of  strong  and  sinewy  bows, 
Out  of  the  army  pick'd  the  front  of  all  the 
field."  Drayton. 

FACE.     Countenance.     Visage, 

The  Face  is  that  which  is  anatomi- 
cally composed  of  its  features;  and  so 
the  term  is  applicable  to  brutes  and 
men. 

The  Countenance  (Lat.  contt- 
neutia,  in  a  later  sense,  of  holding, 
bearing,  behaving  one's  self^  is  the  face 
as  expressive  of  the  soul,  with  its 
thoughts,  reflexions,  passions,  or 
emotions,  and  so  belongs  only  to 
Imman  beings. 

The  Visage  (Fr.  visage)  is  the  face 
regarded  in  a  fixed  aspect,  and  not  in 
its  emotional  variations.  So  a  laugh- 
ing face,  a  laughing  countenance,  but 
we  should  hardly  say  a  laughing 
visage.  Visage  is  a  term  indicative 
of  something  marked  and  impressive 
in  the  face,  as  dignity,  sternness, 
grimness.  It  is  not  employed  of  the 
lighter  or  more  cheerful  looks. 


"While  the  men  wore  shoes  so  long  and 
picked  that  they  were  forced  to  support  the 
points  by  chains  from  their  middle,  the 
ladies  erected  such  pyramids  on  their  heads 
that  the  face  became  the  centre  of  the 
body." — Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting. 
"  Even  kept  her  countenance  when  the  lid 

removed 
Disclosed  the  heart  unfortunately  loved." 
Dryden. 
"  Get  you  gone  ! 
Out  on  a  most  importunate  aspect, 
A  visage  of  demand." 

Shakespeare. 

FACETIOUS.  Jocose.  Jocular. 
Pleasant. 

Facetjousness  (Lat./rfctf/(E,  witti- 
cisms) is  a  kind  of  affected  humour,  to 
which  it  bears  the  same  relation  that 
a  smirk  does  to  a  smile. 

•Tocos E  and  Jocular  ( Lat.  J^cosus, 
jocfdavis)  are  derived  from  the  Latin 
jocus,  a  joke,  nnd  jocalus,  a  little  joke. 
The  jocose  pokes  fun,  the  jocular  in- 
sinuates it. 

Pleasantry  (Fr.  plaisanteiie,  phi- 
sunt,  pleasant)  carries  the  notion,  not 
of  abstract  joke,  like  facetious,  but  of  a 
tendency  to  personal  raillery,  though 
of  a  kind  tlie  opposite  to  obtrusive. 
The  facetious  had  formerly  a  higher 
meaning  than  at  present,  when  it  is 
hardly  used  but  in  modified  disparage- 
ment, answering  at  one  time  to  the  Lat. 
fdc'etus,  elegantly  humorous.  It  denotes 
at  present  something  like  manufactured 
wit  which  has  no  heartiness  of  joke. 

"B.  answers  xery  facetiously,  I  must  own, 
that  a  command  to  lend  hoping  for  nothing 
agaui,  and  a  command  to  borrow  without 
returning  anything  again,  seem  very  difi'e- 
rent  commands."— WaterlanI). 
Jocose  seems  to  be  more  general,  and 
Jocular  more  specific.  A  man's  dis- 
position might  be  jocose,  his  demea- 
nour on  a  particular  occasion  jocular. 
The  jocose  love  jokes,  the  jocular 
make  jokes.  The  jocular,  too,  is  more 
demonstrative  than  the  jocose. 

•'  I  had  indeed  the  corporal  punishment 
of  what  the  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  are 
j>leased  jocosely  to  call  mounting  the  ros- 
trum for  one  hour." — Pope. 

"  At  diflereut  times  he  appears  as  serious 
as  a  judge,  and  as  jocular  as  a  men-y- 
andrew." — Spectator. 

"  People  are  not  aware  of  the  very  great 
force  which  pleasantry  in  company  has  upon 
all  those  with  whom  a  man  of  that  talent 
converses." — Ibid. 


[failing] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


417 


FACTIOUS.    Seditious. 

Factious  (Lat.  factiosus,  factio,  a 
partyy  side,  sect)  means  appertaining 
to,  or,  as  employed  of  persons  ad- 
dicted to,  the  raising  of  dissension  and 
opposition,  more  especially  for  ends 
of  private  interest. 

SEDnious(ha.t.scditidsus,sediliojdis- 
sension,  strife)  means  tending  to  excite 
disturbance  in  tlie  State  or  community, 
short  of  insurrection.  The  terms  seem 
at  present  diflerenced  mainly  by  the 
scale  on  which  they  are  used.  Sedi- 
tious relates  to  the  manifestation  of 
political  principle  orfeelino; ;  factious 
is  used  in  connexion  with  minor 
affairs  of  administration.  In  a  meet- 
ing of  equals  for  the  purpose  of  coming 
to  resolutions  in  common,  the  conduct 
of  individuals  might  betray  factious 
opposition,  that  is  to  say,  of  a  needless 
kind,  and  actuated  by  personal  mo- 
tives, where  Seditious  would  be  too 
grave  and  political  a  term.  The 
factious  man  is  troublesome,  the  se- 
ditious man  dangerous.  The  factious 
man  uses  his  power,  influence,  or 
money  in  furtherance  of  his  own  views ; 
the  seditious  man,  unless  he  be  a  de- 
magogue, has  probably  none  of  these 
means  to  employ. 

"  Chriatianity  is  an  humble,  qniet,  peace- 
able, and  orderly  religion,  not  noisy  or  os- 
tentatious, not  assuming  or  censorious,  not 
factious  or  tumultuous,"— Waterlaxd. 

"  If  anything  pass  in  a  religious  meeting 
seditiously,  and  contrary  to  the  public  peace. 
It  is  to  be  punished  in  the  same  manner  and 
no  otherwise  than  as  if  it  had  happened  in  a 
'air  or  market." — Locke. 

FACTOR.     Agent.     Broker. 

There  is  little  difference  in  these 
words  themselves.  A  Factor  ( Lat. 
factorem,  a  doer)  and  Agent  (Lat. 
igere,  to  act)  being  persons  who  act 
on  behalf  of  others  ;  but  an  agent  has 
more  discretionary  power,  and  repre- 
sents his  employer's  interests  more 
generally  ;  a  factor  transacts  business 
on  commission.  The  factor  differs 
from  the  Broker  (etym.  uncertain), 
in  that  he  is  the  consignee  of  goods, 
and  buys  and  sells  in  his  own  name, 
while  the  broker  is  only  a  middleman 
and  takes  no  possession. 

"  The  house  in  Leadenhall  Street  is  no- 
tning  more  than  a  change  for  their  agents. 


/actors.  And  deputies  to  meet  in,  to  take 
care  of  their  affairs  and  to  support  their  in- 
terests."— BuRKK. 

"  My  employment,  which  is  that  of  a 
broker,  leading  me  often  into  Taverns  abort 
the  Exchange." — Spectator. 

FACULTY.     Power. 

Faculty  (Lat.  JUcultatem,  capabi- 
lity ^  {rom  I'dche,  to  do)  is  active  power, 
but  it  differs  also  from  Power  (Fr. 
pouioir,  to  be  able),  as  applied  to  sen- 
tient bein^.  Power,  as  such,  belongs 
to  the  individual,  and  is  specifically 
exerted;  the  faculty  is  shared  with 
the  race.  Thus,  if  we  said  of  any  one, 
"  He  has  not  the  faculty  of  speech," 
we  should  mean,  that  he  was  born 
without  that  which  with  mankind  is 
a  natural  endowment ;  if  we  said, 
"  He  has  not  the  power  of  speech," 
we  should  mean  that,  from  some  phy- 
sical cause,  permanent  or  not,  he  was 
at  the  time  iiicapable  of  articulate 
utterance. 

"  For  man's  natural  powers  B.nd  faculties, 
even  as  they  were  before  the  fall  entire, 
were  not  sufficient  or  able  of  themselves  to 
reach  such  a  supernatural  end,  but  needed 
the  j)Ower  of  the  Divine  Spii'it  to  strengthen, 
elevate,  and  raise  them  thereto."  —  Bp. 
Bull. 

FAILING.  Failure.  Impbr- 
FECTiON.  Weakness.  Frailty. 
Foible.     Infirmity.     Fault. 

Failing  (¥r.  faitlir,  to  fail;  Lat. 
falOire,  to  deceive)  is  always  moral  and 
personal.  It  is  the  systematic  moral 
falling  short  of  moral  agents  in  one  par- 
ticular; as,  **  Irascibility  is  his  failing." 

*'  I  have  failings,  in  common  with  every 
human  being,  besides  my  own  peculiar 
faults  ;  but  of  avarice  I  have  generally  held 
myself  guiltless."— Fox. 

"  Our  business  is  to  show  that  objects  of 
great  dimensions  are  incompatible  with 
beauty,  the  more  incompatible  because  hey 
are  greater,  whereas  the  small,  if  ever  they 
fail  of  beauty,  this/at7wre  is  not  to  be  attri- 
buted to  their  size."— BuBKE. 

Failure  is  the  deficiency  of  supply 
or  performance  in  any  way.  The 
former  may  or  may  not  be  connected 
with  personal  conduct,  the  latter  ne- 
cessarily is  so  ;  but  in  no  case  does 
failure  express  moral  habit,  but  only 
the  character  of  specific  cases  ;  as  the 
failure  of  the  crops,  the  failure  of  a 
promise,  or  of  an  individual  to  per- 
form it. 


418 


Impeufection  (late  Lat.  impe>-fec- 
tibnem,  imperfectus,  incomplete)  is  a 
more  general  term  still,  and  is  applic- 
able to  any  defect  of  nature  in  natural 
productions  or  artificial.  When  em- 
ployed of  individuals  it  is  not  applied 
physically  (in  that  case  we  use  hle- 
mish  or  defeci),  but  to  any  point  in 
which  human  nature  falls  short  of  its 
ideal  completeness  or  normal  state,  as 
imperfect  sight  or  hearing.  An  imper- 
fection is  a  slight  defect. 

Weakness  (A.S.  w&c,  weak)  may  be 
used  of  physical  and  moral  power.  A 
weakness,  morally,  is  that  kind  of 
failing  which  comes  from  insufficient 
energy  or  judgment  to  resist  it,  a  pro- 
pensity uni'estrained,  though  acknow- 
ledged to  be  unwise. 

"  Go  wiser  thoa,  and  in  thy  scale  of  sense 
Weigh  thy  opinion  against  Providence  ; 
Call  imperfection  what  thou  fancy'st  such. 
Say,  Here  He  gives  too  little,  there  too 
inufh."  Pope. 

"Through  the  weakness  of  our  mortal 
nature,  we  cannot  always  stand  upright." 
—English  Prayer  Book. 

Fraii.ty  (Fr./re/e,  formerly /m?7e, 
L^t.  frttgiih,  brittle,  frail)  is  the  liabi- 
lity to  weakness,  as  well  as  the  fault 
proceeding  from  it,  and  also  the  lia- 
bility to  fall  or  oftend  from  the  in- 
fluence of  motives  external  to  one's 
self  overpowering  the  resolution, 
blinding  the  judgment,  or  exhausting 
patience  and  endurance. 

"  Or  further  seek  his  merits  to  disc-lose. 
Or  draw  his  frailties  from  their  dread 
abode 
(There  they  alike  in  trembling  hope  re- 
pose). 
The  bosom  of  his  father  and  his  God." 
Gray. 

Foible  (0.  Fr.  foible,  weak)  is  com- 
monly used  in  the  sense  of  a  slight  or 
j)ardonable  weakness,  implying  more 
of  folly  than  wrong,  and  havmg  its 
origin  in  constitutional  defect  of  mind 
or  character.  Hence  it  often  belongs 
to  matters  connected  with  a  false  es- 
timate of  self,  a  habit  of  imperfect  ac- 
tion being  a  failing,  a  habit  of  imper- 
fect self-kwowledge  a  foible,  such  as 
self-conceit. 

Infiumiiy  (^in-,  not,  and  JirmiHf 
ttrong),  like  Imi'frfection,  is  a  gene- 


SYNOKYMS  [*FAINT] 

ral  term,  denoting  innate  and  conge- 
nital weakness,  a  constitutional  defi- 
ciency of  physical  or  moral  power. 

"I  confess  my  foible  with  regard  to  flat- 
tery. I  am  as  foad  of  it  as  Vo)'^^aire  can 
jHJSsibly  he,  but  with  this  difference,  that  I 
love  it  only  from  a  masterly  hand."— Ches- 
TKRFIELD. 

"  Drink  no  longer  water,  but  use  a  little 
wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake,  and  thine 
often  infirmities." — Ejig.  Bible. 

Fault,  thouoh  connected  etymo- 
logically  with  Bailing,  is  not,  like  it, 
negative,  but  positive  and  definite, 
being  that  which  impairs  excellence 
in  a  grave  and  conspicuous  manner, 
an  offence  only  less  serious  than  e 
crime.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  force 
which  it  has  come  to  assume.  Fault 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the 
word  as  it  regards  human  beings,  be- 
longs to  the  weakness  of  human  nature. 
It  is  a  deviation  from  the  rule  of  right 
and  duty.  Traces  of  its  stricter  ety- 
mological meaning  appear  in  such 
phrases  as,  "  I  will  take  this  in  fault  of 
a  better,"  i.e.  failing  a  better ;  or  in  the 
geological  application  of  the  term 
fault  to  the  displacement  of  a  stratum; 
or  "The  hounds  are  at  fault,"  i.e.  the 
track  of  the  scent  has  failed  them. 

"  For  who  is  there  among  the  sons  of 
men  that  can  pretend  on  every  occasion 
thi-oughout  his  own  life  to  have  preserved  a 
faultless  conduct  ?  "— Blair. 


FAINT.     Languid. 

Faint  (O.  YY.feint,  part,  offeindre, 
toj'eign)  has  several  meanings  analo- 
gous to  this  primary  one,  as  lacking 
physical  poAver,  lacking  spirit,  lack- 
ing distinctness  of  ibrm,  delineation, 
or  colouring,  or  of  any  other  quality 
which  is  cognizable  by  the  senses,  as 
a  faint  smell,  a  faint  sound.  As  ap- 
jdied  to  the  condition  of  the  human 
frame,  Faint  denotes  the  absence  oi 
physical  strength ;  Languor  (Lat. 
langubrem)  the  want  of  vital  energy. 
Faintness  in  itself,  though  it  may  be 
great  at  the  time,  is  less  chronic  than 
languor,  and  generally  implies  some 
casual  cause,  as  to  be  faint  from  loss 
of  blood,  fatigue,  hunger.  Languor 
is  a  relaxed  or  listless  state  of  body, 
caused  by  a  continuously  operating 
cause,  as  constitutioaal  temuerameat. 


[fair] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


419 


want  of  rest,  heat,  or  oppressiveness 
of  weather. 

"  Methonght  I  saw  my  late  esponsed  saiut 
Brought  to  me  like  Alcestis  from  the  grave. 
Whom  Jove's  gi-eat  son  to  her  glad  hasband 

gave. 
Rescued  from  death  by  force,  though  pale 

and  faint."  MiLTON. 

"  Methinks  the  hiehest  expressions  that 
language,  assisted  with  all  its  helps  of  meta- 
phor and  resemblance,  can  afford,  are  very 
limguid  and  faint  in  comparison  of  what 
f  hey  strain  to  represent  when  the  goodness 
of  God  towards  them  who  love  Him  comes 
to  be  expressed." — BarrOW. 

FAIR.     Goodly. 

Fair  (A.  S./tf-^cr)  is  primarily  free 
from  all  that  taints,  befouls,  obstructs, 
•or  blemishes ;  hence  pleasing  to  the 
eye,  lig^ht-coloured,  cloudless,  unob- 
structed, candid,  or  impartial,  favour- 
able, distinct,  common,  .or  ordinary. 
Fair  weather  is  the  opposite  to  foul 
or  stormy. 

As  applied  to  persons  and  their  ap- 
pearance. Fair  denotes  tliat  which, 
being  clear  and  unsullied,  is  pleasing 
to  the  eye.  It  expresses  an  attri- 
bute of  the  appearance  only. 

Goodly  is  an  epithet  of  the  entire 
nature,  and  hence  fair  to  look  upon. 
That  which  is  goodly  is  pleasant, 
agreeable,  desirable;  hence  in  most 
instances  fair  to  look  upon  also.  A 
fair  woman  is  bright,  beautiful ;  a 
goodly  woman  is  a  fine- grown  one — 
a  specimen  of  goodness  in  the  ex- 
ternal qualities  of  womanhood. 

Clear  (Fr.  clair,  Lat.  cldrus)  is 
bright,  undimmed,  and  so  by  analogy 
distinct,  perspicuous,  audible,  pure, 
unclouded,  untarnished, unobstructed. 
In  speaking  of  the  weather,  that  is 
fair  which  is  not  foul  or  stormy ;  so 
tliat  the  term  admits  of  degrees,  as, 
"  Tolerably  fair,"  "  Very  fair."  Clear 
denotes  the  absence  of  cloud,  haze,  or 
fog,  and  the  brightness  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  We  might,  without  impro- 
priety, say,  "  We  had  fair  weather  for 
the  voyage,  but  not  many  clear  days, 
for  we  had  a  good  deal  of  fog." 

"When  it  is  evening  ye  say.  It  will  be 
fair  weather,  for  the  sky  is  reA."— English 
Bible. 

So  foul  a  fiky  clears  not  without  a  storm." 
8HAKE8PEA.RB. 


FAIR.  Just.  Equitable.  Rea- 
sonable.    Moderate,     Right. 

All  these  terms  are  applicable  to 
persons,  their  conduct,  and  their  de- 
mands. 

Fair  {see  above)  denotes  an  esti- 
mate in  detail  of  what  is  reciprocally 
just;  a  fair  price  for  an  article  is  that 
which  seems  right  considering  the  cir- 
cumstances of  buyer  and  seller  and 
sale.  Hence  the  common  use  of  such 
expressions  as,  "  Upon  the  whole  that 
seems  fair."  So  a  fair  man  is  he  who 
is  ready  to  look  at  others'  interests  as 
well  as  his  own,  and  to  view  matters 
without  partiality,  prejudice,  or  self- 
seeking.  As  justice  depends  upon  the 
due  proportion  of  the  thing,  so  fairness 
comes  of  due  proportion  of  feeling  in 
the  person.  That  fitness  enters  into 
the  essence  of  fairness  may  be  seen  in 
the  fact  mentioned  by  S'keat,  E<i/w. 
D/cf.,  that  the  Goth.  "fas;rs"  trans- 
lates tCQsTov  in  Luke  xiv.  35. 
"  I  would  call  itfair  play." 

Shakkspkare. 

"  Would  it  become  a  Just  governor  to 
permit  his  rebalHous  sul)jects,  those  who 
contemn  his  laws,  to  persecute  such  as  were 
obedient  to  him  ?  "— WiLKiKS. 

Just  ( Lat.  Justus)  is  more  conjpre- 
hensive,  and  implies  the  application 
of  principles  of  retributive  justice, 
where  it  is  due,  in  antagonism  to  all 
else,ase.«;.  any  temptation  to  partiality, 
or  negligence  in  award.  There  is  a  dig- 
nity and  sternness  about  the  term  just 
which  does  not  belong  to  Fair,  as  if  it 
connected  itself  more  directly  with 
personal  and  responsible  action.  So 
prizes  are  said  to  be  fairly  won  and 
justly  awarded. 

Equitable  (se,e  Equity)  is  accord- 
ing to  Equity,  and  so  has  the  force  of 
the  noun  itself,  which  is  not  mere  fair- 
ness, but  such  justice  as  may  serve  to 
supplement  the  imperfections  of  law 
or  rule.  If  justice  belongs  to  the 
judge,  equity  should  guide  the  de- 
cision of  the  umpire. 

"  Justice  shalt.  toon  have  ; 
Nor  shall  an  equitable  claim  depend 
On  such  precarious  issue." 

Smollkt. 

Reasonable  (Fr.  raisonnab{ey  rai- 
soii,  Lat.  rdtionerriy  reason)  denotes 
what  is  fair  under   another  aspect. 


420 


As  the  fair  is  the  right  between  man 
and  man,  the  reasonable  is  the  right 
in  itself,  as  it  would  commend  itself 
not  only  to  the  just  but  to  the  wise 
man.  The  reasonable,  however,  ex- 
tends beyond  tlie  matters  of  inter- 
course between  man  and  man,  to  the 
essential  nature  of  things,  which  are 
in  accordance  with  common  sense  or 
common  experience.  A  reasonable 
prospect  of'^success,  for  instance,  is  a 
prospect  which  circumstances  render 
probable. 

"Argnment  alone,  though  it  might  in- 
deed evince  the  consistency  and  reasonable- 
ness of  the  doctrine,  could  never  amount  to 
a  proof  of  its  heavenly  origin." — HoRSLEy, 

Moderate  (Lat.  part.  inMtratus, 
restrained,  reguUiled),  as  commonly 
employed,  denotes  a  marked  absence 
0^  excess  in  demand ;  this  may  or  may 
.lot  flow  from  justice  or  fairness — the 
term  states  nothing  but  the  fact.  "  I 
purchased  the  article  at  a  moderate 
price,"  indicates  nothing  as  to  the  in- 
tentions of  the  seller.  Moderate  mea- 
sures may  be,  and  very  often  are,  the 
expressions  of  justice,  but  they  may 
also  originate  in  prudence,  or  be  dic- 
tated by  necessity. 

"  Moderate  rain  and  showers." — Book  of 
Common  Prayer. 

FAITHFUL.      Trusty.      Coxnfi- 

DENTIAL. 

These  terms  start,  as  it  were,  from 
opposite  sides.  The  Faithful  (0.  Fr. 
f'ei,  Lsit.  J'tdem,  faith)  servant,  for  in- 
stance, is  he  who  is  full  of  faith,  in  the 
sense  of  fidelity  to  his  master;  the 
Trusty  servant  is  he  who  is  worthy 
of  his  master's  trust.  Hence  Trusty 
is  a  more  comprehensive  term  than 
Faithful,  which  it  includes,  together 
with  all  other  oualities  which  justify 
the  reposing  or  confidence.  The  in- 
discreet servant,  however  he  might 
love  his  master,  would  not  be  trusty, 
though  we  might  not  speak  of  him 
as  unfaithful. 

"  Faithful  found 
Among  the  faithless." 

Milton. 
'  The  shepherd  last  appears. 
And  with  him  all  his  patrimony  bears  ; 
His  house  and  household  gods,  his  trade  of 

war. 
His  bow  and  quiver,  and  his  trusty  cur." 
Drtdbw,  Virgil. 


SYNONYMS  [faithful] 

Confidential  (La^.  eofOTid^^  tc 
trust  confidently)  expresses  the  simple 
relationship  of  tinist,  not  the  deserving 
of  it.  It  has  happened  that  masters 
have  been  robbed,  betrayed,  and  mur- 
dered by  their  confidential  servants. 

"Against  all  rules,  after  we  had  met 
nothing  but  rebuffs  in  return  to  all  .  ar 
pi'oposals,  we  made  two  confidential  co  - 
nmnications  to  those  in  whom  we  had  nc 
confidence,  and  who  reposed  no  confldente 
in  us." — Burkk 

F.AITHLESS.  Treacherous. 
Perfidjous. 

Faithless  means  no  more  than  not 
keeping  faith.  The  character  of  faith- 
lessness may  therefore  vary  in  degree. 
and  may  or  may  not  be  accompaniea 
by  a  desire  to  deceive  or  inj  ure  others. 
The  sentinel  who  sleeps  at  his  post  is 
faithless  to  his  duty. 

Treachery  (Fr.  tricherie,  cheating, 
trickery)  and  Perfidy  (Lat.  per/ it/ ja) 
are  peculiar  kinds  of  faithlessness. 
Perfidy  denotes  the  violation  of  some 
trust  reposed  and  recognized  or  ac- 
cepted by  the  other  party.  Treachery 
is  the  leading  one  to  trust  for  tlie 
purpose  of  bringing  to  harm,  or  the 
readiness  to  break  oflT  a  trust  reposed 
to  one's  own  benefit,  and  the  injury 
of  another.  Treachery  lures  by  de- 
ceitful appearances  to  ruin.  Perfidy 
violates  engagements  fiom  self-in- 
terest or  inclination.  Perfidy  is  a  false- 
hood dark  and  deep.  It  is  an  abuse 
of  trust  founded  on  inviolable  guaran- 
tees of  humanity,  good  faith,  laws, 
gratitude,  friendship,  natural  relation- 
ship. The  more  sacred  such  rights 
and  the  more  calm  the  trust  reposed 
upon  them,  the  more  secret  the  per- 
fidy ;  and  the  more  established  the  re- 
lationship, the  baser  the  perfidy  which 
violates  it. 

•*  When  the  heart  is  sorely  wounded  by 
the  ingratitude  or  faithlessness  of  those  on 
whom  it  had  leaned  with  the  whole  weight 
of  afi'ection,  where  shall  it  turn  for  relief?" 
—Blair. 

"  Thou  'st  broke  perfidiously  thy  oath. 
And  not  performed  thy  plighted  troth." 
Hudibras, 

"The  promontory  or  peninsula  which 
disjoins  these  two  bays  I  call  Traitor'i 
Head,  from  the  treacherous  behaviour  of 
it«  iahabitants."— Cook's  Voyages. 


[falsehood]  discriminated. 


421 


FALLACIOUS.     Sophistical. 

Fallacious  reasoning  (Lat. /«//a- 
:em,  adj.  fallire,  to  deceive)  is  that 
which  seems  to  be  fairly  conducted 
and  conclusive,  but  is  not  so  by  rea- 
son of  some  vitiating  cause,  called  the 
fallacy,  which  lurks  beneath  it. 

"  This  fallacious  idea  of  liberty,  whilst  it 
presents  a  vain  shadow  of  happiness  to  the 
subject,  binds  faster  the  chains  of  his  sub- 
jection."—BuEKE. 

Sophistical  reasoning  (Gr.  ct^a-- 
TJKoc,  iro<})«rT>;?,  a  sophist)  is  that  of 
which  the  nature  is  so  subtle,  that  its 
faults  cannot  easily  be  detected  and 
exposed,  and  it  may  be  unanswerable 
without  being  convincing.  Sophisti- 
cal reasoning  may  silence  and  be- 
wilder, but  seldom  persuades.  By 
fallacious  reasoning  we  may  deceive 
others,  and  are  continually  deceiving 
ourselves,  in  those  cases  in  which  our 
own  hearts  give  credence  to  the  fal- 
lacy ;  but  sophistical  reasoning  is  felt 
at  the  time  to  be  inconclusive. 

"  A  set  of  men  smitten  not  with  the  love 
of  wisdom,  but  of  fame  and  glory,  men  of 
great  natural  abilities,  notable  industry, 
and  boldness,  appeared  in  Greece,  and  as- 
sumed the  name  of  5b»Ats^s."— Sydenham, 
Plato. 

"  Inconclusive  and  sophistical."  —  Bo- 
LINGBROKE. 

FALSE.     Fabulous. 

False  (Lat.  falsus)  is  opposed  to 
true. 

Fabulous  (Lat.  fabtlldsus)  ex- 
presses a  mode  of  the  false — the  false 
m  representation,  description,  or  nar- 
rative. The  fabulous  is  inventive 
falsehood.  He  who  without  inven- 
tion, or  believing  it  to  be  true,  re- 
counting what  he  has  heard,  states  that 
which  is  not  the  fact,  gives  an  account 
false  as  regards  himself ;  fabulous 
also,  if  it  be  the  concoction  of  an- 
other. On  the  other  hand,  the  fabu- 
lous is  often  possible,  though  false  in 
the  particular  case.  A  man  gives  a 
fabulous  account  who  reports  wonder- 
ful things  as  seen  in  his  travels,  which, 
in  fact,  he  has  not  seen,  though  the 
things  may  really  exist,  and  are  so  far 
not  false.  But  though  the  things  are 
not  false  in  the  sense  of  unreal,  his 
Statement  is,  in  the  sense  of  untrue. 
The  idea  of  the  false  is  much  simpler 


than  that  of  the  fabulous.  One  may 
say  what  is  false  in  a  monosyllable. 
I'hat  which  is  fabulous  implies  order, 
aiTangement,  effort  at  probability,  and 
the  like.    And  yet,  so  far  as  mere  ap- 

f)earance  is  concerned,  the  positively 
alse  may  approach  much  nearer  to 
probability  than  the  fabulous.  Where 
the  false  is  probable  the  probability  is 
inherent  and  essential.  Where  the 
fabulous  is  probable  the  probability 
is  contrived.  I  say  that  I  have  been 
out  for  a  walk,  although  I  have  not, 
this  is  false.  I  invent  a  reason,  and 
Bay  that  a  friend  called  to  take  me  out, 
this  is  fabulous. 

FALSEHOOD.  Falsity.  Un- 
TRUTH.     Lie. 

Of  these  terms  Lie  is  the  strongest 
(A.  S.  leogan).  It  is  criminal  false- 
hood, an  untruth  spoken  for  the  pur- 
pose of  deceiving,  and,  indeed,  for  the 
worst  of  all  purposes. 

An  Untruth  is  simply  a  statement 
which  is  not  true,  and  may  have  been 
uttered  without  intention  to  deceive 
and  through  ignorance.  "  I  must 
con-ect  myself;  1  accidentally  spoke 
an  untruth."  It  is,  however,  often 
employed  in  cases  where  the  term  Lie 
seems  harsh.  So  we  should  censure 
a  little  child  for  telling  an  untruth,  as 
preferring  to  use  a  softer  expression 
than  lie,  which  comprises  offences  of 
much  gi-eater  magnitude. 

The  term  Fai,sehood  is  somewhat 
hard  to  determine.  Its  ordinary  use 
IS  that  of  the  statement  in  cases  in 
which  Falsity  is  the  quality.  1  am 
convinced  of  the  falsity  of  what  is 
said,  and  so  call  the  saying  a  false- 
hood ;  though  the  use  of  Falsehood, 
in  the  sense  of  Falsity,  is  not  to  be 
simply  reprobated,  as  some  have  done ; 
for  as  likelihood  means  the  quality 
of  being  likely,  so  is  falsehood  the 
quality  of  being  false.  The  difficulty, 
however,  lies  in  determining  whether 
Falsehood  denotes  necessarily  the  vio- 
lation of  truth  for  purposes  of  deceit 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  ordi- 
narily speaking,  this  is  so.  Yet,  philo- 
sophical untruth  may  be  called  false- 
hood, that  is,  philosophical  falsehood. 
The  distinction  in  this  case  seems  to 
flow  from  the  nature  of  the  subiect- 


422 


matter;  an  erroneous  statement  m 
any  subject-matter  which  is  variable 
or  contingent  could  not  be  tei-med  a 
falsehood;  on  the  other  hand,  a  viola- 
tion of  scientific  truth,  even  uninten- 
tional, would  be  a  falsehood.  For 
instance,  I  say,  "  He  is  not  in  the 
house  ;  he  has  started  for  a  walk."  It 
toi-ns  out  that  he  has  returned ;  but  I 
was  in  error  without  any  intention  to 
deceive,  therefore  what  I  said  was 
not  a  falsehood.  But  suppose  that  a 
philosopher  in  ancient  times,  judging 
only  by  natural  observation,  liad  said, 
"The  diameter  of  the  moon  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  sun ;  "  this  would  have 
been  a  falsehood,  though  uttered  with 
no  intention  to  deceive,  that  is,  a 
falsehood  in  science.  Still  a  distinc- 
tion may  be  well  established  between 
cases  in  which  Fai^  ehood  and  Fa  lsity 
might  appear  capable  of  being  em- 
ployed indifferently.  "  1  perceive  the 
falsehood  of  your  declaration,"  might 
be  misconstrued  into  giving  the  lie 
where  no  such  intention  existed.  This 
might  have  beea  avoided  by  using  the 
term  falsity. 

"  He  put  forth  a  satire  against  the  wicked 
ness  of  these  men,  revealing  the  falsehood 
and  knavery  that  he  was  made  privy  to." — 
Stkype,  Memorials. 

"  The  childish  futility  of  some  of  these 
maxims,  the  gross  and  stupid  absurdity,  and 
the  palpable /flteYy  of  others." — BuKKE. 

"A  lie  is  a  breach  of  pj-onnse,  for  whoever 
seriously  addresses  his  aiscourse  to  another 
tacitly  promises  to  speak  the  truth,  be- 
cause he  knows  that  trsitii  is  expected." — 
Palky. 

"  That  which  they  have  been  reproved  for 
is  not  because  they  did  therein  utter  an  un- 
tmth,  but  such  a  truth  as  was  not  sufficient 
to  bear  up  the  cause  which  they  did  thereby 
seek  to  maintain."— Hookkk. 

FALTER.     Hesitate. 

I'hese  terms  are  employed  of  that 
which  interferes  with  the  freedom  of 
speech,  action,  and  thought. 

Falteh  (connected  with  fiadt)  al- 
ways comes  from  weakness,  or  igno- 
rance. 

Hesitate  (Lat.  hces^tare,.  to  stick 
fast)  may  be  the  result  of  prudence, 
and  voluntary.  Where  it  is  used  of 
involuntary  hesitation  of  speech,  the 
tongue  falters  through  emotion,  and 


SYNONYMS  [falter] 

hesitates  through  inaptitude  of  speech. 
He  who  falters  proceeds  but  in  a  weak, 
unstable,  uncertain  manner;  he  -t^ho 
hesitates  for  the  time  suspends  pro- 
gress. Under  that  which  distracts  or 
oppresses  us  we  falter;  before  that 
which  discourages  us,  or  places  ob- 
stacles in  our  way,  or  disturbs  our 
judgment,  we  hesitate. 

"  Twice  she  began,  and  stopp'd  :.  a^ain  she 

tried ; 
The  faltering  tongue  its  office  still  lenied." 
Deyden,  Ovid. 
"  Without  doubt  or  liesitancy." — Atter- 

BURY. 

FAME.  Reputation.  Renown. 
Repute. 

Fame  ( Lat. yama)  may  be  applied 
to  any  object,  good,  bad,  or  indifte- 
rent,  and  may  even  be  used  of  passing 
rumours. 

Reputation  (Lat.  ripYitationem,  a 
reckoning,  a  pondering)  belongs  essen- 
tially to  persons,  and  not  to  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  rumour.  It  implies  some 
amount  of  publicity  of  character. 

Repute  differs  from  Reputation  in 
applying  to  things  as  well  as  persons. 
lie  is  a  man  of  high  reputation ;  or  his 
character  is  in  good  or  bad  repute. 
Some  articles  were  at  one  time  valued 
in  trade ;  but  they  are  of  little  repute 
at  present. 

Renown  (  Fr.  renom,  from  renommer. 
to  name  again,  to  celebrate)  is  employed 
of  deeds  and  characters  or  persons. 
Renown  is  illustrious  reputation,  but 
is  confined,  as  Reputation  is  not,  to 
signal  deeds.  A  man  may  have  a 
high  reputation  for  integi-ity,  but  he 
is  renowned  for  striking  deeds  and 
high  achievements,  not  for  moral  ex- 
cellences, unless  they  are  conspi- 
cuously exhibited.  A  good  rnputation 
is  vv'ithin  the  reach  of  all.  It  is  tlie 
fruit  of  social  virtues,  and  the  consis- 
tent discharge  of  duty.  Intellect, 
talent,  genius,  procure  celebrity, 
which,  if  it  reach  a  certain  point,  be- 
comes Renown,  which,  though  more 
extensive  and  brilliant  than  Reputa- 
tion, may  be  less  conducive  to  the 
good  of  others  and  one's  own  happi- 
ness. Renown  comes  from  personal 
greatness;  but  this  may  have  been 
acquii'ed  or  inherited.    A  general  may 


[FAMOUS J 

be  renowned  for  liis  valour  and  liis 
victories;  a  monarcli  for  the  extent  ot 
liis  dominions.  Renown  is  a  far  more 
stable  thing  than  reputation,  resting 
as  it  does  upon  great  and  acknow- 
ledged facts ;  reputation  is  more  con- 
ventional, equivocal,  and  vai'iable.  It 
is  quite  possible  to  sacrifice  reputation 
for  renown.  Reputation  aims  at  tlie 
quality  of  recognition  ;  fame  and  re- 
nown at  the  quantity.  Yet  reputation 
is  sometimes  very  ill-founded,  and  a 
man  has  a  reputation  which  it  puzzles 
us  to  conjecture  how  he  accpiired. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  is  not  astonish- 
ing that  different  kinds  of  reputation 
meet  in  the  same  person. 

"  Fame  is  a  blessing  only  in  relation  to 
the  qualities  and  the  persons  that  give  it ; 
since  otherwise  the  tormented  Prince  of 
Devils  himself  were  as  happy  as  he  is  mise- 
rable; and  famousness  unattended  with  en- 
dearing causes  is  a  quality  so  undesirable, 
that  even  infamy  and  folly  can  confess  it." — 
BOYLE. 

"  0  father,  first  for  prudence  in  repute. 
Tell,   with   that  eloquence  so  much    thy 

own. 
What  thou  hast  heard." 

Dryden,  Ovid. 

"  Jteputation  is  the  greatest  engine  by 
which  those  who  are  possessed  of  power 
must  make  that  power  serviceable  to  the 
ends  and  uses  of  government," — Atter- 
BURY. 

"  A  foreign  son-in-law  shall  come  from  far 
(Such  is  our  fJoom),  a  chief  renovmcd  in 

war. 
Whose  race  shall   bear  aloft   the   Latian 

name. 
And  through  the  conquered  world  diffuse 

our  fame."  Dryden,  Virgil. 

FAME.     Report.     Rumour. 

In  this  connexion.  Fame  is  a  Re- 
port or  Rumour  which  invests  the 
subject  of  it  with  some  degi-ee  of  im- 
portance. It  is  the  Uearsa}  evidence 
of  remarkable  persons  and  events,  as, 
"The  fame  of  our  Saviour's  miracles 
went  abroad." 

Rf.port  (Fr.  rapport,  rapporter,  to 
bring  back  again)  is  a  bringing  back  of 
news,  and  may  be  authentic  or  un- 
founded, or  partly  true  and  partly 
false.  The  subject  of  a  report,  what- 
ever may  be  the  evidence  for  it,  is 
definite. 

The  subject  of   a   Rumour   (Lat. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


423 


rnmorem)  is  indefinite  and  vague,  in- 
asmuch as  it  flies  about  from  mouth 
to  mouth  in  such  a  way  that  no  repor- 
ters of  it  can  be  identified,  or  authority 
substantiated. 

"  And    the    fame    thereof    was    noised 
abroad."— J5/i/e. 

"  Or  speak  ye  of  report,  or  did  ye  see 
Jnst  cause  of  dread,  that  makes  ye  doubt  so 
sore  I "  SpEXSER. 

"  What  then  befel  him  little  I  relate. 
For  various  tales  are  rumoured  of  his  fate." 
HooLE,  Orlando  Furioso. 

FAMILIAR.     Free. 

Free  conduct  (A.  S.  /red)  is  that 
which  exceeds  the  due  bounds  of  re- 
serve or  respect  toward  another. 
"  Satire  has  always  shone  among  the  rest. 
And  is  the  boldest  way  if  not  the  best 
To  tell  men  freely  of  their  foulest  faults. 
To  laugh  at  their  vain  deeds  and  vainer 
thoughts,"  DRYDElf. 

Familiar  (fiimilidris,  of  or  belonging 
to  n  household,  familia)  conduct  is  the 
same  thing  in  the  presence  or  toward 
the  person  of  the  other.  Free  is  a  term 
of  treatment  generally  ;  Familiar, 
of  personal  demeanour.  All  familia- 
rity is  freedom ;  but  all  freedom  is  not 
familiarity.  I  use  familiarity  toward 
a  superior  if  I  demean  myself  to  wards 
him  as  an  equal,  or  if  1  behave  to  a 
new  acquaintance  as  if  I  had  known 
him  long  and  well.  The  same  thin^ 
might  also  be  called  freedom ;  but  it 
would  be  no  less  freedom  if  I  were  to 
ask  a  person  high  in  office  for  a  per- 
sonal favour  when  I  had  no  acquain- 
tance with  or  claim  upon  him. 
"  The  lawn-robed  Prelate  and  plain  Pres- 
byter, 
Erewhile  that  stood  aloof  as  shy  to  meet. 
Familiar  may  be  here  like  sister  streams 
That  some  rude  interposing  rock  had  split." 
Blair. 

FAMOUS.     Celebrated. 

Famous  (Lat.  fdma,  fame  or  report) 
denotes  what  is  extensively  known 
and  extensively  talked  about  as  some- 
thing more  than  ordinary  of  its  kind. 
It  is  used  both  in  a  favourable  and 
unfavourable  sense,  though  more  com- 
monly in  the  former.  It  is  applicable 
both  to  persons  and  things. 

Celebrated  (Lat.  c^/i?o rare,  to  cele- 
brate)  is    that  of  which   men   have 


424 


SYNONYMS  [fancy] 


spoken  or  written  much,  as  worthy  of 
iflterest  or  praise.  It  is  not  so  forcible 
a  word  as  renowned  or  ilhtstrious,  and 
indicate*  some  merit  or  talent  which, 
without  conferring  grandeur,  confers 
nevertheless  high  honour  on  the  sub- 
ject of  it.  It  is  most  frequently  em- 
{)loyed  of  intellectual  character,  of 
iterary  or  scientific  men. 

"  Men  famous  for  their  skill  in  polite 
liierature."— Mason. 

*'  Dr.  Warbnrton  had  a  name  sufficient  to 
conrer  celebrity  on  those  who  could  exalt 
themselves  into  antagonists." — Johnson. 

FANCY.  IvAOINATION.  CONCIP- 
TION. 

Fancy  (con.  oi  fantasy,  Fr.  fan- 
taisie,  Gr.  <pavrairM)  is  that  faculty 
which  reproduces  the  impressions 
caused  by  external  objects,  combines 
and  modifies  them  anew,  and  recalls 
them  for  purposes  of  mental  delecta- 
tion. 

Imagination  (Lat.  imaginationem, 
an  image,  imaginari,  to  fancy)  is  almost 
the  same ;  but  there  is  a  difference, 
which,  after  all,  depends  more  upon 
the  subject-matter  than  on  any  dis- 
tinctness of  faculty.  The  same  power 
which  we  should  call  Fancy,  if  em- 
ployed on  a  production  of  a  light 
nature,  would  be  dignified  with  the 
title  of  Imagination  if  shown  on  a 
larger  scale.  Imagination  is  a  grander, 
graver  exercise  of  mind  than  fancy. 
Its  laws  are  more  immediate,  and  its 
connexion  with  truth  more  marked. 
Imagination  is  more  in  earnest  than 
fancy,  which  is  governed  by  remoter 
associations,  and  may  be  arbitrary  and 
capricious ;  which  imagination,  in  the 
higher  sense  of  the  term,  never  is. 
The  historical  novels  of  Scott  exhibit 
both  fancy  and  imagination ;  fancy, 
where  scenes  are  introduced  which 
are  not,  or  in  all  their  details  are  not, 
historically  true,  but  sucli  as  might 
have  occurred ;  imagination,  where, 
upon  limited  historical  information, 
he  completes  the  outline  of  a  character 
or  an  event  by  the  play  of  energetic 
but  accarate  creations. 

Conception  (Lat.  conceptidnenif  con- 
ctph'e,  to  conceive,  imagine)  differs  from 
both  in  being  more  creative,  and 
having  for  its  object  the  production 


of  some  reality,  as  the  conceptions  of 
the  poet,  the  painter,  and  the  sculptor. 
Fancy  may  be  wholly  unreal.    Imagi- 
nation must  be  in  part  real.     Concep- 
tion is  altogether  real. 
"  Play  with  your  fancies,  and  in  them  be- 
hold 
Upon  the  hempen  tackle  ship-boys  climb- 
ing. 
Hear  the  shrill  whistle  which  doth  order 

give 
To  sounds  confused.     Behold  the  threadeo 

sails, 
Borne    with    th'    invisible    and    creeping 

wind. 
Draw  the  huge  bottoms  through  the  fur- 
rowed sea. 
Breasting  the  lofty  surge." 

Shakespeare. 
"  Poetry,  however,  in  its  ancient  original 
condition,  was  perhaps  more  vigorous  than 
it  is  in  its  modern  state.  It  included  then 
the  whole  burst  of  the  human  mind,  the 
whole  exertion  of  its  imaginative  faculties." 
—Blair. 

"  By  sight  we  have  a  conception  or  image 
composed  of  colour  and  figure,  which  is  all 
the  notice  and  knowledge  the  object  im- 
parteth  to  us  of  its  nayg|a])y  the  eye." — 

HOBBES.  fl^^ 

FANTASTICAL.^Bnciful. 
It  will  be  seen  ab^i  that  these 
words  are  of  the  same  origin.  The 
Fanciful,  however,  denotes  an  arbi- 
trary and  capricious  exercise  of  imagi- 
nation or  invention.  The  Fantasti- 
cal violates  order  and  propiiety.  It 
is  fancifulness  carried  to  a  grotesque 
pitch.  Both  are  applicable  to  persons 
and  their  thoughts,  and  even  to  ob- 
jects, as  in  the  quotation  from  Byron. 
"  And  just  as  children  are  surprised  with 

dread. 
And  tremble  in  the  dark,  so  riper  years. 
Even  in  broad  daylight,  are  possessed  mth 

fears. 
And  shake  at  shadows /ana/wZ  and  vain 
As  those  which  in  the  breasts  of  children 
reign."  Dryden,  Lucretius. 

"  'Twas  sweet  of  yore  to  see  it  play, 
And  chase  the  sultriness  of  day. 
As  sf)ringing  high  the  silver  dew 
In  \yh\v\s  fantastically  flew. 
And  flung  luxurious  coolness  round 
Ttie  air,  and  verdure  o'er  the  ground." 
Byron. 

/ARE.  Food.  Provisions,  Vic- 
tuals. 

Food  (A.  S.  foda)  is  the  simplest, 
and  expresses  whatever  properly  sup- 
ports animal  life,  whether  in  men  or 


[fast] 


discriminatp:d. 


425 


other  animals.   'J"ho  term  is  sometimes 
used  of  plants  analogously,  and,  in  a 
eecondarj  sense,  of  anything  which 
keeps  up  a  required  supply,  as  food 
for  study. 
"  Who  e'er  on  wing  with  open  throats 
Fly  at  debates,  expresses,  votss, 
Just  in  the  manner  swallows  use, 
Catching  the  airy /ood  c'news." 

Greek,  The  Spleen. 

Fare  (y.fare,  to  travel,  A.  S.faraii) 
is  food  regularly  accruing,  and  com- 
monly has  associated  with  it  some 
terra  expressive  of  its  specific  cha- 
racter, as  good,  substantial,  poor, 
meagre.  It  is  specific  daily  food. 
"  Yet   labouring  well     his   little    spot    of 

ground. 
Some  scattering  pot-herbs  here  and  there 

he  found. 
Which  cultivated  with  his  daily  care. 
And  bruised  with  vervain,  were  his  frugal 
fare."  Drypen,  Virgil. 

Provision  or  Provisions  (Lnt.  pro- 
vhionem,  providere,  to  foresee ,  provide) 
is  suitable  food  for  the  procuring  of 
which  arrangements  have  been  made. 

"  With  that 
Both  table  and  provision  vanished  quite." 
Milton. 
ViCTUAi^  (Lat.  victus,  mode  of  life, 
victualx,{rom  vtvire,to  live)i8  employed 
only  of  human  food.     Food  and  pro- 
visions may  exist  in  a  crude  state,  or 
unprepared    for    eating.      Fare  and 
victuals  denote  prepared  food.     Vic- 
tuals would  not  now   be  applied  to 
uncooked  meat,  flour,  corn,   and  the 
like ;  nor  is  fare  used  of  any  but  human 
beings. 

••  You  had  musty  victunlx, 
And  he  hath  holp  to  eat  it." 

Shakespeare. 

FARMER.  Husbandman.  Agri- 
culturist. 

Farmf.h  (Fr.  lerme,  an  agreement  to 
let  Ltnd,ihe  land  let,  L.  Lat.^rma)  is  one 
who  cultivates  land,  whether  as  the 
freehold  proprietor  or  tenant,  for  any 
purpose  connected  with  agriculture. 

Husbandman  originally  meant  the 
master  of  a  family,  one  who  dwells  in 
the  house ;  I  eel.  hiii>h6ndi,  biia,  to  dwell : 
Richardson.  It  afterwards  dropped 
into  the  meaning  of  what  in  our  day 
is  commonly  called  farm-labourer — 
one  who  performed  manual  labour  in 


tillage,  whetJier  on  his  own  account  or 
as  a  hired  servant. 

AoRicui.TURfST  (Lat.  agnciiltftra, 
agriculture)  admits  the  idea  of  scien- 
tific ortheoretical  farming,  and  farther 
still,  the  science  of  ftxrming  without 
the  practice  of  it. 

"  A  farmer,  firmarius,  was  one  who  held 
his  lands  upon  payment  of  a  rent  or  feorme, 
though  at  present,  by  a  gi-adual  departure 
from  the  original  sense,  the  word  farm  is 
brought  to  signify  the  very  estate  or  lands 
so  held  upon  farm  or  rent." — Blackstonk. 

"  The  bulk  of  every  State  may  be  divided 
into  husbandmen  and  manufacturers."— 
Hume. 

*'  The  farmer  is  always  a  practitioner ;  the 
agriculturist  may  be  a  mere  theorist." — 
Crabb. 

FAST.     Firm. 

Fast  (A.  S.ftest)  and  Firm  (Lat. 
frmus)  may  often  be  used  interchange- 
ably, as,  "  Hold  firm,"  "  Hold  fast;" 
but  there  are  other  instances  which 
show  that  Firm  is  a  subjective,  Fast 
an  objective  term.  A  thing  is  firm  in 
itself,  fast  by  external  fixture.  Drive 
a  nail  fast  into  the  wall,  and  it  will  be 
firm  enough  to  hang  a  weight  upon 
it.  Hence  Firm  is  used  of  the  internal 
qualities  or  substances  of  things,  witli- 
out  reference  to  anything  external,  as 
firm  flesh,  finn  ice,  and  the  like.  In 
their  analogous  applications  the  same 
corresponding  ideas  appear.  A  fast 
friend  is  one  who  remains  steadfastly 
united  and  attached.  A  firm  friend 
is  one  whose  aflection  is  not  easily 
shaken. 

"  I  know  there  is  an  order  that  keeps 
things  fast  in  their  place,  it  is  made  to  us, 
and  we  to  it." — BuRKE. 

"  It  is  Jehovah  that  is  merciful,  and  as 
Jehovah  signi&es  Jirmititde  of  being,  and  is 
therefore  compared  to  a  rock, &c., so  these  his 
mercies  are  likened  to  things  of  longest 
duration,  to  those  things  which  to  us  men 
are  such  in  our  account." — GooDWIN. 

FAST.     Hard. 

There  is  a  use  of  these  as  adverbs  of 
motion.  *'  It  rains  fast,"  or,  ''  Itrains 
hard."  "  To  run  fast,"  or,  *'  To  i-un 
hard."  The  momentum  of  a  moving 
body  is  compounded  of  the  velocity 
and  the  weight.  So  Fast  (to  rain  fast) 
denotes  the  velocity;  Hard  (A.  S. 
heard),   to    rain    hard,    denotes    the 


426 


SYNONYMS 


[fasten] 


weight  of  the  falling  fluid.  These 
are  not  two  different  things,  but  the 
same  thing  looked  at  from  different 
points  of  view. 

FASTEN.     Fix. 

These  differ  in  the  degree  of  prox- 
imity implied  in  that  which  is  fastened 
or  fixed  to  something  else. 

To  Fix  (Lat.  ftgire,  part,  ^uts)  is 
to  fasten  w4th  contact,  in  such  a  way 
that  the  thing  fixed  has  no  indepen- 
dent movement. 

"  This  act 
Shall  bruise  the  head  of  Satan,  crush  his 

strength. 
Defeating  Sin   and   Death,  his   two  main 

arms, 
And^x  far  deeper  in  his  head  their  stings. 
Than  temporal  death  shall  bruise  the  vic- 
tor's heel. 
Or  theirs  whom  it  redeems."      Milton. 

lo  Fastkn  admits  of  some  interval, 
and  is  not  incompatible  with  limited 
independent  movement.     A  horse  is 
fastened  to  a  gate ;  but  the  gate-post 
is  fixed  in  the  ground. 
"  Dut  whei'e  the  fancy  wants  the  skill 
Of  fluent  easy  dress  at  will. 
The  thoughts  are  oft  like  colts  which  stray 
From  fertile  meads,  and  lose  their  way, 
Clapl  up  a.nd  fastened  in  the  pound 
Of  measured  rhyme  and  Ijarren  sound." 
Lloyd. 

FASTIDIOUS.     Squeamish. 

Fastidious  (h&t.  fastidiosus,  full  of 
bathing,  fastidium)  denotes  scrupu- 
lousness of  taste;  Squeamishness 
(which  is  another  form  of  qualmish- 
less)  belongs  to  matters  of  propriety 
in  conduct.  The  fastidious  person  is 
apt  to  think  things  defective,  the 
squeamish  to  think  them  impermis- 
siole.  The  fastidious  is  hard  to  please, 
the  squeamish  hard  to  assure.  One 
idea  of  the  Lat,  fastidium  is  scorn, 
pride ;  hence  fastidiousness  is,  literally, 
the  pride  which  rejects  as  not  good 
enough.  It  was  also  formerly  used  to 
denote  the  character  of  what  was  re- 
'ected  from  distaste  or  dislike  ;  as, 

"That  thing  for  the  which  children  be 
oftentimes  beaten  is  to  them  after  fasti- 
dious." ~SiR  T.  Elyot. 
A  nearer  approach  to  the  modern  use, 
yet  preserving  the  radical  idea  of 
pride,  is  the  following : — 

"  What  was  blameabie  '.n  the  Phaj'i.spes 


was  not  their  bars  using  of  some  lawfn), 
indifferent,  or  else  good  and  commendable 
things  not  commanded  by  Goti,  but  their 
teaching  such  for  doctrines,  and  laying 
them  as  burthens  on  others ;  and,  what 
was  consequent  to  this,  their  discriminat- 
ing themselves  proudly  and  fastidiously 
fi'om  other  men  upon  this  account," — Ham- 
mond. 

"  The  thorough-paced  politician  must  pre 
sently  laugh  at  the  squeamishness  of  his  con- 
science."— South. 

Where  the  term  Squeamish  is  applied 
to  matters  of  taste,  it  expresses  over- 
scrupulousness  on  minor  points,  an 
excessive  and  misplaced  fastidious- 
ness. As  Squeamish  is  a  weakening 
of  the  force  of  qualmish,  so  qualmish 
also,  denoting  sickly  languor,  h?slost 
much  of  the  force  of  A.  S.  civealm, 
pestiletice,  destruction, 

FATIGUE.  Weariness.  Lassi- 
tude. 

Fatigue  {Fr.fatiguer,  hht.ftliigare, 
to  weary)  is  the  result  of  sustained 
labour  or  exertion.  It  involves  no- 
thing abnormal.  The  soldier  is  fatigued 
by  a  long  march ;  by  food  and  rest  he 
is  refreshed.  But  if  the  march  be  such 
as  to  cause  his  spirits  to  flag  in  any 
way,  as  well  as  to  weaken  his  phy- 
sical powers,  he  then  suffers  Weari- 
ness (A.  S.  werig,  weary).  Fatigue 
is  applicable  to  the  mental  and  phy- 
sical, Weariness  to  the  moral  powers. 
Weariness  of  a  war  may  demoralize 
an  army. 

Lassitude  (Lat.  lussitud}inem,  lassusy 
weary)  is  chronic  fatigue,  owing  to 
some  continuously  operating  cause. 
It  is  very  like  languor;  but  languor 
is  constitutional,  and  often  might  be 
thrown  off  by  exertion;  lassitude  ii 
actual  weakness,  by  relaxation  of  the 
physical  powers. 

"  The  coaqneroT  fatigued  in  war 
With  hot  pursuit  of  enemies  afar," 

PAJtNELL. 

"  Weariness  and  labour,  and  to  eat  in  the 
sweatof  his  brows,and  to  turn  to  dust  again." 
—Bishop  Tay'Lor, 

"Lassitude  is  remedied  by  bathing,  or 
anointing  with  oil  and  warm  water." — 
Bacon. 

FAVOUR.     Grace. 
Favour  (Lsit.  fttvorem,  goodwill)  is 
used  for  the  ouality  of  an  act,  or  an 


[feasible] 

act  of  good  will,  as  distinguished  from 
oneofobligative  justice  or  compensa- 
tion. 

Grace  (Lat.  gratia)  is  used  in  the 
same  sense  ;  but  grace,  unlike  favour, 
stands  over  against  something  in  the 
way  of  demerit.  It  is  a  favour  in  a 
sovereign  to  confer  a  title  on  a  dis- 
tinguished subject ;  it  is  an  act  of 
grace  to  pardon  a  criminal. 
"  He  lived  with  all  the  pomp  he  conld  de- 
vise. 
At    tilts    and    tournaments    obtained    the 

prize, 
Bnt  found  no  favour  in  his  lady's  eyes." 
Drvdex. 
"  But  say  I  could  repent,  and  could  obtain 
By  act  of  grace  my  former  state,  how  soon 
Would  height  recall  high  thoughts  ?  " 

Milton. 

FEAR.     Apprehension.    Dread. 

The  idea  common  to  these  words  is 
the  expectation  of  future  evil.  They 
rise  in  force  in  tho  following  order. 
A  faint  emotion  is  expressed  by 
Apprehend,  a  stronger  by  Fear,  a 
stronger  still  by  Dread.  1  call  on 
my  friend  ;  from  the  look  of  the  house 
1  apprehend  he  has  gone  out.  1  fear 
he  is  unwell ;  and  after  his  severe  ill- 
ness I  dread  to  hear  of  his  death. 
Apprehend  denotes  generally  an  an- 
ticipation, and  sometimes  an  anticipa- 
tion of  evil.  Fear  is  a  generic  word. 
It  is  an  inward  feeling  which  may 
urge  to  action  or  inaction,  as  against 
a  coming  evil.  Fear  is  sometimes  an 
emotion,  sometimes  an  intellectual 
consciousness  of  danger.  It  is  also 
employed  of  possible  as  well  as  actual 
evil.  It  is  of  so  many  kinds  as  to  re- 
quire the  addition  of  qualifying  words 
to  define  it.  Dread  is  more  definite 
than  fear,  and  more  intense.  Fear  of 
God,  or  of  the  judgment  of  society, 
may  be  a  wholesome  principle  of 
action  within  certain  bounds.  This 
ecu  d  not  be  said  of  the  dread  of  them. 
Jf  we  felt  dread  of  these  it  would  be 
from  a  consciousness  that  we  had 
done  something  to  deserve  punish- 
ment. F  ear  and  Dr e a  d  are  applicable 
not  only  to  events,  but  directly  to  per- 
gons,  which  Apprehend  is  not ;  the 
latter  is  of  probable  acts  or  coming 
events.  To  dread  is  commonly  usei 
of  some  impending  evil  from  which 


DISCRIMINATED. 


427 


we  would  gladly  escape.  Both  fear 
and  dread  involve  apprehension. 
Fear  regarded  as  a  passion  or  emotion 
is  not,  like  apprehension,  mental,  and 
excited  by  an  act  of  judgment,  but  a 
principle  implanted  in  the  animal  na- 
ture as  a  means  to  self-preservation. 
It  may  be  groundless  like  apprehen- 
sion, so  that  we  sometimes  oppose  the 
fear  of  evil  to  its  reality. 

*'  Fear  is  a  painful  sensation  produced  by 
the  immediate  apprehension  of  some  im- 
pending evil." — CoGAN. 

"  Dread  is  a  degree  of  permanent  fear, 
an  habitual  and  painful  apprehension  of 
some  tremendous  event." — Jbid. 

FEASIBLE.  Possible,  Prac- 
ticable. 

Feasible  (O.Fr./ais«6/c, /ai>-e,tod<), 
pres.  part. /aisoKf  )'denotes  that  which 
naay  be  effected  by  human  agency. 

Possible (Fr. possible,  Lat.  posstbiltt) 
is  of  wider  meaning,  and  means  capa- 
ble of  existing  or  occurring.  Thus 
many  things  may  be  possible  which 
are  not  feasible ;  for  feasible  belongs 
to  the  province  of  action  only,  possible 
to  that  of  thought  and  action  also  ;  as 
when  we  say,  "  It  is  possible,  but  not 
probable." 

Practicable  (Yr.pratiqneVftoprac- 
tise)  is  very  like  Feasible  ;  but  Prac- 
ticable refers  to  matters  of  moral 
practice,  while  Feasible  belongs  to 
matters  of  physical  action,  or  human 
plans  and  designs.  For  instance,  we 
might  say,  "  A  feasible,"  or  "  A  prac- 
ticable scheme;"  but  we  could  only 
say,  "  A  practicable,"  not  a  "  feasible 
virtue."  Practicable  has  the  further 
sense  of  capable  of  being  made  use  of; 
as,  "  The  mountain  roads  at  this  sea- 
son are  practicable  ;"  where  Feasible 
could  not  have  been  employed. 

"So  Charles  VIII.,  King  of  France, 
finding  the  war  of  Britain,  which  after- 
wards was  compounded  by  marriagie,  not 
so  feasible,  pursued  his  entei'prise  upon 
Naples,  which  he  accomplished  with 
wonderful  facility  and  felicity,"— Bacux. 

"Possibilities  are  as  infinite  as  God'« 
power."— South. 

"  The  failure  of  the  attempts  hitherto 
made  on  this  subject  are  not  deci«T« 
against  the  practicability  of  such  a  pro- 
ject."—Stewart. 


428 


SYNONYMS 


[feature 


FEATURE.     Lineament. 


The  Feature  (O.  Fr.faitnre,  Lat. 
facthra,  a  making)^  which  is  now  a 
component  part  of  tlie  face,  was  at 
first  the  whole  of  it ;  the  form  and 
fashion  of  the  visage,  nay,  even  the 
entire  figure  of  the  man.  Its  plural 
use  is  now  necessitated  to  make  it 
equivalent  to  face. 

Lineament  (Lat.  Rnedmentum,  a 
Ivie)  is  Btill  used  in  the  sense  of  the 
lines  of  the  whole  body.  The  linea- 
ments are  the  outlines  which  are  filled 
up  by  the  features. 

FEEBLE.  Weak.  Infirm.  De- 
CBEPiT.     Impotent. 

As  employed  of  men's  states,  Weak 
(A.  S.  wac)  is  used  of  deficiency  of 
physical,  moral,  and  mental  strength  ; 
Feeble  (Fr.faible,  Lat. Jlibllis,  dole- 
ful) of  the  physical  and  the  intel- 
lectual; Infirm  (Lat.  injirmns)  of 
the  physical  and  the  moral.  Of  these 
Weak  is  the  generic  term ;  and  feeble- 
ness and  infirmity  are  manifestations 
of  weakness.  Feebleness  is  relative 
weakness ;  infirmity  is  chronic  weak- 
ness. A  man  is  in  a  feeble  state  when 
some  cause  has  occun'ed  to  deprive 
him  of  his  full  sti-ength.  A  feeble 
attempt  is  one  which  might  conceiv- 
ably have  been  much  more  effective. 
Infirmity  is  said  of  persons  labouring 
under  some  form  of  weakness  which 
has  become  habitual  to  them,  and 
which  there  seems  little  likelihood  of 
removing.  A  support,  a  means,  an 
expedient,  a  beam,  a  wall,  an  argu- 
ment, may  oe  weak.  We  call  any- 
thing weak  which  is  deficient  in 
reLitive  force.  Weak  eyesight  will 
not  bear  the  broad  daylight ;  a  weak 
digestion  is  continually  failing  in  its 
office,  a  weak  apology  breaks  down 
under  the  weight  of  the  charge.  A 
weak  mind  is  without  play  of  imagi- 
nation, power  of  comprehension,  or 
resolt  tion,or  resistance  to  the  influence 
of  others. 

*'  With  continual  pains,  teaching  the 
grammar  school  there  and  preaching,  he 
changed  this  life  for  a  better,  in  great 
feeblencxs  of  body  more  than  of  fouI  or 
mind. "— Strype,  Memorials. 

*'  Through  the  uealaiess  of  our  mortal 


nature  we  can  do  no  good  thing  without 
Thee." — Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

"  Vehement  passion  does  not  aJways  in- 
dicate an  infirm  judgment.  It  often  ac- 
companies and  actuates,  and  is  even  an 
auxiliary  to,  a  powerful  understanding." — 
BUKKK. 

Decrepit  is  a  significant  word ;  it 
is  the  Lat.  decrtpitus,  noiseless,  creep- 
ing noiselessly  about,  like  old  people. 
It  marks  the  period  when  the  back  is 
bowed,  the  limbs  feeble,  the  gait  tot- 
tering, and  the  body  past  its  work. 

"  All  ages  from  wailing  infancy  to  queru- 
lous decrepitness,  and  all  conditions  from 
the  careful  sceptre  to  the  painful  spade,  are 
fraught  with  many  gi-eat  inconveniences 
peculiar  to  each  of  them." — Barrow. 

Impotent  (Lat.  imp'Htentem)  is  de- 
ficient in  natural  power — animal,  in- 
tellectual, or  moral.  The  weakness 
may  be  congenital  or  acquired.  The 
term  is  applicable  to  persons,  and 
their  eflforts. 
"  0  impotence  of  mind  in  body  strong  t " 
Milton. 

FEELING.  Sensation.  Per- 
ception.  Sensibility.  Suscepti- 
bility. Emotion.  Passion.  Sense, 
Consciousness.     Reflexion. 

Feeling  (A.  S.f^lan,  to  feel)  is  a 
term  of  very  comprehensive  appli- 
cation. It  denotes  the  faculty  of  per- 
ceiving external  objects  or  certain 
states  of  the  body  itself,  the  specific 
sense  of  touch,  the  faculty  of  self- 
consciousaess,  emotional  capacity  or 
states,  or  the  manifestation  of  such 
emotion,  and,  lastl}'-,  even  intellectual 
conviction.  In  one  view  it  is  one  of 
what  ai-e  called  the  five  senses,  the 
rest  being  the  si^ht,  the  smell,  the 
taste,  and  the  hearing. 

Sensation  (Lat.  sensus,  sensation^ 
sentiment)  is  the  impression  (or 
capacity  of  receiving  it)  produced 
upon  the  organization  through  the 
organs  of  sense,  or  derived  from  in- 
corporeal objects,  such  as  thoughts, 
announcements,  and  the  like.  It  an- 
swers to  one  of  the  meanings  of  feel- 
ing— a  feeling  or  sensation  of  cold, 
but  is  less  colloquial. 

Perception  (Lat.  perceptionem)  is 
the  conscious  reference  of  sensation 
to  the  cause  which  produced  it.  Per- 
ception  combines  the  internal  with 


[feign] 


the  external.  Sensation  is  internal 
only.    See  Idea. 

Sensibility  is  the  capacity  of  feel- 
ing or  perception. 

Susceptibility  (Lat.  msci-phe,  in 
the  sense  of  to  undergo,  suffer)  is  com- 
monly used  in  the  sense  of  quick  sen- 
Bibility,  or  the  capacity  of  it. 

Consciousness  (Lat.  couscius,  con- 
scious of)  is  the  faculty  of  regai-ding 
one's  own  mind  and  thoughts  as  ob- 
!ect-matter  of  knowledge ;  while  Re- 
flexion (Lat.  rejiexionem,  a  bending 
back)  is  the  exercise  of  that  faculty. 

Emotion  and  Passion  deserve  to 
be  dilierenced  between  themselves. 

Emotion  (Fr.  emotion,  Lat.  imovire, 
tostiruji,  part,  hnotum)  is  a  strong  ex- 
citement of  feeling,  tending  to  mani- 
fest itself  by  its  eflect  upon  the  body. 

Passion  (Lat.  passionem,  as  a  trans, 
of  Gr.  TraSoi)  denotes  the  state  when 
any  feeling  or  emotion  masters  the 
mind,  which  becomes,  though  ener- 
getically influenced,  yet  passive  as 
regards  the  strong  power  which  con- 
tiols  it.    See  the  quotation. 

Sense  (Lat.  sensus,  sensation,  senti- 
ment) is  employed  in  the  widest  way 
to  comprise  the  whole  range  of  mental 
and  physical  sensation;  as,  "The 
things  of  time  and  sense."  But  there 
IS  a  specific  use  of  the  word  Sense  in 
which  it  belongs  to  what  is  mentally 
(as  sensation  to  what  is  physically) 
perceived.  A  sensation  of  pain  or 
pleasure,  a  sense  of  injury  or  kind- 
ness. 

"Perception  is  only  a  special  kind  of  know- 
ledge, and  sensation  a  special  kind  of  feel- 
ing."—Sir  W.  Hamilton. 

"The  true  lawgiver  ought  to  have  a 
Heart  full  ol sensibility."— BunKK. 

"  He  sheds  on  sonls  susceptible  of  light 

The  glorious  dawn  of  an  eternal  day." 
YuUNQ. 

*'  Hew  different  the  emotions  between 
teparf  ere  and  return  I " — Washington 
Irving. 

'*  The  primary  idea  annexed  to  the  word 
passion  is  that  of  passiveiiess,  or  being  im- 
T'ulsively  acted  upon." — CoGAN. 

"  Consciousness  is  the  perception  of  what 
passes  in  a  man's  own  mind." — LoCKE. 

"By  reflection,  then,  in  the  following 
pait  of  this  discourse,  I  would  be  under- 
stood to  mean  that  notice  which  the  mind 


DISCRIMINATED. 


429 


takes  of  its  own  operations,  and  the  manner 
of  them,  by  reason  whereof  there  come  to  be 
id*as  of  these  operations  in  the  under- 
standing."—7iid. 

FEIGN.  Pretend.  Simulate. 
Dissejiule. 

Feign  (Fr.feindre,  Lat.  fngere)  is 
to  give  fictitious  existence,  or  to  give 
an  impression  of  something  as  actual 
or  true  which  is  not  so.  It  is  either 
positive  or  negative,  and  might  be 
either  in  assumption  or  concealment. 

To  Pretend  (Lat.  prcttendere,  to 
stretch  forth,  to  allege)  is  to  put  for- 
ward what  is  unreal  or  untrue  in  such 
a  way  as  that  it  may  be  accepted  a? 
true.  Feigning  commonly  misleads 
the  observation,  pretence  the  under* 
standing.  Feigning  puts  out  falst 
appeai-ances,  pretence  false  facts  also. 
1  feign  frienclship  for  another  in  my 
outward  demeanour  and  conduct.  *. 
pretend  that  I  am  his  friend  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  by  what  I  say  to  mislead 
the  judgment.  It  will  be  observed, 
that  what  in  Feign  is  the  primary,  ii. 
Pretend  is  the  secondary  meaning. 
Delusion  is  the  very  essence  of  feign- 
ing ;  but  to  pretend  is  etymologically 
and  in  its  oldest  sense  simply  to  put 
forward;  then,  derivatively,  to  put 
forward  as  an  excuse,  or  with  false 
purpose.  We  can  only  feign  what  is 
directly  associated  with  ourselves; 
but  we  may  pretend  in  matters  of  fact 
o;enerally  or  as  connected  with  othera. 
I  may  pretend,  for  instance,  that  I 
enjoy  the  intimate  acquaintance  of 
many  great  personages;  but  I  can 
only  do  this  oy  misrepresentation  of 
facts.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  feign  this  witliout  ejhibitiiig  some- 
thing to  lead  to  this  belief. 

To  Simulate  (Lat.  simiildre,  sinii 
lis,  nice)  can,  like  Feign,  be  onlv  em 
ployed  of  what  is  personal  in  one  s  self. 
To  simulate  is  to  put  on  and  syste- 
matically exhibit  what  are  the  natural 
signs  and  indications  of  feelings,  a 
character,  or  a  part  which  do  not 
really  belong  to  one  ;  to  act  a  feigned 
part,  to  counterfeit  in  action  or  de- 
meanour. 

Dissimulation  (Lat.  dksimtilatio- 
nem)  is  the  feigned  concealment  of 
what  really  «xw(s  in  one's  character  or 


430 


SYNONYMS  [fellowship] 


feeling;  as  simulation  is  the  feigned 
exhibition  of  what  does  not  exist. 
Simulation  and  Dissimulation  may  be 
joined  in  one  act.  So  we  may  simu- 
late lauo-hter  in  order  to  dissemble 
disappointment. 
"And  much  she  marvelled  that  a  youth  so 

raw, 
Nor  felt,  nor  feigned  at  least,  the  oft-told 

flames. 
Which,  though  sometimes  they  frown,  yet 

rarely  anger  dames." 

By  RON. 
"  Some,  indeed,  have  pretended  by  art 
and   physical    applications  to  recover   the 
dead ;  but  the  success  has  sufficiently  up- 
braided the  attempt." — South. 

"  Simulation  and  dissimulation,  for  in- 
stance, are  the  chief  arts  of  cunning." — 
BOLINGBROKE. 

FELLOWSHIP.  Society. 
Fellowship  (fellow  was  formerly 
0.  E.  felawe,  Icel.  felag,  association, 
^^feelaw,"  a  laying  together  of  property : 
Richardson  and  Skeat)  is  expressive 
of  close  or  continuous  intercourse  as 
It  relates  to  men  individually;  So- 
ciety (Lat.  s'dcietas,  socins,  a  fellow) 
as  it  relates  to  them  collectively.  I 
find  myself  in  good  or  bad  society 
generally.  (The  term  FELLowsiiir 
could  not  have  been  employed  here.) 
And  I  am  on  terms  of  good  fellow- 
ship with  this  or  that  person  in  par- 
ticular. IMoreover,  Fellowship  im- 
ports some  degree  of  equality,  which 
Society  does  not. 

"  Oi fellowship  I  speak. 
Such  as  I  seek,  fit  to  participate 
All  rational  delight,  wherein  the  brute 
Cannot  be  human  consort."     MiLTON. 

As  Society  expresses  community  of 
presence,  so  Fellowship  community 
of  privileges,  state,  enjoyments,  pos- 
sessions, and  the  like. 

•'  Gofl  having  designed  man  for  a  sociable 
creature,  made  him  not  only  with  an  in- 
clination and  under  a  necessity  to  have 
fellowship  with  those  of  his  own  kind,  but 
fm-nished  him  also  with  language,  which 
WAS  to  be  the  greater  instrument  and  com- 
mon tie  of  sooeiv/."— Locke. 

FEMALE.  Feminine.  Effemi- 
nate. 

Female  (hat.  fimella,  diminutive  of 
femina,  a  woman)  is  applied  to  the  sex 
as  opposed  to  male. 

Feminine   (Lat.  ftmininut,   of  th$ 


fern,  gender)  is  applied  to  the  proper- 
ties and  characteristics  of  the  sex  as 
opposed  to  masculine.  To  matters 
distinctively  related  to  women  we  ap- 
ply the  adjective  Female,  as  female 
dress.  To  matters  which  are  appro- 
priate to  women,  but  not  exclusively 
restricted  to  them,  we  apply  the  ad- 
jective Feminine  ;  as,  feminine  ac- 
complishments. Feminine  branches  of 
learning  are  taught  in  female  schools. 
To  what  belongs  as  a  fact  to  men,  but 
would  belong  more  fitly  to  women, 
we  apply  the  adjective  Effeminate. 

"A  wondrous  monument  of  female 
wiles." — Pope. 

"  Nothing  will  be  found  of  such  exten 
sive  use  for  supplying  the  deficiencies  of 
Chaucer's  metre  as  the  pronunciation  of 
the  e  feminine." — Tyrwhitt  on  Chaucer. 

"An  effeminate  and  unmanly  foppery." — 
Bishop  Hurd. 

FEROCIOUS.  Fierce.  Savage. 
Barearovs. 

The  two  former  are  equally  appli- 
cable to  men  and  the  lower  animals, 
the  third  more  properly  to  men,  the 
last  exclusively  to  men. 

Ferocious  (Lat.  ftrocem)  denotes 
the  quality  of  fierceness.  The  hyzena  is 
a  ferocious  animal  even  when  asleep. 

Fierce  (Lat. ferns)  expresses  the 
exhibition  of  ferocity  in  an  energetic 
and  wild  way,  which  gives  to  the 
looks  and  the  movements  an  expres- 
sion of  passionate  eagerness  to  hurt 
or  destroy.  Yet  ferocity  is  always 
inherent,  fierceness  may  express  in 
some  cases  a  temporary  excitement. 
Many  an  animal  not  habitually  fero- 
cious might  become  fierce  if  provoked 
to  anger. 

Savage  (Yr.  scinvage,  Lat.  •'Ivdticus, 
silva,  a  tcood,  as  if  grown  up  wild  in 
the  woods)  denotes  the  absence  of  all 
that  might  tend  to  domesticate  or 
soften,  and  the  consequent  presence 
of  a  native  unrestrained  licentiousness 
of  nature. 

Barbarous  (Lat.  barbdi-us,  Gt. 
^kf^afoq,  foreign)  is  employed  of  the 
way  in  which  such  dispositions  mani- 
fest themselves.  So  we  commonly 
speak  of  "a  savage  spirit "  showing 
itself  in  "barbarous  usage,"  or  "  treat- 


fFESTiT  AL] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


431 


meni.''  Tlie  barbait  us  is  tlie  savage 
in  manner,  as  the  savage  is  the  bar- 
barous in  disposition. 

"  The  lion,  ^fierce  and  fei-ocious  animal, 
hath  young  ones  but  seldom,  and  one  at  a 
time  " — Bhown,  Vulgar  Errors. 

"  One  of  them  fired  a  pistol  at  him  (Arch- 
bishop Sharpe),  which  burnt  his  coat  and 
gown,  but  did  not  go  into  his  body.  Upon 
this  they  fancied  he  had  a  magical  secret  to 
secure  him  against  a  shot  ;  and  they  drew 
him  out  of  his  coach  and  murdered  him 
barbarously,  repeating  their  strokes  till  they 
were  sure  he  was  rjuite  dead." — BuKNET. 

'*  There  can  be  no  true  liberty  where  such 
licentiousness  is  suffered  with  impunity. 
This  is  part  of  the  savageness  of  coi-rupt 
n-ature."— Waterland. 

FERTILE.    FuuiTFUL.    Pkoufic. 

PUODUCTIVE. 

Fertile  (  Lat.  Jerfi/is,  fromjero,  1 
bear)  expresses  that  which  has  an  in- 
herent capacity  of  producing.  It  is 
applied  properly  to  soil,  and  metapho- 
I'ically  or  analogously  to  the  mind  or 
capacity  of  man ;  as,  a  fertile  field,  a 
fertile  imagination,  fertile  in  resources. 

Fruitful  (Lat,  J ructus,  fruit)  de- 
notes that  which  produces  of  its  own 
kind,  and  is  opposed  to  barren,  as 
fertile  is  opposed  to  waste.  A  tree  is 
fruitful  or  unfruitful,  as  it  bears,  or 
not,  of  its  own  fruit.  A  field  might 
be  called  either  fertile  or  fruitful ; 
feitile  as  regards  the  quality  of  the 
soil,  fruitful  as  regards  the  abundance 
of  the  produce.  But,  generally  speak- 
ing, the  soil  is  fertile,  the  tree  is  fruit- 
ful. 

Prolific  (Lat.  protificus,  proles,  off- 
springy  and  fUcerey  to  make)  denotes 
tlie  production  of  young  in  abundance, 
and  is  employed  both  of  animals  and 
fruit-bearing  trees  or  vegetables.  It 
also  is  used  metaphorically,  as  "a 
measure  prolific  of  evil  consequences." 
The  very  abundantly  and  variously 
fruitful  is  the  prolific. 

Productive  (Eat.  prodrictre,  part. 
prodnctus,  to  lead  forth,  to  produce) 
denotes  no  more  than  the  fact  of  pro- 
ducing in  tolerable  quantity.  This  is 
not,  therefore,  a  term,  like  Fertile  and 
Prolific,  expressive  of  a  natural  pro- 
perty of  necessity.  The  naturally  pro- 
iuctive  is  identical  with  the  fertile ; 
but  productiveness  may  be  the  result 


of  art  in  tillage.  So  it  might  be  said, 
"  That  field  would  grow  nothing  till 
I  mixed  a  certain  manure  with  the 
soil.  It  is  now  as  productive  as  any 
on  the  estate." 

"  The  quickness  of  the  imagination  is  seen 
in  the  invention,  the  fertility  in  the  fancy, 
and   the    accuracy  in    the    exj;ression." — 
Dkyden. 
"  We  curse  not  wine — the  vile  excess  we 

blame. 
More  fi-uitful  than  the  accumulated  hoard 
Of  pain  and  miseiy."  Armstrong. 

"  Indeed  it  is  usual  in  Scripture  that 
covetousness,  being  so  universal,  so  original 
a  crime,  such  a  prolific  sin,  he  called  by  all 
vhe  names  of  those  sins  by  which  it  is  either 
punished,  or  to  which  it  tempts,  or  whereby 
it  is  nourished." — Bishop  Taylor. 

"  There  is  one  sort  of  labour  which  adds 
to  the  value  of  the  subject  upon  which  it  is 
bestowed  ;  there  is  another  which  has  no 
such  effect.  The  former,  as  it  produces  a 
value,  may  be  called  productive,  the  lattei 
unproductive,  labour," — Smith,  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

FERVOUR.    Ardour. 

Fervour  (Lat.  fervortm,  violen: 
heat,  vehemence,  fervire,  very  often,  lo 
boil)  and  Ardour  (Lat.  ardorem,  a 
burning,  an  ardour,  ardire,  to  he  on  fire) 
seem,  in  their  metaphorical,  to  keep 
up  the  distinction  of  their  physical, 
meanings.  The  fervent  boils  over 
demonstratively,  the  ardent  burns 
fiercely.  The  force  of  anger  is  fer- 
vent; the  force  of  zeal,  love,  desii*e 
ardent.  In  their  secondary  applica- 
tions. Fervour  is  associated  with  tlie 
motive  cause.  Ardour  witli  the  final 
cause ;  in  other  words,  we  feel  with 
fervour,  we  pursue  with  ardour. 
There  is  more  of  principle  in  fervour, 
more  of  passion  in  ardour.  In  those 
cases,  therefore,  in  which  energy  of 
desire  or  pursuit  is  directed  to  no  high 
moral  ends,  we  use  the  term  Ardour  ; 
where  this  is  so,  Fervour.  The  fer- 
vour of  the  pati-iot.  The  ardour  of  a 
lover  of  the  chase. 

"  A.  fervent  faith  and  glowing  zeal."  - 
Search. 

"  Moved  on 
In  silence  their  bright  legions  to  the  soand 
Of  instrumental  harmony  that  breathed 
Heroic  ardour  to  adventurous  deeds." 

Milton. 

FESTIVAL.  Festivity.  Holiday. 
Feast. 

In  ecclesiastical  language  a  Feast 


432 


SYNC>.>fYMS 


[figurative] 


(Lsit.  J'estitm,  a  festival  holiday)  is  any- 
day  which  (not  being  a  fast)  is  ob- 
served with  peculiar  solemnity.  The 
greater  of  these  feasts  fire  termed  F  ks- 
TivALs  (O.  Fr.  festival)  as  the  Fes- 
tival of  the  Nativity.  The  term  Fes- 
tival is  employed  of  days  of  heathen 
celebration  also  more  commonly  than 
Feast,  which  in  this  connexion  would 
be  more  likely  to  mean  a  solemn 
banquet  inhonour  of  a  god.  Holiday 
has  well-nigh  lost  its  original  mean- 
ing of  holy  dai4,  and  is  employed  to 
express  a  time  of  vacation  from  study 
or  labour. 

Festiviiy  (Lat.  f'estlvttatem,  festive 
gaiety,  a  festivity)  has  no  sacred  or 
solemn  force  at  all,  and  expresses  only 
the  gaiety  and  enjoyment  of  social 
antertainments. 

'  The  morn'ing  trumpets  festival  proclaimed 
Through  each  high  street."         Milton. 

"  Much  the  same  maybe  observed  of  the 
Roman  drama,  which,  we  are  told,  had  its 
rise  in  the  unrestrained  festivity  of  the 
rustic  youth." — HuRD. 

"  The  same  bell  that  called  the  great  man 
to  his  table  invited  the  neighbourhood  all 
round,  and  proclaimed  a  holyday." — Ibid, 

"  Upon  the  feastfull  day  of  Easter." 
Fabyan. 

FIGURATIVF:.  Metaphorical. 
Analogous. 

These  agree  in  expressing  a  certain 
use  of  words  which  is  not  tlieir  proper 
or  primary  sense. 

That  is  Figurative  (Lat. figurd' 
tlvusj  a  figure)  which  is  expressed  by 
a  rhetorical  figure.  Such  a  figure  is 
\  representation  of  abstract  things  by 
objects  taken  from  the  sensible  world, 
as  when  the  exercise  of  the  imagina- 
tion, for  instance,  is  called  soaring  on 
the  wing  of  fancy.  As  expressions  are 
figurative,  terms  are  Metaphorical. 
This  is  when  a  comparison  is  con- 
densed into  a  similitude — that  is,  all 
signs  of  comparison  being  absent,  the 
thing  is  spoken  of  under  the  very 
name  of  the  other  object  to  which  it  is 
compared.  The  disposition  of  Domi- 
tian  resembled  that  of  a  tiger — this  is 

similitude  or  comparison.  Domitian 
was  a  tiger,  this  is  a  Metaphor  (Gr. 
(i*«Ttt<|)Oftf,  a  tratisferriuor,  a  metaphor). 
ihr  Analogous  use  of  a  term  or  ex- 


pression (Gr.  avccXoyU,  proportion)  is 
when  it  represents  ideal  subject-matter 
under  modes  suggested  by  material 
resemblances,  e.g.,  swift  thought,  deep 
reasoning.  So  the  verb  to  draw  in 
the  sense  of  tn  attract  is  used  not  so 
much  metaphorically  as  analogously  ; 
tliat  is,  to  denote  a  moral  force  acting 
like  a  physicnl  one. 

FIND.     Discover. 

Find  (A.S.findan)  is  to  light  upon, 
whether  unexpectedly  or  as  the  result 
of  specific  search. 

*'Seek,  and  ye  shsaWfrid." — Bible, 
So  unessential  is  purpose  to  finding, 
that  the  word  is  sometimes  used  as  a 
synonym  of  feel  or  experience. 

"  I  ^nd  yon  passing  gentle." — Shakk- 
speare. 

To  Discover  (O.  Fr.  descoiivnr, 
des-y  apart,  couvrir,  to  cover)  is  to  find 
something  which  is  of  anew  or  strange 
character  when  found.  I  may  find  a 
piece  of  money  as  I  walk  along.  On 
the  other  hand,  "  find  out  "  is  always 
the  result  of  etfort  and  search  in  re- 
ference to  a  distinct  object  to  be  aimed 
at,  as  a  thief,  a  riddle,  a  mode  o^ 
solving  any  difficulty.  Discover  com- 
bines a  general  purpose  with  a  speci- 
fic chance.  Discovery  is  the  result  of 
search,  either  direct  or  indirect.  The 
existence  of  the  thing  discovered  may 
have  been  previously  either  known  or 
unknown,  or  known  to  others  than  the 
discoverer,  who  in  that  case  becomes 
a  discoverer  to  himself,  and  not  to  the 
world.  That  which  is  found  may  be 
trivial.  That  which  is  discovered  is 
important,  and  hence  the  word  is  used 
of  new  countries,  new  truths,  or  facts 
in  science.  One  often  finds  what  one 
did  not  look  for.  Finding  sometimes 
plays  a  part  subordinate  to  discovery, 
as  when  new  countries  ar^  discovered 
they  are  sometimes  found  to  be  unin- 
habited. One  discovers  what  is  hidden 
or  secret,  whether  in  the  moral  or  the 
physical  sense.  One  finds  what  has 
fallen,  not  through  one's  own  act, 
under  one's  observation  or  knowledge. 
That  which  is  discovered  was  not  visi- 
ble or  apparent,  that  which  is  found 
was  visible  or  apparent,  but  beyond 
reach,  or  out  of  one's  own  sii^lit.  One 


finishI 


DISCRIMINATED. 


433 


discovers  a  gold  mine,  and  finds  a  new- 
botanical  specimen.  Secrets,  plots, 
conspiracies  are  discovered.  One  finds 
one's  friend  at  home,  or  what  one  re- 
quires in  the  market. 

"  The  distinction  of  a  first  discoverer 
made  as  cheerfully  encounter  every  dan- 
ger, and  submit  to  every  inconvenience." — 
Cook's  Voyages. 


FINE.     Delicate. 

In  the  sense  in  which  these  terms 
are  synonymous,  and  as  belonging  to 
things  mental,  both  denote  that  -which 
is  commonly  removed  from  vulvar  ap- 
prehensions. Nevertheless  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  have  an  intellect  to  appreciate 
the  fine;  there  must  also  be  a  tnste  to 
appreciate  the  delicate.  If  compara- 
tively fe-w  can  reach  the  fine,  fewer 
still  can  be  reached  by  the  delicate.  A 
fine  discourse  or  passage  is  sometimes 
repeated  with  advantage,  and  its  beau- 
ties and  merits  appreciated  when 
pointed  out ;  but  that  which  is  deli- 
cate, if  not  perceived  at  fii-st  sight,  is 
not  understood  at  all.  The  fine  may 
be  searched  for,  the  delicate  must  be 
felt.  Fine  is  capable  of  a  favourable 
and  unfavourable  use,  delicate  is  al- 
ways favourable.  Fine  praise,  fine 
satire.  A  delicate  compliment,  a  de- 
licate attention.  Fine  ( Fr.^n)  is  the 
hdA.  finitiis,  finished  ;  Delicate,  the 
Lat.  diticdtuSj  alluring,  dainty. 

FINE.  Mulct.  Penalty.  For- 
feit.   Ameiicement. 

Fine  (L.  Lat./tnw,  asum  of  money, 
the  payment  of  which  made  an  end  of 
a  transaction  or  a  claim,  a  dispute,  a 
trial),  in  the  sense  of  a  penalty,  is 
always  pecuniary. 

JNIulct  (Lat.  mulcta,  midta)  is  also 
pecuniai-y.  It  is,  however,  a  technical 
term,  bearing  the  sense  of  a  commu- 
tation for  legal  forfeiture,  and  was  not 
only  a  punishment,  but  a  compensa- 
tion; as  to  be  "mulcted  (or  multed) 
in  half  the  amount." 

Penalty  (Fr.  penality,  Lat.  pxna, 
Mmpensation,  punishment)  in  its  tech- 
Bical  and  legal  sense,  is  mostly  applied 
to  pecuniary  punishment  or  forfeiture, 
but  in  'ts  common  use  denotes  any 
kind  of  punishment ;  as  ''to  suflfer  the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law." 


Forfeit  (O.  Yr.forfait,  Lat./iJrw 
factum,  which  meant  first  the  trans- 
gression, and  then  that  which  was 
paid  for  it)  may  be  pecuniary  or 
otherwise.  A  fine  is  imposed,  a 
penalty  inflicted,  a  forfeit  incurred. 
A  forfeit  springs,  as  it  were,  out  of 
the  nature  of  the  case,  and  is  due  ipso 
facto  by  pre-arrangement. 

Amercement  (O.  Fr.  amercier,  to 
fine,  L.  Lat.  mercimnentum,  penally) 
differed  from  Fine  in  being  not  fixed 
in  amount,  but  assessed  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  offence,  by  a  process 
which  was  called  "affeeriug.' 

"  So,  tvro  years  after,  Tracy's  heirs  sued 
him  for  it,  and  lie  was  turned  out  of  his 
office  of  Chancellor,  and  fined  in  four  hun- 
dred pound."— BuRNJCT. 
"  A  jnulct  thy  poverty  could  never  pay. 
Had  not  Eternal  Wisdom  found  the  way." 
Drydex. 
"  But  of  the  tree 
Which,  tasted,  works  knowledge  of  good 

and  evil. 
Thou  may'st  not;  in  the  day  thou  eat'st 

thou  diest : 
Death  is  the  penalty  imposed." 

Milton. 
"  For  so  the  holy  sages  once  did  sing. 
That  He  our  deadly /or feit  should  release. 
And  with  His  Father  work  us  a  perpetual 
peace."  Jbid. 

"  The  great  charter  also  dii-ects  that  the 
amercement  which  is  always  inflicted  in 
general  terms — sit  in  misericordia — shall 
be  set  or  reduced  to  a  certainty  by  the  oath 
of  good  and  lawful  men  of  the  neighbour- 
hood."—Blackstone. 
The  connexion  suggested  by  some, 
and  probably  by  Blackstone  here,  be- 
tween Lat.  misericordia  and  Fr.  merct 


FINISH.  Close.  Concluue. 
Complete.    Terminate,    End. 

Of  these,  the  following  three.  End 
(A.  S.  ende).  Finish  (Lat. /in/? e), 
and  Complete  (Lat.  complittis,  filled 
up,  part,  (if  complere,  to  Jill  up),  rejire- 
sent  a  rise  in  force  or  fulness  of  mean- 
ing in  that  order.  To  end  is  to  dis- 
continue by  leaving  off,  without  ex- 
pressing anything  of  the  state  in  which 
the  thing  ended  is  left,  as,  "  He  ended 
his  speech  by  saying  so  and  so."  "  The 
fortieth  verse  ends  the  chapter;"  the 
verb  being  used  both  transitively  and 
intransitively.  Whatever  begins  must 
end ;  and  whatever  is  begun  must  be 
r  r 


434 


SYNONYMS 


[FINISnEl>] 


ended.  The  torm  is  quite  indefinite. 
Things  may  be  ended  with  or  without 
completeness  or  finish;  and  things 
may  end  prematurely  or  satisfactorily. 
To  Finish  is  to  end  working  at  a  thing, 
to  put  the  last  required  labour  or  touch 
to  it,  and  is  employed  of  action,  forces, 
or  influences.  "  He  is  finishing  his 
painting,"  that  is,  he  is  employed  in 
putting  the  final  strokes  or  touclies. 
"  The  last  blow  finished  him,"  that  is, 
rendered  more  blows  superfluous.  "He 
finished  working,  or  he  ended  ;"  the 
one  expresses  final  effort,  the  latter 
cessation.  To  complete  is  to  bring 
finally  that  which  fills  up  the  plan, 
design,  or  proposed  task.  A  diction- 
ary IS  ended  with  the  word  "finis." 
It  is  finished  with  the  letter  Z.  It  is 
completed  by  revisions  and  interpo- 
lations. The  world  was  finished  on 
the  last  day  of  its  creation ;  but  it  is 
not  yet  ended. 

To  Terminate  (Lat.  termindre,  to 
set  bounds  to)  is  to  bring  to  an  end 
what  has  been  protracted  or  continu- 
ous, and  relates  to  some  degree  of 
space  or  time  traversed  in  the  pre- 
ceding work  or  operation.  A  vista 
terminates  in  or  with  a  certain  object. 
A  happy  remark  will  sometimes  ter- 
minate a  tedious  dispute.  A  short 
life  ends,  a  long  life  terminates. 

To  Close  (O.  Fr.  ctos,  shut  in,  Lat. 
claiisus)  is  physically  to  stop  by  bring- 
ing together  the  parts  ;  as,  "  to  close 
the  mouth  by  bringing  together  the 
lips;"  "  to  close  a  book  by  bringing 
together  the  leaves  ;"  "  to  close  the 
eyes ;"  "  to  close  the  ranks  of  an 
army."  Analogously,  to  close  is  to 
shut  up  into  a  compact  form  what  is 
regarded  as  having  totality,  as  "to 
close  a  bargain ;"  "  to  close  one's 
studies." 

Conclude  (Lat.  concUidh-e,  to  shut 
up,  to  conclude)  is  a  stronger  term 
than  Close,  more  definite  and  positive, 
and  means  to  close  in  such  a  way  as 
to  give  the  thing  closed  a  formal, 
necessary,  or  appropriate  termination. 
To  Close  refers  only  to  the  act,  Con- 
clude to  the  intention.  1  close  my 
letter,  in  one  sense,  when  I  seal  it ; 
in  another,  when  I  write  the  last  sen- 
tence.    I  conclude  it  when  I  subjoin 


something  without  which  I  should  feel 
the  communication  to  be  incomplete. 

"  An  eternal  and  happy  life,  a  kingdom, 
a  perfect  kingdom  and  glorious,  that  shall 
never  have  ending."— BiSKOV  TAYLOR. 

"  God  is  our  '  light,'  as  He  showeth  ns  the 
state  we  are  in,  and  the  enemies  we  have 
to  encounter;  He  is  our  'strength,'  as  He 
enableth  by  His  grace  to  cope  with  and 
overcome  them  ;  and  He  is  our  '  salvation,' 
as  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  deliverance 
from  sin,  death,  and  Satan."— HORNE. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  following  ex- 
ample that,  while  Finish  and  End  are 
intrinsic.  Complete  takes  in  accesso- 
ries also,  which  may  be  requisite  to  the 
completion  of  certain  things.  So  a 
prophecy  is  not  completed  before  it 
has  been  verified  in  all  its  historic 
facts  and  allusions. 

*•  It  was  attested  by  miracles  of  all  sorts, 
done  in  great  variety  and  number,  by  the 
visible  centering  of  the  old  prophecies  in  the 
person  of  Christ,  and  by  the  completion  of 
those  prophecies  since  which  He  Himself 
uttered. " — Atterbury. 

"  A  good  commencement  has  ever  been 
found  by  experience  auspicious  to  a  good 
progress  and  a  happy  termination."— Kmox, 
Essays. 

"  We  have  it,  it  seems,  in  our  power,  by 
the  exercise  of  one  particular  virtue,  to 
secure  a  pardon  to  ourselves  for  neglecting 
all  the  rest,  and  can  blot  oat  the  remem- 
brance of  an  ill-spent  life  by  a  few  acts  of 
charity  at  the  dose  of  it." — Atterbury. 

"  Nor,  indeed,  do  I  know  a  text  in  the 
Bible  that  I  would  more  willingly  pitch 
upon  to  leave  with  you  as  the  last  advice  I 
would  give  you,  and  as  the  sum  and  conclu- 
sion of  my  preaching  among  you,  than  these 
words  of  St.  Paul  I  have  now  read  to  yon 
(Philippians  iv,  8)."— Sharp. 

FINISHED.  Perfect.  Elabo- 
rate. 

That  which  is  not  Perfect  (Lat. 
peificere,  part,  perfectus,  to  complete) 
has  some  defect  which  disfigures  it. 
That  which  is  not  Finished  (Lat. 
f  wire,  finis,  an  end)  may  yet  be  made 
perfect,  though  at  present  incomplete. 
A  sketch  may  be  perfect,  yet  requires 
further  work  to  make  it  into  a  finished 
picture.  Perfect  is  employed  of  the 
productions  both  of  art  and  nature, 
Finished  only  of  those  of  art.  An  un- 
finished circle  is  not  drawn  out,  a 
perfect  circle  fulfils  its  mathematical 
definition.  A  perfect  character  is 
morallv  faultless,  a  finished  character 


[fit] 

is  perfectly  trained.  A  flower,  as  a 
production  of  nature,  may  be  perfect, 
not  finished.  A  finished  draAving  is 
one  in  which  all  artistic  processes 
have  been  executed  to  the  full,  a  per- 
fect drawing  is  one  in  which  the  spec- 
tator can  find  no  fault.  We  express 
commendation  of  that  which  is  finished, 
and  admiration  of  that  which  is  per- 
fect. 

"A  faultless  sonnet /inished  thus  would  be 
Worth  tedious  volumes  of  loose  poetry." 
Drydex, 
"  The  Fx'eneh  Revolution  has  this  of 
wonderful  in  it,  that  it  resembles  what 
Lord  Verulam  says  of  the  operations  of 
Nature.  It  was  perfect,  not  only  in  its 
elements  and  principles,  but  in  its  mem- 
bers and  its  organs  from  the  very  begin- 
ning."— Burke. 

The  Elabouate  (Lat.  elUbordre,  to 
take  pains)  represents  that  which  is 
finished  with  great  and  minute  atten- 
tion to  parts  and  details.  The  elabo- 
rate is  improved  and  refined  by  suc- 
cessive touches,  alterations,  improve- 
ments. That  thing  is  the  most  elabo- 
rate in  which  the  greatest  amount  of 
labour  has  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  smallest  space,  and  being  com- 
paratively small  has  signs  of  vast  and 
varied  eflbrt.  Perfect  simplicity  is 
compatible  with  high  finish,  but  that 
which  is  elaborate  is  never  simple. 

"But  1  cannot  think  or  persuade  myself 
that  God  gave  us  eyes  only  that  we  may 
pluck  them  out,  and  brought  us  into  the 
world  with  reason  that  being  born  men  we 
might  afterwards  grow  up  and  improve 
into  brutes,  and  become  elaborately  irra- 
tional."— South. 

FINITE.     Limited. 

It  is  a  natural  property,  of  things  to 
be  Finite,  an  artificial  property  to  be 
Limited.  Or,  again,  things  are  finite 
in  reference  to  their  own  nature, 
limited  in  reference  to  power  or  capa- 
city. Man's  powers  are  limited,  for 
he  is  himself  a  finite  being. 

"  And  all  the  difference  or  distinction 
there  is  betwixt  them,  is  only  in  our  dif- 
ferent apprehensions  of  this  one  being, 
which  acting  severally  upon  several  ob- 
jects, we  apprehend  it  as  acting  from  several 
properties  by  reason  of  the _finiteness  of  our 
understandings,  which  cannot  conceive  of 
an  infinite  being  wholly,  as  it  is  in  itself, 
but  as  it  were  by  piecemeal,  as  it  represents 
itself  to  na  "— Bevkridge. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


435 


"Absolutely  according  to  pleasure,  or 
limitedly  according  to  certain  rules  pre- 
SL-ribed."''— Barrow. 

FIRE.  Flame.  Blaze.  Con- 
flagration. Ignition.  Combustion. 

Fire  (A.  S.  Jyr)  is  that  kind  of 
combustion  which  evolves  light  and 
heat. 

Flame  (Lat.  Jiammd)  is  the  form 
under  which  such  combustion  is  ex- 
hibited when  the  matter  is  gaseous. 

A  Blaze  (A.  S.  blczse)  is  a  rapid 
evolution  of  light,  whether  accom- 
panied or  not  witli  sensible  heat,  as 
the  blaze  of  the  sun,  of  lamps,  of  a 
meteor. 

Conflagration  (Lat.  confiagra- 
tidnem)  is  the  visible  consumption  by 
fire  of  masses  of  combustible  materials. 

Ignition  (Lat.  igriire^  to  set  on  fire, 
part.  Ignitus)  is  in  modern  phraseo- 
logy opposed  to  Combustion  (Lat. 
combustionem,  comburere,  to  burn  up) 
the  former  being  commonly  taken  to 
mean  the  consumption  by  great  heat, 
with  manifestations  of  fire  or  flame, 
the  latter  without.  The  action,  for 
instance,  of  the  atmosphere  upon  the 
human  skin  produces  an  insensible 
combustion  ot  its  particles. 

"  Cloven  tongues  like  as  of  Jtre."—Eng. 
Bible. 

"As  for  living  creatures  it  is  certain 
their  vital  spirits  are  a  substance  com- 
pounded of  an  airy  and  flamy  matter." — 
Bann. 

"  If  of  Dryden's  fire  the  blaxe  is  brighter, 
of  Pope's  the  heat  is  more  regular  and 
constant."— Johnson. 

"  Then  raise 
From  the  conflagrant  mass,   purged  and 

refined 
New  heavens,  new  earth."         Milton. 

"  The  heat,  with  a  long  set  of  fair  wea- 
ther, had  even  ignited  the  air."— EvELYN. 

"  When  such  flames  break  out,  what 
combustion  may  we  conceive  within." — Stii> 

LIKGJ-LEET. 

FIT.     Adapt.     Suit. 

To  Fit  (Icel.J?(;a,  to  knit  together 
Skeat,  Etijm.  Diet.)  is  to  make  phy- 
sically to  tally,  or  to  make  propor- 
tionate or  commensurate.  Hence, 
analogously,  to  adapt,  qualify,  or  suit. 
It  is,  then,  the  generic  term,  of  which 
the  others  may  be  regarded  as  modifi- 
cations. 


436 


ToAdap*  ^^u,l.  Maptare,  to  adjust) 
is  to  make  fit  for  a  purpose,  and  always 
supposes  the  requirement  of  an  ulte- 
rior design. 

To  Suit  ( Fr.  suite,  a  following,  a 
set)  is  literally  to  cause  to  follow  or 
fall  in.  It  is  more  exclusively  em- 
ployed of  the  becoming  and  appro- 
priate ;  as  to  "  suit  the  action  to  the 
word;"  Adapt,  of  the  efficient.  The 
suitable  harmonizes  ;  the  adapted  co- 
operates. We  fit  one  object  to  an- 
other. We  adapt  means  to  an  end. 
We  suit  an  object  to  a  quality;  as, 
language  to  the  taste  or  understanding 
of  the  hearers. 

"Sowing  the  sandy  gravelly  land  in  De- 
vonshire and  Cornwall  with  French  furze 
seed  they  reckon  a  great  improver  of  their 
land,  and  a, fitter  of  it  for  corn." — MoETI- 
MER  on  Husbandry. 

There  is  more  of  judgment  in  fitting, 
more  of  taste  in  suiting,  and  more  of 
contrivance  in  adaptation. 

"Who  could  ever  say  or  imagine  such  a 
body  (as  the  atmosphere),  so  different  from 
the  globe  it  serves,  could  be  made  by 
chance,  or  be  adapted  so  exactly  to  all 
these  grand  ends  by  any  other  efficient 
than  by  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  in- 
finite God  ?  " — Derham. 

"  If,  therefore,  in  the  nature  of  things 
we  can  discover  a  world  of  mutual  suita- 
bilities of  this  to  that,  and  of  one  thing  to 
another,  it  will  be  a  sufficient  argument 
that  they  all  proceed  from  some  wise  Cause 
that  hiid  an  universal  idea  of  their  natures 
in  His  mind,  and  saw  how  such  a  thing 
would  suit  such  a  thing  before  ever  He 
actually  adapted  them  one  to  another." — 
Scott,  Christian  Life. 

FLARE.  Flash.  Glare.  Flicker. 
Coruscation. 

A  Flash  is  a  sudden  brilliancy  in- 
stantaneously withdrawn  or  disap- 
pearing. 

A  F^.ARE  (of  which  the  etym.  is 
uncertain)  is  a  dazzling,  unsteady 
light,  and  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
burning  of  a  torch,  which  alternately 
blazes  brightly  and  is  obscured  by  the 
smoke.  Flash  is  probably  closely 
allied  to  flare,  and  resembles  it  in 
meaning ;  but  Flare  is  more  continu- 
ous than  Flash. 

Glare  (allied  to  the  Latin  clarus, 
one  of  many  cognate  words  referred 
to  a  root  "ghar,  '  to  shine)  is  abroad, 


SYNONYMS  [FLAREj 

steady,  untempered,  and,  therefore, 
oppressive  light. 

FYicker  (A.  S.  ficerian)  is  con- 
nected withj^v.  It  expresses  a  light 
which  is  rapidly  unsteady,  a  sort  of 
fluttering  flame  which  conveys  the 
idea  of  waning  or  weakness,  as  the 
others  do  of  energy,  in  the  burning. 

A  Coruscation  (Lat.  coruscationemf 
coruscdre,  to  vibrate,  coruscate)  is  a 
sudden  flash  accompanied  by  an  after- 
play  of  light. 

"But,  if  I  did  press  hard  upon  it  with 
my  finger,  at  the  very  instant  that  I  drew 
it  briskly  oft"  it  would  disclose  a  very  vivid 
but  exceeding  short-lived  splendour,  not  to 
call  it  a  little  coruscation."— BoYI,E. 
"  Like  faring  tapers,  brightening  as  they 
waste."  Goldsmith. 

"  Those  sallies  of  jollity  in  the  house  of 
feasting  are  often  forced  from  a  troubled 
mind,  like  flashes  from  th?  black  cloud, 
which,  after  a  momentary  effulgence,  are 
succeeded  by  thicker  darkness."— Blair. 
"  Strong  perfumes  and  glaring  light 
Oft  destroy  both  smell  and  sight," 

Carew. 
"  Even  as  a  flame  unfed,  which  runs  to 

waste 
Wi**^  its  own  flickering,"  Byrox. 

FLAT.     Level. 

Flat  (Icel.^afr,  perhaps  allied  to 
Gr.  TrXttTi;'?,  fiat,  wide)  is  having  a 
level  surface,  as  opposed,  for  instance, 
to  round. 

Level  (Lat.  lihella,  a  level  line, 
dim.  of  iihra)  is  having  uniform  fat- 
ness. Flat  belongs  to  objects  intrin- 
sically level,  as  compared  with  the 
horizon  or  other  objects.  Hence  an 
object  of  which  a  part  is  flat  may  be 
called  fiat,  in  the  sense  of  characterized 
by  flatness,  as  a  flat  head,  or  nose. 
If  the  latter  were  perfectly  flat,  it 
would  be  level  with  the  face.  The 
plane  which  is  raised  perpendicularly 
does  not  cease  to  be  level.  A  line 
may  be  level ;  but  it  is  only  a  plane  or 
surface  that  can  be  flat. 

"The  ordinary  shape  of  the  fish's  eyi 
being  in  a  much  larger  degree  convex  than 
that  of  land  animals,  a  corresponding  dif 
ference  attends  its  muscQlar  conformation 
namely,  that  it  is  throughout  calculated 
for  flattening  the  eye." — Paley. 
"  The  setting  sun  now  beams  more  mildly 

bright. 
The  shadows  lengthening    with  the  levei 
lieht."  Bkattik. 


[flatterer]  DISCRIMIJSTATED. 


437 


FLATTERY.  Compliment.  Adu- 
lation.   Blandishment. 

Of  these,  the  least  strong  is  Com- 
pliment. In  itself,  and  etymologi- 
call^,  it  does  not  necessarily  express 
praise  at  all.  A  compliment  (Fr. 
compliment,  from  Italian  complemento  : 
Bracket)  is  an  expression Jz/Zmo-  7ip 
one's  regard  or  auty  to  another. 
When  this  is  done  with  a  certain 
stretch  of  politeness,  and  the  words 
express  not  only  respect  but  admira- 
tion, the  compliment  develops  into 
Flattery  (Fr.  flatter,  to  Jiatter, 
orig.  unknown :  Brachet).  Anything 
is  flattery  which  expresses  praise  or 
admiration,  not  as  being  simply  due 
and  felt,  but  for  the  sake  of  gratifying 
vanity  or  gaining  favour.  Untimely 
as  well  as  excessive  praise  is  flattery. 
Flattery  is  the  voluntary  tribute  of 
more  praise  than  is  due  or  called  for. 

Adulation  (Lat.  Hdhldtionemy  Mn- 
larij  to  fawn,  as  a  dog  upon  his  master) 
is  excessive  and  exaggerative  flattery, 
accompanied  by  a  feigned  subser- 
viency, and  is  ready  to  express  itself 
in  hypocrisy  and  falsehood.  Flat- 
tery improves  upon  existing  excel- 
lences or  merits  ;  adulation  invests  its 
objects  with  such  as  are  created  on 
purpose.  Compliments  may  be  hol- 
low but  harmless,  as  being  under- 
stood and  accepted  as  conventional. 
They  turn  upon  such  matters  as  ap- 
pearance or  dress,  or  minor  actions 
and  performances,  and  are  the  better 
when  they  exhibit  skill  or  taste. 
They  suppose  an  equality.  In  flattery 
men  place  themselves  on  a  lower 
level,  and  feign,  as  it  were,  to  look  up 
with  admiration.  In  adulation  they 
adopt  a  servile  relationship.  Com- 
pliments may  turn  upon  almost  any 
point  connected  with  another.  Flat- 
tery is  more  carefully  selected,  being 
adapted  to  the  humour  or  weakness  of 
the  person,  and  implying  something 
which  he  would  desire  to  possess  or 
fancies  that  he  possesses,  as  a  point 
of  superiority.  Flattery  nourishes 
Jie  passions.     Adulation  gratifies  the 

*ixty.  From  one  point  of  view 
adula'tion  is  flattery,  low,  servile, 
shameless,  fulsome. 

"  Flattery,  if  its  operation  be  nearly  ex- 
•miHiftd.  will  be  faund  to  owe  its  accept- 


ance not  to  onr  ignorance,  bot  knowledge 
of  our  failures,  and  to  delight  ns  rather  as 
it  consoles  our  wants  than  displays  our  pos- 
sessions."—i?a»i6Zer. 

"  And  he  that  called  Arsinoe  llfiaf  7e», 
Juno's  violet,  kept  all  the  letters  of  the 
name  right,  and  compLmsnted  the  lady 
ingeniously."— Bishop  Taylor. 

"  Flattery  corrupts  both  the  giver  and 
the  receiver ;  and  adulation  is  not  of  more 
service  to  the  people  than  to  kings." — 
Burke. 

Blandishment  (Lat.  blandiri,  to 
caress)  is  the  use  of  art  for  the  sake  of 
winning,  whether  by  flattery,  kind 
words,  or  affectionate  actions  or 
caresses. 

"  Cowering  low  in  blandishment.''* 

Tennyson. 

FLATTERER.  Sycophant.  Pa- 
rasite. 

The  character  of  the  Flatterer 
has  been  given  above. 

The  Sycophant  (Gr.  c-Uxtx^avTJif,  a 
common  informery  backbiter)  bears  at 
present  the  meaning  of  a  person  of 
obsequious  aitd  servile  character. 
With  the  sycophant,  flattery  is  only 
exhibited  as  a  manifestation  of  ser- 
vility, without  being  itself  distinc- 
tively characteristic  of  him. 

The  Parasite  (Trn^aa-lTo;,  one  who 
eats  beside,  a  JLitterer,  a  woi-d  which 
had  orig.  no  bad  sense  in  Greek), 
in  modern  English  bears  the  mean- 
ing of  one  who  earns  invitations  to  the 
tables  of  the  wealthy  by  flattery  and 
such  arts  of  conversation  as  tend  to 
recommend  him  as  a  guest.  The  cha- 
racter of  the  sycophant  and  the 
parasite  differ  according  to  the  diffe- 
rent objects  which  they  have  in  view. 
The  object  of  the  sycophant  is  to  in- 
gratiate himself,  and  he  will  stoop  to 
mean  artifices  for  the  purpose  ;  the 
object  of  the  parasite  is  to  provide  for 
himself,  and  he  submits  to  social  de- 
gradation to  gain  it.  Parasites  are 
often  needy  men,  but  courtiers  are 
often  sycophants. 

"This  it  is  that  giveth  unto  ay&zf  ««rer  that 
large  field  under  pretence  of  friendship, 
whence  he  hath  a  fort,  as  it  were,  commo- 
diously  seated  and  with  the  vantage  to 
assail  and  endamage  us,  and  that  is  self- 
love." — Holland,  Plutarch. 
"A  sycophant- vnll  everything  admire  ; — 
Each  verse,  each  sentence,  sets  his  soul  on 
fire."  Drydkn. 


438 


"  He   knew   them   flatterers  of  the  festal 

hoar. 
The  heartless  parasites  of  present  cheer." 
Byeon. 

FLOURISH.     Thrive.    Prosper. 

The  two  former  are  employed  both 
of  vegetative  life  and  gi-owth  and  of 
the  doings  of  men,  the  latter  only  of 
men's  state  and  doings.  To  Flourish 
is  to  be  in  the  possession  and  display 
of  all  powers  belonging  to  the  indi- 
vidual according  to  his  nature.  It 
implies  a  certain  degi-ee  of  anterior 
development,  thus  preserving  the  in- 
ceptive character  of  Lat.  Jlorescere,  or 
'iscere,  which  appears  in  -part.  Jleuris- 
sant  of  Fr.  fienrir.  The  result  of 
flourishing  is  the  admiration  of  others, 
or  of  beholders.  Great  men  flourish 
at  the  particular  period  of  their  re- 
putation. Thrive  (Da.  thrij\  good 
luck)  is  to  prosper  by  industry  and 
care.  Hence,  as  in  Flourish  the  phy- 
sical sense  is  the  proper,  and  the  moral 
the  improper  or  metaphorical,  so  in 
Thrive  the  idea  of  social  or  industrial 
success  is  the  primary  sense,  and  the 
physical  is  the  derived.  Acquisition  in 
substance  by  growth  is  the  idea  ex- 

{)res8ed  by  Thrive.  Hence  it  implies 
ess  of  anterior  development  than 
Flourish.  The  full-orown  plant  flou- 
rishes, the  seedling  thrives. 

Pros  J' EH  (Lat.  prosptrare,  to  make 
fm-tnnate)  is  so  to  thrive  as  to  be  in 
advantageous  circumstances.  Pros- 
perity belongs  to  him  who  hoped  for 
success,  while  tlie  merely  fortunate 
man  owes  it  to  chance.  JMen  prosper 
when  they  successfully  carry  out  cer- 
tain aims  and  undertakings.  Although 
prosperity  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
designs  of  men,  the  term  is  employed 
of  things  in  which  they  are  not  di- 
rectly, yet  indirectly,  recognized ;  as 
the  prosperity  of  the  arts,  of  com- 
merce, of  agriculture,  and  the  like. 

"  By  contimial  meditations  in  sacred 
writings,  a  man  as  naturally  improves  und 
advances  in  holiness  as  a  tree  thrives  and 
flourishes  in  a  kindly  and  well-watered 
soil."— Bishop  Horne. 

"  With  this  advantage  then 
To  union,  ar;J  firm  faith,  and  firm  accord. 
More  than  can  be  in  heaven,  we  now  return 
To  claim  our  just  inheritance  of  old, 
Snrer  to  prosper  th&n  prosperity 
Oonld  have  assured  ns."  MILTON. 


SYNONYMS  [flourish] 

FLOW.  Arise.  Proceed.  Issue. 
Spring.     Emanate. 

To  express  one  or  more  objects 
coming  out  of  one  or  more  others  is 
the  purport  of  all  these  words.  That 
which  comes  out  in  continuous  sup- 
ply Flows  (A.  S.  fiowan).  That 
which  comes  up  bodily  out  of  some- 
thing else  gradually  is  said  to  rise  or 
Arise  (A.  S.  drisun).  What  comes 
forth  from  another  as  a  starting-point, 
source  or  origin  Proceeds  (Lat.  pro- 
c'edire,  to  come  forth).  That  which 
goes  out  from  something  else  which 
contained  or  enclosed  it  Issues  (Fr. 
issu,  p.p.  of  0.  Fr.  issir,  Lat.  catrc,  to  go 
out,  to  end).  That  which  comes  forth 
bodily,  but  not  gradually,  but  sud- 
denly or  rapidly.  Springs  (A.  S. 
sprin^aUy  to  spring,  to  leap).  That 
whicli  oozes  or  drips  out  of  something 
else,  imparting  of  its  own  particles,  na- 
ture, substance,  or  composition,  Ema- 
nates (Lat.  emdndre,  to  distil).  The 
moral  application  or  analogous  use  of 
these  terms  ought  to  adhere  as  closely 
as  possible  to  these  physical  distinc- 
tions. See  further  remarks  under 
Proceed. 

"  Those  thousand  decencies  that  daily  /7oic 
From  all  her  words  and  actions." 

MitTON. 
"  Yet  many  will  presume ; 
Whence  heavy  persecution  shall  arise 
On  all  who  in  the  worship  persevere 
Of  spirit  and  truth."  Jbta. 

"  Teach  me   the    various  labours   of  th« 

moon. 
And  whence  proceed  the  eclipses  of  tht 

sun."  Dryden. 

"  Life's  warm  vapour  issuing  through  the 
wound,"  Pope. 

"'Twas  ebbing  darkness  past  the  noon  d 

night. 
And  Phosphor,  on  the  confines  of  the  light 
Promised  the  sun  ere  day  began  to  spring.^ 

Dryden. 
It  should  be  observed,  that  two  ap 
parentlv  contradictory  ideas  are  as 
sociated  with  the  term  Spring — the 
one  that  of  visible,  sudden,  and  pre 
sent  rising,  the  other  that  of  remote 
causation.  This  no  doubt  comes  from 
the  twofold  association  of  a  spring,  as 
the  breaking  forth  of  water  from  the 
ground,  and  as  constituting  also  a  re- 
mote source  to  which  the  river  is  to 
be  tracod. 


[foppish^ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


439 


"  Aristotle  doth  not  deny  Gocl  to  be  the 
efficient  cause  of  the  world,  but  only  asserts 
that  He  created  it  from  eternity,  making 
Him  a  necessary  cause  thereof,  it  proceed- 
mg  from  Him  by  way  of  enicruition,  as  light 
from  the  sun."— Ray. 

Arise  is  more  naturally  used  where 
the  relation  betweea  cause  and  eftect, 
whether  it  be  physical  or  moral,  is 
simple  and  direct ;  PnocEED  where  it 
18  metaphysical  or  remote.  A  rise  de- 
notes a  cause,  Proceed  a  principle. 
Blunders  arise  from  inadvertence  ;  no 
imperfection  can  proceed  from  God. 
Emanate  seems  to  point  to  what  flows 
steadily  from  a  source  by  virtue  of 
some  necessary  activity.  Hence  the 
term  is  used  of  that  which  has  tlie  force 
of  official  sanction  or  moral  persuasion : 
so  laws  may  emanate  from  a  certain 
form  of  government,  a  sage  counsel 
from  persons  of  authority  and  experi- 
ence. 

FLUID.    LiQiiD. 

Fluid  {L^t.  fluidiis,  fiow'mg)  \s  the 
generic  tenn,  of  which  Liquid  is  one 
kind  (Kqmdus,  flowing,  liquid).  The 
word  "gaseous  denotes  another  kind 
of  consistency.  The  characteristic  of 
a  fluid  is  that  it  retains  no  definite 
shape  or  form,  owing  to  the  ease  with 
which  its  parts  change  their  relative 
position.  Air  and  the  gases  are  fluids, 
but  not  liquids.  Water  is  a  fluid, 
regai-ded  in  itself,  liquid  as  opposed 
to  solid. 

"  The  second  supposition  is,  that  the 
earth  being  a  mixed  mass,  somewhat ^uid, 
took,  as  it  might  do,  its  present  form  by 
the  joint  action  of  the  mutual  gravitation  of 
Its  parts  and  its  rotatory  motion."— Pale Y. 

"  In  oil  of  aniseed,  which  I  drew  both 
with  and  without  fermentation,  I  observed 
the  whole  body  of  the  oil  in  a  cool  place  to 
thicken  into  the  consistence  and  appeal - 
ance  of  white  butter,  which  with  the  least 
heat  resumed  its  former  Uquidness." — 
BOYLK. 

FOLLOW.     Succeed.     Ensue. 

Persons  and  things  Follow  and 
Succeed.  Only  things  Ensue.  To 
Follow  (A.  S.fylcgan)  is  to  move 
behind  and  in  the  same  direction, 
whether  with  a  view  to  overtake  or 
not:  hence,  in  analogous  senses,. to 
adhere,  as  to  a  leader,  to  copy  us  an 
original,  to  succeed,  to  result.  To 
Succeed  (Lat.   succidere,  lo  ccme  into 


the  place  of)  is  to  follow  in  such  a  way 
that  the  subsequent  thing  takes  the 
place  of  the  preceding.  One  such 
case  is  sufiicient  to  constitute  a  suc- 
cession, as,  "  The  son  succeeds  to  his 
father's  estate;"  but  what  has  been 
once  may  be  repeated  in  more  cases, 
and  Succeed  may  be  predicated  of 
several  things  following  in  order  oi 
series.  In  such  repeated  succession 
the  idea  still  holds  good  of  each  suc- 
ceeding item  in  the  series  taking  for  a 
time  the  place  of  the  preceding.  In 
matters  of  which  the  eye  takes  cogni- 
zance, this  would  he  objective  and 
local.  In  matters  of  the  other  senses 
it  would  be  subjective  and  mental. 
One  wave  follows  another  when  it 
rolls  behind  it.  One  wave  succeeds 
another  when  it  rolls  over  the  s&:«ie 
rock  or  breaks  upon  the  same  coatt. 
One  clap  of  thunder  succeeds  another 
when  the  mind  receives  and  identifieg 
the  impressions  of  botli  or  all.  Ensue 
(O.  fr.  ensiiir,  to  follow  after)  is  to 
follow  in  virtue  of  a  principle  of  s«- 
quence,  either  in  the  relation  of  cause 
and  effect,  inference,  or  chronological 
succession. 

"  Learning  and  Rome  alike  in  empire  gi'ew, 
And  orts  still  followed  where  her  eagles 
flew."  PoPK. 

"  For  how  art  thou  a  king, 
But  by  fair  sequence  and  succession  f  " 

Shakespeare. 

'•  Discourse  ensues,  not  trivial,  yet  not  dull. 
Nor  such  as  with  a  frown  forbids  the  play 
Of  fancy,  or  proscribes  the  sound  of  mirth." 
COWPKB. 

FOPPISH.  Finical.  Dandyish. 
Spruce.     Coxcombical. 

Foppish  (Dut.  foppen,  to  deride,  to 
mock).  The  character  of  a  fop  is  that 
of  a  man  whose  ambition  it  is  to  win 
admiration  by  personal  appearance 
and  dress.  Here  the  essence  of  his 
character  ceases,  and  the  rest  is  a 
necessary  outcome  of  it.  He  is  silly, 
pert,  and  affected,  not  so  much  on 
purpose  as  because  he  has  no  concep- 
tion of  any  higher  ideal  than  that 
which  he  seeks  to  realize.  The  follow- 
ing opposes  the  fop  to  the  sloven : — 

"  Give  me  leave  to  say  that  I  should  have 
liked  your  introduction  better  if,  instead 
of  pointing  your  satire  entirely  aga'.nst  otic 
extreme,  you  had  stated  the  due  and  pro. 


440 


SYNONYMS 


[forcible] 


Eer   medium    between  foppery    on    one 
and    and  slovenliness  on  the  other." — 
Waterland. 

Finical  (coined  {roro.  fine)  is  affec- 
tedly fine.  The  finical  person  is  con- 
ceitedly careful  of  minutiae  about  him- 
self—the syllables  which  he  clips, 
the  details  of  dress  and  ornaments  to 
which  he  pays  attention,  the  thou- 
eand  littlenesses  of  taste  with  which 
his  mind  is  embarrassed,  by  the  minute 
and  incessant  interest  which  he  be- 
stows upon  them, 

•'  Be  not  Xxm  finical,  hat  yet  be  clean. 
And  wear  well-fashioned  clothes  like  other 
men,"  Dryden. 

The  Dandy  (etym.  quite  uncertain) 
is  a  man  wlio  has  a  weakness  for  dress 
or  personal  finery ;  which,  however, 
is  often  very  innocent.  Men  of  great 
worth  and  intellectual  attainments 
have  been  touched  by  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  fop  is  essentially 
asinine  and  selfish.  Dandy  is  a  word 
belonging  to  conversation  rather  than 
to  literature.  Spruce,  of  which  the 
origin  is  very  uncertain,  denotes  such 
neatness  of  attire  as  fails  to  produce 
any  elfect  of  elegance  or  dignity — a 
prim  tidiness,  and  nothing  more. 
Hall,  writing  of  certain  courtiers  in 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  says,  <^They 
were  appereyled  after  the  fashion  of 
Prussia  or  Spruce ;  "  which  may  pos- 
sibly be  the  origin  of  the  word. 

•'  Beware  of  men  who  are  too  sprucely 
dressed  ; 

And  look  you  fly  with  speed  a  fop  pro- 
fessed." CONGREVK. 

CoxcOMH  {i.e.  cock's  comb)  denotes 
a  vain,  showy  man,  not  necessarily 
vain  or  showy  in  dress,  though  there 
will  be  a  likelihood  of  it ;  whose  con- 
ceit lies  in  magnifying  his  own  super- 
ficial acquirements.  The  coxcomb  is 
ft  sort  of  intellectual  fop. 

*'  The  shallow  speculations  of  the  petu- 
lant, assuming,  short-sighted  coxcombs  of 
philosophy."— Burke. 

FORCIBLE.     Cogent. 

As  applied  to  the  reasoning  and 
persuasions  of  men,  Forcible  is  com- 
monly employed  of  the  style  or  mode 
of  reasoning;  Cogent  (Lat  cohere,  to 
compel),  of  the  specific  inducement  or 


argument.    Cogent  reasons,  put  in  a 

forcible  way. 

"  He  is  at  once  elegant  and  sublime. /or- 
cible  and  ornamented.  He  unites  energy 
with  copiousness,  and  dignity  with  variety." 
— LoUTH. 

"  No  better  or  more  cogent  reason  can 
be  given  of  anything  than  that  it  implies  a 
contradiction  to  be  otherwise."— MoRE, 
Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

FOREFATHERS.  Ancestors. 
Progenitors.     Predecessors. 

We  descend  fi'om  Forefathers, 
Ancestors,  and  Progenitors;  but 
Forefathers  includes  parents ;  An- 
cestors (O.  Fr.  ancessour,  Lat.  anti- 
cessorein,  from  ante,  before,  &nd  ccdere, 
to  go)  excludes  them. 

Predecessors  (Lat.  pm-dicessdre$, 
jirer,  before,  and  dccidere,  to  de- 
part) expresses  our  civil,  not  our 
genealogical,  ancestry.  We  are  chil- 
dren of  our  forefathers,  the  posterity 
of  our  ancestors  and  progenitors, 
the  successors  of  our  predecessors. 
Forefathers  and  Progeniiors  are 
more  ordinary  terms.  Ancestors  im- 
plies some  dignity  of  birth. 

"  The  covetousness  of  the  gentry  ap- 
peared, as  in  raising  their  rents,  so  in  op- 
pressing the  poorer  sort  by  enclosures, 
thereby  taking  away  the  lands  where  they 
had  used,  and  their  forefathers,  to  feed 
their  cattle  for  the  subsistence  of  their 
families. "— Strype. 
"  The  blood  weeps  from  my  heart  when  1 

do  shape 
In  forms  imaginary  th'  unguided  days 
And  rotten  times  that  you  shall  look  upon, 
When  I  am  sleeping  with  my  ancestors." 
Shakespeare. 
"Ah  I  whither  shall  we  go? 
Down  to  the  grave,  down  to  those  happy 

shades  below. 
Where  all  our  brave  progenitors  are  blest 
With  endless  triumph  and  eternal  rest?" 
POMFRET. 

"  When  the  cause  of  God  and  the  com- 
mon interest  of  our  Christian  brethren  do 
require  it,  we  should  then  as  freely  part 
with  all  we  have  as  our  predecessors  in 
Christianity  did." — Sharp. 

FOREGO.     Resign. 

We  Forego  the  actual  or  the  i)03- 
slble ;  we  Resign  the  actual.  We 
forego  claims  which  we  might  make, 
])leasures  which  we  might  enjoy. 
We  resign  actual  pretensions,  posses- 
sions, and  the  like. 


[foresight] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


441 


In  the  following  of  Pope  Foreoo 
relates  to  the  actual : — 
"  The  dnmb  shall  sing,  the  lame  his  crutch 

forego." 

In  this  to  the  possible  : — 
*'  Unhappy  as  you  appear,  God  has  fore- 
gone to  punish  you." — Landor. 

FOREIGNER.  Stranger.  Alien. 

Stranger  (0.  Fr.  estrange,  Lat. 
extrdneus)  denotes  one  who  is  strange 
or  unknown,  whether  a  fellow- 
country-man  or  not.  A  Foreigner 
(see  Foreign)  is  a  native  of  another 
country.  As  the  stranger  needs  not 
be  a  foreigner,  so  the  foreigner  needs 
not  be  a  stranger.  An  Alien  (Lat. 
itliinus)  is  a  foreign  resident  in  a 
country,  or  one  who  is  not  natural- 
ized, or  has  not  the  privileges  of  a 
subject  or  a  citizen  in  the  country  in 
which  he  resides. 

"  The  Catholic  was  rendered  !x  foreigner 
in  his  native  land  only  because  he  retained 
the  religion  along  with  the  property  handed 
down  to  him  from  those  who  had  been  the 
old  inhabitants  of  that  land  before  him." — 
Burke. 

•'  'Tis  good  the  fainting  soul  to  cheer, 
To  see  the  famished  stranger  fed. 

To  milk  for  him  the  mother-deer, 
To  smooth  for  him  the  furry  bed." 
Crabbe. 
"It  is  enacted  in  the  laws  of  Venice, 
If  it  be  proved  against  an  alien 
That  by  direct  or  indirect  attempts 
He  seek  the  life  of  any  citizen. 
The  party  'gainst  the  which  he  doth  con- 
trive 
Shall  seize  one  half  his  goods." 

Shakespeare. 

FORERUNNER.  Precursor. 
Harbinger.     Messenger. 

Forerunner  and  Precursor  be- 
long to  the  class  of  perfect  synonyms, 
Precurser  (Lat.  prx-cursorem,  prce, 
before,  and  cuiTcre,  to  riui)  being  ex- 
actly in  Latin  what  Forerunner  is  in 
Englisli.  Yet  even  such  synonyms 
tend  in  the  course  of  time  to  assimilate 
themselves  to  slight  alterations  of 
meaning  or  application.  Forerunner 
is  used  both  in  a  literal  and  a  me- 
taphorical sense,  Precursor  only  in 
tlie  metaphorical,  in  the  sense  of  prog- 
nostic wv  indication. 

Harbinger  (0.  Fr.  herberge,  a 
tods;ing,  harbour,  now  auberge)  is  pro- 
perly an  officer  who  precedes  many 


others  to  ensure  lodgings  for  their  re 
ception.  As  metaphorically  used,  it  ii 
a  more  lively  image  than  Precursor, 
and  is  employed  of  visible  forerunners. 
For  instance,  we  should  hardly  speak 
of  discontent  as  the  harbinger,  but  as 
the  precursor,  of  a  revolution.  The 
term  has  also  a  favourable,  not  a 
mournful,  meaning.  We  speak  of  the 
birds  as  harbingers  of  spring,  more 
naturally  than  of  certain  symptoms  as 
harbingers  of  the  plague.  H  arbing  ers 
of  death  seems  a  forcible  and  proper 
image,  because  we  are  so  accustomed 
to  personify  death,  that  the  term  lends 
itself  to  mean  an  announcement  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  King  of  I'er- 
rors. 

A  Messenger  (Fr.  messager,  L.  Lat, 
missdttcum,  mitttre,  to  send)  is  one 
who  brings  a  message  or  news.  He 
therefore  differs  from  the  others  in 
having  the  present  or  the  past  for  his 
subject,  while  the  others  have  the 
future.  The  forerunner  announces, 
the  precursor  indicates,  the  harbinger 
ushers,  the  messenger  declares. 

"  These  s\gns  forerun  the  death  or  fall  of 
kings."  Shakespeare. 

"  An  event  which  appears  like  the  pre- 
cursor  of  the  ]Millenninm." — Burke. 

"  Think  not,  however,  that  success  on  ona 
side  is  the  harbinger  of  peace." — Gold- 
smith. 

"  For  God  will  deign 
To  visit  oft  the  dwellings  of  just  men. 
Delighted,  and  with  frequent  intercourse 
Thither  will  send  His  winged  messengers 
On  eri'ands  of  supernal  grace." 

MlLTOX. 

FORESIGHT.  Forethought. 
Forecast.     Premeditation. 

Foresight  is  the  faculty  of  antici- 
pating actual  experience.  Fore- 
ihought  is  provident  care.  Forecast 
is  provident  management.  The  word 
is  of  somewhat  wider  meaning  than 
Forethought,  and  furnishes  a  verb ;  to 
forecast  consequences  being  to  exercise 
forethought  upon  them,  and  meet 
them  practically. 

Premeditation  (Lat.  preemiditatio- 
nem,  prce,  before,  and  mcditdri,  to  medi- 
tate) has  reference  only  to  such  word* 
or  actions  as  are  uttered  or  performed 
by  one's  self;  the  others  referring  to 
what  is  independent  of  us 


442 


SYNONYMS 


[foretell] 


The  want  of  foresight  is  an  intellec- 
tual deficiency ;  tlie  want  of  forethought 
is  a  moral  deficiency.  The  not  fore- 
casting may  spring  from  inability,  or 
from  not  appreciating  the  gravity  of 
the  case.  The  absence  of  premedita- 
tion indicates  strong  self-reliance. 

"  Give  U3 for esightful  minds ;  give  us  minds 

to  obey 
What  foresicfkt  tells." 

Sydney,  Arcadia. 
"A  sphere  that  will  demand  from  him 
forethought,    courage,    and    wisdom." —  I. 
Taylor. 

"  Their  lords  the  Philistines,  with  gathered 

powers, 
Enter'd  Judaea  seeking  me,  who  then 
Safe  to  thy  rock  of  Etham  was  retired. 
Not  flying,  hut  forecasting  in  what  place 
To  set  upon  them,  what  advantaged  "best." 
MlLTOX. 
"  The  orations  which  he  made  upon   the 
sudden   without    premeditation   I)efore,  do 
show  more  boldness  and  courage  than  those 
which  he  had  written  and  studied  long  be- 
fore."—North,  Plutarch. 

FORETELL.    Puedict.     Pro- 

PUESY. 

Foretell  is  the  simplest  and  most 
comprehensive.  It  means  generally 
to  declare  beforehand  what  is  to  hap- 
pen. This  may  be  in  an  ordinary  or 
extraordinary  way — by  sagacity  and 
experience,  or  by  supernatural  know- 
ledge, real  or  pretended. 

Predict  (Lat.  prcedictre,  protdictus, 
to  tell  beforehand)  is  much  the  same  as 
Foretell,  but  is  only  employed  of  per- 
so.is,  while  Foretell  is  used  also  of 
unconscious  indicators,  as  "  the  clouds 
foretell"  (not  predict)  "rain." 

Prophesy  (Gk.  ■n^o<prtTtvM,  to  speak 
for,  or  instead  of,  i.e.  the  gods  ;  to  inter- 
pret their  will;  of  which  interpretation 
foretelling  is  one  /c/?icionly),as  a  syno- 
nym of  Predict,  is  properly  used  only 
of  supernatural  knowledge  anddeclara- 
tion  concerning  the  future,  except 
when  it  ia  used  simply  in  the  sense  of 
outspeaking  or  preaching  without  re- 
ference to  the  future. 

"  His  birth,  if  we  believe  Plutarch,  was 
attended  by  prodigies /ore^e//in</  the  future 
eminence  and  lustre  of  his  character." — 
MiDDLETON,  Life  of  Cicero. 

"  I  thank  my  better  stars  I  am  alive  to 
confront  this  andacious  predictor,  and  to 
make  him  rue  the  hour  he  ever  afi'routed  a 
man  of  science  and  resentment." — SwiFT. 


"  Prophesy  unto  us,  Thou  Chriat,  who  if 
he  that  smote  Thee  ?  "— jKii^e. 

FORGE.     Fabricate. 
These  words  are  both  from  the  same 
root  (Lat.  fitbrtcare,  to  frame,  construct, 

fabrica,  a  workshop ;  the  Vr.f'orge;  Prov. 

fanrga;  with  many  other  intermediate 
forms,  see  LittrJS).  As  at  present 
used.  Forge  is  employed  both  of 
manual  and  mental  things,  and  so  com- 
bines the  meanings  of  counterfeit  and 
invent,  as  to  forge  a  signature  or  a  tale. 
To  Fabricate  is  only  employed  of 
mental  fictions,  as  to  fabricate  an  ex- 
cuse, except  when  it  means  simply 
to  manufacture,  as  to  fabricate  woof- 
lens.  Fabricate  involves  a  more 
sustained  exercise  of  the  inventive 
faculty  than  Forge.  We  fabricate 
tales,  we  forge  statements,  or  even 
words  and  names. 

"  Forgery  may  with  us  be  defined  at  com- 
mon law  to  be  the  fraudulent  making  or 
altei'ation  of  a  writing  to  the  prejudice  of 
another  man's  right."— Blackstonb. 

"Our  books  ai-e  not  fabricated  with  an 
accommodation  to  prevailing  usages." — 
Paley. 

FORGETFULNE^S.  Oblivio.v. 
Obliviousness. 

FoRG  etfu  LN  ess  isa  word  ex  pressing 
a  quality  or  habit;  while  oblivion  ex- 
presses a  condition.  A  man  is  in  a 
state  of  forgetfulness.  Things  fall  into 
Oblivion.  Forgetfulness,  however, 
may  be  predicated  of  things  when  they 
are  regarded  as  in  a  state  into  which 
men's  minds  have  thrown  them.  The 
terms  oblivious  (Lat.  oblivionem,  for- 
getf nines?,  oblivion)  and  Obliviousness 
are  employed  to  designate  more  dis- 
tinctly in  persons  a  way  of  being  for- 
getful. 

"  Hail  gentle  sleep  ! 
Nature's  soft  nurse,  iiow  have  I  frighted 

thee. 
That  thou  no  more  wilt  weigh  mine  eyelids 

down. 
And  steep  my  senses  in  forgetfulness." 
Shakespeare. 

"  But  such  as  neither  of  themselves  can 
sing. 
Nor  yet  are  sung  of  others  for  reward. 
Die  in  obscure  oblivion."  Spenser. 

"  I  wonder  what  obliviousness  is  come 
upon  him,  that  he  so  cleaveth  unto  the 
doctors  whom  he  affirmed  before  either  to 


[fokm] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


443 


make  no  mention  of  it  or  else  very  seldom." 
— Fkyth. 

FORLORN.   Destitute. 

Forlorn  (A.S./or/oren,  lost  utterly) 
applies  only  to  persons,  and  expresses 
the  fact  andthe  feeling  of  being  deserted 
by,  or  at  a  distance  n-om  friends. 

DESTnvTE^L&t.  dist'itutuSjdistituere, 
to  forsake)  means  generally  wanting  in 
or  deprived  of  resources  of  any  kind, 
as  friends,  food,  money.  Forlorn  de- 
notes a  matter  of  feeling,  Destitute  a 
matter  of  fact. 

"As  a  distracted  mother  weeps /oj'/oni. 
When  to  the  grave  her  fondling  babe  is 
borne."  Fexton. 

"  With  granted  leave  officioas  I  return. 
But  much  more  wonder  that  the  Son  of 

God 
In  this  wild  solitude  so  long  should  bide. 
Of  all  things  destitute,  and  well  I  know 
Not  without  hunger."  MiLTOlf. 

FORM.  Figure.  Shape.  Con- 
formation.    Mould.     Fashion. 

FoRAi  (Lat.ybrma)  is  the  impression 
upon  the  senses  produced  by  the  com- 
position of  the  parts  of  a  body  into  a 
whole,  -whether  organic  or  inorganic, 
natural  or  artificial,  fair  or  unsightly; 
as  distinguished  from  the  matter  of 
which  it  IS  composed.  Fonn  may  be 
taken  as  a  term  lying  intermediately 
between  Shape  (A.S.  scapaiif  to  fanny 
to  shape),  on  one  side,  denoting  more  of 
the  materialistic,  and  Figure  (Lat. 
tigura)  on  the  other,  denoting,  more  of 
the  conceptional.  The  shape  of  a  stone; 
the  form  of  a  statue ;  the  figure  of  a 
man. 

Conformation  (Lat.  conformatio- 
nem)  differs  from  Form  in  being 
more  than  merely  delineative,  and  de- 
notes the  delineation  taken  in  con- 
nexion with  and  consequent  upon  the 
structure.  Except  when  conforma- 
tion is  used  in  the  abstract  sense  of 
bringing  to  a  harmonious  agi-eement, 
or  the  condition  so  produced,  the  term 
is  not  applied  but  to  the  human  figure, 
the  disposition  of  the  parts  of  the  ani- 
mal frame  as  determined  by  their  na- 
tural functions. 

Mould  (Fr.  mouky  Lat.  mMiilus,  a 
measure   or  standard)  expresses   the 


idea  ot  shape  or  form  as  the  result 
of  some  plastic  operation  or  will. 

Fashion  (Yr.fa^ouy  Lat.factionem^ 
a  making)  has  much  in  common  with 
Mould,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  reswlt  of 
specific  forming.  It  admits,  however, 
in  addition  to  the  idea  of  Shape,  that 
of  arrangement,  and  is  commonly  the 
result  of  labour  and  workmanship, and 
is  applicable  to  matters  giving  less  the 
idea  of  solidity.  Fashion  involves  pre- 
existent  principles  or  modes ;  the  thing 
fashioned  being  brought  into  confor- 
mity with  them.  The  idol  is  often 
fashioned  like  a  man,  that  is,  made  to 
wear  the  general  character  or"  sem- 
blance of  the  human  fonn.  Form  has 
a  mental  and  a  material  meaning— • 
the  form  of  a  man,  forms  of  words, 
forms  of  belief.  Form  is  of  simpler. 
Figure  of  more  complex,  outlines. 
The  figure  of  a  man  or  woman  is  the 
form  in  its  details.  Between  Form  and 
Shape  there  is  this  strong  difference, 
that  Form  includes  not  only  the  ex- 
terior surface,  but  also  the  solidity  of 
a  thing — its  length,  breadth,  and  thick- 
ness ;  while  the  shape  is  merely  what 
we  can  see  of  the  outside.  The  words, 
therefore,  though  they  may  often  be 
used  interchangeably,  have  a  different 
meaning.  A  cannon-ball  has  the  form 
of  a  sphere,  as  being  round  and  solid ; 
the  shape  of  a  sphere,  as  presenting 
to  the  eye  a  spherical  surface  and  cut- 
line. 

"  The  earth  was  without /orvn  and  void.* 
—Bible. 

"  A  figure  is  the  superficies,  circumscrip- 
tion ,  and  accompl  ished  li  n  eamen  t  of  a  body.  * 
—Holland,  Plutarch. 

"  Rude  fragments  now 
Lie  scattered  where  the  shapely  column 
stood,"  CoWPKB, 

"  In  the  Hebrew  poetry,  as  I  before  re- 
marked, there  may  be  observed  a  certain 
conformation  of  the  sentences,  the  nature 
of  which  is,  that  a  complete  sense  is  almost 
equally  infused  into  every  component  part, 
and  that  every  member  constitutes  an  entire 
verse."— Louth. 

"  Did  I  request  Thee,  Maker,  from  my  clay 
To  mould  me  man  ?  "  Milton. 

"  Unskilful  he  to  fawn  or  seek  for  power. 
By  doctrines ^as/uoned  to  the  varying  hour; 
For  other  aims  his  heart  had  learned  to 

prize. 
More  skilled  to  raise  the  wretched  than  tc 

rise."  QoiaJSAllTH. 


444 


SYNONYMS 
Ceremonial.    Cere 


FORMAL 

MO>fIOU8. 

FoRMiL  (see  Form)  bears  the  two- 
fold meaning  of  according  to  form, 
and  characterized  by  an  excess  of 
form,  as,  "  to  make  a  formal  call," 
"  to  receive  a  formal  appointment  or 
dismissal.''  As  applied  to  persons  or 
their  manners,  the  term  has  always  an 
unfavourable  sense — a  person  being 
called  formal  who  does  anything  too 
much  or  too  demonstratively  upon 
pattern  and  rule  ;  over-precise  in  look, 
speech,  manner,  or  arrangements. 

Ceremonious  and  Ceremonial 
(Fr.  cir6monief  Lat.  ctErimonia)  had, 
not  long  ago,  the  same  meaning, 
till  Ceremonial  came  to  mean  con- 
nected with  public  •  ceremony,  and 
Ceremonious  branched  off  into  the 
sense  of  dealing  overmuch  in  conven- 
tional forms  of  demeanour.  Men  are 
formal  in  themselves,  ceremonious  to- 
wards others. 

♦•  So  have  I  seen  grave  fools  design 

M^ith  formal  looks  to  pass  for  wise  ; 
Bot  Nature  as  a  light  will  shine. 
And  break  through  all  disguise." 

Lansdownk. 
"The  two  sac-raments  of  the  Circum- 
cision and  the  Passovei-  had  assuredly  be- 
sides the  ceremonialness  annexed  to  them 
the  institution  of  typifying  Christ  to  come." 
—Goodwin. 

"  Too  ceremonious  in  testifying  their  alle- 
giance. " — R  AXEGH. 

FORWARDS.     Onwards. 

Forwards  expj-esses  movement  in 
the  direction  which  one  fronts  or 
which  is  before  one ;  Onwards, move- 
ment along  a  given  line  towards  a  pro- 
posed point.  Forwards  is  opposed  to 
backwards  or  sideways.  Onwards 
would  be  opposed,  if  such  a  word  had 
existed,  to  ojiwards,  that  is,  in  any 
direction  but"  the  line  of  destination. 
The  migratory  crab  moves  onwards 
but  not  forwards. 

FRACTION.  Fragment.  Frac- 
ture.    Rupture. 

Fraction,  Fragment,  and  Frac- 
ture are  derivatives  of  the  Lat.  fraii- 
gh-e,  part,  fructus,  to  break.  Frag- 
ment is  properly  expressive  of  there- 
suit  of  physical  disintegration,  or  what 
ie  closely  analogous  to  it;  as,  frag- 


[formal] 


ment  of  a  mountain,  a  dress,  a  loaf,  a 
fragment  of  an  ancient  poet.  Frac- 
tion is  a  term  bearing  more  distinct 
reference  to  a  unit  or  a  magnitude  to 
which  it  stands  proportionably  re- 
lated. Fracture  is  the  violent  dis- 
continuity of  parts,  and  applies  to 
hard  and  more  or  less  brittle  sub- 
stances, as  Rupture  (Lat.  nipturay 
from  rumpere,  to  break  asiL7ider)  to 
those  which  are  softer  and  more  elas- 
tic. The  fracture  of  the  skull ;  the 
rupture  of  a  blood-vessel.  The  force 
of  fiacture  too  is  external ;  that  of 
rupture  from  within. 

"ScA-eral  parcels  of  nature  retain  still 
the  evident  marks  of  fraction  and  ruin."— 
Burnet. 

"  It  has  been  said  that  if  the  prodigies  of 
the  Jewish  history  had  been  found  only  in 
the  fragments  of  Manetho  or  Berosus,  we 
should  have  paid  no  regard  to  them,  and  I 
am  willing  to  admit  this." — Palkv. 

"  High-piled  hills  of  fractured  earth." 
Thomson. 
•*  Meanwhile  the  tepid  caves,  and  fens,  and 

shores. 
Their  brood  as  numerous  hatch  from  the 

egg  that  soon 
Bursting  with   kindly  rupture,  forth   dis 


closed 
Their  callow  young, 


Milton. 


FRAGRANCE. 

Perfume.     Smell. 


Scent.    Odour. 
Aroma. 

Scent  (Fr.  sentir,  Lat.  sentlre,  to 
perceive)  and  Smell  (perhaps  L.  Ger. 
smellen,  to  smoke.  Richardson  sug- 
gests a  possible  A.  S.  sm(Ec-lian,  or 
smcpg-lian,  as  diminutive  of  A.  S. 
smcBCcan,  to  smack,  taste)  express  both 
the  sense  or  its  exercise,  and  that 
which  acts  upon  it.  In  this  latter 
application,  Smell  is  generic,  and  ex- 
presses any  kind  of  emanation  which 
affects  the  olfactory  nerves,  whether 
pleasant  or  otherwise.  Scent  is  the 
smell  which  issues  naturally  from  a 
body,  and  is  peculiar  to  it,  as  the  scent 
of  a  rose  or  a  fox. 

Odour  (Lat.  Morem)  is  a  newer 
word  in  English  than  Smell,  for 
which  it  serves  as  little  more  than  a 
polite  substitute. 

Aroma  (Gr.  a^Mfxa,  spice,  sweet  herb) 
though  now  employed  almost  identi- 
cally with  Fragrance,  yet  had  origi- 
nally the  sense  of  the  peculiar  fragrance 
of  apices.     So  Chaucer — 


[frame] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


445 


"  My  chamber  is  stvowed  with  min-e  and 

inseiice. 
With  Bote  savoring  alos,  and  with  siiiamone 
Breathing  an  nromatUce  redolence." 

Perfume  (Fr.  par/am,  Lat.  per, 
through,  fumus,  smoke)  is  better  ap- 
plied to  inanimate  and  strong,  as 
Fragrance  (Lat. yj-ao-rantfa)  is  better 
employed  of  animate,  fresh,  and  de- 
licate odours.  The  perfume  of  incense 
or  of  musk ;  the  fragrance  of  fresh 
flowers.  In  a  close  and  over-scented 
atmosphere  we  might  complain  of  the 
■ickening  effect  of  perfume,  but  hardly 
of  fragrance.  Odour  is  the  emanation 
which  affects  the  organs  of  sense  ;  a 
smell  is  the  action  of  that  emanation 
ou  the  sense.  Odour  belongs  to  the 
body  imparting,  smell  to  the  body  re- 
ceiving, the  impression.  Odour  is  to 
the  sense  of  smelling  what  light  is  to 
the  sense  of  seeing.  An  odour  may 
be  very  slight,  a  scent  is  of  some  con- 
siderable strength.  If  we  were  speak- 
ing of  a  substance  not  specific,  as 
water,  we  should  say  that  it  had  no 
smell  or  odour;  if  of  a  specific  object, 
as  a  certain  kind  of  rose,  we  should 
say  that  it  had  either  no  smell  or  no 
scent. 

••  While,  whispering  pleasure  as  they  fly. 
Cool  zephyrs  through  the  clear  blue  sky 
Their  gathered /rw^rance  fling." 

Gray. 

"  The  scentless  and  the  scented  rose." 
COWPER. 

'*  The  whole  house  was  filled  with  the 
odour  of  the  ointment." — Bible. 

"  The  Emperor  Commodus  retired  to 
Lanrentum,  as  the  sea-air,  perfumed  by 
the  odour  of  the  numerous  laurels  that 
flourished  along  the  coast,  was  considered 
as  a  powerful  antidote  against  the  pestilen- 
tial vapours."— Eustace,  Italij. 

"All  the  smell  of  plants  and  of  other 
bodies  is  caused  by  these  volatile  parts,  and 
is  smelled  wherever  they  are  scattered  in 
the  air  ;  and  the  acuteness  oi  smell  in  some 
animals  shows  us  that  these  effluvia  spread 
far,  and  must  be  inconceivably  subtle." — 
Beib. 

FRAME.  Constitution.  Tem- 
perament.    Composition. 

The  Frame  (A.  ^.fremman,  to  fur- 
ther, to  effect)  is  the  structure,  th.e 
Constitution  (Lat.  constttutionem, 
disposition)  is  the  temper  or  aggregate 
of  powers  in  such  structures  as  bave 
Hfe  and  organization.    A  man's  frame 


is  his  limbs,  muscles,  bor  es,  nerves, 
&c. ;  his  constitution  is  that  same 
fi-ame  taken  in  connexion  with  its 
vital  powers  and  condition.  It  is  only 
a  metaphorical  mode  of  speech  when 
we  speak  of  anyone  as  being  in  a  parti- 
cular frame  of  mind,  which  means  no 
more  than  state.  Emotion  may  agitate 
the  frame.  Intemperance  will  shake 
the  constitution.  Tne  frame  of  govern- 
ment in  England  is  its  political  form 
or  structure,  and  might  be  given  in  a 
few  words.  Its  constitution  is  matter 
of  long  study  and  exposition,  embrac- 
ing the  growth  and  development  of 
its  forces  and  their  reciprocal  action 
and  adjustment. 

Temperament  (Lat.  temptramen- 
tum,  proportionate  mixture)  is  the 
state  in  respect  to  the  predominance 
of  any  quality,  or  the  proportion  of 
different  qualities  or  parts. 

The  Composition  (Lat.  compost- 
tionem,  a  putting  together)  is  the  sum 
of  the  parts  which  make  up  a  thing. 
It  involves  all  needful  elements,  with 
their  disposition,  in  due  proportion 
and  orderly  arrangement,  whether  in 
natural  or  artificial  productions,  in 
organic  or  inorganic  forms. 

"  The  elementary  composition  of  bodies." 
Whewell. 
••Some  bloody  passion  shakes  your  vei7 
frame."  Shakespeare. 

'•  Our  constitutions  have  never  been  en- 
feebled by  the  vices  or  luxuries  of  the  old 
world."— Story. 

"  Galen  was  v  ^  -  Better  physician  than 
an  ill  divine,  while  he  determines  the  soul 
to  be  the  complexion  and  temperament  of 
the  prime  qualities." — Bishop  Hall. 

FRAME.     Form. 

To  Frame  is  to  give  unity  by 
mutual  adaptation  of  parts.  To  Form 
is  to  give  unity  in  any  way.  In 
framing,  the  parts  have  as  direct  a 
relation  to  the  whole  as  to  one  another. 
In  forming,  the  parts  may  have  a  direct 
relation  to  the  whole,  but  no  organic 
relation  among  themselves.  The  es- 
sence of  framing  is  construction  ;  the 
essence  of  forming  is  collocation.  A 
carpenter /rawies  a  bos  by  shaping  and 
fitting  top,  bottom,  sides,  &c.  A  cer- 
tain disposition  of  ground,  water, 
ti-ees   and   buildings    might    form    8 


U6 


SYNONYMS 


[fraud] 


pleasing  landscape.  Both  terms  aie 
used  in  a  secondary  as  well  as  material 
sense.  In  that  case  Frame  preserves 
the  analogy  of  material  construction, 
and  applies  to  the  more  complex  and 
elaborate,  Form  to  the  more  simple, 
processes  of  the  mind.  We  form  ideas, 
conceptions,  and  the  like ;  we  frame 
arguments,  answers,  excuses,  devices, 
theories.  Frame  always  denotes  the 
action  of  man ;  Form  is  applicable  also 
to  the  constitutions  of  nature.  The 
founder  of  a  society  fi-ames  it;  its 
members  form  it,  that  is,  constitute 
it. 

"  How  many  excelleut  reasonings  are 
framed  in  the  mind  of  a  man  of  wisdom  and 
Btudy  in  the  length  of  year*  1  "—Watts. 

"  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground." — Bible. 

FRAUD.  Guile.  Circumven- 
tion. 

Fraud  (Lat.  fraudem,  deceit)  and 
Guile  (O.  Fr.  euiLe)  have  in  com- 
mon the  idea  of  duplicity,  or  deceit 
in  action ;  but  they  differ  in  the  mo- 
tives in  which  they  directly  originate. 
Fraud  aims  at  the  disadvantage  of 
another,  or  is  at  least  such  a  deceiv- 
ing of  one's  neighbour  as  shall  in 
some  way  redound  to  one's  own 
benefit  and  his  loss,  inconvenience, 
or  humiliation.  Guile  is  a  wily  re- 
gard for  one's  own  interests,  without 
directly  referring  to  the  interests  of 
one's  neighbour.  In  the  views  of 
high  morality,  guile  is  fraud,  as  truth 
IS  that  of  which  no  man  ought  to  be 
robbed  through  the  instrumentality 
of  deceit.  Guile  is  more  an  abstract 
quality  than  fi*aud.  Guile  is  in  the 
nature  ;  fraud  is  embodied  in  act. 
Guile  in  the  character  is  a  foul  blot 
and  an  intense  evil.  Many  good 
qualities  must  be  absent  to  admit  of 

fuile,  many  high  qualities  contemned, 
'here  must  be  a  disregard  of  truth, 
justice,  candour,  and  generosity  in 
the  man  of  guile,  while  selfishness 
predominates,  and  deceit  is  ever  ready 
to  carry  out  its  aims. 

"  An   Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no 
ffuile."—Biile. 
•'  Take  heed,  my  Lord  '  the  welfare  of  us 

all 
Hangs  on  the  cutting  short  that  fraudfiU 
man."  Shakespkark. 


CiRCUJ. V^ENTiON  (Lat.  circumven- 
tionem,  circvmvtniref  to  encircle,  leset) 
is  the  gaining  of  one^  ends  in  treat- 
ing with  another.  This  may  be  by 
fraud,  but  may  also  be  by  address.  It 
trades  either  on  the  weaknesses,  the 
ignorance  of  others,  or  their  compara- 
tively inferior  knowledge  or  expe- 
rience. It  is  the  process  of  stratagem. 

"  Canning  is  only  the  want  of  understand- 
ing, which,  because  it  cannot  compass  ita 
endis  by  direct  ways,  would  do  it  by  a  trick 
and  circumvention." — LoCKK. 

FREE.     Independent. 

He  is  Free  (see  Freedom)  who  is 
not  subject  to  any  constraint;  he  is 
Indkpexdent  who  is  not  subject  to 
any  influence  or  consideration.  Liberty 
involves  freedom  of  action  ;  indepen- 
dence freedom  of  desires.  A  freeman 
does  only  what  he  pleases,  an  inde- 

Eendent  man  desires  only  what  pleases 
im,  without  being  under  any  motive 
which  acts  upon  his  will  one  way  or 
another.  Man  is  a  free  agent,  inas- 
much as  he  has  the  choice  of  las 
actions,  but  he  is  not  independent,  in- 
asmuch as  he  is  always  subject  to  in- 
fluences which  determine  his  wishes. 
He  is  never,  for  instance,  independent 
of  his  duty,  though  he  may  be  free  to 
perform  or  neglect  it.  A  free  spirit  is 
unfetteied  by  cares  and  such  thoughts 
as  intrude  themselves  to  the  embarrass- 
ment of  the  movements  of  the  mind. 
An  independent  spirit  is  one  which 
will  not  suffer  itself  to  be  guided  bj 
prejudice  or  dictated  to  by  authority, 
Man  possesses  moral  liberty,  but  mo- 
ral independence  is  for  none. 

FREE.     Exempt. 

Exemption  (Lat.  exemptionem,  a  re- 
moving) is  a  species  of  freedom,  or 
freedom  from  certain  things,  and 
under  certain  circumstances. 

Freedom  may  come  in  various 
ways,  and  may  be  said  of  anything 
from  which  it  is  desirable  to  be  free ; 
as  to  be  free  from  pain,  inconvenience, 
oppression,  interruption.  Exemption 
carries  our  minds  to  a  dispensing 
power.  Hence  we  may  be  exempted 
from  any  natural  ill  if  we  deem  our- 
j  selves  leniently  or  mercifully  dealt 
I   with  bv  Divine  Providence ;  or  we 


[frequently]       discriminated. 


447 


are  exempt  by  virtue  of  some  human 
authority  which  binds  others,  as  an 
obligation,  a  serrice,  or  a  tax.  Ex- 
emption is  that  sort  of  freedom  which 
consists  in  not  sharing  the  liabilities 
to  which  others  are  subject.  We  may 
be  free  casually,  or  by  natural  causes 
or  circumstances,  we  are  exempt  by 
exceptional  arrangement. 

"  In  this,  then,  consists  freedom,  namely, 
in  our  being  able  to  act,  or  not  to  act,  ac- 
cording as    we    shall    choose   or   will." — 
Locke. 
"  Can  anthors  their  exemption  draw 
From  Nature's  or  the  common  law  ? 
They  err  alike  with  all  mankind, 
Vet  not  the  same  indulgence  find." 

Lloyd. 

FREEDOM.     Liberty. 

Freedom  is  both  a  quality  and  a 
condition. 

Liberty  (Lat.  tibertdtem^  riher,free) 
is  only  a  condition.  Freedom  is  there- 
fore more  independent  and  abstract. 
Liberty  relates  to  such  restriction  or 
confinement  as  is  opposed  to  it.  The 
slave  when  set  at  liberty  shares  that 
freedom  which  his  master  has  all 
along  enjoyed.  So  we  may  use  the 
term  Freedom  in  the  sense  of  a  free 
manner,  or  unrestrainedly;  as,  "Thev 
ate,  drank,  talked,  and  laughed  with 
freedom."  We  could  not  say  with 
liberty.  Freedom  rather  represents  a 
positive,  liberty  a  negative,  idea.  We 
may  be  at  liberty  to  speak  in  society 
on  any  subject  we  choose  ;  but  there 
will  be  many  on  which  we  shall  be 
prevented  from  speaking  with  free- 
dom. This  distinction  between  Free- 
dom and  Liberty  is  not  affected  by  the 
fact  that  in  very  many  cases  the  terms 
might  be  employed  indifferently.  The 
bird  escaped  from  its  cage  enjoys  free- 
dom and  liberty,  the  first  in  the  full 
use  of  its  wings,  the  latter  as  being  no 
longer  a  ca])tive.  Liberty  is  the  power 
of  putting  one's  will  into  action.  Free- 
dom is  theabsence  of  eveiything  inter- 
fering with  the  exercise  of  that  will. 

"  Freedom,  or  not  freedom,  can  belong 
to  nothing  but  what  has  or  has  not  a  power 
to  act"— LoCKK. 

*'  The  natural  liberty  o{  man  is  to  be  free 
from  any  superior  power  on  earth,  and  not 
to  be  under  the  will  or  legislative  authority 
of  man,  but  to  have  only  the  law  of  nature 
for  his  rale."— /6/d. 


FREQUENT.     Haunt.     Infest. 

Tlie  difference  between  these  tcrmf 
is  a  practical  one.  When  we  mea". 
habitual  resort  of  no  harmful  charac- 
ter, we  say  Frequent  (Lat.  frtquen- 
tare,  frtquens,  frequent)  ;  when  we 
mean  to  imply  the  impropriety  or 
unpropitiousness  of  the  resoft,  we  use 
Haunt  (Fr.  hanter ;  possibly  Lat. 
hdUitare,  Littre).  This  distinction 
is  of  comparatively  recent  introduc- 
tion into  the  language.  The  unfavour- 
able sense  has  passed  over  to  the 
haunters.  Ordinary  men  frequent. 
Thieves,  ghosts,  and  wild  beasts  are 
said  to  haunt.  So  in  the  case  of  the 
noun — the  resorts  of  pleasure ;  the 
haunts  of  vice.  But  this  distinction 
again  is  of  modern  growth.  Frequent 
carries  with  it  more  the  ideas  of  ac- 
tivity and  voluntariness,  Haunt  those 
of  passiveness  and  extraneous  in- 
fluence. Interest  and  desire  of  en- 
joyment induce  us  to  frequent.  In- 
terest and  melanclioly  associations 
induce  us  to  haunt.  We  seek  eagerly 
when  we  frequent,  when  we  haunt  it 
is  often  in  spite  of  ourselves.  We  are, 
as  it  were,  spell-bound. 

Infest  (Fr.  inf ester,  Lat.  vifestare) 
denotes  such  haunting  or  frequent- 
ing as  commonly  involves  a  plurality 
of  beings,  and  always  annoyance  or 
injury  as  the  result  of  their  visitations. 
It  is  only  by  a  kind  of  rhetorical  im- 
personation that  the  term  is  applied 
to  other  than  living  agents,  as  when 
Addison  speaks  of  the  cares  and  pas- 
sions that  infest  human  life. 

"  The  Lord  of  Flies,  so  called  (whether 
from  the  concourse  of  flies  to  the  abundance 
of  the  sacrifices,  or  for  his  aid  implored 
against  the  infestation  of  these  swarms), 
was  held  the  chief,"— Bishop  Haxl. 

"  Re  frequented  the  court  of  Augustus." 
Drydkn. 

"  I've  charged  thee  not  to  haunt  about  my 
doors."  Shakespeare. 

FREQUENTLY.  Often.  Com- 
MONLY.  Ordinarily.  Generally. 
Usually. 

Often  (A.S.  oft)  commonly  refers 
to  a  series  known  to  be  established ;  or, 
given  the  fact  of  the  series,  denotes  that 
the  repetition  of  its  items  is  numerous; 
or,  in  other  words,  Often  relate*  to  a 


448 


SYNONYMS 


[fresh' 


standard  of  frequency  implied  or  ex- 
pressed, and  hag  a  sort  of  fixed 
value. 

FREQUENTLY(see  FREQUBNT)denotes 
the  simple  numerous  repetition  of  any- 
thing, without  any  natural  ov  scientific 
but  only  a  moral  standard  to  which 
such  repetition  can  be  referred.  Un- 
calculated  recurrences  occur  fre- 
cjuently ;  calculated  recurrences  (if  so 
it  be)  occur  often.  For  instance, ''  How 
often  does  the  wheel  of  that  machine 
revolve  in  the  hour?"  It  would  be 
absurd  to  ask,  "  How  frequently  ?"  In 
truth  Frequent  expresses  better  that 
which  occurs  with  rapid  repetition,  as 
the  result  of  a  variable  cause,  Often  as 
the  result  of  an  uniform  cause.  Often 
belongs  more  to  naked  facts  or  events, 
Frequently  to  such  as  are  the  results 
of  action  and  habit.  I  have  often  hap- 
pened to  meet  him.  I  have  frequently 
been  to  see  him. 

Commonly  denotes  that  kind  of  fre- 
quency, the  non-occun-ence  of  which 
would  create  surprise;  Ordinarily, 
that  which  follows,  or  seems  to  follow, 
a  fixed  order  or  nde  (Lat.  ordinem). 

Generally,  that  which  occurs  in 
the  majority  of  similar  cases,  so  that 
the  contrary  would  be  an  exception  or 
a  specific  deviation. 

Usually  (Lat  iisus,  custom),  that 
which  occurs  in  such  a  way  that  the 
idea  of  custom  is  connected  either  with 
the  occuirence  itself  or  with  the  obser- 
vation of  him  who  experiences  or  takes 
cognizance  of  it. 

Habitually  (Fr.  habituel,  habitual), 
that  which  exhibits  both  the  force  and 
the  frequency  of  habit,  and  usually  its 
frequency  alone. 

FRESH.     New. 

As  New  (Fr.  neuf,  Lat.  novus)  de- 
notes that  which  either  absolutely  and 
in  itself,  or  relatively  to  us,  has  existed 
only  recently,  so  Fresh  (A.S.  fresc) 
denotes  that  which  brings  with  it  some 
force  or  characteristic  of  novelty  beyond 
the  fact  of  it.  A  new  instance  of  kind- 
ness is  simply  one  more.  A  fresh  in- 
stance is  one  that  comes  as  freely  as  if 
none  others  had  preceded  it,  the  term 
ex  p  ressing  freedom  of  supply ;  or  again, 


a  new  house  is  one  recently  built,  a 
fresh  house  is  an  additional  erection  of 
the  builder. 

"  Afresh  pleasure  in  every  fresh  posture 
of  the  limbs."— Landor. 

"  Thou  profoundest  hell. 
Receive  thy  new  possessor."        Milton. 

FRETFUL.  Cross.  Peevish.  Pe- 
tulant.     Querulous. 

Fretful  (A.S.  frettan,  i.e.for-etant 
to  eat  away)  denotes  a  disposition  which 
exaggerates  and  feels  unduly  causes 
of  annoyance  or  irritation,  and  so  exhi- 
bits itself  in  a  complaining  impatience. 
Fretfulness  is  constitutional,  showing 
itself  in  persons  of  weak  and  nervous 
temperament,  invalids,  and  sickly 
children. 

"Are  you  positive  and  fretful, 
Heedless,  ignorant,  forgetful  ?  " 

Swift. 

Crossness  (i.e.  as  its  fonnation  indi. 
cates,  thwartedness  or  thwartin^ness)  is 
such  fretfulness  as  shows  itself  in  un 
kindness  of  speech  or  manner  to  others 
Crossness  is  a  thing  of  humour  anc 
often  passes  off  rapidly.  It  is  peevish 
ness  mixed  with  vexation  or  anger. 

"  The  lighter  sort  of  malignity  turneth 
hut  to  a  crossness  or  aptness  to  oppose  ;  but 
the  deeper  sort  to  en\y  or  mere  mischief." 
—Bacon. 

Peevish(Wedgewood  comparesDa. 
prove,  to  whimper,  cry  like  a  child)  de- 
notes a  Quenilous  dissatisfaction  which 
it  would  be  impossible  to  justify.  It 
is  often  constitutional,  the  result  oi 
temperament,  old  age,  and  physical 
infirmity. 

"  Valentine.  Cannot  your  gi-ace  win  her 
to  fancy  him  ? 

Duke.  No,  trust  me ;  she  is  peevi  ,h,  sullen, 
forward. 
Proud,  disobedient,  stubborn,  larking  duty." 
Shakespeare. 
Petulance  (Lat.  ptttlbntia,  saiici' 
■  ness,  from  obs.  p^tHlare,  to  assail  in  Jest) 
is  less  sour  and  more  energetic  than 
Peevishness.     It  is  capricious  pas- 
sion unrestrained,  which  isimpatient  of 
authority  and  control,  and  is  character- 
istically exhibited  by  the  young  against 
their  elders  or  superiors. 

"  The  pride  and  petulance  of  youth."— 
Watts. 

Querulous  (Lat.  quh-tilus)  denotes 
the  disposition  which  is  continually  ex- 


[fulfil] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


449 


pressing  itself  in  little  complaints  of 
trivial  grievances  or  ill-ti-eatment. 

"  Enmity  can  hardly  be  more  annoying 
than  querulous,  jealous,  exacting  fondness." 
— Macaulay. 

It  is  the  expression  of  peevish  dis- 
content. 

FRIGHTEN.  Terrify.  Intimi- 
date.    Alarm.     Scare.     Startle. 

To  Frighten  (A.S.firrhtUy  fright) 
is  to  put  in  a  condition  of  fear  suddenly, 
and  so  violently  as  to  paralyze  and  take 
complete  possession  of  the  mind.  A 
brave  man  may  feel  fear ;  but  it  is  a 
manifestation  of  cowardice  to  be  fright- 
ened. Fright  proceeds  fi-om  the  ap- 
prehension of  physical  evil. 

To  Terrify  (Lat.  terrtjicdre)  is  to 
inflict  teiTor,  which  is  a  stronger  form 
of  fright,  and  leading  to  an  instinctive 
effort  at  escape  from  the  object  dreaded. 

Intimidate  (Fr.i;ifjmirfer)is  usually 
a  purposed  act,  and  commonly  done 
with  the  design  oi compelling  to  action, 
or  deterring  from  it ;  as,  to  intimidate  by 
threats.  Even  where  the  cause  is  an 
influence,  and  not  a  conscious  agent, 
the  result  is  the  same.  "  He  did  not 
put  to  sea,  being  intimidated  by  the 
weather." 

To  Alarm  (see  Alarm)  is  to  induce 
the  feeling  that  cause  exists  for  feai", 
whether  the  fear  be  actually  felt  or 
not,  or  turn  out  to  have  been  ground- 
less. 

To  ScAiiE  (  Nor.  s/yerm,  to  frighten) 
is  to  cause  to  desist,  or  to  fly,  fi-om 
fright.  It  is  to  produce  suddenly  the 
combined  effect  of  fright  and  repug- 
nance. 

To  Startle  is  to  cause  to  start  with 
fright  or  fear,  hence  it  involves,  when 
literally  taken,  an  involuntary  move- 
ment of  the  body.  Yet  it  is  not  ex- 
pressive of  great  or  lasting  fear,  and 
may  be  almost  entirely  produced  by 
great  surprise  into  which  little  fear 
enters. 

"  The  supposition  that  angels  assume 
bodies  need  not  startle  us." — LocKK. 

"Antony,  on  the  other  hand,  was  desi- 
rous to  have  him  there,  fancying  that  he 
would  either  he  frightened  into  a  compliance 
which  would  lessen  him  with  his  own  party, 
or  by  opposing  what  was  intended,  make 
himself  odious  to  the  soldiery." — Middle- 
»0N,  Life  of  Cicero. 


"  Infeetious  cowardice 
In  thee  hath  terrified  our  host." 

Chapman,  Homer. 

"Before  the  accession  of  James  I.,  or  at 
least  during  the  reigns  of  his  three  imme- 
diate predecessors,  the  government  of  Eng- 
land was  a  government  by  foi-ce,  that  is,  the 
king  carried  his  measures  in  Parliament  by 
intimiddtion." — Paley. 

"  By  proof  we  feel 
Our  power  sufficient  to  disturb  this  heaven. 
And  with  perpetual  inroads  to  alarm. 
Though  inaccessible,  his  fatal  throne; 
Which,  if  not  victory,  is  yet  revenge." 

Miltok. 

"And  as  a  child,  when  scaring  sounds  mo- 
lest. 

Clings  close  and  closer  to  the  mother's 
breast."  CowPER. 

FULFIL.  Discharge.  Realize. 
Substantiate. 

To  Fulfil  is  to  Jill  up  according  to 
a  measure  or  standard,  which  may  be 
internal  or  external,  personal  or  other- 
wise ;  as  to  fulfil  one's  own  intention, 
promise,  the  desire  of  another,  a  law, 
an  obligation  or  duty,  expectations  or 
hopes  entertained. 

DrscHARGE(0.  Fr.  descharger,  to  un- 
burden )  is  to  relieve  one's  self  of  what  is 
of  the  nature  of  a  weight  laid  upon  us 
in  the  form  of  an  obligation,  duty, 
debt,  or  office.  Generally  speaking,  we 
discharge  in  order  to  relieve  ourselves, 
we  fulfil  in  order  to  satisfy  others. 

To  Substantiate  is  to  give  sub- 
stance, in  the  sense  of  reality,  to  things 
of  statement,  claim,  orassertion,by  the 
means  of  proof  or  evidence.  It  is 
sometimes,  however,  employed  in  the 
sense  of  giving  solidity  to  what  is 
capable  of  being  enjoyed  or  possessed 
iu  a  more  or  less  developed  form. 

"  He  would  not  embitter  their  enjoyments, 
but  he  would  sweeten  and  substantiate 
them."— Knox. 

Realize  is  to  bring  from  abstract  or 

f)ossible  into  real  existence.  We  res- 
ize a  scheme  when  we  carry  it  eflfec- 
tually  into  execution.  We  realize  a  de- 
scription when  we  can  bring  it  vividly 
before  the  mind's  eye.  We  realize  an 
estate  when  we  convert  it  into  money. 
"The  Spirit  dictates  all  such  petitions, 
and  God  Himself  is  first  the  author  and 
then  the fulfiller  of  them." — South. 

"  Had  I  a  hundred  tongues,  a  wit  so  large 
As  could  these  hundred  offices  discharge." 
Drydeit. 
o  o 


450 


"  It  will  be  as  hard  to  apprehend  as  that 
an  em])ty  wish  should  remove  monntains ;  a 
iupposition  which,  if  realized,  would  relieve 
Sisyphus.  "—GLANATIliL. 

FULNESS.  Plenitude. 
Although  these  words  are  etymolo- 
gically  equivalent,  the  liat.  plemis  and 
the  English  full  being  closely  allied, 
Plenitude  (Lat.jD/t??i'(tf<(Zi«em)  is  used 
in  a  higher  style,  and  vrith  a  more  ab- 
Btract  leaning.  Indeed,  Plenitude  is 
never  physical  fulness,  but  moral,  de- 
noting the  possession  of  some  power  or 
Qualification  in  a  noble  and  pre-eminent 
egree.  The  fulness  of  a  stream,  the 
fulness  of  enjoyment.  The  plenitude  of 

Eower,  wisdom,  authority.    Fulness, 
owever,  is  equally  applicable  to  phy- 
sical and  moral  abundance. 

"  A  short  sentence  may  be  oftentimes  a 
large  and  a  mighty  prayer.  Devotion  so 
managed  being  like  water  in  a  well,  where 
you  have  fuUness  in  a  little  compass." — 
South. 

"The  painting  preserves  the  same  cha- 
racter, not  only  when  He  is  supposed  de- 
scending to  take  vengeance  upon  the 
wicked,  but  even  when  He  exerts  the  like 
plenitude  of  power  in  acts  of  beneficence  to 
mankind."— BuBKE. 

FURIOUS.  Violent.  Vehe- 
ment.    Impetuous. 

Furious  (Lat.  fiinoms,  7-aging) 
means  having  fury,  which  is  excessive 
and  violent  rage.  The  term  Furious  as 
applied  to  natural  forces  is  not  proper. 
A  furious  wind  is  a  metaphor,  mean- 
ing animated  as  if  with  the  spirit  of  a 
furious  man.  A  furious  force  is  one 
which  displays  itself  in  such  a  way 
that  we  cannot  foretell  the  extent  to 
which  it  may  reach,  or  the  mischief  it 
may  do. 

Violent  (Lat.  vi6lentus,  violent, 
boisterous)  means  exercising  great  or 
undue  force  contraiy  to  law,  reason, 
or  moderation. 

Vehement  (Lat.  vthemens,  impetu- 
ous) conveys  the  idea  of  pursuing 
one's  own  ends  with  keenness  and 
energy,  though  it  is  not  exclusively 
used  of  human  character  or  de- 
meanour. A  vehement  wind  or  stream 
is  one  which  seems  eagerly  bent  on 
running  its  own  course.  In  their 
moral  applications,  men  are  furious  in 
their   passions;     violent   in     speech, 


SYNONYMS  [fulness] 

manner,  and  conduct;  vehement  in 
their  expressions,  desires,  and  pur- 
suits. It  may  be  observed  that  vehe- 
mence is  in  its  effects  confined  to  the 
subject,  while  fury  and  violence  tend 
to  effect  others.  *^  Violence  is  never 
laudable ;  vehemence  may  be. 

Impetuous  (Lat.  impttus,  assault, 
violent  impulse)  is  used  both  mechani- 
cally and  morally.  Mechanically,  im- 
petus is  nearly  equivalent  to  momen- 
tum, being  measured  by  the  multipli- 
cation of  mass  into  velocity,  but  it  is 
used  less  strictly  and  more  popularly. 
INIorall}'^,  impetuosity  conveys  the 
idea  of  being  carried  away  by  the 
feeling  of  the  moment  with  eagerness, 
and  with  little  reflexion. 

"  A  power  steps  in  that  limits  the  arro- 
gance of  raging  passions  and  furious  ele- 
ments, and  says,  *  So  far  shalt  thou  go,  and 
no  farther.'  " — BuRKE. 
In  matters  of  human  conduct  violence 
is  often  coupled,  or  contrasted,  with 
fraud;  violence  and  fraud  being  the 
two  main  modes  of  wrong-dealing 
among  men. 

"  Since  he  who  begins  to  violate  the 
happiness  of  another  does  what  is  wrong, 
he  who  endeavours  to  obviate  or  put  a  stop 
to  that  violence  does  in  that  respect  what  is 
right  by  the  terms."— WooLASTON. 

"Thy  present  wants,  or  fears,  or  desires 
carry  thy  spirit  in  thy  own  prayers  eagerly 
and  vehemently  in  pursuit  of  those  thy 
wants,  fears,  or  desires,  because  they  are 
things  presently  incumbent  upon  thee  and 
in  thy  view." — Halb. 

Vehemence  is  the  manifestation  in  act 
or  demeanour  of  eagerness.  The  im- 
petuous man  is  he  who  is  actuated  by 
a  variety  of  motives  of  unequal  and 
uncertam  power. 

"  There  being  no  kind  of  vice  which  men 
would  not  abandon  themselves  unto,  con- 
sidering the  impetuousness  of  their  own 
natural  appetites,  and  the  power  of  exter- 
nal temptations,  were  this  restraint  from 
religion  once  removed  and  abolished." — 
WiLKINS. 

Vigour  of  scope  and  rapidity  of 
action  in  regard  to  an  aim  or  subject 
characterize  impetuosity ;  energy  and 
sustained  rapidity  of  movement,  vehe- 
mence ;  excess  or  abuse  of  force,  vio- 
lence ;  while  violence  with  distraction 
becomes  fury.  The  impetuous  man, 
though  not  wise,  is  capable  of  an  act 
of  dashing  bravery.     The  vehement 


[game] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


451 


man  will  do  what  he  has  set  himself 
to  do  with  vigour  and  vivacity.  The 
violent  man  ought  to  be  shunned; 
the  furious  man  put  under  restraint. 


a. 

GAIN.  Emolument.  Lucre. 
Profit. 

Gain  (Icel.  gagn^  advantage;  not 
the  Fr.  gagner)  is  here  a  generic  term. 
It  denotes  that  which  comes  to  a  man 
as  the  fruit  of  his  exertions,  or  accrues 
to  him  as  a  desirable  possession.  The 
gain  accrues  directly  to  the  man.  The 
PnoFii  (Lat.  -profictre,  to  be  of  advan- 
l  tags)  arises  from  his  trade  or  dealing, 

and  the  matters  Avhich  are  the  subject 
of  it.  Hence  gains  are  commonly  upon 
a  considerable  scale,  profits  are  com- 
monly made  in  little  instalments  ;  but 
the  gain  is  more  uncertain  or  casual 
than  the  profit,  which  ought  to  accrue 
in  a  regular  manner  as   the   fruit  of 

ofessional  industry,  while  we  often 


hear  of  ill-gotten  gain.  Yet  exorbi- 
tant profit,  though  it  retain  the  name, 
is  sometimes  a  kmd  of  theft. 

Emolument  (Lat.  cmoliiinenlumj 
effort,  gain)  is  any  profit  arising  from 
office,  employment,  or  labour.  It 
supposes,  however,  some  dignity  of 
occupation,  and  would  not  be  em- 
ployed of  menial  work,  manual  labour, 
or  even  a  petty  trade;  and  is  most 
commonly  employed  of  official  income 
and  revenue,  including  indirect  and 
fluctuating  sources  of  payment,  as 
fees,  dues,  and  the  like. 

Lucre  (Lat.  lucrum,  gain,  profit) 
is  a  term  very  seldom  used,  and, 
when  used,  denotes  sordid  or  ill- 
gotten  gain.  The  verb  to  gain  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  verb  to  win  as 
endeavour  is  distinguished  from  luck 
or  address ;  but  the  noun  Gain  is  used 
in  the  broadest  sense  as  the  opposite 
of  loss.  But  some  amount  of  action  is 
presupiiosed,  of  which  gain  is  the  re- 
sult. That  which  accrues  to  a  man  by 
fixed  order,  as  for  instance,  an  here- 
ditary estate,  is  not  strictly  a  gain, 
though  it  may  be  a  boon. 


"  A  gentleman  who  farms  a  part  of  his 
own  estate,  after  paying  the  expenses  of 
cultivation,  shonld  gain  both  the  rent  of 
the  landlord  and  the  profit  of  the  farmer. 
He  is  apt  to  denominate,  however,  his 
whole  gain  profit,  and  thus  confounds  rent 
with  profit ;  at  least  in  common  language." 
Smith,  Wealth  of  JVations. 

"  His  preedia,  in  like  manner,  were  tri- 
butes, tolls,  portage,  bankage,  stockage, 
coinage,  profits  by  salt  pits,  mills,  water- 
courses, and  whatsoever  emoluments  grew 
by  them,  and  the  like." — HOLIXSHED. 

"  Albeit  for  profit  and  lucre  all  things 
are  set  to  sale."— 76/rf. 

GAMBOL.     Prank.     Frolic. 
Gambol  (once  spelt gambauld,  gam- 
baud ;     Fr.   gambade.   It.  gambata,   a 
Jumping  about)  is  a  skipping,  playing, 
or  leaping  in  merriment. 

Prank  (Wedgwood  compares Ger. 
praugen,  to  glitter,  Du.  pronk,Jinerij ; 
and  connects  pr««/c  with  prance)  is  an 
act  which  is  merry  and  ludicrous,  and 
tends  to  mischief  towards  others,  or  a 
personal  joke  or  trick. 

A  Frolic  (Ger.  frohlich,  glad, 
merry)  is  an  exuberant  manifestation 
of  a  mind  which  requires  sportive  re- 
laxation. Dumb  animals  gambol. 
\oung  people  have  their  pranks  and 
frolics. 

"  I3e»rs,  tigers,  ounces,  pards 
Gambol'd  before  them." 

Milton. 
"  In  came  the  harpies,  and  played  the.r 
accustomed  pranks." — Ralegh. 
•'  While   many  a  pastime   circled    in    the 

shade. 
The  young  contending    as    the    old   sur- 
veyed ; 
And   many  a  gambol  frolicked  o'er    the 

ground. 
And  sleights  of  art  and  feats  of  strength 
went  round."  GOLDSMITH. 

GAME.     Play. 

Play  (A.  S.  plegan,  to  play)  is  a 
common  term  for  any  active  form  of 
amusement.  Play  becomes  Game  (A. 
S.  gamian,  to  play)  when  it  is  syste- 
matic and  is  exercised  according  to 
rule.  The  verb  to  play,  however,  is 
employed  in  reference  to  games.  Boys 
are  at  play  when  they  amuse  them- 
selves in  a  random  manner.  When 
they  go  to  cricket  they  begin  a  game. 
But  in  regard  to  the  verbs,  to  play  a 
game  is  the  phrase  used,  because  to 


152 


SYNONYMS  [gaudy] 


game  is  rfistricted  to  playing  at  games 
of  chance  or  gambling. 

"  It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  people 
Af  these  islands  are  great  gamblers.  They 
have  a  game  very  much  like  our  draughts." 
—Cook's  Voyages. 

"  The  lamb  thy  riot  dooms  to  bleed  to-day. 
Had  he    thy  reason,   would   he  skip  and 

play  ? 
Pleased  to  the  last  he  crops  the  flow'ry 

mead, 
And  licks  the  hand  just  raised  to  shed  his 

blood."  POPK. 

GAUDY.     Showy.     Gay. 

Gaudy  is  displaying  gauds  (Lat. 
gaudinm,joii,  an  object  producing  joy) 
or  trinkets;  hence  ostentatiously 
showy  tn  colour  or  decoration. 

Gay  (Fr.  gai,  merry)  denotes  such 
colouring  as  expresses  or  inspires 
gladness.  Nor  is  it  restricted  to 
colouring ;  but  life,  activity,  form, 
festive  arrangement,  and  light,  equally 
contribute  to  a  gay  scene. 

Showy  (A.  S.  sceaice,  a  shoiv)  is 
strikingly  conspicuous,  on  the  score 
of  colouring  more  especially,  or  orna- 
mentation. The  three  terras  are  ap- 
plicable to  inanimate  substances  as 
well  as  to  persons  ;  as  gaudy  furniture, 
showy  dress,  a  gay  parterre.  Gay 
lies  at  one  extreme,  and  is  a  term  of 
praise.  Gaudy  at  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, as  a  term  of  dispraise.  Showy 
lies  between  the  two. 

"  The  modern  invention  of  multipljdng 
the  works  of  the  artists  by  devices  which 
require  no  ingenuity,  has  prostituted  the 
ornaments  of  a  temple  to  the  gaudmess  of 
a  suburban  villa,  and  the  decorations  of  a 
pulace  to  the  embellishment  of  a  trades- 
man's door-post."— Knox,  Essays. 
"  Belinda  smiled,  and  all  the  world  was 
gay."  Pope. 

"  "When  they  had  taken  any  spoils  from 
the  enemy,  the  men  would  make  a  present 
of  everything  that  was  rich  and  showy  to 
the  women  whom  they  most  admired." — 
Spectator. 

GAZE.     Gape.     Stahe. 

These  terms  express  a  fixedness  of 
look,  and  vary  according  to  the  emo- 
tion of  mind  which  produces  them. 

We  Gazk  (Sw.  gasa,  to  stare  uith 
fright,  cf.  aghast:  Skeat,  Etym. 
Diet.)  when  the  attention  is  roused 
and  fixed  by  the  curious,  the  interest- 
ing, the  beautiful,  or  the  affecting. 


We  Gape  (A.  S.  gedpan,  to  gape) 
from  idle  curiosity,  ignorant  wonder, 
or  listless,  open-mouthed  amusement 
of  mind. 

We  Stare  (A.  S.  stdrian,  to  stare, 
gaze)  whenever,  from  any  motive,  we 
fasten  unconscious  looks,  as  from 
wonder,  surprise,  stupidity,  fright  or 
horror,  impudence  or  curiosity. 
"So, checking  his   desire,  with  trembling 

heart. 
Gazing  he    stood,  nor  would  nor   could 

depart : 
Fixed  as  a  pilgrim  'wildered  in  his  way. 
Who  dares  not  stir  by  night,  for  fear  to 

stray. 
But  stands  with  awful  eyes  to  watch  the 

dawn  of  day."  Deyden. 

"  The  Dutch,  who  are  more  famous  for 
their  industry  and  application  than  for  wit 
and  humour,  hang  up  in  several  of  their 
streets  what  they  call  the  sign  o{  the  gaper; 
that  is,  the  head  of  an  idiot  dressed  in  cap 
and  bells,  and  gaping  in  a  most  immoderate 
manner.  This  is  a  standing  jest  at  Am- 
sterdam."— Spectator. 

"  They  stand  staring  and  looking  upon 
Me."— jBifi/e. 

GEM.    Jewel. 

The  Latin  gemma  had  other  senses 
than  that  of  o  precious  stone;  as,  a 
had.  When  applied  to  precious  stones 
it  meant  not  only  those  which  were 
precious  from  their  rarity  and  m- 
trinsic  substance,  but  those  also  on 
which  the  skill  of  the  engraver  had 
bestowed  an  artistic  value.  Not  only 
the  diamond  or  the  emerald,  but  the 
cornelian  and  the  agate  incised  by 
the  sculptor,  are  classically  speaking 
Gems. 

Jewel,  on  the  other  hand  (0.  Fr. 
joyel)  is  not  employed  to  designate 
any  stones  but  those  which  are  of  in- 
trinsic value.  In  old  English,  how- 
ever, a  precious  ornament  of  gold,  or 
of  more  than  one  inlaid  gem  or  pre- 
cious stone,  was  called  a  Jewel. 

GENDER.     Sex. 

Sex  (Fr.  sexe,  Lat.  sexus)  is  a  na- 
tural division  of  animals. 

G  ENDER  (Fr.  genre,  Lat.  genus,  -ens) 
is  the  technical  or  artificial  recognition 
of  sex,  its  exclusion,  and  its  analogies. 
There  are  two  sexes  and  three  gen- 
ders. 

"  Gender  being  founded  on  the  distinction 
of  the  two  sexes,  it  is  plain  that  in  a  proper 


[gentle] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


453 


sense  it  can  only  find  place  in  the  names  of 
living  creatures  which  admit  the  distinction 
of  male  and  female,  and  therefore  can  be 
ranged  under  the  masculine  or  feminine 
genders." — Blaik. 

GENIUS.     Taste.     Science. 

Genius  {see  Ability)  is  a  pure 
gift  of  nature.  That  which  it  pro- 
tluces  is  the  work  of  a  moment. 

Taste  (Fr.  tdter,  O.  Fr.  taster)  is 
seen  in  works  of  study  and  time.  It 
belongs  to  the  exhibition  of  a  multi- 
tude of  rules  established  or  assumed. 
Jt  produces  only  conventional  beauty. 
That  a  work  should  be  good  on  prin- 
ciples of  taste,  it  must  be  elegant, 
finished,  worked  up  without  an  ap- 
pearance of  elaborateness,  A  work 
of  genius  will  wear  an  air  of  neglect, 
an  irregular,  unstudied,  bold,  and 
even  perhaps  wild  character.     A  keen 

f)erception  of  beauties  and  faults  be- 
ongs  to  taste.  Life,  gi-andeur,  power, 
force  of  imagination,  activity  of  con- 
ception, belong  to  genius.  Taste  sees 
what  is  calculated  to  produce  agree- 
able sonsatioiis.  Genius  produces 
striking  and  forcible  impressions. 
Taste  is  trained.  Genius  seizes  as  by 
intuition,  forms  a  conception  without 
imitation,  and  realizes  it  without  rule, 
yet  acting  upon  the  principles  of  rule 
without  being  conscious  of  it.  Custom, 
philosophy,  intercourse  with  men  of 
taste  strengthen  taste.  Taste  in  the 
arts,  as  in  everything,  is  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  beautiful  or  the  graceful, 
the  love  of  that  which  is  intrinsically 
excellent,  and  the  preference  of  and 
acquiescence  in  it. 

Science  (Lat.  scientia,  knowledge) 
IS,  in  those  matters  in  which  it  may 
play  a  part  with  genius  and  taste,  the 
exact  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  art, 
the  practical  conformitj  of  art  to  the 
truth  of  nature.  Genius  is  the  most 
powerful  and  the  least  imitable  of  all. 
It  often  needs  to  be  connected  by 
science  and  tempered  by  taste. 
Science  is  the  most  exact,  rigid,  and 
judicial;  but  truth  may  be  barren, and 
science  without  impulse,  feeling,  and 
imagination  may  elicit  no  more  than 
the  cold  sympathy  of  reason.  Taste 
is  the  most  elegant,  graceful,  and 
aj-reeable 


GENTLE.  Mild.  Meek.  Soft. 
Bland.     Tame. 

Gentle  (0.  Fr.  gentil,  Lat.  gen- 
t'llis,  gentem,  a  family)  denoted  pri- 
marily well-born.  Hence,  refined  in 
mannere,  and,  by  a  further  extension 
of  meaning,  of  quiet  nature  and  placid 
disposition.  The  term,  therefore,  is 
applicable  to  the  natures  of  animals, 
and  only  by  analogy  to  external  forces 
and  influences;  indeed,  to  anything 
capable  of  producing  soft  and  soothing 
impressions  on  the  one  hand,  or  vio- 
lent and  harsh  on  the  other.  A  gentle 
person,  look,  force,  voice,  and  the 
like. 
"  Oh,  gently  on  thy  suppliant's  head. 

Dread  Goddess,  lay  thy  chastening  hand  ; 
Not  in  thy  Gorgon  terrors  clad. 

Nor  circled  with  the  vengeful  band." 
Gray. 

Gentle  is  thus  an  essentially  relative 
term,  implying  the  absence  of  its 
contrary,  and,  therefore,  most  expres- 
sive in  those  subjects  where  the  con- 
trary is  usual  or  conceivable. 

Tame  (A.  S.  tdm)  denotes  that 
gentleness  which  is  the  result  of  train- 
ing or  domestication.  The  sheep  is  a 
gentle  animal;  the  wolf  may  be 
tamed.  By  a  metaphor.  Tame  is  used 
to  signify  spiritless;  as,  "  a  tame  re- 
sistance," "a  tame  poem."  Tarae- 
ness  is  a  condition  in  which  ferocity 
or  energy  is  absent  or  has  been  sub- 
dued. As  gentleness  implies  inherent 
energy  and  power,  which  is  exercised 
in  moderation  at  the  dictates  of  the 
will  or  disposition,  so  tameness  im- 
plies the  absence  of  these  qualities, 
as  being  the  manifestation  of  mere 
temperament,  natural  or  acquired. 
Tameness  is  inanimate  tractableness 
or  quiet,  and  so  is  often  employed  of 
animals  whose  nature  makes  them 
easy  of  association  with  man. 

"  That  it  may  not  be  suspected  that  there 
is  anything  of  tameness  or  mean-spirited- 
ness  in  this  conduct,  the  advantage  in  point 
of  dignity  and  esteem  really  lies  on  the  side 
of  the  good-natured  and  peaceable  man." — 
Waterland. 

Mild  (A.  S.  milde)  conveys  the 
idea  of  subdued  but  not  deteriorated 
energy.  The  air  is  mild,  which  might 
be  harsh;  the  fruit  is  mild,  which 
might  have  been  acrid  or  strong ;  the 


454 


SYNONYMS 


[ghastly] 


expression  is  mild,  which  might  have   | 
been  stern  ;  the  disposition  is  mild, 
which   might    have    been    given   to 
severity,  but  seems  alien  to  it. 

"  Mildness  would  better  suit  with  majesty. 
Than  rash  revenge  and  rough  severity." 
Drayton. 

Mildness  and  gentleness  are  compa- 
tible with  power  and  penetration, 
which  Softness  (A.  S.  soft,  soft)  is 
not.  A  soft  voice,  a  soft  light,  soft 
music,  all  please  and  soothe,  but  do 
not  eni-apture.  The  characteristic 
idea  of  softness  is  pleasant  impress. 
It  is  opposed  to  harshness  and  hard- 
ness. 1 1  is  equally  opposed  to  energy 
and  resistinguess.  Hence  the  ten- 
dency of  the  term  to  assume  morally 
an  unfavourable  character ;  as  denot- 
ing effeminacy,  too  great  suscepti- 
bility, and  too  great  simplicity. 

"There  being  only  some  few  Ditheists 
to  be  excepted  (such  as  Plutarch  and  Atti- 
cus),  who  out  of  a  certain  sofUiess  and 
tenderness  of  nature,  that  they  might  free 
the  one  good  God  from  the  imputation  of 
evils,  would  needs  set  up  besides  Him  an 
evil  soul  or  Daemon  above  the  world,  self- 
existent,  to  bear  all  the  blame  of  them." 
—Cud  WORTH. 

Meekness  (Dan.  myg,  pliant)  dif- 
fers from  mildness,  gentleness,  and 
softness,  in  being  never  applied,  like 
them,  to  tlie  dejjortment,  but  only  to 
the  temper  or  character.  It  is  a  theo- 
logical virtue  ;  but  witli  the  world  at 
large  it  is  not  in  favour;  whence  has 
been  imposed  upon  it  the  idea  of  ex- 
cessive submissiveness,  and  an  ab- 
sence of  that  "spirit"  which  more 
readily  finds  admiration.  It  may  be 
olsserved  that  meekness  at  least  ex- 
cludes obstinacy  as  well  as  pride ; 
while  persons  who  have  softness  in 
manner  are  often  found  by  no  means 
w^anting  in  self-will.  Meekness  re- 
sults from  the  absence  of  arrogant 
self-will  or  self-assertion.  It  is  the 
quality  which  meets  not  violence  with 
violence,  or  force  with  farce,  or  cla- 
mour with  clamour,  but  endures  pro- 
vocation and  submits  to  wrong. 

•'  By  inheriting  the  earth.  He  meant  in- 
heriting those  things  which  are  without 
question  the  greatest  blessings  upon  earth, 
calmness  or  composure  of  spirit,  tranquil- 
lity, cheerfulness,  peace,  and  comfort  of 
mind.     Now   these.  1    apprehend,  are  the 


peculiar   portion   and  recompense   of  the 
meeA-."— Bishop  Porteus. 

Bland  (Lat.  hlandus,  fluttering^  al- 
luring) is  that  which  produces  pleas- 
ing impressions  by  soothing  qualities 
of  character,  and  is  employed  ex- 
clusively of  the  outer  manifestations 
of  expression  and  manners.  It  is 
ordinarily  associated  with  calmness 
and  dignity,  with  affableness  and 
courtliness  in  superiors.  A  bland 
manner  in  a  friend  or  equal  would  be 
unacceptable,  as  approaching  too 
nearly  to  condescension.  JMilton  uses 
the  term  of  natural  influences — "Ex- 
hilarating vapours  bland." 
"  Arrayed  in  arms,  and  bland  in  voice  and 
look."  Lewis,  Statiics. 

GHASTLY.     Grim.     Grisly. 

Ghastly  (A.  S.  gcestlic,  frightfiu 
is  the  same  word  as  ghostlii ;  hence 
the  predominant  idea  is  that  of  a 
supernatural  or  deathlike  pallor,  from 
which  the  signification  has  been  ex- 
tended to  denote  simply  deadly,  hor- 
rible ;  as,  "  ghastly  wounds." 

"  Her  face  was  so  ghastly  that  it  could 
scarcely  be  recognised." — Macaulay. 

Grim  (A.  S.  grim,  savage)  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  essentially  connected  with 
ife  and  the  expression  of  the  counte- 
nance of  man  or  beast.  Surliness, 
ferocity,  and  gravity,  combined  into 
a  fixed  and  rigid  expression,  would 
constitute  grimness. 

"  The  ffrim  face  of  law." — Denham. 

Grisly  (A.  S.  gryslic,  terrible)  ap- 
plies to  the  whole  form  or  appearance, 
and  conveys  the  idea  of  fear  as  pro- 
duced through  what  is  ugly  and  for- 
bidding. 

"  My  grisly  countenance  made  others  fly." 
Shakespeare. 

GHOST.  Apparition.  Spectre. 
Phantom.     Vision.     Phantasm. 

Ghost  (A.  S.  gdst^  a  spirit)  is  pri- 
marily, though  this  sense  is  no  longer 
colloquial,  the  spirit  or  soul  of  a  man. 
Hence,  as  a  synonym  with  those  given 
above,  it  denotes  an  apparition  of  a 
specific  kind,  that  is,  of  the  spirit  of 
some  departed  person  in  visible  though 
disembodied  form. 


[giveJ 


DISCKIMINATED. 


455 


"  I  thought  thiit  1  had  died  in  sleep. 

And  was  a  blessed  ff host." 

CoLERlDGK. 
Apparition  (Lat.  apparitionem,  an 
attendance,  from  appdrire,  to  appear) 
is  the  generic  term,  of  which  Ghost  is 
a  species.  A  sudden  appearance  which 
produces  a  startling  eftect  from  its  un- 
expectedness is  an  apparition  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  word.  An  ap- 
parition is  always  of  a  person  or  a 
collective  object,  not  of  many  objects 
or  a  complex  view. 

"I  think  it  is  the  weakness  of  mine  eyes 
That  shapes  this  monstrons  apparition." 
Shakespeare. 

Spectre  (Lat.  spectrum)  is  a  pre- 
ternatural personal  appearance  with- 
out individuality,  and  therefore  not 
assumed  to  be  in  })articular  the  spirit 
of  any,  either  departed  or  livin<^-. 
Both  Ghost  and  Spectre  are  in  their 
common  acceptation  taken  for  some- 
thing human. 

An  apparition  or  a  Vision  (Lat. 
vtsionem,  a  seeing,  an  apparition)  might 
be  of  a  celestial  nature,  as  of  angels, 
or  an  angel ;  Vision  including  more 
than  a  solitary  apparition,  and  ad- 
mitting the  idea  or  a  scene  in  which 
many  figures  appear.  Nor  is  the 
term  Spectre  employed  but  in  the 
sense  of  an  uncongenial  or  hon'ible 
apparition.  A  lovely  vision ;  a  hideous 
spectre.  Vision  diifers  from  Appari- 
tion as  the  subjective  from  the  objec- 
tive. One  has  a  vision,  one  sees  an 
apparition.  A  vision  may  come  from 
a  frenzied  or  even  disordered  imagina- 
tion, an  apparition  is  supposed  to  have 
an  external  reality. 

"  Thus  passed  the  night  so  foul,  till  morning 

fair 
Came    forth   with   pilgrim   steps  in  amice 

gray ; 
Who  with  her  radiant  fingers  stilled  the 

roar 
Of  thunder,  chased  the  clouds,  and  laid  the 

winds 
And  grisly  spectres,  which  the  fiend  had 

raised 
To   tempt  the   Son  of   God  with   terrors 

dire."  Milton. 

"  Upon  the  foot  of  this  construction  it  is 
supposed  that  Isaiah,  in  prophetic  dream  or 
vision,  heard  God  speaking  to  him,  like  as 
St.  Peter  heard  a  voice  and  saw  a  vision 
while  he  lay  in  a  trance,  and  that  in  idea 
he  transacted  all  that  God  so  ordered  him 
to  do."— Watekland 


Phantom  (Fr.  fantomey  Lat.  phan' 
tasma,  an  image,  an  appearance)  denotes 
what  has  an  apparent  but  no  real  ex- 
istence. No  spirit  is  therefore  supposed 
for  it. 

Phantasm  (Lat.;  from  Gr.<pavraa-fA,ctf 
an  appearance,  phantom)  equally  ex- 
presses the  unreal,  but  is  purely  sub- 
jective, and  refers  what  is  seen  or 
imagined  to  the  mind  acting  upon 
itself.  A  phantom  is  n  single  object, 
as  a  spectre  or  a  wilI-o"-the-wisp.  A 
phantasm  may  be  a  complex  object  or 
a  scene.  We  even  speak  of  phantasms 
in  the  sense  of  creations  of  a  diseased 
or  disordered  imagination ;  but  a  phan- 
tom expresses  more  the  delusion, 
phantasm  the  play  of  the  misguided 
mind. 

"  Like  the  French  Republic,  the  Italian 
Republic  is  in  their  eyes  a  phantom  which 
appeared  yesterday,  and  may  vanish  to- 
morrow."— Eustace,  Italy. 

"  According  to  them,  the  Devil,  that  is 
so  often  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures,  is  no- 
thing else  but  either  a  disease  of  the  body 
or  a  phantasm  in  the  brain,  or  the  wicked 

I    principles  and  inclinations  of  a  man's  heart." 

i    —Sharp. 

I 

I       GIGANTIC.     Colossal. 

I        A  Giant  is,  or  is  supposed  to  be,  8 
I    living  being,  as  the  Titans  and  Giants 
(Lat.  gtgantes)  of  antiquity. 

A  Colossus  (Gr.  xoXo<Tff  Of)  is  a  gigan- 
tic statue  like  that  of  Apollo,  seventy 
cubits  high,  which  stood  at  the  mouth 
of  the   harbour  of  ancient  Rhodes, 
and  was  absurdly  supposed  to  have 
bestridden  it.     This  difference  lies  at 
the  root  of  their  application.  Both  are 
equally  symbolical  of  what  exceeds 
the  ordinary  human  limits  of  magni- 
tude in  bulk,  but  the  former  only  ex- 
])resses  what  is  vast  in  mind  or  pur- 
I    pose.     We  speak  equally  of  gigantic 
1    and  colossal  magnitude,  or  a  gigantic 
i    or  colossal   stride ;  but  a  scheme  of 
I    vast  magnitude,  though  it  might  be 
I    termed  gigantic,  that  is,  such  as  a  giant 
j    miglit  conceive,  could  not  be  termed 
i   colossal. 


Bi 


Con- 


GIVE.     Grant. 
FER.     Render. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  is 
that  of  communicating  to  others  what 


456 


SYNONYMS 


[glad] 


is  our  own,  or  in  our  power.  And, 
indeed,  Give  (A.  S.  gifan)  denotes 
this  generally,  and  no  more. 

To  Grant,  Confeh,  and  to  Bestow 
are  characteristic  modes  of  giving. 
To  grant  (O.  Fr.  graaiiter,  L.  Lat. 
creantare,  to  guarantee)  is  always  from 
one  person  to  one  or  more  others,  in  ac- 
cordance with  an  expectation,  prayer, 
or  request. 

To  Bestow  (be-  and  stowe,  a  place) 
meant  originally  to  lay  up  in  store. 
It  is  still  used  in  parts  of  England  in 
the  sense  of  to  bury.  Hence  its  latter 
meaning  is  to  give  something  of 
substantial  value,  with  the  intention 
of  benefiting  the  object  of  the  be- 
stowal. 

Confer  (Lat.  conferre,  to  bestow) 
implies  not  so  much  the  value  of  the 
thmg  given  as  the  condescension  of 
the  giver,  while  Grant  implies  his 
liberality  and  good  will.  Honours, 
distinctions,  favours,  privileges  are 
conferred.  Goods,  gifts,  endowments 
are  bestowed.  Requests,  prayers, 
privileges,  favours,  gifts,  allowances, 
opportunities  are  granted. 

•'  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you." 
—Bible. 

A  peculiar  sense  attaches  to  the  word 
Grant  as  a  legal  term,  as  a  piece  of 
land  granted  to  a  noble  or  religious 
house.  So  Blackstone  speaks  of"  the 
transfer  of  property  by  sale,  grant,  or 
conveyance." 

To  Render  (Fr.  rendre,  Lat.  red- 
dcre)  is  to  bring  in  relation  to  a  per- 
son or  a  state,  and  so  to  restore,  pay, 
inflict,  assign,  contribute,  furnish ;  or 
to  bring  into  a  state,  as  to  render  safe 
or  unsafe,  to  render  from  one  lan- 
guage into  another. 

"  Render  therefore  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  ax'e  Caesar's,  and  unto  Glod  the 
things  that  are  God's." — En^.  Bible. 

"  Grant  me  the  place  of  this  threshing- 
floor." — Bible. 

"  Almighty  God,  though  He  really  doth 
and  cannot  otherwise  do,  yet  will  not  seem 
to  bestow  His  favours  altogether  gratis,  but 
to  expect  some  competent  return,  some 
small  use  and  income  tor  them." — Barrow. 

"  I  esteem  the  eujcmiums  yon  conferred 
upon  me  in  the  senate,  together  with  your 
congratulatory  letter,  as  a  distinction  of  the 
highest  and  most  illustrious  kind." — Mel- 
MuTU,  CSctra, 


GLAD.  Joyful.  Pleased.  De- 
lighted.    Gratified. 

Glad  (A.  S.  glxd,  shining,  cheer- 
ful) denotes  the  lowest  degree  of 
pleasure.  It  is  the  opposite  term  to 
sorry,  and  commonly  no  more  denotes 
joyousness  than  Sorry  denotes  deep 
sorrow  or  grief.  Hence  it  is  used  to 
express  complimentary  feeling-,  as, 
''  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you,"  and  is 
commonly  preceded  by  some  aug- 
mentative word. 

Joyful  {¥r.joie,joxi;  Lat.  pi.  gau- 
dia)  is,  on  the  other  hand,  used  for  the 
highest  degree  of  pleasure  excited  by 
an  external  event.  Gladness  admits, 
however,  of  degrees,  and  may  be  more 
tempered,  thoughtful,  and  lasting  than 
joy,  which  may  even  be  exuberant  and 
excessive. 

Pleased  (Fr.  plaish\  pleasure)  may 
denote  either  the  pleasure  of  joy  or 
the  pleasure  of  satisfaction  or  appro- 
bation. 

Gratified  (Lat.  gratiJ'Hcari,  to 
gratify)  implies  a  sense  of  pleasure 
due  to  the  behaviour  of  another. 

Deligiii  ED  (0.  Fr.  deliter,  from  the 
Lat.  dilectare,  to  delight)  is  a  much 
stronger  term  than  glad  or  pleased 
for  expressing  the  same  kind  of  feel- 
ing. 

"  Then  are  they  glad,  because  they  are 
at  rest." — Bible. 

"  Joy  is  the  vivid  pleasure  or  delight  in- 
spired by  immediate  reception  of  something 
peculiai-ly  grateful,  of  something  obviously 
pi'oductive  of  an  essential  advantage,  or  of 
something  which  promises  to  contribute 
to  our  present  or  future  well-being." — 
COGAN. 

"  It  is  supposed  that  the  very  deter- 
mination which  is  the  ground  and  spring 
of  the  will's  act  is  an  act  of  choice  and 
pleasure,  wherein  one  act  is  more  agree- 
able and  the  mind  better  pleased  in  it  thaK 
another  ;  and  this  preference  and  superior 
pleasedness  is  the  gi-ound  of  all  it  does  in 
the  case." — Edwards. 
ThetermGRATiFYextendstoapeculiar 
meaning  beyond  thatof  ])ersoiial  con- 
duct of  one  towards  another,  in  which 
it  is  nearly  synonymous  with  indulge ; 
as  the  gratification  of  the  senses,  de- 
sires, and  the  like.  When  expressive 
of  lively  satisfaction  at  the  act  or  con- 
duct of  another,  it  commonly  indicates 
6onie  superiority  in  the  person  satis- 


[globy] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


457 


fied  ;  as,  the  father  is  gratified  by  his 
son's  conduct. 

•'  For  who  would  die  to  gratify  a  foe  V 
Dhyden. 
*  So  on  they  fared,  delighted  still  to  join 
In  mutual  converse."  MiLTON. 

GLANCE.     Glimpse. 

A  Glance  (Sw.  glans,  brightness) 
expresses  both  the  sudden  shooting 
of  a  bright  object  or  ray  of  light  be- 
fore the  eyes,  and  the  rapid  casting 
of  the  vision  itself  upon  an  object. 

Glimpse  (connected  with  gleam, 
glow,  glitter,  &c.,  and  with  Du.  and 
Ger.  glimmen,  to  shine  faintlii)  differs 
in  implying  the  seeing  moraentarily 
and  imperfectly,while  Glance  implies 
tliat  the  object  is  seen  momentarily 
and  distinctly.  Glance  is  more  com- 
monly voluntary,  Glimpse  involun- 
tar}"^.  We  take  glances ;  we  catch 
glimpses. 

"  The  poet's  eye,  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling. 
Doth  glance  from  heaven  to  earth,  from 
earth  to  heaven." 

Shakespeare. 

"  Who  this  is  we  must  learn,  for  man  He 


In  all  His  lineaments,  though  in  His  face 
The  glimpses  of  His  Father's  glory  shine." 
Milton. 

GLIDE.     Slide.    Slip. 

To  Slip  is  commonly,  though  not 
necessarily,  an  involuntary  movement 
(A.  S.  sUpan,  to  slip,  glide  away). 

To  Slide  (A.  S.  slidan)  is  voluntary 
or  involuntary. 

Glide  (A.  S.  glidan)  is  voluntary, 
or  analogous  to  it.  Slip  conveys  the 
idea  of  sliding  in  an  accidental  or  de- 
viating manner,  as  when  the  foot 
slips,  or  a  bone  slips  out  of  its  place. 
A  slip  is  not  only  sudden  and  rapid, 
but  it  is  short,  while  Slide  and  Glide 
are  continuous  and  protracted.  To 
slide  is  to  move  glibly  over  a  surface, 
and  without  hindrance.  But  Slide 
and  Glide  differ,  in  that  Slide  always 
supposes  a  surface  or  basement  upon 
and  over  which  the  movement  takes 
place,while  Glide  expresses  the  move- 
ment alone.  Noiseless,  uninterrupted, 
equable,  and  apparently  effortless  pro- 
gress may  be  called  gliding.  So  a 
bird  may  be  said  to  glide  in  the  air, 
and  ghosts  glide  from  one  chamber  to 


another.     A  vessel  glide*  through  the 
water,  not  upon  it. 
"  She  (Medea)  glode  forth,   as  an  adder 
doth."  GowER. 

"  They  have  not  only  slid  imperceptibly, 
but  have  plunged  openly  into  artifice." — 
Lord  Bolingbroke. 

"  These  worldly  advantages,  these  ho- 
nours, profits,  pleasures,  whatever  they  be, 
are  of  uncertain  continuance,  and  may  in  a 
little  time  slip  away  from  us  ;  to  be  sure, 
we  shall  in  a  little  time  slip  away  from 
them."— Atterbury. 

GLORY.     Honour.     Fame. 

Glory  (Lat.  gloria)  is  the  result  of 
success  in  such  things  as  excite  the 
admiration  of  men  at  large — extra- 
ordinary eff"orts,  brilliant  achieve- 
ments. 

Honour  (Lat.  h^norem)  is  the  re- 
sult of  excellence,  as  acknowledged 
by  the  narrower  circle  in  which  we 
personally  move,  and  according  to 
their  particular  standard  of  it.  Ho- 
nour IS  never  entirely  separated  from 
virtue  ;  but  glory  may  have  no  con- 
nexion with  it.  Honour  must  ever 
regard  the  rights  of  others;  glory 
may  be  earned  at  their  expense.  Glory 
attends  great  deeds,  honour  attends 
the  discharge  of  duty.  Therefore  we 
may  if  we  please  despise  glory,  but  it 
is  ill  to  despise  honour. 

Fame  (LtlL  Jama)  is  the  result  of 
meritorious  success  in  the  more  select 
but  less  showy  walks  of  life.  We 
speak  of  the  glory  of  the  conqueror, 
the  lionour  of  the  gentleman,  the  fame 
of  the  scholar  and  the  philanthropist. 
Honour  and  fame  are  always  external 
to  one's  self;  but  Glory  is  sometimes 
used  in  the  sense  of  self-glorification, 
or,  as  Hobbes  has  called  it,  "  Internal 
gioriation  or  triumph  of  the  mind." 
But  fame  has  not  the  moral  worth  of 
honour.  The  man  who  is  honoured 
has  his  reward  in  the  feeling  which  is 
entertained  towards  him,  the  famous 
man  in  that  his  name  is  often  in  people's 
mouths. 
"  Brave  though  we  fall,  and  honoured  if  we 

live, 
Or  let  us  glory  gain,  or  glory  give." 

Pope,  Homer. 

"  Honour  makes  a  great  part  of  the  re 
ward  of  all  honourable  pi"ofe8»ions."— 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 


458 


SYNONYMS 


[glow] 


*'  Fame  is  the  spur  that  the  clear  spirit 

doth  raise 
(That  last  infirmity  of  noble  minds). 
To  scorn  delights  and  live  laborious  days.'" 
Lycidas. 

GLOW.     Warmth.     Heat. 

Glow  (A.  S.  glowan,  to  glow)  is  a 
shining  with  vivid  light  or  intense 
heat.  It  combines  the  ideas  of  bright- 
ness and  warmth.  The  incandescent 
metal  glows  with  intense  heat,  the 
glow-worm  with  vivid  and  steady 
light.  In  the  glowing  substance 
the  glow  emanates  from  the  sub- 
stance itself.  A  healthy  glow  of 
the  body  is  the  exact  opposite  of  an 
external  chill. 

Warmth  (A.  S.  weanriy  warm)  is 
moderate  heat,  less  addressing  itself, 
or  not  at  all,  to  the  eye. 

Heat  (A.  S.  JkbUi),  in  its  common 
acceptation,  signifies  not  merely  that 
principle  which  is  present  in  all  bodies, 
and  on  the  degree  of  which  depends 
their  fluid  or  solid  state,  but  tlie  evo- 
lution of  caloric  in  a  strong  or  exces- 
sive quantity.  The  analogous  use  of 
the  terms  is  regulated  by  these  natural 
distinctions.  We  speak  of  the  fire  of 
genius,  the  heat  of  passion,  the  glow 
of  generous  feeling,  the  warmth  of 
friendship,  and  the  like. 

"  Persons  who  pretend  to  feel 
The  gloioings  of  uncommon  zeal ; 
Who  others  scorn,  and  seem  to  be 
Righteous  in  very  great  degree." 

Lloyd. 
"  The  heat  and  hurry  of  his  rage." 

South. 

"  Many  persons,  from  vicious  and  dead 
and  cold,  have  passed  into  life  and  an  ex- 
cellent grace  and  a  spiritual  warmth  and 
holy  fire."— Bishop  Taylor. 

GOLD.     Golden.     (A.  S.  goW.) 

These  terms  are  both  used  as  adjec- 
tives, with  this  difference,  that  the 
former  signifies  made  of  gold,  the  lat- 
ter also  as  having  the  charaeteristics 
of  gold;  as  wealth,  brightness,  yellow- 
ness. A  gold  cup ;  golden  corn,  sun- 
sets, days,  thoughts,  or  memories. 

GOODNESS.     Virtue. 

Goodness  (good,  from  a  Teutonic 
base,  "  Oady'  to  suit,  to  Jit :   Skeat, 


Etym.  Diet.)  is  natural  and  without 
effort. 

It  is  instinctive  Virtue  (Lat.  vir- 
thtem\  as  virtue  is  trained  or  prac- 
tised goodness.  Hence,  in  some  sort, 
goodness  may  be  without  virtue,  and 
virtue  without  goodness.  The  tender- 
ness of  feeling  shown  by  many  chil- 
dren is  goodness,  not  virtue.  To 
abstain  from  theft  in  a  thief  would  be 
virtue,  not  goodness.  Yet  goodness, 
in  the  highest  degree,  is  superior  to 
any  virtue  ;  for  He  who  alone  is  per- 
fect goodness  could  not  be  called 
virtuous,  which  is  human.  Virtue  is 
actual  goodness,  as  set  against  possible 
evil  in  man's  thoughts  and  deeds. 
Goodness  is  often  used  in  a  specific 
sense,  as  equivalent  to  kindness  or 
benevolence.    Goodness  is  in  those — 

"  Glad  hearts,  without  reproach  or  blot. 
Who  do  Thy  will,  and  know  it  not." 

But  virtue  lies  in  resisting  and  control- 
ling evil  temptations  and  tendeiv 
cies. 

"  Goodness  is  strictly  and  eminently  moral, 
It  is  in  its  nature  of  a  boundless  extent.  If 
it  be  not  universally  operative,  it  cannot 
exist  as  a  perfection." — CoGAX. 

*'The  exemplary  desire  of  regulating  our 
thoughts  and  pursuits  by  right  principles 
constitutes  virtue  ;  and  all  the  duties  which 
are  performed  with  warmth  and  feeling  are 
deemed  the  result  of  virtuous  afi"ections." — 
COGAN. 

GOODS.  Chattels.  Commodity. 
Merchandise.  Wares.  Effects. 
Property.     Possession.     Articles. 

Goods  is  employed  in  the  sense  of 
transferable  articles  of  property,  sucn 
as  are  intended  for  sale,  or  might 
realize  a  money  value  if  sold. 

Effects  (Lat.  effecta,  things  wrought 
out)  represent  the  personal  estate,  even 
down  to  the  smallest  matters  in  use, 
and  such  as  would  practically  be  ot 
no  value  but  to  the  proprietor. 

Chattels  (O.  Fr.  chatel,  L.  Lat. 
ctLpittLle,  property)  is  a  wider  term  than 
Goods  or  Effects,  and  comprises 
every  kind  of  property  except  the  free- 
hold and  what  is  parcel  of  it.  Chattels 
are  divided  into  real  and  personal ;  real 
chattels,  in  the  words  of  the  old  law- 
writers,  savour  of  the  reality — relat* 
to,  or  are  interest  in  land  •  personai 


[govern] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


%59 


chattels  are  movable  goods,  as  horses, 
plate,  money,  &c. 

A  Commodity  (Fr.  commodity)  in 
any  movable  article  valuable  by 
money,  but  is  restricted  to  articles  of 
necessity.  Works  of  art,  for  instance, 
as  such,  are  not  commodities ;  but  a 
painting',  if  regarded  as  an  article  of 
furniture,  might  be  called  a  com- 
modity. 

Merchandise  (Fr.  marchandise)  is 
the  generic  term  for  all  articles  of 
trade,  considered  as  such  in  theaggre- 

Site ;  while  Wares  (A.  S>.  wdni)  is 
e  sum  of  articles  of  a  particular 
kind. 

Possession  (htit  possessionem,  from 
possidcre,  to  possess)  is  that  of  which  a 
man  is,  as  a  fact,  possessed,  whether 
rightfully  or  not,  or  irrespectively  of 
the  mode  in  which  he  may  have  ac- 
quired it. 

PnopEuxy  (Fr.  ■proprt6te,  Lat,  jno- 
pnttatem,  ownership)  is  that  which  is 
properly  one's  own,  and,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  qualifying  expressions, 
would  be  taken  to  imply  a  legal  title 
to  possession. 

Article  (Lat.  articiilus,  dim.  of 
artus,ajoint)  is  a  specific  and  relative 
term.  It  is  such  a  commodity  as  may 
be  brought  under  a  particular  head  ; 
as  ai'ticles  of  food,  furniture,  clothing, 
decoration,  and  the  like. 

"  They  would  fight  not  for  articles  of  faith 
but  for  articles  of  food." — Landok. 

GOOD -HUMOUR.  Good -na- 
ture. 

GooD-MUMouu  is  a  cheerful  state  of 
the  spirits,  producing  gaiety  in  others, 
as  it  is  itself  gay.  Yet  it  may  be 
transient,  and  followed  by  a  reactive 
peevishness. 

Goou-NATURE  is  that  plastic  dispo- 
sition which  naturally  shares  the  joys 
of  others,  yet  Sui'ers  ofttimes  from 
weak  complaisance  to  their  wishes. 

GORGEOUS.     Sumptuous. 

Both  terms  express  a  character  of 
the  imposing,  but  the  Gorgeous 
(O.  Fr.  gorgias,  fiunnting,  vain,  and 
that  in  some  way  from  gorge,  the 
throat)  represents  that  whicu   is  so 


through  amplitude  and  colour ;  while 
Sumptuous  (Lat.  sumptudsus)  is  that 
which  gives  the  same  impression  from 
its  costliness.  Gorgeous,  for  instance, 
or  sumptuous  furniture.  A  sumptuous 
repast  would  be  one  consisting  among 
other  things  of  costly  dishes,  a  gor- 
geous repast  would  imply  the  precious 
metals,  and  high  decoration  in  any 
way. 

GOVERN.     Rule.     Regulate. 

Govern  (0.  Fr.  governer,  Lat 
giibenidre,  to  steer,  direct )  is  to  exercise 
power  or  authority  with  judgment 
and  knowledge ;  hence  govern  is 
never  taken  by  itself  in  a  bad  sense. 

Rule  (Norm.  Fr.  mile,  Fr.  regie; 
Lat.  rigiila,  see  Littre)  denotes  no 
more  than  control  and  diiection  by 
superior  authority  or  power,  however 
exercised.  Rule  is  exercised  over  the 
wills  and  actions  of  men  only.  Govern 
is  more  extensively  applied,  as  to 
govern  the  horses  or  the  helm.  Rule 
belongs  more  to  the  simple  power  of 
the  individual,  Govern  to  that  power 
as  it  is  modified  by  principles  and 
limitations  of  government.  The  des- 
pot rules,  the  constitutional  monarch 
governs.  Govern  implies  a  subject  of 
some  importance,  Rule  is  applicable 
to  trivial  things  as  well. 

Regulate  (Lat.  rigiildre,  to  direct) 
denotes  the  exercise  of  a  controlling 
power  over  force  already  in  action  or 
progress ;  as,  to  regulate  the  movement 
of  a  machine,  to  regulate  finances.  It 
denotes  less  dignity  and  authority  than 
Rule  or  Govern,  but  closer  care  and 
management,  and  the  exercise  of  judg- 
ment and  address.  The  wise  man 
will  govern  his  passions,  while  he  rules 
his  conduct  and  carefully  regulates 
his  expenditure  and  his  affairs. 

"  The  Bishop's  governance  should  be  so 
gentle  and  easy,  that  men  hardly  can  be 
unwilling  to  comply  with  it." — Barrow. 
"  Ne  shall  the  Saxon's  selves  all  peaceably 
Enjoy  the  crown  which  they  from  Britons 

won. 
First  ill,  and  after  ruled  wickedly." 


"  Some  say  that  undei  force 
Of  that  controlling  ordinance  they  move. 
And  need  not  His  immediate  hand,  who 

first 
Prescribed  their  course,  to  regulate  it  now." 
COWPKR. 


460 


SYNONYMS 


[grace  1 


GRACE.     Favour. 

Grace  (Lat.  gratia)  denotes  a 
benefit  gratuitously  confeired,  or  a 
service  gratuitously  rendered. 

Fa vouR(Lat./(i!vo>-em)has  in  itmore 
of  personal  aftection  and  interest,  the 
sign  of  desire  for  the  well-being  of 
the  person  favoured.  Grace  excludes 
right  and  strict  merit.  Favour  is  pre- 
ference of  persons  for  any  cause. 
Grace  is  removed  from  justice,  and 
favour  from  impartiality.  Grace  ex- 
cludes equivalent,  but  does  not  ex- 
clude partial  deserving.  Favour  sup- 
poses no  merit  beyond  pleasing. 
Graces  has  no  sense  analogous  to  the 
plural  Favours.  It  is  goodness,  bene- 
volence, clemency,  generosity,  which 
grants  grace.  Particular  good  will  and 
personal  inclination  accords  favours. 
One  mav  grant  grace  to  an  enemy,  one 
shows  favour,  or  confers  favours  only 
on  those  one  loves.  Grace  interests 
the  receiver;  Favour  also,  and  perhaps 
equally  or  more  than  equally  the  giver. 
One  is  happy  at  receiving  grace.  One 
mayset  a  slight  value  on  favour.  Grace 
conveys  primarily  the  idea  of  power 
and  superiority  in  him  who  grants  it ; 
Favour  familiarity  in  him  who  receives 
it. 

GRACIOUS.     Merciful.     Kind. 

Gracious  (see  Grace),  when  com- 
pared with  Kind  (literally,  entertain- 
ing feelings  naturally  due  to  creatures 
of  the  same  kind  or  nature,  A.  S.  cynde, 
natural)  differs  from  it  not  so  much  in 
essence  as  in  exhibition;  the  gracious 
being  the  kind  as  shown  to  inferiors, 
while  kindness  may  be  toAvards  any. 
It  has  in  it  an  element  of  condescen- 
sion. Graciousness  can  only  be  shown 
to  beings  of  some  moral  dignity  and 
capacity,  who  may  be  able  to  appre- 
ciate the  nature  and  value  of  actions. 
Kindness  may  be  shown  towards  dumb 
animals.  Kindness  is  a  duty  in  all. 
Graciousness  rather  implies  such 
kindness  as  is  in  excess  of  the  mere 
demands  of  duty,  and  is  exhibited 
where  it  could  not  be  claimed  even  of 
moral  right. 

"  I  therefore  beg  you  will  be  graciously 
pleased  to  accept  this  most  faithful  zeal  of 
your  poor  subject,  who  has  uo  other  design 


in  it  than  your  good,  and  the  discharge  of 
his  own  conscience." — BiSHOP  Burnet. 

"  Be  kindly  affectioned  one  to  another 
with  brotherly  love." — Bible. 

Merciful  (Fr.  merely  Lat.  merci- 
dem,  recompense,  reward)\^  the  quality 
of  withholding  pain,  evil,  or  suffering, 
when  it  is  in  one's  power  to  inflict  it ; 
or,  in  a  milder  sense,  the  granting  of 
benefits  in  spite  of  demerit. 

"  Blessed  are  the  vierciful,  for  they  shall 
obtain  mercy. " — Bible. 

GRAND.  Great.  Sublime. 
Noble.  Majestic.  Imposing.  Mag- 
nificent. Stately.  Splendid.  Su- 
perb.    August. 

Grand  (Lat.  grand  is,  large,  grand) 
is  applied  to  the  union  of  excellence 
with  something  which  conveys  the 
impression  of  vastness  or  greatness  in 
the  sense  of  expansiveness ;  as  a  grand 
mountain  or  cataract,  a  grand  sight, 
grand  musio,  a  grand  monarch,  a 
grand  conception,  a  grand  character. 
The  grand  expands  the  mind  with  a 
sense  of  vastness  and  majesty. 

'*  I  have  ever  observed  that  colonnades 
and  avenues  of  trees  of  a  moderate  length 
were,  without  comparison,  i&v grander  than 
when  they  were  suffered  to  run  to  immense 
distances." — BuRKE. 

Great  (A.  ^. great),  as  a  synonym 
of  Grand,  denotes  less  vividly  what 
is  impressive,  yet  is  associated  with 
power  and  gifts  capable  of  accom- 
plishing ends  of  their  own.  The 
truly  great  man  may  be  sometimes 
the  very  opposite  of  grand.  Cincin- 
natus  was  great  indeed,  when,  having 
saved  his  country,  he  laid  aside  his 
grandeur.  Greatness,  in  its  moral 
sense,  appeals  more  directly  to  the 
reason  than  the  senses.  The  great 
man  has  extraordinary  powers  of 
which  he  makes  use  to  accomplish 
high  and  important  ends.  A  great 
undertaking  is  extensive  or  arduous 
in  itself,  while  it  needs  high  qualities 
to  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue. 

"  Greatness  of  soul  is  to  be  acquired  by 
converse  with  the  heroes  of  antiquity." — 
Knox. 

Sublime  (Lat.  sublhnis,  lofty,  sub- 
lime) is  the  highest  of  all  these  terms. 
It  is  so  high  in  character  that  the  sub- 
lime inspires  awe  rather  tlian  delight 


[grand] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


461 


in  the  scenes  of  art  or  nature,  and  in 
the  character  and  deeds  of  men.  The 
truly  sublime  is  not  only  awful  but 
elevating.  It  is  seldom  applied 
directly  to  persons. 

"  The  age  was  fruitful  in  great  men  ;  but, 
if  we  except  the  su0li7ne3uUa,n  Leader,  none, 
as  regards  splendour  of  endowments,  stood 
upon  the  same  level  as  Cicero,"  —  Dk 
QuiNCEY. 

Noble   (Lat.    ndbtits,    well-knoioti, 
npble)  is  a  term  of  opposition,  and 
derives  its  force   ii-om   that  against 
which  it  is  set.     It  is  that  which  is 
above  the  puny,  petty,  low,  mean, 
or    dishonourable,     with    any,    the 
smallest  degree,  of  which  it  is  incom- 
patible.    It  is  properly  a  social  and 
moral  term ;  and  it  is  only  by  a  sort 
of  picturesque  analogy  that  we  speak 
of  a  noble  tree  or  palace.     A  noble 
nature  or  action  is  innately  su])erior 
to  that  which  is  base. 
♦•  Know  this,  my  lord,  nobility  of  blood 
Is  but  a  glittering  and  fallacious  pood  : 
The  nobleman  is  he  whose  noble  mind 
Is  filled   with    inborn  worth   unborrowed 
from  his  kind."  Dryden. 

Majestic  (Lat.  majestas,  excellence, 
majesty)  refers  exclusively  to  external 
effect  of  form  or  movement,  and  has 
no  connexion  with  moral  greatness. 
The  basest  tyrant  mio;ht  have  a  ma- 
jestic person  or  air.  The  movements 
of  an  epic  poem  should  be  majestic. 
Concentrated  sti-ength,  self-posses- 
sion, and  grace  make  up  the  majes- 
tic. 

"  But  in  the  midst  was  seen 
A  lady  of  a  more  majestic  mien ; 
By  stature   and  by  beauty  marked  their 
Sovereign  Queen."  Drydex. 

Imposing,  like  IMajestic,  is  purely 
external ;  but  that  which  is  majestic 
has  always  an  individuality,  while 
many  things  in  detail  may  combine 
to  produce  an  imposing  effect.  The 
term  is  not  of  old  usage.  Nor  is  im- 
posing a  term  of  unqualified  praise ; 
ibr  that  may  have  an  imposing  exterior 
which  has  little  intrinsic  substance  or 
solidity. 

Magnificent  (Lat.  magtiificiis)  is 
applied  to  objects  of  rich  and  varied 
beauty  on  a  large  scale,  and  especially, 
in  the  case  of  works  of  art,  to  those 
which  combine  size,  excellence,  elabo- 
rateness of  conception  and  execution, 


with  great  effectiveness ;  though  the 
term  Magnificence  by  no  means  ex- 
presses the  character  of  a  work  of 
ai-t  simply  as  such,  howeverexcellent. 
That  costliness  and  elaborateness  are 
requisite  to  entitle  a  work  of  art  to 
the  epithet  m^agnificent,  may  be  seen 
in  the  case  of  architecture.  The 
Gothic  cathedral  may  be'magnificent ; 
the  Great  Pyramid  is  stupendous,  but 
not  magnificent.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  purely  natural  production  might  be 
called  magnificent  for  its  uniform 
beauty  and  size ;  as  a  magnificent 
pearL 

"  Man  He  made,  and  for  him  built 
Magnificent  this  world."  Milton. 

Stately  is  exhibiting  state  or 
dignity,  or  what  is  analogous  to  them, 
and  can  only  be  applied  to  what  has, 
or  may  be  conceived  to  wear,  an  air  of 
imposing  dignity;  as  a  stately  figure, 
walk,  palace,  avenue,  or  forest  ti-ee. 
Stateliness  involves  the  combination 
of  height  and  grace. 

"Ye  that  in   waters   glide,  and  ye  that 

walk 
The  earth,   and    stately    tread    or   lowly 

creep. "  Milton. 

Splendid  (Lat.spte/u/ic/iis,  splendirCf 
to  shine  brightly)  is  like  Magnificent, 
but  less  strong,  and  differs  from  it  in 
being  applied  to  abstract  qualities, 
which  magnificent  never  is.  Splendid, 
not  magnificent,  talents.  The  splen- 
did implies  always  something  bril- 
liant, gorgeous,  or  striking. 

"  Liveries  whose  gorgeousness  evinces 
not  the  footman's  deserts,  but  his  lord's 
splendidness." — Boyle. 

Superb  {Yr.  superbe,  Lat.  superbus, 
haitghty,  splendid)  has  no  application 
in  our  language  to  human  disposition, 
but  is  used  of  objects  of  nature  or  of 
art  which  are  of  the  best,  that  is,  the 
largest  or  best  developed,  the  best 
manufactured,  the  most  imposing  or 
elaborate ;  as  a  superb  diamond,  tree, 
house,  carpet,  bracelet,  equipage. 
The  original  force  of  the  Latin  su- 
perbus  still  runs  through  the  modern 
use  of  the  term.  It  indicates  that 
striking  superiority  to  other  objects 
of  the  same  class  which,  in  conscious 
creatures,  would  naturally  be  accom- 
panied by  pride. 


462 


SYNONYMS 


[gratify] 


•*  With  laboured  visible  design 
Art  strove  to  be  superbly  fine." 

Churchill. 

August  (Lat.  aiigustuSy  consecrated, 
majestic)  is  only  employed  of  persons 
and  of  what  emanates  from  them  as 
creating  extraordinary  respect,  or  re- 
spect mingled  with  awe.  There 
seems,  however,  to  be  no  reason  why 
the  term  should  not  be  employed 
analogously  of  visible  objects,  as  the 
august  mountain  solitudes ;  but  there 
is  a  kind  of  personality  attributed  to 
such  features  of  nature. 

"  Not  with  such  majesty,  such  bold  relief, 
The  forms  august,  the  king,  or  conquering 

chief. 
E'er  swelled  on  marble  as  in  verse  have 

shined  — 
In  polished  \erse — the  manners  and    the 

mind."  PoPK. 

GRATIFY.  Indulge.  Humour. 
Satisfy.  Please.  Satiate.  Glut. 
Cloy. 

To  Gratify  (Lat.  graiificari,  to 
oblige)  is  first  to  please,  then  to  in- 
dulge, and,  in  the  latter  sense,  to 
indulge  not  only  persons,  but  the 
mind  and  its  tastes  or  desires,  the 
senses  and  the  appetites. 

Indulge  (Lat.  indnlgcre)  is  to  con- 
cede something  to  a  weakness  or  a 
wish.  The  subject-matter  of  grfiti- 
fication  is  more  positive  than  that 
of  indulgence.  We  gratify  passions, 
desires,  and  the  like ;  we  indulge 
humours  or  other  less  powerful  in- 
fluences. In  indulging  we  escape 
the  trouble  or  effort  of  resisting;  in 
gratifying  we  look  for  keen  enjoy- 
ment. The  former  is  a  sign  of  weak- 
ness, the  latter  often  of  vicious  deter- 
mination. 

"  His  (Virgil's)  sense  always  somewhat  to 
gratify  our  imagination  on  which  it  may 
enlarge  at  pleasure." — Drydex. 

"  Restraint  she  will  not  brook  ; 
And,  left  to  herself,  if  evil  then  ensue. 
She  first  his  weak  indulgence  will  accuse.' 
Milton. 

To  Humour  (Lat.  humorem,  mois- 
turey  the  idea  of  Galen  and  many 
later  physicians  being  that  the  general 
temperament  was  caused  by  the  pre- 
valence of  the  particular  humour; 
whethercholeric,  or  phieg'matic  or  san- 


guine, or  melancholy)  is  to  adapt 
oneself  to  the  variable  mood  of  an- 
other. 

"  By  humouring  the  mind  in  trifles,  we 
teach  it  to  presume  on  its  own  importunity 
in  greater  matters  ;  and  it  will  be  found  a 
convenient  rule  in  the  management  of  our 
passions,  as  of  our  children,  to  refuse 
a  compliance  with  them,  not  only  when 
they  ask  impro[>er  things,  but  when  they 
ask  anything  with  impatience." — Bishop 
HURD. 

To  gratify  is  capable  of  much 
difference  in  the  character  of  the 
gratification.  The  lowest  and  most 
sensual  passions  may  be  gi-atified, 
and  the  purest  wishes  on  behalf  of 
another,  as  when  a  father  is  gratified 
with  the  successes  of  his  son. 

To  Satisfy  (Lat.  siitisfcfccre,  to 
give  satisfaction)  is  to  fill  up  the  mea- 
sure of  a  want,  whether  the  want 
be  ordinate  and  lawful,  or  unlawful 
and  inordinate,  and,  like  Gratify,  ad- 
mits of  many  degrees  and  kinds ;  but 
Satisfy  does  not  imply  pleasure,  as  it 
is  implied  in  Gratify  ;  but  the  feeling, 
though  less  vivid,  is  more  substantial. 
Hence  it  follows  that  there  may  be 
satisfaction  without  gratification,  and 
gratification  without  satisfaction.  The 
cravings  of  a  hungry  man  are  satis- 
fied with  very  plain  diet,  in  which 
there  is  no  gratification  of  the  palate. 
The  gratification  of  licentiousness  and 
worldliness  are  often  felt  to  be  utterly 
unsatisfactory. 

"  The  word  satisfaction  is  frequently  em- 
ployed to  express  the  full  accomplishment 
of  some  particular  desire,  which  always 
communicates  a  temporary  pleasure,  what- 
ever may  be  the  nature  of  that  desire." — 
COGAN. 

Please  (Fr.  plaisir,  pleasure)  has 
the  twofold  meaning  of  exciting,  1, 
anything  of  the  nature  of  pleasure ; 
and  2,  specifically  a  feeling  of  honour- 
able satisfaction,  as  when  a  superior 
expresses  himself  as  pleased  with 
another.  Pleasu  re  holds  an  interme- 
diate position  between  Satisfaction 
and  Gratification,  being  more  than 
tlie  first,  and  less  than  the  second.  To 
be  pleased  denotes  a  more  lasting  co  - 
dition  than  to  be  gratified,  and  also 
conveys  the  idea  of  combined  grati- 
fication and  approval  of  the  judgment 
arising    from    ol)jocts  which    operate 


[gratuitous]        discriminated. 

continuously  upon  our  minds;  as  to 
be  pleased  witli  a  landscape  we  con- 
template, or  a  book  we  are  reading, 
or  with  the  conversation,  or  society, 
or  manner,  or  conduct  of  others. 


4^53 


"  The  soul  has  many  different  faculties, 
or,  in  other  words,  many  different  ways  of 
acting, and  can  beintenselyp/ea.^edormade 
happy  by  all  these  different  faculties  or 
ways  of  acting." — AddisoN. 

Satiate  (Lat.  s^tiare)  denotes  ex- 
cessi\re  Satisfaction,  or  satisfaction 
and  something  more.  It  deserves,  how- 
ever, to  be  remarked,  that  as  exti-emes 
proverbially  meet,  to  be  satiated  is 
oiten,  practically,  the  opposite  of  being 
satisfied;  for  to  be  satisfied  denotes 
pleasure  and  contentment,  while 
satiety  is  the  feeling  of  dissatisfaction 
and  discontent  produced  by  orer-satis- 
faction.  Satiate,  Glvt  {L&t. glutire, 
to  swallow  doicn),  andCi.OY  (Fr.  doner, 
to  nail,  close  up,  and  so  clog,  clou, 
Lat.  cldvus,  a  nail)  have  much  in  com- 
mon. Indeed,  (ituT  and  Cloy  may  be 
taken  as  the  complement  of  satiety, 
the  former  denoting  the  excess  of 
supply  over  demand  or  legitimate  re- 
quirement, the  latter  the  reaction  in 
individual  feeling  by  way  of  loathing, 
dissatisfaction,  and  loss  of  apprecia- 
tion, naturally  and  necessarily  conse- 
c}uent  upon  the  excess.  Glut  is  used 
impersonally,  as  when  a  market  is 
said  to  be  glutted  or  overstocked; 
Clov,  only  of  persons  and  their  de- 
sires. 

"  The  variety  of  objects  dissipates  care 
for  a  short  time ;  bnt  weariness  soon  en- 
sues, and  satiety  converts  the  promised 
pleasure  to  indifference  at  least,  if  not  to 
pain."— Knox. 
"Thus  must  ye    perish   on   a    barbarous 

coast! 
Is    this  your  fate,  to  glut  the  dogs  with 

gore. 
Far  from  your  friends,  and  from  your  native 

shore  .P"  PoPE,  Homer. 

"Alas  !  their  love  may  be  called  appetite  ; 
No  motion  of  the  liver,  bnt  the  palate 
That  suffer  surfeit,  cloymmt,  and  revolt ; 
But  mine  is  all  as  hungry  as  the  sea. 
And  can  digest  as  much." 

Shakespeare. 

GRATITUDE.   Thankfulness. 

Gratitude  (Fr.  gtutitiide)  relates 
rather  to  the  inner  state  of  feeling. 
Thankfulness  to  the  exhibition  of  it  m 


I  words.  We  commonly  use  GRATEFtTL 
j  in  reference  to  human  agents ;  Thank- 
}  FUL,  to  Divine  Providence.  We  may 
!  look  grateful.  We  speak  our  thanks. 
I  Thankfulness  is  mistrusted  if  it  be  not 
j  expressed;  but  gratitude  may  be  too 
deep  for  words.  Thankfulness  is  un- 
easy till  it  has  acknowledged  a  kind- 
ness; gi-atitude,  till  it  has  recom- 
pensed It. 

"  Gratitude  is  a  pleasant  affection  ex- 
cited by  a  lively  sense  of  benefits  received 
or  intended,  or  even  by  the  desire  of  being 
beneficial.  It  is  the  lively  and  powerful 
reaction  of  a  well-disposed  mind  upon  whom 
benevolence  has  conferred  some  important 
good."— CoGAN. 

"  Give  us  that  due  sense  of  all  Thy  mer- 
cies, that  our  hearts  may  be  unfeignedly 
thankful."— Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

GRATUITOUS.  Voluntary. 
Willing. 

Gratuitous  (Lat.  grutuitus,  done 
without  profit  or  reward)  means  given 
without  equivalent  or  recompense, 
granted  irrespectively  of  claim,  or 
where  none  exists ;  hence  in  the  ap- 
plied sense  of  uncalled-for  by  circusft- 
stances,  and,  still  further,  unwar- 
ranted by  them,  as  a  gratuitous  insult 
is  one  that  was  wholly  unmerited, 
and  as  a  gratuitous  assertion  is  one 
for  which  no  proof  is  forthcoming. 

Voluntary  (Lat.  v'6luntdrius)  is 
more  restricted  in  its  sense  than  Wil- 
ling, having  the  negative  significa- 
tion of  not  done  under  compulsion. 
All  our  outward  actions,  whatever 
may  be  the  full  nature  of  their  mo- 
tives, must  be  called  Voluntary;  but 
they  are  not  necessarily  performed 
willingly,  that  is,  it  does  not  follow 
that  our  wishes  and  inclinations  go 
along  with  the  actions  performed. 
The  vows  of  the  cloister  must,  of  ne- 
cessity, be  taken  voluniarilif.  There 
are  multitudes  of  cases  in  which  they 
have  not  been  taken  willinglu.  It  may 
be  observed  that  Willing  and  Volun- 
tary are  applicable  both  to  the  agent 
and  the  act ;  Gratuitous,  only  to  the 
act.  Voluntary  and  Willing  belong 
more  to  the  freedom  of  act  and  motive 
in  the  agent  himself;  Gratuitous,  to 
its  effect  upon  othei-s,  or  the  charac- 
ter of  such  acts  or  motives  in  relation 


464 


SYNONYMS 


[gratuity! 


to  others.  A  voluntary  benent  is  one 
which  is  given  with  fi'eedom  of  will; 
a  gratuitous  benefit  is  one  which  has 
been   purchased   bv   nothing  on  the 


pu 
oftl 


part  or  the  receiver. 

"  The  Greek  word  signifies  most  gratui- 
tous, most  free,  undeserved,  and  the  pare 
eftect  of  grace." — Bates. 

"  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  God 
acts  not  necessarily,  but  voluntarily  with 
particular  intention  and  design,  knowing 
that  He  does  good,  and  intending  to  do  so, 
freely  and  out  of  choice,  and  when  He  has 
no  other  constraint  upon  Him  but  this,  that 
His  will  Inclines  Him  to  communicate  Him- 
self and  to  do  good." — Clarkk. 

"  His  willingness  to  forgive  returning 
s'lnaers. "—Ibid. 

GRATUITY.    Gift. 

Gift  being  simply  a  thing  given, 
GratdiTy  (see  Gratuitous)  is  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  gift.  It  is  commonly 
expected  as  due,  but  could  not  be 
enforced  as  a  legal  claim. 

"  The  Cavaliers  and  Presbyterians  of  the 
city,  hoping  to  improve  this  opportunity, 
invited  them  to  join  with  the  city,  as  they 
termed  their  party  there,  promising  them 
their  whole  arrears,  constant  pay,  and  a 
present  gratuity,  giving  them  some  money 
in  hand  as  an  earnest  of  the  rest." — LuD- 
LOW,  Memoirs. 

GRAVE.     Seuious.     Solemn. 

Grave  (Fr.  grave,  Lat.  griivis, 
heavy)  means  characterized  by  weight, 
but  not  used  in  the  physical  but  only 
in  the  moral  or  analogous  sense; 
hence  important,  and,  as  applied  to 
character  or  persons,  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  charged  with  affairs 
weighty  or  important.  This  is  some- 
times more  in  appearance  than  reality, 
and  comes  of  humour.  It  is  opposed 
to  gay,  and  may  be  predicated  of 
manner,  appearance,  and  expression 
of  countenance.  As  Grave  denotes  an 
appearance  of  habitual  self-control  or 
sense  of  responsibility,  so  Serious 
(Lat.  serins)  conveys  the  idea  of  con- 
sideration or  reflexiveness,  as  applied 
to  the  air  or  expression  of  countenance. 
Gravity  may  be  special,  seriousness 
is  habitual.  Business  makes  people 
grave,  responsibility  makes  them  se- 
rious. The  grave  person  is  not  merely 
one  who  does  not  laugh,  but  who 
nevQ»*  shocks  the  proprieties  of  his 


condition,  of  his  age,  or  of  his  charac- 
ter. The  love  of  truth,  the  respect  for 
reason  and  conscience,  the  sense  of 
duty,  tend  to  make  people  grave.  The 
combination  of  reflexiveness  and  ear- 
nestness, or  self-examination,  makes 
seriousness,  which  is  hardly  a  matter 
of  mere  humour  like  gravity.  Impor- 
tant thoughts  make  grave,  thoughts 
important  to  one's  self  make  serious, 
so  that  seriousness  is  closely  allied 
to  apprehension.  Like  Grave,  it  is 
used  of  circumstances,  and  then  has 
a  stronger  force.  A  grave  considera- 
tion is  one  of  argumentative  weight ; 
a  serious  circumstance  is  one  that  is 
likely  to  affect  us.  While  Grave,  as 
so  employed,  means  no  more  than  im- 
portant. Serious  means  giving  cause 
for  apprehension,  attended  with  dan- 
ger or  disastrous  consequences.  A 
grave,  but  not  a  serious,  assembly  of 
old  men. 

Solemn  (L^t.  solennis,  solemnis,  oc- 
curring regularly  as  a  religious  rite ; 
and  so  regular,  formal)  is  primarily 
marked  by  religious  rites;  hence,  fitted 
to  awake  serious  reflexions.  When 
used  of  the  manner  or  countenance  of 
an  individual,  it  has  the  sense  of  af- 
fectedly serious,  and  implies  ridicule. 
The  judge  is  grave,  the  preacher  se- 
rious ;  the  service  or  the  cathedral 
solemn. 

"  Justice  is  grave  and  decorous,  and  in  it« 
punishments  rather  seems  to  submit  to  h 
necessity  than  to  make  a  choice." — BuRKE 

"  One  might  have  expected  that  eventf 
so  awful  and  tremendous  as  death  and 
judgment,  that  a  question  so  deeply  in- 
teresting as  whether  we  shall  go  to  heaven 
or  hell,  could  in  no  possible  case,  and  in  no 
constitution  of  mind  whatever,  fail  of  ex- 
citing the  most  serious  apprehensions." — 
Paley. 

"  But  they  who  have  the  misfortune  to  be 
of  this  make  should  by  no  means  trust  to 
their  own  most  solemn  purposes,  or  even 
vows.  Their  chief  safety  is  in  flight." — 
Seckkr. 

GRAVITY.     Weight.       Heavi- 

NESS. 

These  terms  are  compared  here  in 
a  physical  sense.  Gravity  is  weight 
scientifically,  or  rather  philosophi- 
cally, considered,  and  is  therefore  a 
scientific  term,  and  is  hardly  used  ex- 
cept in  the  phrase  '*  centre  of  gravity," 


[greedyj 


and  belongs  to  the  theorj  of  gravita- 
tion. 

Weight  (the  amount  weighed)  is 
wholly  indefinite,  and  is  opposed  only 
to  that  which  is  imponderable.  The 
lightest  subs^tances  hava  some  amount 
01  weight.  Weight,  however,  is  al- 
ways abstract,  and  is  used  scientifi- 
cally, while  Heaviness  is  concrete, 
that  is,  expresses  the  sensation  of 
weight  (A.  S.  hejig,  heavii,  hnrd  to 
heave,  A.  S.  hebban).  This  is  not 
always  the  case  with  the  adjective 
heavy.  A  heavy  burden  means  one 
of  which  the  weight  is  severely  felt ; 
but,  "  How  heavy  is  this  ?  "  is  ecjulva- 
lent  simply  to,  "  What  is  the  weight 
of  this?  "  Weight,  from  its  associa- 
tion with  the  balance,  has  a  sense 
peculiar  to  itself — tliat  of  determining 
power,  as  we  speak  of  weighty  consi- 
derations. Everything  has  weight, 
which  is  the  natural  tendency  of  all 
bodies  to  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Those 
bodies  which  have  much  weight,either 
in  proportion  to  their  bulk  or  to  the 
force  and  strength  applied  to  them, 
are  heavy.  A  bag  of  gold  is  heavier 
than  a  bag  of  feathers  of  the  same 
size,  because  gold  has  more  weight 
than  feathers.  W'eiglit  depends  more 
upon  substance,  heaviness  on  quan- 
tity. A  pound  or  feathers  and  a  pound 
of  gold  have  equal  weight,  though 
feathers  and  gold  are  not  equally 
heavy.  In  tlieir  secondary  senses, 
Gh  A  viTY  denotes  the  weight  of  practi- 
cal importance,  H  e  a  vix  ess  the  weight 
of  care  or  trouble,  Weightiness  the  ur- 
gency of  fact  or  reasoning.  Heavy, 
rather  than  Weighty,  is  the  term  em- 
ploeyd  to  express  the  force  which  re- 
sults from  the  weight  of  a  body  in 
motion.  Thus  we  speak  of  a  heavy, 
not  a  weighty,  blow.  The  felled  tree 
falls  not  weightily,  but  heavily,  to  the 
ground.  Weight  differs  from  gravity 
as  being  the  effect  of  gravity,  that 
is,  the  downward  pressure  of  a  body 
under  its  influence.  Weight  is  thus  a 
measure  of  the  force  of  gravity. 
"  Entellus  wastes  his  forces  on  the  wind. 
And  thus  deluded  of  the  stroke  designed, 
Headlong  and  heavy  fell."  Dryden. 

•'  Without  gravity,  the  whole  universe, 
if  we  suppose  an  undetermined  power  of 
motion  infused  into  matter,  would  have 
been  a  confueed  chaos  without  beaaty  or 


DISCRIMINATED. 


465 


order,  and  never  stable  or  permanent  in 
any  ccmdition." — Bentlkt, 

"  "We  know  the  weight  of  a  given  quan- 
tity of  matter  on  the  surface  of  the  sun  as 
well  as  we  know  its  weight  upon  the  sui-i';ii;e 
of  the  earth." — Bishop  Horsley. 

GREATNESS.  Generosity. 
Magnanimity. 

Greatness  (A.  S.  great),  m  the 
sense  of  greatness  of  mind,  is  a  rela- 
tive quality.  It  is  a  moral  elevation 
or  superiority.  Greatness  of  mind 
comes  of  sentiments  raised  above  the 
sentiments  of  ordinary  persons. 

Magnanimity  (Lat.  magndnimild- 
tem)  though  etymologically  its  Latin 
equivalent,  has  a  more  extended  mean- 
ing. It  is  such  greatness  in  all  its 
Iieight,  plenitude,  and  perfection. 

Generosity  (Lat.  ghurdsitdtem)  is 
literally  the  virtue  of  a  noble  race. 
Greatness  of  mind  leads  to  gi-eat  acts ; 
generosity  does  gi-eat  things  out  of  a 
sublime  disinterestedness,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  others.  Magnanimity  does 
^eat  things  without  effort  and  with- 
out any  idea  of  sacrifice,  Avith  the 
same  ease  that  common  persons  do 
common  things.  Magnanimity  isAvith- 
out  self-consciousness,  and  has  a  sim- 
plicity like  that  of  genius.  Greatness 
of  mind  may  perhaps  aim  at  glory ; 
generosity  would  not  value  gloiy  with- 
out doing  good  ;  magnanimity  can  see 
opportunities  of  glory  and  let  them 
pass,  or  pass  over  to  another.  Great- 
ness of  mind  foregoes  an  opportunity 
of  revenge,  generosity  converts  it  into 
a  means  of  benefit,  magnanimity  would 
forget  the  injury,  and  have  the  injurer 
forget  it  also.  Greatness  of  mind  raises 
our  admiration,  generosity  our  love 
also;  magnanimity  is  a  thing  about 
which  to  feel  entliusiastically. 

GREEDY.     Acquisitive. 

Greedy  (A.  S.grd^dig)  denotes  the 
low  animal  desire  of  possession  and 
eagerness  of  enjoyment,  whether  in 
matters  of  food  or  any  other  object  of 
appetite  or  desire. 

Acquisitive  (Lat.  acqutrere,  part, 
acquisitus)  denotes  the  quality  ot  de- 
riving gratification  from  the  mere  ad 
dition  to  the  existing  stock  of  ones 
possessions  Hence  the  greedy  longs 
for  quantity,  the  acquisitive  is  content 


466 


SYNONYMS 


[grievance  ' 


with  very  little  at  a  time.  The  greedy 
looks  to  the  thing  to  be  gained ;  the 
acquisitive  al&o  derives  pleasure  from 
the  process  of  gaining  it.  The  de- 
sires of  the  o:rec(iyare  coarse,  orsliow 
themselves  in  coarse  form,  the  desires 
of  the  acijuisitive  may  turn  upon  the 
choicest  tilings.  The  greedj'  snatches 
his  prey  when  he  can.  Tlie  acquisi- 
tive is  ever  on  the  watch,  and  work- 
ing little  by  little,  not  despising  those 
small  thiugs  which  the  greedy  does 
not  seek.  The  wild  beast  hunting  his 
prey  is  greedy  from  hunger  or  natural 
voracity.  Tlie  bird  wliich  roams  in- 
cessantly seeking  materials  for  its  nest 
or  food  for  its  young,  and  gathering 
them  even  in  minutest  portions,  is  ac- 
quisitive. 

GRIP:VANCE.     Hardship. 

A  Grievance  (O.  Fr.  gref,  heavy, 
tad,  Lat.  grUvis)  is  a  mental  hardship, 
or  a  hai'dship  as  dwelt  upon  in  the 
mind. 

Hardship  is  externally  suffered. 
Purely  physical  endurances,  as  ex- 
posure to  the  elements,  are  hardships, 
not  grievances.  Grievance  cairies  the 
idea  of  matter  of  complaint  or  ti'ouble, 
which  might  have  been  otherwise  but 
for  the  conduct  of  men.  So  heavy 
taxation  is  a  hardship  when  viewed 
in  its  pauperizing  effects,  a  grievance 
as  furnishing  ground  of  complaint 
against  a  government  or  an  admini- 
stration. Hardship  comes  from  a  force 
stronger  than  ourselves,  whether  from 
nature  or  from  man.  Grievance  may 
exist  between  equals.  Among  civi- 
lized nations  one  may  have  a  grievance 
against  another,  where  Hardship  could 
not  be  predicated  ;  yet  the  national 
grievance  might  be  such  as  to  entail 
hardship  upon  individuals. 

"  Heroes  are  always  drawn  bearing  sor- 
rows, struggling  with  adversities,  under- 
going all  kinds  of  hardships,  and  having 
in  the  service  of  mankind  a  kind  of  ap- 
petite to  difficulties  and  dangers."— Spec- 
tator. 

"  Caase  of  the  war  and  grievance  of  the 
land."  Pope,  Homer. 

GRIEVE.     Mourn.     Lament. 

To  GRifcVE  is  purely  mental  {see 
Grievance)  ;  it  is  to  feel  the  pain  of 
an  inward  distress. 


To  MouBN  (A.  ^.  murnan,  to 
mourn,  to  care  for)  and  Lameni  (Lat. 
idmentari)  are  to  give  outward  expres 
sion  to  grief,  the  former  in  visible,  the 
latter  in  audible  signs.  Bitter  grief; 
deep  mourning ;  loud  lamentation. 
Unlike  Mourn  and  Lament,  the  verb 
Grieve  is  used  in  the  sense  of  actively 
to  trouble  or  hurt,  as  well  as  intransi- 
tively to  feel  trouble.  Misfortune 
giieves  me,  or  causes  me  to  grieve. 

"  Who  fails  to  grieve  when  just  occasion 

calls. 
Or  grieves  too  much,  deserves  not  to  be 

blessed."  YoUKG. 

The  term  Mourn  may  indicate  sorrdw, 
either  expressed  or  unexpressed;  but 
Lament  implies  its  expression  of  ne- 
cessity. 

"As  the  apostle  says  of  circumcision 
and  nncircumcision,  so  say  I  here,  that 
neither  mourning  for  sin,  nor  confession  of 
it,  avail  anything,  but  a  new  creature." — 
South. 

"  Eve,  who,  unseen, 
Yet  all  had  heard,  with  audible  lament 
Discovered  soon  the  place  of  her  retire." 
Milton. 

GRIN.     Grimace. 

The  characteristic  of  a  Grin  (A.  S. 
grennUin,  to  grin)  seems  to  be  the 
withdrawing  of  the  lips  so  as  to  show 
the  teeth. 

A  Grimace  (Ft.  grimace,  O.  Scand. 
grimu,  a  mask)  is  any  distortion  of  the 
countenance.  It  may  be  habitual  or 
intentional,  and  proceed  fi-om  a  great 
variety  of  feelings,  from  the  most 
excited  wrath  on  the  one  hand,  or 
from  a  smirking  self-complacency  on 
the  other. 

GROAN.     Moan. 

The  Groan  (A.  S.  grdiiian,  to 
groan)  is  produced  by  hard  breath- 
ing, and  consists  of  inarticulate 
sounds. 

The  Moan  (A.  S.  mxnan,  to  ^oan) 
is  a  plaintive  sound  produced  by  the 
organs  of  utterance,  and  is  often 
slightly  articulate.  The  moan  is  often 
also  voluntary  ;  the  groan  is  involun- 
tary, the  result  of  deep  pain,  unless  it 
be  simulated.  There  is  a  difference, 
however,  in  the  causes  by  which  the 
two  are  produced.  Moaning  comes 
always  from  some  pain  or  misery; 
groaning  comes  from  pain,  but  it 
may  also  come  from  a  strong  feeling 


LguardJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


467 


of  resistance  to  what  is  felt  to  be 
burdensome  or  unjust ;  hence  it  is 
often  an  expression  of  indignation. 
The  groans  of  suffering  and  of  indig- 
nation are  combined  in  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"  Nor  Philoctetes  had  been  left  inclosed 
In  a  bare  isle,  to  wants  and  pains  expose.!. 
Where  to  the  rocks  with  solitary  oro(7?is 
His  sufferings  and  our  baseness  he  bemoans.'" 
Dryden,  Ovid. 

GROW.     Become.     Increase. 

To  Grow  (A.  S.  growan)  is  gradu- 
ally to  BicoME  (A.  S.  becuman,  to 
attain  to,  to  befall).  A  man  may  be- 
come suddenly  angry,  but  he  only 
grows  angry  by  degrees.  Grow  often 
indicates  a  state  which  one  is  ap- 
proaching ;  Become,  a  state  which 
one  has  reached.  To  become  is  to  be 
one  thing  from  having  been  another. 
To  grow  is  to  be  approaching  to  some 
state.  A  man  is  growing  old  before 
he  has  reached  old  age.  Not  till  he 
nas  reached  it  has  he  become  old. 

To  Increase  ^Lat.  mcresche)  is  the 
result  or  manirestation  of  growth . 
Trade  has  been  growing  for  years  past, 
and  is  now  considerably  increased.  To 
Increase,  however,  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  to  Grow  ;  rapid  expansion 
or  dilatation  of  parts  will  produce  in- 
crease in  bulk ;  but  the  process  of 
growth  implies  either  an  accretion  of 
l)arts  by  external  apposition,  or  an 
assimilative  power  from  within,  as  in 
the  vital  force.  The  snowball  grows 
by  accretion,  and  so  increases  as  it 
rolls.  The  tree  grows  by  its  own 
vitality,  and  increases  also  in  size. 

GRUDGE.     SriTE.     Pique. 

A  Grudge  (one  of  many  similar 
onomatopoetic  words  in  otlier  lan- 
guages besides  English  :  so  grunt, 
growl,  6<;c.)  is  a  feeling  of  continuous 
and  sullen  dislike  cherished  against 
another,  having  its  origin  in  some  act 
of  the  person  against  whom  it  is 
felt. 

Spite  (perhaps  an  abbrev.  of  De- 
spite, O.  Fr.  despit,  Lat.  dispectus,  a 
looking  down,  despising;  but  see 
Wedgwood)  is  a  more  active  and  de- 
monstrative form  of  malevolence  (but 
not  so  enduring  as  Grudge),  which 
shows  itself  in  cutting  words  aud  irri- 


tating demeanour.  It  belongs  to  per- 
sons who  are  quick  to  feel  and  weak 
to  control  or  hide  their  feelings.  We 
owe  a  grudge,  and  show  spite. 

Pique  (Fr.  piqxier,  to  prick)  is 
purely  personal,  and  comes  of  offended 
jiride,  or  a  quick  sense  of  resentment 
against  a  supposed  neglect  or  injury, 
with  less  of  malevolence  than  Grudu  k. 
or  Spite,  both  of  which  are  charac- 
terized by  a  desire  to  injure,  which 
does  not  belong  to  Pique.  The  verb 
to  grudge  has  a  negative  force  un- 
known to  the  noun  Grudge.  We 
grudge  another  that  which  we  do  not 
regard  him  sufficiently  to  give  him, 
oi;  to  contemplate  him  as  possessing, 
with  complacency.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  grudge  is  always  an  actively 
malicious  feeling,  which  would  hurt 
if  it  had  the  opportunity. 

"  Esau  had  conceived  a  mortal  grudge 
and  enmity  against  his  brother  Jacob." — 
South. 
•'  Begone,   ye  critics,   and   restrain  your 

spite ; 
Codrus  writes  on,  and  will  for  ever  wi-ite." 
Pope. 

"  Out  of  a  personal  pique  to  those  in  ser- 
vice, he  stands  as  a  looker-on  when  the  go- 
vernment is  attacked." — Addison. 

As  a  reflexive  verb,  to  pique  one's  self 
expresses  a  feeling  of  pride  uu' 
wounded,  as — 

"  Men  Tpique  themselves  on  their  skill  in 
the  learned  languages." — LoCKE. 

GUARD.     Guardian. 

Of  these  Guard  (Fr.  garde, garder, 
to  guard,  take  care  o*')  is  applied  both 
to  persons  and  things ;  Guardian, 
less  often  to  things,  and  more  com- 
monly to  persons.  But  a  more  marked 
difference  is  that  Guard  denotes  a  pro- 
tector against  physical  danger,  vio- 
lence, theft,  and  the  like  ;  Guardian, 
against  anything  which  may  militate 
against  the  interests  of  persons,  espe- 
cially during  youth  or  minority,  when 
they  are  too  inexperienced  to  manage 
their  own  affairs. 

"  The  guard  which  kept  the  door  of  the 
king's  house." — Bible. 

"  You  may  think,  perhaps,  that  man  i» 
too  mean,  too  insignificant  a  being  to  be 
worthy  of  the  minj^ration  and  gtKirdinn' 
ship  of  celestial  spirits."— Bishop  Por 
THUS. 


468 


GUESS.  Conjecture.  Divina- 
tion. Supposition.  Hypothesis. 
Surmise. 

To  Guess  (formerly  gessen.  Da. 
gisse)  is  to  make  a  statement  upon 
■what  is  unknown,  with  the  hope  of 
being  right ;  if  by  lucky  chance  only, 
this  is  in  the  strictest  sense  a  guess ; 
if  with  a  very  slight  amount  of  know- 
ledge, which  is  just  sufficient  to  in- 
cline the  scale  of  probability,  this  is 
a  Conjecture  (Lat.  conjectural  an 
inference,  conjicertj  to  cast  together). 
Hence  Conjecture  is  employed  of 
complex,  while  Guess  belongs  to  the 
simplest,  things.  I  hold  something  in 
my  nand,  and  in  play  I  say  to  a  child, 
**  Guess  what  it  is."  An  historian  or 
a  diplomatist  who  is  furnished  with 
inadequate  evidence  for  knowledge, 
conjectures  motives  and  consequences 
as  best  he  may. 

Supposition  (Lat.  sujyp6sitionem,  a 
■placing  under)  belongs  to  that  of  which 
part  is  known  and  part  unknown ;  a 
fact,  for  instance,  is  known;  its 
cause  is  unknown ;  therefore  the 
cause,  or  supposed  cause,  is  placed 
under  the  fact  as  a  theoretical  founda- 
tion for  it.  And  generally,  to  imagine 
with  probability,  to  infer  from  evi- 
dence which,  though  not  complete,  is 
the  best  that  can  be  had,  is  supposi- 
tion. Hence  Supposition  has  in  it 
much  more  of  rational  inference  than 
Guess  or  Conjecture. 

Hypothesis,  similarly,  is  a  placing 
undei'y  as  the  groundwork  of  argument 
or  of  action  (i^ttcQeo-k),  but  is  techni- 
cally employed  of  philosophical  sup- 
position, learned  or  scientific  theories. 
The  French  Academy  has  thus  dis- 
tinguished between  Supposition  and 
Hypothesis.  The  supposition  is  a 
proposition  laid  down  for  the  sake  of 
an  inference  to  be  drawn  from  it. 
The  hypothesis  is  the  supposition  of  a 
thing,  whether  possible  or  impossible, 
from  which  a  conse(|uence  is  drawn. 
Hence  it  follows  that  the  hypothesis 
is  a  supposition  purely  ideal,  while 
the  supposition  stands  for  a  proposi- 
tion either  true  or  confessed.  The 
hypothesis  is  adopted  for  the  sake  of 
accounting  for  facts  or  a  system.  The 
hypothesis  may  be  true  or  not  ti-ue. 


SYNONYMS  [guess  J 

The  supposition  is  excluded  from  the 
thesis  not  because  it  is  incapable  oi 
proof,  but  because  it  is  taken  as 
proved.  Hypothesis  is  sometimes 
used  in  the  sense  of  the  system  based 
upon  hypotheses.  In  this  sense  the 
systems  of  Copernicus  and  Descartes 
are  called  hypotheses.  In  this  tech- 
nical sense,  as  Hypothesis  belongs  to 
science,  so  Supposition  belongs  to 
logic. 

Divination  (lua,t.  divinationem,  the 
faculty  of  predicting,  divi7uitio7i)  is 
literally  a  term  of  ancient  augury  for 
the  gathering  the  will  of  heaven, 
either  naturally  by  a  divine  inspira- 
tion, or  artificially  from  certain  mani- 
festations; in  this  sense,  divination 
precedes  prediction.  To  divine,  ac- 
cordingly, as  commonly  employed,  is 
to  use  such  conjecture  as  depends 
both  upon  hazard  and  upon  natural 
sagacity.  It  may  be  observed,  in  its 
relation  to  prediction,  that,  unlike 
that  term,  it  is  not  restricted  to  the 
future,  but  is  equally  applicable  to 
facts  of  the  past. 

Surmise  (O.  Fr.  surmise,  accusation, 
surmettre,  to  lay  upon)  is  a  conjecture 
of  a  matter  of  fact.  Of  the  above, 
those  which  are  most  nearly  related 
to  one  another  are, Guess, Conjecture, 
and  Surmise.  The  subject  of  a  guess 
is  always  a  fact,  or  something  re- 
garded in  the  simple  light  of  a  fact ; 
a  conjecture  is  more  vague  and  ab- 
stract, and  may  be  on  the  possibility 
of  a  fact.  The  subject  of  a  guess 
is  definite  and  unmistakable  when 
known.  The  subject  of  a  conjecture 
may  remain  indefinite  and  unknown. 
If  a  sentence  be  a  set  enigma,  I  guess 
its  meaning,  and  so  know  it.  Ii  it  be 
involved  and  indistinct,  I  can  but  con- 
jecture its  meaning,  and  may  not  ar- 
rive at  it  after  all.  In  guessing,  if 
successful,  we  arrive  at  a  certain  oi 
probable  conclusion  from  uncertain 
premises.  In  conjecturing,  we  arrive 
at  an  uncertain  conclusion  from  un- 
certain premises. 

"  You  go  on  arguing  and  reasoning  what 
necessity  of  nature  must  signify,  which  is 
only  talking  without  book,  and  guessing 
what  words  anciently  meant,  without  coa 
salting  the  ancients  to  know  the  fact." — 
WATKKI.A.ND. 


■_gush] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


469 


"  Yon  may  see  how  onr  (English)  tongue 
e  i-iseu,  and  thereby  conjecture  how  in 
time  it  may  alter."— Camdex. 

"  A  sagacity  which  divined  the  evil  de- 
signs."— Bancroft. 

"  I  am  sure  his  reason  by  which  he  would 
persuade  you  to  become  a  convert  to  their 
Church  is  shewed  to  be  no  reason,  because 
it  proceeds  upon  this  false  supposition,  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  was  once  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  it  never  was." — Sharp. 

"Hypothetical  necessity  is  that  which 
the  supposition  or  hypothesis  of  God's  fore- 
sight and  preordination  lays  upon  future 
contingents." — C1.ARKE. 

"  There  are  various  degrees  of  strength 
in  judgments,  from  the  lowest  surmise,  to 
notion,  opinion,  persuasion,  and  the  highest 
assurance,  which  we  call  certainty." — 
Search. 

A  Surmise  is  in  matters  personal  and 
practical,  what  Hypothesis  is  in  mat- 
ters purely  scientific. 

GUIDE.    Rule.    Direction. 

Guide  (Fr.  guide)  is  primarily  a 
living  director ;  hence,  when  em- 
ployed of  inanimate  influences  or 
media,  it  conveys  the  idea  of  some- 
thing which  is  not  rigidly  invariahle, 
but  still  keeps  up  with  our  needs 
under  alteration  of  circumstances. 

Rule  (Nor.  Fr.  mile,  Fr.  r^sU, 
Lat.  rigiila,  see  Littre)  on  the  otner 
hand,  is  a  rigid  and  inflexible  thing, 
a  form  of  thought  or  a  form  of  words, 
a  maxim  which  must  be  acted  up  to. 
So  conscience  is  the  guide  of  men's 
actions.  The  duty  to  one's  neighbour 
is  the  rule  of  Christian  reciprocity. 

A  Direction  (Lat.  directionem,  a 
making  straight)  may  be  given  at  a 
distance,  or  once  for  all,  and  is  to  be 
acted  upon  by  being  remembered.  It 
is  not  universally  applicable,  but  only 
suited  to  the  particular  case.  When 
coming  from  a  superior,  a  direction 
has  the  force  of  an  instructive  com- 
mand. 

"  Common  sense,  or  that  share  and 
species  of  understanding  which  Nature  has 
bestowed  upon  the  greater  part  of  men,  is, 
when  competently  improved  by  education, 
and  assisted  by  Divine  grace,  the  safest 
guide  to  certainty  and  happiness." — V. 
Knox,  Essays. 

Rule  is  employed  in  more  senses  than 
one.  To  say  nothing  of  its  purely 
physical  meaning  of  a  rod  or  measure, 
It  signifies  also  an  uniform  course  of 


things,  a  regulative  order,  a  constant 
method,  and  both  the  exercise  of 
governing  powers  and  the  state  of 
those  on  whom  it  is  exercised.  In  the 
sense  in  which  it  is  synonymous  with 
Guide  and  Direction,  as  the  guide 
regulates  the  movements,  and  the 
direction  indicates  the  couree,  so  the 
rule  regards  principally  the  actions, 
or  what  one  ought  to  do;  but  it  is 
cold  and  without  force  in  itself. 

"There  is  something  so  wild  and  yet  so 
solemn  in  Shakespeare's  speeches  of  his 
ghosts  and  fairies,  and  the  like  imaginary 
persons,  that  we  cannot  forbear  thinking 
them  natural,  though  we  have  no  rule  by 
which  to  judge  them." — Addisox. 
A  rule  is  a  compendium  of  principles 
which  is  familiar  to  us,  and  so  avail- 
able for  application  under  new  or  un- 
familiar circumstances. 

"  I  have  before  made  mention  how  Mus- 
covie  was  in  our  time  discovered  by  Richard 
Chanceler  in  his  voyage  towards  Cathay  by 
the  direction  and  information  of  M.  Sebas- 
tian Cabota,  who  long  before  had  thi« 
secret  in  his  mind." — Hackluyt. 

GUISE.     Habit.     Garb. 

The  former  (Fr.^uj«,  manner^  way) 
includes  the  other  two.  Guise  being 
the  combined  effect  of  dress  and  de- 
portment. 

Garb  (O.  Fr.  gai-be,  fashion,  grace- 
fulness) is  ofiicial  or  appropriate  dress, 

Habit  (Fr.  habit,  Lat.  hdbttum,  con- 
dition, dress)  is  much  the  same ;  but 
GARB,likeDREss,may  comprise  several 
articles  ofapparel,whileH  A  BIT  denotes 
one  such  article  of  a  somewhat  ample 
character,  as  the  habit  of  a  monk. 
"  In  easy  notes  and  guise  of  lowly  swain, 
'Twas   thus  he  charmed  and  taught  the 

listening  train."  Parnell. 

"  Habited  like  a  juryman."— Churchill. 
"  That  by  their  Moorish  garb  the  warriors 

knew 
The  hostile  band." 

HooLE,  Orlando  Furioso. 

GUSH.     Flow.    Stream. 

Of  these.  Flow  (L&t.  flnere)  is  the 
generic  term,  and  the  others  are  modeg 
of  flowing. 

Gush  (Icel.  gusa)  is  to  flow  abun* 
dantly  and  forcibly,  or,  as  it  were, 
burstingly. 

Stream  (A.  S.  st'^dm,  a  stream, 
verb  str^amian)  is  tq  flow  amply  and 


470 


continuously  but  quietly.     A  body  of 
water  may  flow  broadly  or  narrowly ; 
It  sti'eams  nai'rowly  ;  it  gushes  vio- 
lently. 
*'  While  his  life's  torrent  gushed  from  out 

the  wound."  PoPB. 

*'  Oh,  could  I  flow  like  thee,  and  make  thy 

stream 
My  great  example,  as  it  is  my  theme  : 
Though   deep,  yet  clear ;    though  gentle, 

yet  not  dull. 
Strong  without  rage,  without  o'erflowing, 

full."  Denham. 

H. 

HABITATION.    Abode.    Doml 

CILE. 

Habitation  (Lat.  hdbitationem)  is 
a  place  which  one  inhabits,  not  neces- 
sarily a  house  or  tenement  of  any 
kind. 

Abode  {see  Abide)  has  the  same 
sense,  but  with  a  less  direct  reference 
to  the  constant  passing  of  one's  life 
there.  Habitation  is  the  natural  or 
habitual  place  of  abode. 

Domicile  (Lat.  domMlium)  adds  to 
the  idea  of  habitation  and  abode  a  re- 
lationship to  society  and  civil  govern- 
ment, and  is  consequently  a  term 
rather  technical  than  conversational. 
An  abode  is  pleasant  or  unpleasant, 
convenient  or  inconvenient.  A  habita- 
tion is  suitable  or  unsuitable,  healthy 
or  unhealthy,  commodious  or  other- 
wise. Habitation  points  more  di- 
rectly than  Abode  to  furnishing  ne- 
cessary shelter  and  protection.  The 
woods  are  the  abodes  of  birds,  their 
nests  are  their  habitations. 

"  The  body  moulders  into  dust,  and  is 
utterly  incapable  of  itself  to  become  a  fit 
habitation  for  the  soul  again." — Stilling- 

FLEET. 

"We  will  come  and  make  our  abode 
with  him. — Bible. 

The  legal  force  of  the  term  domicile  is 
a  residence  at  a  particular  place,  with 
positive  or  presumptive  proof  of  an 
intention  to  remain  there. 

HAPPEN.     Chance.    Occur. 

To  Happen  (Icel.  happ,  chance, 
luck)  19  used  of  all  occurrences, 
whether  /ccidental  or  not,  which  are 
not  regarded  as  the  result  of  specific 
design  on  the  part  of  the  individual 


SYNONYMS  [habitation] 

to  whom  the  term  is  applied.  For 
that  which  is  the  issue  of  a  train  of 
circumstances,  however  connected, 
may  be  said  to  happen  to  those  who 
have  had  no  hand  in  bringing  it 
about. 

To  Chance  (Fr.  chance,  chance^ 
hazard,  Lat.  cMentia),  on  the  other 
hand,  is  only  used  when  the  character 
of  the  event,  as  regards  the  individual 
whom  it  befalls,  is  fortuitous. 

To  Occur  (Lat.  occurrere,  to  run 
towards)  is  a  relative  term,  equivalent 
to  happening  to  a  person,  or  to  falling 
undesignedly  in  his  way.  It  is  said, 
not  only  of  events,  but  of  ideas  or 
thoughts  which  suggest  themselves. 
Events  of  remote  history  happen ;  but 
they  are  not  occurrences  to  us. 

"When  four  different  persons  are  called 
upon  in  a  court  of  justice  to  prove  the 
reality  of  any  particular  fact  that  happened 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  what  is  the  sort 
of  evidence  which  they  usually  give  ?  Why, 
in  the  great  leading  circumstances  which 
tend  to  establish  the  fact  in  question,  they 
in  general  perfectly  agree."— Bishop  Pok- 

TKUS. 

"  If  a  bird's  nest  chance  to  be  before 
thee."— £"71^.  Bible. 

"  There  doth  not  occurre  to  me  at  this 
present,  any  use  thereof  for  profit." — 
Bacon. 

HAPPINESS.  Felicity.  Beati- 
tude.  Blessedness.    Bliss.    Bless 

INO. 

Happiness  (Icel.  happ,  chance, 
luck)  is  that  feeling  which  results 
from  the  conscious  enjoyment  of  an 
aggregate  of  good  things.  It  is  a 
state  of  the  soul,  and  is  applied  to 
every  degree  of  consciousness  of  well- 
being,  and  is  not  employed  of  any 
state,  however  keen,  of  mere  animal 
gratification,  irrespectively  of  the 
mental  state.  Happiness  is  a  term 
both  of  philosophy  and  of  common 
conversation. 

Felicity  (Fr. ftlicit^,  LHt.felufitd' 
tern )  is  not  only  a  more  formal  word 
for  happiness,  but  also  involves  a  sub- 
stantial ground  of  the  feeling.  It  is 
the  consciousness  not  only  of  enjoy- 
ment, but  of  a  state  of  prosperity. 
Our  happiness  is  evident  to  others, 
and  may  make  us  objects  of  envy  ;  our 
felicity  is  felt  by  ourselves.     Happi- 


[happy] 

nesfl  is  less  continuous,  so  that  we 
speak  sometimes  of  a  specific  happi- 
ness. I  have  had  the  happiness  to 
make  his  acquaintance.  Felicity  is 
not  so  employed.  External  blessings 
make  up  man's  happiness,  but  his  fe- 
licity largely  depends  on  himself. 

Blessedness  (A.  S.  bletsian,  to 
bless;  connected  with  blithe  and  bliss) 
denotes  a  state  of  the  most  refined  and 
pure  happiness,  arising  from  the  pos- 
session of  the  choicest  ^oods  or  mate- 
rial of  happiness,  and  is  the  charac- 
teristic of  the  person's  entire  state  in 
soul  and  body.  Bliss  is  happiness  of 
a  rapturous  or  ecstatic  nature. 

Beatittde  (Lat.  beatus)  is  the 
Latin  equivalent  of  Blessedness,  and 
is  used  in  the  higher  and  more  spiri- 
tual style.  It  conveys  the  idea  of 
imparted  blessedness.  Cicero  seems 
to  have  invented  the  word  beatiUidoj 
to  express  a  condition  of  happiness 
wanting  in  nothing.  Blessing 
nearly  answers  to  the  Latin  benedic- 
tion ;  but,  while  Benediction  is  used 
only  of  good  wishes,  Blessing  is  used 
both  of  good  wishes  and  good  things. 
(See  Happy.) 

"  The  word  happy  is  a  relative  term  ;  m 
strictness,  any  condition  may  be  denomi- 
nated happy  in  which  the  amonnt  or  aggre- 
gate of  pleasure  exceeds  that  of  pain  ;  and 
the  degree  of  happiness  depends  npon  the 
qnajitity  of  this  excess." — Palky. 
Happiness  depends  on  the  possession 
of  such  things  as  wealth,  honour, 
friends,  health ;  the  satisfaction  of 
mind  involved  in  the  enjoyment  of 
Buch  things  constitutes  Felicity. 

"Did  faith  ever  violate  peace,  or.  obe- 
dience impair  domestic  felicity  f  " — War- 
BURTON, 

"  As  almost  here  she  with  her  bliss  doth 
meet." 
Daviks,  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

"  Jnpiter  has  by  him  two  great  vessels, 
one  filled  with  blessings,  the  other  with 
misfortunes." — Tatler. 
**  Abont  Him  all  the  sanctities  of  heaven 
Stood  thick  as  stars,  and  from  His  sight 

received 
Beatitude  pa«t  utterance."         Miltoit. 

'*  The  deeps  and  the  snows,  the  hail  and 
the  rain,  the  birds  of  the  air  and  fishes  of 
the  sea,  they  can  and  do  glorify  God,  and 
give  Him  praise  in  their  capacity  ;  and  yet 
He  gave  them  no  speech,  no  reason,  no  im- 
mortal yiirit,  no  capacity  of  eternal  blessed- 
ness. '—Bishop  Taylor. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


471 


HAPPY.     Fortunate.     Lucky. 

Happy  denotes  the  possession  o 
goods  which  are  really  such  ;  Fok 
TUNATB  CLat.  fort  undtus,  f'ortiina,f'or- 
tune),  the  possession  of  what  are  so 
considered.  Men  may  be  called  for- 
tunate in  reference  to  very  small 
things ;  as  a  lucky  throw  in  a  game 
of  chance.  Happy  involves  a  larger 
scale  of  benefit.  A  man  is  happy  in 
what  he  has  ;  fortunate,  in  getting  it. 

There  is  a  close  connexion  between 
Lucky  (  Du.  luk,  geluk,  good  fortune^ 
happiness)  and  fortunate ;  but  Lucky 
is  used  only  of  minor  occun-ences ; 
Fortunate,  of  the  larger  results  of 
favourable  chance.  To  be  lucky  is 
less  than  to  be  fortunate ;  to  be  fortu- 
nate, less  than  to  be  happy.  Luck 
excludes  all  idea  of  effort;  but  a  man 
may  be  fortunate  in  his  undertakings. 
A  fortunate  man  obtains  what  he 
wishes  and  hopes  to  gain.  A  lucky 
man  gets  what  he  may  desire,  but  did 
not  expect  to  gain.  Merchants  who 
make  successful  speculations  are  for- 
tunate. Lottery  prizes  and  unex- 
pected legacies  fall  to  the  lucky.  It 
is  more  grand  to  be  fortunate,  more 
complete  to  be  happy.  One  is  fortu- 
nate as  possessing  what  fortune  has 
to  bestow,  happy  in  the  enjoyment 
cf  what  constitutes  true  felicity.  The 
.'brtunate  man  has  exultation,  the 
iiappy  man  serenity.  Some  men  are 
happy  without  having  been  fortunate, 
others  are  fortunate  in  the  estimation 
of  the  world  yet  far  from  happy.  To 
be  fortunate  is  to  have  much,  to  be 
happy  is  to  enjoy  what  one  has.  Am- 
bition may  be  fortunate,  moderation 
is  happy. 
"  Oh  1   Happiness,    our   being's    end  and 

aim. 
Good,  Pleasure,  Ease,  Content,  whate'er 
thy  name.  POPK. 

"As  Sylla  was  sacrificing  in  his  tent  in 
the  fields  of  Nola,  a  snake  happened  to 
creep  ont  of  the  bottom  of  the  altar  ;  upon 
which,  Postumius,  the  Haruspex,  who  at- 
tended the  sacrifice,  proclaiming  it  to  be  a 
fortunate  omen,  called  out  upon  him  to  lead 
his  army  immediately  against  the  enemy." 
— Middleton,  Life  of  Cicero. 

"  He  who  sometimes  lights  on  truth  is 
right  but  by  chance ;  and  I  know  not 
whether  the  luckiness  of  the  accident  will 
excuse  the  iiregnlarity  of  the  proceeding," 
—Locke. 


472 


SYNONYMS 


I  hardly' 


HARDLY.    ScARCELv. 

These  terms  are  correctly  employed 
in  proportion  as  it  is  borne  in  mind 
that  Scarcely  relates  to  quantity, 
Hardly  to  degree.  "  It  is  scarcely 
ten  miles  off."  "  I  shall  hardly  be 
able  to  finish  this  work." 

HARMLESS.  Inoffensive.  Un- 
offending.    Innocuous. 

Harmless  denotes  in  a  twofold 
sense  the  absence  of  the  disposition  to 
do  hurt,  and  the  state  of  immunity 
from  harm.  In  the  former  sense,  it 
is  used  in  reference  to  the  power  or 
disposition  of  living  creatures.  We 
speak  of  harmless  animals. 

Innocuous  (Lat.  inn'dcuus),  on  the 
other  hand,  is  employed  of  things, 
and  not  persons  ;  as,  an  innocuous  po- 
tion, atmosphere,  plant.  Inoffen- 
sive and  Unoffending  differ  in  that 
the  former  means  not  being  even  in- 
directly a  source  of  annoyance  or 
offence,  while  the  latter  means  devoid 
of  all  disposition  to  offend.  Un- 
offending can  only  be  employed  of 
human  beings;  Inoffensive,  of  in- 
fluences in  general,  which  are  capable 
of  being  unpleasantly  or  noxiously 
felt ;  as  inoffensive  odours.  Harm- 
less and  Innocuous  belong  to  the  na- 
ture of  beings  ;  Inoffensive  and  Un- 
offending are  used  relatively. 

•'  For  when  through  tasteless  flat  humility, 
In  dough-baked  men  some  harmlessness  we 

see, 
'Tis  but  his  phlegm  that's  virtuous,  and  not 

he."  DoNNK. 

"  Useful  and  inoffensive  animals  have  a 
claim  to  our  tenderness,  and  it  is  honour- 
able to  our  nature  to  befriend  them." — 
Beattie. 

"  Horace  very  truly  observes  that  what- 
ever mad  frolics  enter  into  the  heads  of 
kiflgs,  it  is  the  common  people,  that  is,  the 
honest  artizan  and  the  industrious  tribes  in 
the  middle  ranks,  unoffended  and  unoffend- 
ing, who  chiefly  suffer  in  the  evil  conse- 
quences."— Knox,  Essays. 

"And  not  only  innocuous,  but  they 
(spiders)  are  very  salutiferous  too,  in 
some  of  the  most  stubborn  diseases." — 
Derham. 

HARSH.    Rough. 

Harshness  (.ec  Acrimony)  acta 
upon  the  affections  and  the  feelings, 
to  which  it  does  violence. 


Roughness  (A.S.  riih,  rough)  is  a 
matter  of  manner,  which  externally 
annoys,  as  indicating  a  want  of  con- 
sideration or  deference,  but  is  easily 
endured  by  sensible  persons,  where  it 
is  seen  to  be  a  mere  defect  of  polish. 
Roughness  is  not  necessarily  a  de- 
fect. Morally,  harshness  is  always 
offensive  to  the  mind,  taste,  feelings, 
or  senses. 

••  Harshness  and  brutality."— Shaftes- 
bury. 

"  I  could  endure 
Chains  nowhere  patiently,  and  chains  at 

home. 
Where  I  am  free  by  birthright,  not  at  all. 
Then  what  were  left  of  roughness  in  th« 

grain 
Of  British  natures,  wanting  its  excuse. 
That  it  belongs  to  freemen,  would  disgust 
And  shock  me."  CoWPER. 

HASTE.  Dispatch.  Hurry. 
Speed.     Bustle. 

Haste  (Sw.  hasta,  to  haste)  is  vo- 
luntary speed  directed  to  the  com- 
mencement or  continuation  of  some- 
thing. 

Hurry  (with  other  similar  words, 
probably  onomatopoetic),  is  an  effort 
of  Haste,  embarrassed  by  confusion 
or  want  of  self-collectedness.  Haste 
signifies  heat  of  action;  hurry  implies 
haste,  but  includes  trepidation  or  per- 
turbation.  What  is  done  in  haste  may 
be  done  well ;  what  is  done  in  a  hurry 
can  at  best  only  be  done  inaccurately. 

"Homer  himself,  as  Cicero  observes 
above,  is  full  of  this  kind  of  painting,  and 
particularly  fond  of  description,  even  in 
situations  where  the  action  seems  to  re- 
quire haste."— Go-LDSMiTU. 


Sisters,  hence  with  spurs  of  speed, 
ing  fal 
Each  bestride  her  sable  steed. 


Each  her  thundering  falchion  wield. 


Hurry,  hurry,  to  the  field."        Gray. 

Speed  (A.S.  sptdan,  to  sueceed,  to 
make  haste)  is  the  degree  of  rapidity 
with  which  things  are  done.  Haste 
implies  a  wish  for  quickness ;  speed, 
its  actual  attainment. 

Dispatch  (O.  Fr.  despescher,  now 
dSpecher;  L.  Lat.  dispMtcare,  to  get  rid 
of'ptdXca,  a  Jetter  ;  cf.  empecher.  See 
Littre's  reasons  for  preferring  this 
derivation)  is  the  promptitude  and 
speed  which  are  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  execution  of  a  task,  business,  or 
transaction. 


[haie] 

BusTiE  (?  perhaps  i.q.  the  older 
buskle,  and  so  from  A.S.  bijsgiany  to  be 
busy)  is  tumult  or>itir  arising  from 
hurried  activity,  whether  on  the  part 
of  one  person  or  of  a  crowd.  It  is  the 
most  unpractical  and  weakest  exhibi- 
tion of  hurry. 

"  Thon  bustler  in  concerns 
Of  little  worth,  an  idler  in  the  best." 

COWPKR. 

"  He  saw  a  yonng  Indian,  whom  he  judged 
to  be  about  nineteen  or  twenty  years  old, 
come  down  from  a  tree,  and  he  also  ran 
away  with  such  speed  as  made  it  hopeless  to 
follow  him." — Cook's  Voyages. 

"A  husbandman  or  a  gardener  will  do 
more  execution  by  being  able  to  carry  his 
scythe,  his  rake,  or  his  flail  with  sufficient 
dispatch  through  a  sufficient  space,  than  if 
with  greater  strength  his  motions  were  pro- 
portionately more  confined  and  slow." — 
Paley. 

HASTINESS.  Rashness.  Teme- 
rity.    Precipitancy. 

Hastiness  is  the  disposition  to  over- 
haste,  and  is  applicable  to  too  great 
quickness  of  feeling  as  well  as  action ; 
as  a  hasty  temper,  a  hasty  act.  The 
others  relate  only  to  actions. 

Rashness  (Da.  and  Sw.  raskf  quick, 
rash)  is  the  quality  of  determining  or 
acting  from  the  impulse  of  tlie  feelings, 
with  little  or  no  reflexion  on  the  cost  or 
consequence.  It  is  the  courage  of  the 
unreflecting  and  of  the  inexperienced. 

Temerity  (Lat.  tcmiritdtein)  is  that 
kind  of  rashness  which  underrates  or 
disregards  personal  danger  or  conse- 
quences, and  is  the  passive  state  of 
which  rashness  is  the  active  quality. 
To  enter  upon  a  hazardous  specula- 
tion would  be  called  Rashness,  but 
not  Tem  erity.  To  approach  too  near 
to  the  brink  of  a  precipice  would  be 
temerity.  Rashness  has  in  it  more 
of  the  excited,  and  temerity  more  of 
the  dogged.  Rashness  refers  to  the 
act.  Temerity  to  the  disposition. 

Precipitancy  (Lat.  pr^c^pitdre,  to 
throw  headlong)  is  employed,  not  of 
acts,  but  of  the  judgment  which  dic- 
tates them.  Haste  in  deciding  upon 
measures  which  required  more  consi- 
deration and  reflexion,  is  what  is 
commonly  called  Precipitancy.  A 
man  is  precipitate  who  judges,  or 
acts,  or  speaks  before  the  time. 


DISCBIMINATED. 


473 


"  But  £piphanius  was  made  up  of  hastt' 
ness  and  credulity,  and  is  never  to  be  trusted 
where  he  speaks  of  a  miracle." — JoRTIN. 

"  His  beginnings  must  be  in  rashness,  a 
noble  fault;  but  time  and  experience  will 
correct  that  error,  and  tame  it  into  a  deli- 
berate and  well-weighed  courage." — Dry- 
DEN. 

"It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  teme- 
rity of  making  experiments  may  casually 
lead  to  improvements  in  medical  science; 
but  it  is  a  cruel  temerity,  for  experiments  in 
medicine  are  made  on  the  sick  at  the  ha- 
zard of  life."— Kxox. 

"  But  if  we  make  a  rash  beginning,  and 
reaolye  precipitantlt/  without  observing  the 
above-named  rules  and  directions,   in  all 

f)robability  our  hasty  purposes  will  end  in  a 
eisurely  repentance." — ScoTT,  Christian 
Life. 

HASTY.    Cursory. 

Hasty,  as  contrasted  with  Cursory, 
is  only  employed  of  observation ;  Cvu- 
sORY{Lat.cursdrius,pertainingtoonewho 
runs)also  oftreatment.  Thesubject  wat 
viewed  hastily,  and  treated  cursorily. 
Hasty  is  always  at  least  an  unsatisfac- 
tory epithet.  Cursory  is  not  so  mucn 
so ;  as  a  cursory  review  may  be  all 
that  is  needed.  Hasty  is  that  which 
occupies  little  time ;  cursory,  which 
occupies  little  thought. 

"The  turns  of  his  (Virgil's)  verse,  his 
breaking,  his  propriety,  his  numbers,  and 
his  gravity,  I  have  as  far  imitated  as  the 
poverty  of  our  language  and  the  hastiness 
of  my  performance  would  allow." — Dry- 
DEK. 

"  It  is  an  advantage  to  all  narrow  wisdom 
and  narrow  morals  that  their  maxims  have 
a  plausible  air,  and  on  a  cursory  view  ap- 
pear equal  to  first  principles.  They  are 
light  and  portable." — Burkk. 

HATE.    DrsLiiE. 

Hate  (A.S.  hatian)  is  to  feel  such 
an  enmity  as  to  desire  the  injury,  de- 
struction, or  removal  of  the  obiect. 
It  is  applied  to  persons  and  qualities 
of  a  personal  kind,  though  not  always 
strictly  personal;  as"to  hate  the  light,** 
for  instance,  which  really  means  to 
hate  the  knowledge  which  comes  from 
wise  men.  It  is  a  perversion  of  lan- 
guage to  speak  of  hating  the  imper- 
sonal. Dislike  is  aversion  in  a  milder 
form,  aversion  being  a  strong,  settled, 
and  avowed  dislike.  Dislike  is  ap- 
plicable, S.S  Hate  is  not,  to  impersonal 
influence ;  asy  to  dislike  a  particular 
taste  or  smeii.     Hate  is  a  matter  oi 


474 


SYNONYMS 


[HATErULj 


principle ;  dislike,  a  matter  of  taste, 
feeling,  or  sentiment. 

"  Indeed  the  afiFection  of  hatred  is  of  so 
Qnpleasant  a  nature,  that  the  being  who 
conld  hate  every  thing  wou.'d  be  his  own 
tormentor. " — Cogan. 

"The  Americans  when  the  Stamp  Act 
was  first  imposed,  undoubtedly  disliked  it 
as  every  nation  dislikes  an  impost." — JoHN- 
SOX. 

{See  also  Hatred.) 

HATEFUL.    Odious. 

Of  these  tei'ms  Hateful  is  the 
stronger,  Odious  (Lat.  ^diosus,  Mium, 
hatred)  being  frequently  employed  of 
what  is  irksome,  while  Hateful  is 
nearly  equivalent  to  detestable.  Hateful 
tyrants,  hateful  vices;  odious  mea- 
sures, odious  smells.  Nothing  is  truly 
hateful  but  that  which  is  evil ;  while 
the  offensive  may  be  odious. 

"  Want  is  a  bitter  and  a  hateful  good, 
Because  its  virtues  are  not  understood." 
Drtden. 

«•  It  was  an  odious  thing  to  the  people  of 
England  to  have  a  king  brought  unto  them 
upon  the  shoulders  of  Irish  and  Dutch." — 
Bacon. 

HATRED.  Aversion.  Antipa- 
thy. Enmity.  Repugnance.  Ill- 
Will.  Rancour.  Malice.  Male- 
voLKNCE.  Malignity.  Malignancy. 

Hatred  (A.S.  hatian,  to  hate)  is  a 
very  general  term.  Hatred  applies 
properly  to  persons.  It  seems  not  ab- 
solutely involuntary.  It  has  its  root 
in  passion,  and  may  be  checked  or 
stimulated  and  indulged.  It  may 
spring  from  a  variety  of  causes,  and 
springs  up  more  readily  in  some  na- 
tures than  in  others.  It  is  active  and 
resentful,  and  desires  the  harm  or  de- 
struction ®f  its  object.  Insulting 
manners,  or  the  existence  or  presumed 
existence  of  offensive  qualities  in  an- 
other, are  sufficient  to  produce  hatred. 
It  needs  a  reaction  as  of  gratitude  or 
some  quickening  of  interest  to  expel 
it,  for  as  has  been  well  said,  it  is  a 
shorter  step  from  hatred  to  love,  than 
from  hatred  to  indifference. 

Aversion  (Lat.  dversionem^  a  turn- 
ing away,  a  loathing)  is  strong  dislike. 
Aversion  is  an  habitual  sentiment,  and 
springs  from  the  natural  taste  or  tem- 
perament which  repels  its  opposites, 
as  an  indolent  man  nas  an  aversion  to 


industry,  or  a  humane  one  to  cruelty 

We  dislikewhat  is  unpleasant  to  us.  We 
have  an  aversion  to  what  shocks  or  dis- 
gusts, or  raises  a  feeling  of  repugnance. 
"  Strictly  speaking,  aversion  is  no  othe» 
than  a  modification  of  desire ;  a  desire  of 
being  liberated  from  whatever  appears  in- 
jurious to  well-being." — CoGAN. 

Antipathy  (Gr.  avriTradiia,  aversion) 
is  used  of  causeless  dislike,  or  at  least 
one  of  which  the  cause  cannot  be  de- 
fined. It  is  founded  upon  supposition 
or  instinctive  belief,  often  utterly 
gratuitous,  often  not  without  some 
truth,  of  the  character  of  the  person  as 
worthy  of  dislike.  Both  aversion  and 
antipathy  have  less  of  voluntariness 
than  hatred. 

"  There  are  many  ancient  and  received 
traditions  and  observations  touching  the 
sympathy  and  antipatky  of  plants  ;  for  that 
some  will  thrive  best  growing  near  others, 
which  they  impute  to  sympathy,  and  some 
worse,  which  they  impute  to  antipathy." — 
Bacon. 

Faults  of  which  we  have  a  peculiar 
horror,  or  ways  very  unlike  our  own, 
excite  aversion.  It  is  only  removed 
by  our  becoming  more  like  others^  or 
their  becoming  more  like  us.  Diffe- 
rence of  temperament,  singularity  of 
humour  may  cause  antipathy.  It  can 
only  be  extinguished  when  reason 
asserts  the  mastery  over  fancy,  and 
judges  soberly. 

Enmity  (Fr.  inimitii,  as  if  from  a 
Lat.  tnimicitdtem)  is  the  state  of  per- 
sonal opposition,  whether  accompa- 
nied by  strong  personal  dislike  or  not; 
as  "  a  bitter  enemy,"  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  "  the  enemy,"  meaning  the 
hostile  party.  In  some  of  its  meta- 
phorical or  applied  senses  it  is  little 
more  than  equivalent  to  strong  oppo- 
nent, as  we  speak  of  an  enemy  to 
falsehood ;  but  an  enemy  is  one  who 
carries  hatred  into  practice.  Enmity 
may  be  tempered  by  generosity,  and 
the  laws  of  honour. 
"  And  by  these  guileful  means  he  more  pre 

vailed 
Than  had  he  open  enmity  profest ; 
The  wolf  more    safely  wounds   when    in 
sheep's  clothing  drest."       Lloyd. 

Repugnance  (Lat.  rtpugnantia,  op- 
position)  is  characteristically  em- 
ployed of  acts  or  courses  of  action, 
measures,  pursuits,  and  the  like.    We 


[haven] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


475 


do  not  employ  it  directly  of  persons, 
BO  as  to  say,  "  I  have  a  repugnance  to 
such  an  one ;  "  here  we  should  use  the 
tei-m  Aversion.  It  denotes  an  involun- 
tary resistance  to  a  particular  line  of 
conduct  to  wbjch  circumstances  impel 
us.  A  lepugnance  to  study.  There  is  a 
use  of  Repugnant  and  Kepugnance 
analogous  to  that  of  abhorrent  and 
abhorrence,  in  which  the  terms  denote 
a  strong  contrariety  and  dissimilarity 
between  any  two  objects  or  subjects 
capable  of  being  brought  into  juxta- 
position or  comparison  ;  as  slavery  is 
repugnant  to  Christianity.  So  in  the 
following  • — 

"  If  things  in  themselves  evil,  repugnant 
to  the  principles  of  human  nature,  and 
those  of  civil  societies,  as  well  as  to  the 
precepts  of  Christianity,  are  made  lawful 
only  for  the  carrying  on  their  design,  we 
need  not  go  farther  to  examine  them,  for 
by  these  frnits  we  may  know  them." — 
Stillingflekt. 

But  the  noun  Repugnance  as  em- 
ployed  of  persons  expresses  a  specific 
feeling,  not,  like  Aversion,  an  habi- 
tual sentiment. 

Ill-will  is  a  settled  bias  of  the 
disposition  away  from  another.  It  is 
very  indefinite,  and  may  be  of  any 
degree  of  strength. 

Rancour  (Lat.  rancorem,  rancidity^ 
rancour)  is  a  deep-seated  and  last- 
ing feeling  of  ill-will.  It  preys  upon 
the  very  mind  of  the  subject  of  it. 
While  enmity  may  be  generous  and 
open,  rancour  is  malignant  and  pri- 
vate. It  commonly  denotes  such  ill- 
will  or  disturbance  of  feeling  towards 
another  as  survives  from  a  former 
enmity  or  difference.  So  that,  even 
after  the  forms  of  enmity  are  laid 
aside  in  reconciliation,  something  of 
rancour  is  apt  to  remain  behind. 

"  Rancour  is  that  degi-ee  of  malice  which 
preys  upon  the  possessor."— CoGAN. 

Malice  (Lat.  mdlitia,  bad  quality, 
spite)  is  that  enmity  which  can  abide 
its  opportunity  of  injuring  its  object, 
and  pervert  the  truth  or  the  right,  or 
go  out  of  its  way,  or  shape  courses  of 
action,  to  compass  its  ends.  Malice 
is,  generally  speaking,  however,  not 
audacious  or  atrocious.  It  aims  at 
inflicting  on  its  object  petty  suffer- 
ings ratlier  than  great  evils. 


Malevolence  (Lat.  tndUivhlentia) 
is  the  casual  or  habitual  state  of  ill- 
will,  but  diffei-s  from  ill-will  in  that 
the  latter  is  always  casual,  while  male- 
volence is  with  some  habitual,  or  so 
easily  excited  as  to  seem  so. 

"  Malice  is  more  frequently  employed  to 
express  the  dispositions  of  in/ferior  minds  to 
execute  every  purpose  of  mischief  within 
the  more  limited  circle  of  their  abilities." — 
COGAN. 

"  Malevolence  commences  with  some  idea 
<jf  evil  belonging  to  and  connected  with  the 
object ;  and  it  settles  into  a  permanent 
hatred  of  his  person  and  of  everything  rela- 
tive to  him." — CoQAN 

Malignity  (Lat.  mHlignitatem)  is 
yet  worse ;  it  is  cruel  malevolence, 
or  innate  love  of  harm  for  the  sake  of 
doing  it.  It  is  malice  the  most  ener- 
getic, inveterate,  and  sustained.  A 
further  difference,  it  seems,  ought  to 
be  noted  between  Malignity  and 
Malignancy.  While  Malignity  de- 
notes an  inherent  evil  of  nature, 
JMalionavcy  denotes  its  indication  in 
particular  instances.  Malignant  spi- 
rits, for  instance,  conveys  the  idea  of 
spirits  already  engaged  on  their  er- 
rands of  mischief ;  and,  again.  Malig- 
nity always  implies  evil  purpose, 
while  Malignancy  is  said  of  unpur- 
posed evil.  The  malignancy,  not 
malignity,  of  a  disease. 

"  Now  this  shows  the  high  malignity  of 
fraud  and  falsehood,  that  in  the  direct  and 
natural  course  of  it,  it  tends  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  common  life  by  destroying  that 
trust  and  mutual  confidence  that  men 
should  have  in  one  another." — South. 

"  I  will  not  deny  but  that  the  noxious 
and  malignant  plants  do  many  of  them  dis- 
cover something  in  their  nature  by  the 
Bad  and  melancholick  visage  of  their  leaves, 
flowers,  and  fruit."— Ray. 

HAVEN.     Harbour.     Port. 

A.  Haven  (A.S.  hetfene)  is  always 
a  natural  harbour. 

A  Harbour  (see  Harbinger)  is 
first  a  station  for  rest,  shelter,  lodg- 
ing, entertainment;  and  thence  a 
sheltered  station  for  ships,  whether 
natural  or  artificial. 

A  Port  (Fr.  port,  Lat.  portns,  har- 
bour) is  commonly  employed  in  the 
sense  of  a  frequented  harbour,  with 
its  commercial  restrictions  and  regula- 
tions, customs,  dues,  and  the  like.    A 


476 


SYNONYMS 


[haze] 


port  is  a  harbour  riewed  in  its  national, 
civic,  or  commercial  relations. 

"And  now  the  surrender  of  Dorchester 
(the  magazine  from  whence  the  other 
places  were  supplied  with  principles  of  re- 
bellion) infused  the  same  spirit  into  "Wey- 
mouth, a  veiy  convenient  harbour  and 
A/^tren."— Clarendon. 

"  These  legal  ports  were  undoubtedly  at 
first  assigned  by  the  crown,  since  to  each 
of  them  a  court  of  port-mote  is  incident, 
the  jurisdiction  of  which  must  flow  from 
royal  authority." — Blackstone. 

HAZE.     Fog.     Vapour.    Mist. 

Haze  (etym.  doubtful)  is  employed 
to  designate  a  light  thin  vapour  which 
thickens  the  air  without  a  feeling  of 
dampness. 

Fog  ( Danish /oo-,  orig.  a  sea  term) 
is  thick  watery  vapour  differing  from 
cloud  only  in  the  absence  of  elevation. 
Those  who,  by  ascending  high  hills, 
find  themselves  in  cloud,  experience 
no  difference  of  sensation  from  that  of 
fog. 

Vapour  (Lat.  vKpdrem)^  as  a  term 
of  physics,  is  any  substance  in  the 
gaseous  or  aeriform  state  of  which 
the  ordinary  state  is  liquid  or  solid. 

Mist  (A.  S.mist)  is  watery  vapour 
dense  enough  to  fall  in  visible  par- 
ticles, and  so  nearly  approaching  the 
form  of  rain. 

HEAD.     Leader.     Chief. 

Head  (A.  S.  heafod),  as  com- 
ing from  the  Teutonic,  is  the 
analogue  of  Chief  (Fr.  chej)  Lat. 
cdput),  as  coming  from  the  Latin. 
But,  as  now  employed  by  ourselves, 
Head  denotes  no  more  than  the  first  in 
an  organized  body,  while  Chief  ex- 
presses pre-eminence,  personal  and 
active.  A  person  may  be  the  head  of 
a  number,  because  there  must  be  some 
head  ;  but  if  he  is  the  chief,  his  per- 
sonal importance  and  influence  is  felt, 
whether  for  good  or  ill.  So  personal 
is  the  idea  of  Chief,  that  a  man  may  be 
chief  among  others  without  being  in 
any  sense  their  head,  that  is,  bound  to 
them  in  a  relationship  of  command. 

A  Leader  (A.  S.  l&dan,  lad,  a 
jHith)  is  one  who  controls,  diiects,  and 
instigates  others  in  definite  lines  of 
movement  or  action.  The  head  is  the 
highest  man.  The  chief  is  the  strong- 


est, best,  or  most  conspicuous  man. 
The  leader  is  the  most  influential  man. 

"  A  reform  proposed  by  an  unsupported 
individual  in  the  presence  of  heads  ol 
houses,  public  officers,  doctors,  and  proo- 
tors,  whose  peculiar  province  it  would  have 
been  urged  is  to  consult  for  the  academio 
state,  would  have  been  deemed  even  more 
officious  and  arrogant  than  a  public  ap- 
peal."—Knox. 

"  I  thank  God  I  am  neither  a  minister 
nor  a  leader  of  opposition," — BuREE. 

"  The  chief  of  ainners."— Bible. 

HEALTHY.  Wholesome.  Sa- 
lubrious.   Salutary.    Hale. 

Healthy  (A.  S.  htel^,  health)  bears 
the  twofold  meaning  of  possessing 
health,  and  imparting  health.  A 
healthy  person ;  a  healtny  atmosphere. 

Wholesome  (whoUy  in  the  sense  of 
sound)uieans  tending  to  health  or  sound- 
ness, or  not  inconsistent  with  them, 
whether  of  body  or  mind  ;  as  a  whole- 
some appetite,  wholesome  air,  whole- 
some advice.  But  both  Healthy  and 
Wholesome  are  commonly  employed 
in  more  than  a  negative  sense,  as 
when  we  say,  "the  situation  is  per- 
fectly healthy,"  "the  food  is  quite 
wholesome."  Healthy  or  Healthful 
stands  to  Wholesome  as  the  positive 
to  the  negative.  The  former  pro- 
motes or  increases  our  bodily  strength; 
the  latter  does  no  harm  to  our  phy- 
sical constitution.  And  so  Healthy  is 
more  commonly  applied  to  what  comes 
to  us  in  the  way  of  exceptional  bene- 
fit ;  Wholesome,  to  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Unwholesome  fooa  disorganizes 
the  functions  of  the  body  ;  healthy  air 
and  recreation  improve  the  physical 
powers.  In  like  manner,  a  whole- 
some truth,  wholesome  advice,  is  pre- 
servative of  morality  and  our  interests. 
A  healthy  tone  of  mind  tends  to  the 
improvement  of  our  faculties.  The 
wholesome  is  assimilated  and  acted 
upon  by  us ;  the  healthy  acts  upon  us. 

"  A  few  cheerful  companions  m  our  walks 
will  render  them  abundantly  more  health- 
ful, for,  according  to  the  ancient  adage, 
they  will  serve  instead  of  a  carriage,  or,  in 
other  words,  prevent  the  sensation  of 
fatigue."— Knox,  Essays. 

"Not  only  grain  has  become  somewhat 
cheaper,  but  many  other  things,  from 
which  the  industrious  poor  derive  an  agree- 
able and  wholesome  variety  of  food."— 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nationt. 


[hearken] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


477 


But  Salubrious  and  Salutary 
(LiSit.  sUliibrhy  sHlutdris;  sUlus,  health) 
are  stronger  and  more  positive.  A 
salubrious  air  tends  actually  to  esta- 
blish health,  while  that  which  is  salu- 
tary tends  to  restore  it.  It  may  be 
obserred  that,  while  Salutary  is  em- 
ployed of  morals,  as  salutary  advice, 
Salubrious  has  no  such  application. 
It  may  be  added  that  Salubrious  is 
employed  in  a  passive  sense.  Salu- 
tary is  always  active.  A  salubrious 
condition ;  salutary  remedies. 

Hale  (A.  S.  Hal,  sound,  whole)  is 
employed  only  of  the  human  body. 
It  denotes  a  "health  and  soundness 
which  have  survived  impairing  effects, 
especially  of  old  age. 
"  His  stomach,  too,  begins  to  fail, 
Last  year  we  thought  him  strong  and  hale. 
But  now  he's  quite  another  thing." 

Swift. 
"  Give  the  salubrious  draughts  with  your 

own  hand ; 
Persuasion  has  the  force  of  a  command." 
King. 

"When  St.  Paul  delivered  over  to  Satan, 
the  design  of  it  was  salutary,  that  the 
spirit  might  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."— Waterland. 

HEAP.  Accumulate.  Amass. 
Pile. 

To  Heap  (A.S.  heap)  is  to  place 
particles  or  substances  upon  one  an- 
other, go  as  to  foi-m  some  degree  of 
elevation.  The  action  is  indefinite  in 
character,  and  may  be  performed  with 
or  without  rule  or  system. 

In  this  respect  it  differs  from  Pile 
(Fr.  pile,  Lat.  pila,  a  pile,  support ;  and 
BO,  the  thing  supported)  which  is  to 
heap  piecemeal,  and  with  system  or 
care.  To  heap  stones  is  general ;  to 
pile  them  is  specific.  But  even  if  the 
process  of  heaping  have  been  per- 
formed with  care,  the  heap  which  is 
the  result  has  no  distinctness  of  parts. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  word  Pile  may 
be  used  in  a  phrase  expressive  of 
praise.  A  heap  of  ruins.  A  noble 
pile  of  architecture. 

To  Accumulate  (Lat.  accumularef 
ciimidus,a  heap)  conveys  the  idea  of 
chance  or  desultory  heaping.  Men 
heap  things  when  they  know  where 
to  lay  their  hands  to  find  them ;  they 
accumulate  things  when  they  heap 


them  as  they  find  ihem  ;  hence  Accu- 
mulate tends  more  strongly  thanllEAP 
to  a  figurative  or  moral  meaning.  The 
farmer  heaps,  but  does  not  accumulate, 
com,  unless  he  buys  it  up  from  diffe- 
rent quarters  for  storing.  But  by 
industry  and  good  fortune  he  accumu- 
lates wealth. 

Amass  (Fr.  amasser,  to  pile  together, 
TTuisse,  a  mass)  is  to  accumulate  in 
large  quantities  what  is  of  substantial 
value,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a 
store  or  fund ;  as  to  amass  wealth  or 
learning :  while  that  which  is  accu- 
mulated may  be  of  no  value ;  as  an 
accumulation  of  old  clothes,  or  mud 
at  a  river's  mouth. 

"  The  whole  performance  is  not  so  much 
a  regular  fabric  as  a  heap  of  shining  mate- 
rials thrown  together  by  accident,  which 
strikes  rather  with  the  solemn  magnificence 
of  a  stupendous  ruin,  than  the  elegant  gi-an- 
deur  of  a  finished  pile." — Johnson. 

We  heap  things  of  the  same  or  dif- 
ferent kinds;  we  accumulate  things 
of  the  same  kind. 

"  He  did  conceive  that  it  was  against  the 
first  principles  of  Nature  and  false,  that  an 
heap  or  accumulation  should  be  and  not  be 
of  homogeneous  things ;  and  therefore  that 
which  in  its  first  being  is  not  treasonable 
can  never  confer  to  make  up  an  accumulative 
treason." — State  Trials. 

"  The  heire  shall  waste  the  whourded 
gold, anuwied  with  much  payne." — SuKRKY. 

HEARKEN.     Attend.     Listen. 

These  tei-ms  have  each  a  primary 
and  secondary  meaning.  The  primary 
meaning  belongs  to  the  acts,  the  se- 
condary to  the  characteristics  of  the 
acts.  The  primary  meaning  of  to 
Hearken  (A.S.  liT^rcnian)  is  volun- 
tarily and  specifically  to  exercise  the 
faculty  of  hearing;  of  Attend  (Lat. 
attendire,  to  tuni  to,  to  give  heed  to)  to 
perform  the  mental  act  of  bringing 
the  understanding  to  bear  on  what  is 
so  heard ;  and  of  Listen  (  A.S.  hlystan  ) 
to  hearken  and  attend  conjointly  witli 
some  degree  of  propensity  or  interest. 
The  secondary  meanings  are  in  accor- 
dance with  ^ese.  We  hearken  to 
injunctions,  commands.  We  attend 
to  instructions  or  advice.  We  listen 
to  entreaty  or  persuasion. 
"  But  here  she  comes  ;  I  fairly  step  aside 
And  hearken,  if  1  in»y,  her  business.'" 


478 


*'  He  now  prepared 
To  speak,  whereat  their  doubled  ranks  they 

bend 
From  wing  to  wing,  and  half  inclose  him 

round. 
With   all  his  peers;    attention  held  them 
mute."  Mii,TON. 

"  The  external  ear,  we  are  told,  had  ac- 
quired a  distinct  motion  upward  and  back- 
ward, which  was  observable  whenever  the 
patient  listened  to  anything  which  he  did 
not  distinctly  hear." — Palby, 

HEARTY.  Sincere.  Cordial. 
Frank.  Canwd.  Open.  Ingenu- 
ous.    Warm. 

Hearty  is  having  the  heart  in  a 
thing — earnest,  sincere.  Heartiness 
implies  honesty,  simplicity,  and  cor- 
diality ;  hut  the  term  leans  rather  to 
expressing  the  outward  demonstration 
of  feeling  than  any  quality  of  the  feel- 
ing itself,  though  this  is  by  no  means 
excluded ;  as  a  hearty  desire,  a  hearty 
laugh,  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand,  to 
return  hearty  thanks.  So  a  hearty  meal 
is  one  partaken  of  with  good-will  in- 
stead of  with  a  languid  or  sickly  ap- 
petite. 
"Where  leisurely  doffing  a  hat  worth  a 

tester. 
He  bade  me   most    heartily    welcome    to 
Chester."  CoxTON. 

Sincere  (Lat.  sinccrus),  unlike 
Hearty,  expresses  nothing  of  the 
strength  of  feeling,  but  only  denotes 
that  it  is  genuine,  and  not  pretended. 
Sincere  is  very  often  mistaken  for 
Hearty,  as  in  the  common  phrase,  "  1 
returnmy  most  sincere  thanks."  Thanks 
are  either  sincere  or  not.  Sincerity 
does  not  admit  of  degrees,  though  the 
exhibition  of  feeling  does.  Sincerity 
is  when  the  man  disguises  nothing 
from  others  or  from  himself;  and  so 
may  be  predicated  both  of  principle 
ana  of  practice  or  demeanour.  It  is 
truth  or  truthfulness  of  motive.  Sin- 
cerity combines  reality  of  conviction 
and  earnestness  of  purpose  with  purity 
or  freedom  from  unfairness  or  dis- 
honesty. Unless  these  be  combined,sin- 
cerity  becomes  a  very  fallacious  term. 

"  And  a  good  man  may  likewise  know 
when  he  obeys  God  sincerely.  Not  but  that 
men  often  deceive  themselves  with  an  opi- 
nion, or  at  least  a  groundless  hope,  of  their 
own  sincerity.  But  if  they  will  deal  fairly 
with  themselves,  and  use  due  care  and  dili- 
gence, there  are  very  few  cases  (if  any) 
wherein  they  may  not  know  their  own  sin- 
cerity in  any  act  of  ubeilience  to  God.     For 


SYNONYMS  [hearty] 

what  can  a  man  know  concerning  himself 
if  not  the  reality  of  his  own  intentions." — 
TlLLOTSOi\. 

Cordial  (Lat.  cordi-,  stem  of  cor, 
cordis,  the  heart)  is  the  Latin  form  of 
the  Saxon  Hearty,  and  differs  rather 
in  the  mode  of  application  than  in  the 
essence  of  the  meaning.  Cordial  is 
more  subjective.  Hearty,  more  ob- 
jective. Cordial  feelings;  hearty 
manifestations  of  them.  Cordial  thanks 
are  thanks  warmly  felt,  hearty  thanks 
are  thanks  warmly  expressed. 

A  s  SiNCER  E  relates  to  the  disposition, 
so  Frank  (¥r. franc,  L.  Lut.francus, 
free)  and  Candid  (Lat,  candidus,white, 
guiltless)  relate  to  the  speech  and 
manner.  That  man  is  frank  who  is 
open  and  unreserved  in  the  expression 
of  his  sentiments,  whatever  they  may 
be.  That  man  is  candid  who  is  fail*  of 
mind,  without  prejudice,  ready  to  ad- 
mit his  own  faults  or  errors.  In  the 
full  sense  of  the  term.  Candour  is  that 
absence  of  reserve  or  dissimulation 
which  comes  from  purity,  innocence, 
and  guilelessness.  Sincerity  prevents 
a  man  from  saying  one  thing  while  he 
thinks  another.  It  is  a  vii-tue.  Frank- 
ness makes  him  speak  as  he  thinks. 
It  is  the  natural  effect  of  disposition. 
The  sincere  man  Avill  not  deceive,  the 
frank  man  will  not  dissemble.  Since- 
rity is  a  security  in  the  intercourse  of 
the  heart.  Frankness  facilitates  social 
intercourse. 

"  Then  would  Britain  and  Ireland  have 
but  one  interest;  and  it  is  rank  absurdity 
in  politics  to  expect  any  cordiality  between 
them  whilst  their  interests  ai-e  separate." 
—Anecdotes  of  Bishop  Watson. 
"  Reserve  with  frankness,  art  with  truth 

allied. 
Courage  with  softness,  modesty  with  pridtf  ' 
POPK, 

Candour  is  openness  towards  one's 
self;  frankness,  towards  others. 

"  If  our  modex'n  infidels  received  these 
matters  with  that  candmir  and  seriousness 
which  they  deserve,  we  should  not  see  them 
act  with  such  a  spirit  of  bitterness,  arro- 
gance, and  maXice,"— Spectator. 

Openness  (A.  S.  open)  denotes  no 
more  than  an  opposite  tendency  to 
that  of  concealment,  reticence,  or  re- 
serve. It  is  a  less  active  quality  than 
frankness ;  and,  while  openness  is 
consistent  with  timidity,  frankness 
implies  some  degree  of  boldneaa. 


[heaven] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


479 


Ingen'uous  (Lat.  ingenuus')  implies 
a  permanent  moral  quality.  A  man 
may  be  not  remarkable  for  frankness, 
yet  at  heart  thoroughly  ingenuous, 
that  18,  a  lover  of  integrity,  and  a 
hater  of  dissimulation.  INIen  of  retir- 
ing manner  are  often  truly  ingenuous ; 
for  ingenuousness  is,  after  all,  more 
allied  to  modesty  than  to  frankness. 

Waum  relates  to  all  the  feelings, 
and  indicates  the  quality  of  specific 
feeling  as  entertained  in  a  high  de- 
gree. We  speak,  therefore,  of  the 
wannth  of  resentment  as  well  as  of 
friendship. 

"  By  tbeu"  frequent  change  of  company 
they  (soldiers)  acquire  good  breeding  and 
an  openness  of  behaviour." — Hume. 

"  The  evangelists  ingenuously  confess  the 
misbehaviour  of  the  apostles  on  some  occa- 
sions. "—JoRTlN. 

"  The  young  plainly  need  it  (admonition) 
most,  as  they  are  just  entering  into  the 
world,  with  little  knowledge,  less  experi- 
ence, and  yet  scarcely  even  any  distrust, 
with  lively  spirits  and  luaiin  passions  to 
mislead  them,  and  time  to  go  a  great  way 
wrong  if  they  do  not  go  right."— Sec  KJiR. 

HEATHEN.     Pagan.     Gentile. 

Heathen  (A.S.  hccien,  orig.  a 
dweller  on  a  heath,  wild  region)  is  a 
term  now  employed  to  comprise  all 
nations  or  religions  besides  Chris- 
tianity, Judaism,  and  Mohammedan- 
ism. 

Pagan  (Lat.  pdgdnus,  one  dwelling 
in  a  village,  pdgus)  originally  denoted 
those  who  were  remote  from  the 
centres ofChristianity  and  civilization. 

Gentile  (Lat.  gentilis,  gentem,  a 
nation)  bore,  under  the  Hebrew  term 
goim,  the  meaning  of  all  men  who  had 
not  received  the  Jewish  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision. It  was  afterwards  trans- 
ferred by  the  Christians  to  all  who 
were  not  Christians  or  Jews.  In  civil 
matters  a  Gentile  was  one  who  was  not 
a  Roman.  The  distinction  at  present 
prevailing  between  Heathen  and 
Pagan  is  that  the  former  denotes  a 
false  creed,  the  latter  a  superstitious 
worship.  Heathen  superstitions  and 
pagan  idolatries.  When  used  as  an 
epithet.  Heathen  has  always  an  un- 
favourable sense.  Not  so  Pagan  ;  as 
pagan  art  or  architecture  is  employed 
to  designate  those  simply  which  Chris- 


tianity hag  had  no  influence  in  pro- 
ducing. Gentile  is  a  national  term 
expressing  those  who  were  not  Jews. 
Heathen,  a  national  term  expressing 
thoie  who  were  not  converted  to 
Christianity.  Pagan,  an  individual 
tenn  denoting  those  who  remained 
idolaters  in  spite  of  Christianity. 

"It  has  always  been  my  thought  that 
heathens  who  never  did,  n'>r  without  mi- 
racle could,  hear  the  name  of  Christ,  wtre 
yet  in  a  possibility  of  salvation." — Dry 
DEN. 

"  The  ruin  of  Paganism  in  the  age  of 
Theodorus  is  perhaps  the  only  example  of 
the  total  extirpation  of  any  ancient  and 
popular  superstition,  and  may  therefore 
deserve  to  be  considerevi  as  a  singular 
event  in  the  history  of  th'^  he  nan  mind." — 
Gibbon. 

"A  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  glory  of  Thy  people  Israel." — English 
Bible. 

HEAVEN.  Heavens.  Para- 
dise. 

Heaven  (connected  with  heave  = 
the  place  raised  aloft)  is  opposed  to 
earth.  It  is  the  upper  vault  of  the 
firmament.  Spiritually  it  is  the  abode 
of  God  and  of  immortal  spirits  or  in- 
telligences, and  is  thus  opposed  to 
hell ;  a  place  of  light  and  joy  as  op- 
posed to  darkness,  misery,  and  doom. 
The  idea  is  vague,  yet  not  obscure. 
It  expresses  a  definite  reality.  Hea- 
vens represents  the  variable  aspect 
of  the  regions  above  the  earth  in  their 
physical  character.  So  the  stai-s  of 
ueaven,  the  serene  or  starry  appear- 
ance of  the  heavens.  The  moralist 
and  the  divine  treat  of  Heaven.  The 
astronomer  and  astrologer,  in  different 
ways,  study  the  Heavens. 

Paradise  (Heb.  pardes,  Gr.  Trapa- 
hiaoi),  is  literally  a  garden,  the  earthly 
paradise  having  suggested  the  idea  of 
a  heavenly.  As  Heaven  is  the  abode 
of  purity,  brightness,  and  happiness, 
so  Paradise  is  the  place  of  perfect  en- 
joyment. It  is  God  and  His  presence 
that  constitute  heaven.  It  is  for  the 
most  the  speoulations  of  men  that 
create  a  paradise.  Some  nations 
seem  to  combine  the  idea  of  a  spiri- 
tual heaven  with  that  of  a  sensual 
paradise.  Accordingly  the  word 
Paradise  lends  itself  to  familiar  treat- 


480 


ment ;  as,  a  paradise  of  luxury,  indo- 
lence, gaiety,  sweets;  a  fools'  para- 
dise. 

HEAVENLY.  Celestial.  Di- 
vine.    Godlike. 

Heavenly  is  of  or  belonging  to 
heaven  (A.  S.  heofon,  connected  with 
heave — the  place  heaved  or  raised),  in 
its  fullest  sense  material  and  spiritual, 
and  so  like  those  pure  spirits  with 
which  heaven  is  peopled ;  "  heavenly 
bodies,"  "  heavenly  bliss,*' "  heavenly 
virtues." 

Celestial  (Lat.  cxlestis,  cxlum, 
heaven)  is  the  Latin  equivalent  of  the 
Saxon  Heavenly,  but  lends  itself 
more  readily  to  the  ideas  of  heathen 
religions;  while  Heavenly  has  been 
consecrated  to  Christian  ideas.  Ce- 
lestial is  also  rather  a  poetic  than  a 
prosaic  term. 

Divine  (Lat.  divinus)  is  restricted 
to  the  person  of  God  or  celestial  be- 
ings, and  is  not  employed  of  the  ma- 
terial heavens ;  as.  Divine  Being,  Di- 
vine excellences,  not  Divine  bodies. 
The  term  is  always  of  a  personal  cha- 
racter, though  not  always  strictly 
personal;  as  Divine  beauty,  that  is, 
beauty  as  of  a  Divine  being ;  the  Di- 
vine will,  or  will  of  God.  Godlike, 
like  God,  or  like  a  God,  is  not  used 
simply  as  a  qualifying  term,  like 
Heavenly  and  Divine,  but  is  a  term 
oi great  praise,  whether  of  individuals 
or  qualities ;  as,  a  godlike  form,  the 
godlike  quality  of  forgiveness. 

"  Endued  with  heavenly  virtues." — Eng- 
lish Liturgy. 

"  That  mind  will  never  be  vacant  which 
is  frequently  recalled  by  stated  duties  to 
meditations  on  eternal  interests  ;  nor  can 
any  hour  be  long  which  is  spent  in  obtain- 
ing some  new  qualification  for  celestial 
happiness. " — Rambler. 

"  Which  Divine  revelation  both  the  ne- 
cessities of  men  and  their  natural  notions 
of  God  gave  them  reasonable  ground  to  ex- 
pect and  hope  for."— Clarke. 
"Vain,  wretched  creature,  how  art  thon 

misled, 
To  think  thy  wit   these  godlike  notions 

bred! 
These  truths  are  not  the  product  of  thy 

mind. 
But  dropt  from  Heaven,  and  of  a  nobler 

kind."  Dbtden. 


SYNONYMS  [heavenly] 

HEED.     Care.     Attention. 

Heed  (A.  S.  htdan,  to  take  care) 
combines  Attention  and  Care;  but, 
while  Attention  (Lat.  attendh^e,  to 
tarn  to,  to  give  to)  has  the  general 
sense  of  a  careful  giving  of  the  mind 
to  anything  that  is  proposed  to  it. 
Heed  has  exclusive  relation  to  what 
concerns  one's  own  interests.  One 
pays  attention  to  another ;  one  takes 
heed  to  one's  own  ways.  Heed  is 
practical  attention  on  motives  of  cau- 
tion. 

Care  (A.  S.  cam,  care,  sorrow)  is 
also  cautious  regard,  but  may  be  ex- 
ercised on  behalf  of  others  as  well  as 
one's  self.  To  take  care  of  another, 
would  be  to  associate  with  him.  To 
take  heed  of  him,  would  be  to  avoid 
him  in  care  for  yourself.  Care  ex- 
tends to  actions;  Heed  and  Atten- 
tion are  confined  to  thought,  except 
when  Attention  means  thought  in 
the  sense  of  waiting  on  another. 

"  He  who  considers  what  Tacitus,  Sueto- 
nius, Seneca  say  of  Tiberius  and  his  reign, 
will  find  bow  necessary  it  was  for  our 
Saviour,  if  He  would  not  die  as  a  criminal 
and  a  traitor,  to  take  great  heed  to  His 
words  and  actions."— LoCKE. 

"  With  as  much  care  and  little  hurt  as 
doth  a  mother  use."— Chapman,  Homer. 

"  Due  attention  to  the  inside  of  books, 
and  due  contempt  for  the  outside,  is  the 
proper  relation  between  a  man  of  sense  and 
his  books. " — Chestertield. 

I  HEINOUS.  Flagitious.  Fla- 
j   grant.     Atrocious. 

Heinous  (Fr.  haineux,  huine,  hatred) 
is  strictly  hateful,  odious ;  hence, 
hatefully  bad.  That  is  heinous  which 
partakes  of  the  aature  of  aggravated 
crime  or  offence. 

That  is  Flagitious  (Leit.  flagttidsns, 
Jidgttium,  a  burning  shame)  which  is 
disgracefully  and  shamefully  bad  in 
persons,  practices,  or  times. 

Flagrant  (Lat.  fiagrans,  Jidgrtre, 
to  burn)  marks  more  strongly  than 
Flagitious  the  striking  character,  or 
glaring  badness  of  the  thing.  A  fla- 
gitious thing  may  be  done  in  secret ; 
a  flagrant  crime,  misrepresentation, 
or  violation  of  duty,  is  one  of  which 
the  public  necessarily  takes  cogni- 
zance. Flagrant,  unlike  Flagitious, 
applies  to  error  as  well  as  crime. 


[helpJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


481 


Atrociois  ( Lat.  Strocem)  carries  the 
deed  back  to  the  source,  and  repre- 
sents it  as  springing  from  a  violent  or 
savage  spirit,  or  attended  with  aggra- 
vating circumstances.  Heinous  and 
Flagrant  intensify  specific  kinds  of 
action ;  Flagitious  and  Atrocious 
are  simply  applicable  to  actions.  So 
flagitious  or  atrocious  deeds  ;  heinous 
cruelty  ;  a  flagrant  blunder.  Flagi- 
tious expresses  the  badness  of  the 
deed ;  Atrocious,  the  badness  of  the 
motive,  as  one  of  violent  and  energetic 
evil. 

"There  are  many  aathors  who  have 
shovrn  whei'ein  the  malignity  of  a  lie  con- 
sists, and  set  forth  in  proper  colours  the 
heinousness  of  the  oflence." — Spectator. 
It  deserves  to  be  remarked  that  all 
these  epithets  appertain  to  character 
and  deeds,  but  are  not  directly  ap- 
plicable. We  cannot  say  a  heinous, 
flagrant,  or  flagitious  man,  nor  very 
easily  an  atrocious  man ;  but  an 
atrocious  tyrant,  a  heinous  oflence, 
a  flagitious  character.  Milton,  how- 
ever, in  an  old-fashioned  way, 
says : — 

"  Punishing  tyrants  and  flugitious  per- 
sons." 

"  Ruined  fortunes  B.nA  flagitious  lives." — 
MiDDLETON,  Cicero. 

"  The  mysteries  of  Baethns  were  well 
chosen  for  an  example  of  corrupted  rites  and 
of  the  mischief  they  produced,  for  they  were 
early  and  flagrantly  corrupted." — War- 
burtox,  Divine  Legation. 

'•  When  Cataline  was  tried  for  some 
atrocious  murders,  many  of  the  consolars 
appeared  in  his  favour,  and  gave  him  an 
excellent  character." — Bishop  Porteus. 

HELP.   Aid.   Succour.  Support. 

Help  and  Aid  may  be  here  treated 
as  identical.  For  their  finer  points  of 
difference,  see  Help. 

Help  is  of  service  to  us  in  our  work 
or  eflPorts,  Succour  (Fr.  secours,  Lat. 
succurrere)  is  of  service  against  dan- 
ger, and  Support  (Lat.  snpportare)  at 
all  times.  The  support  is  required  by 
(he  individual  who  is  too  weak  for  the 
situation  in  which  he  is  placed.  Suc- 
cour is  that  which  he  implores  who  is 
too  weak  against  the  enemy  that  at- 
tacks him ;  help  that  which  he  seeks 
who  is  too  weak  for  the  work  or  task 
with  which  he  is  charged.  Religion 
ought  to  be  a  support  under  the  trials 


of  life,  a  succour  against  its  tempta- 
tions and  passions,  a  help  in  eftbrts 
after  virtue.  The  need  of  a  support 
proves  only  weakness;  the  neea  of 
help  adds  the  idea  of  action ;  the  need 
of  succourinvolves  that  of  fear.  Help, 
inasmuch  as  it  necessarily  implies  ac- 
tion, is  only  applicab](->  to  living 
agents ;  succour,  involv^mg  danger, 
is  applicable  to  all  things  that  may 
fall  into  it ;  support,  implying  weak- 
ness, whether  in  a  physical  or  moral 
sense,  is  applicable  to  what  is  animate 
or  inanimate.  So  one  speaks  of  sup- 
porting a  statement,  helping  or  aid- 
ing a  man,  succouring  a  falling  state. 

HELP.  Aid.  Assist.  Succour. 
Relieve. 

To  Help  (A.  S.  helpau)  is  the 
broadest  of  these  terms,  of  which  the 
rest  are  modifications.  It  denotes 
tlie  furnishing  of  additional  power, 
means  of  deliverance,  or  relief;  as  to 
help  a  man  iu  his  work ;  to  help  him 
to  escape;  to  help  his  sickness,  his 
infirmities,  or  his  troubles. 

To  Aid  (Fr.  aider,  Lat.  adjiitare. 
See  BnACUY.r)  is  less  energetic  than 
Help,  and  lends  itself  better  to  that 
inactive  kind  of  assistance  which  is 
rendered  by,  or  rather  derived  from, 
inanimate  things.  "  I  fell,  but  re- 
covered myself  by  the  help  of  a 
friend."  "  1  crossed  the  mountains 
safe  with  the  aid  of  a  chart  and  a 
staff"."  To  aid  is  to  help  by  co-opera- 
tion, and,  in  some  instances,  to  enable 
to  help  one's  self.  There  is  a  plain  and 
material  force  in  Help  which  is  by  no 
means  so  strongly  expressed  by  Aid. 
Hence  Aid  is  the  better  tenn  where 
finer  work  is  doing,  especially  the 
work  of  the  mind,  as  ''aid  t©  re- 
flexion." Help  more  directly  pro- 
motes the  end,  aid  facilitates  the  pro- 
cess. 

Assist  (Lat.  assistere,  to  stand  by,  to 
defend  us  counsel)  is  purely  personal, 
though  assistance  is  used  with  more 
latitude.  It  would  not  be  permissible 
to  say,  "  My  stick  assisted  me  to 
rise ;  "  yet  we  might  say,  "  I  rose 
with  the  assistance  of  my  stick ;  "  the 
simple  word  H  elp  or  Aid  would,  how- 
ever, be  much  better.  Help  is  some- 
thing more  urgently  needea  than  «» 
I  I 


482 


sistance.  Help  is  required  in  labour, 
danger,  difficulties,  and  the  like ;  as- 
sistance in  the  pursuit  of  a  study  or 
the  performance  of  a  work.  Assis- 
tance supposes  the  presence  of  a  need, 
which  the  assister  stands  by  to  watch 
and  to  supply  to  the  best  of  iiis  power, 
strength,  and  judgment.  He  who  is 
doing  needs  often  to  be  assisted  ;  he 
who  is  suffering,  to  be  helped.  The 
man  who  is  attacked  by  robbers  needs 
help,  not  assistance,  unless,  after  his 
rescue,  he  should  find  himself  strong 
enough  to  endeavour  to  rout  or  cap- 
ture them. 

Succour  (Lat. succurrere,  to  runup 
to)  relates  to  a  condition  of  trouble 
or  distress,  and  implies  celerity  and 
timeliness  in  the  aid  brought. 

To  Relieve  (Fr.  relever,  Lat.  Itvis, 
light)  is  to  lighten  of  a  burden,  or  to 
lighten  the  burden  itself.  It  is  appli- 
cable to  anything  of  the  nature  of  a 
burden,  as  pain,  distress,  poverty. 
We  help  generally;  we  aid  the  weak; 
we  assist  the  struggling ;  we  succour 
the  indigent  or  bereaved  ;  we  relieve 
the  needy,  the  afflicted,  or  the  anxious. 
The  aider  should  be  active,  the  helper 
strong,  the  assister  wise,  the  succourer 
timely,  the  reliever  sympathizing. 
"  Who    travels  by  the    weary  wandering 

way. 
To  come  unto  his  wished  home  in  haste. 
And  meets  a  flood  that  doth  his  passage 

stay. 
Is  not  great  grace  to  help  him  over  past. 
Or  free  his  feet  that  in  the  mire  stick  fast." 
Spenseb. 

"  Aiders,  advisers,  and  abettors."  — 
Blackstone. 

"But  genius  and  learning,  when  they 
meet  in  one  person,  are  mutually  and 
greatly  assistant  to  each  other  ;  and  in  the 
poetijal  art  Horace  declares  that  either, 
without  the  other,  can  do  little." — Beat- 
tie. 

"  The  devotion  of  life  or  fortune  to  the 
succour  of  the  poor  is  a  height  of  virtue  to 
which  humanity  has  never  arisen  by  its 
own  power." — Tatler. 

"  The  inferior  ranks  of  people  no  longer 
looked  upon  that  order  as  they  had  done 
before,  as  the  comforters  of  their  distress 
and  the  relievers  of  their  indigence." — 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

HERESY.    Heteuodoxv.  Schism. 

HEnESY(Gr.  aipia-i;,  a  choice,  Eccles. 

heresy)  is  a  new  opinion  in  religion  set 


SYNONYMS  [heresy] 

up  by  an  individual  or  a  sect  against 
the  old,  and  is  taken  to  relate  to  fun- 
damental and  vital  points. 

Heterodoxy  (Gr.  iTipoh^iec,  error 
of  opinion)  is  a  milder  term,  and  de- 
notes slighter  deviations  or  defects  in 
the  creed,  for  which  the  person  is  not 
necessarily  responsible;  for  hetero- 
doxy may  be  the  result  of  an  inexact 
theology,  while  heresy  is  deliberately 
maintained. 

Schism  (Gr.  a-xio-fj-a,  a  division, 
schism)  is  a  rending  of  external  unity 
or  religious  communion,  of  which 
heresy  is  often  the  cause. 

"  The  word  heresy  is  Greek,  and  signifies 
a  taking  of  anything,  particularly  the 
taking. of  an  opinion.  After  the  study  of 
philosophy  began  in  Greece,  and  the  philo- 
sophers disagreeing  among  themselves  had 
started  many  questions,  not  only  about 
things  natural,  but  also  moi*al  and  civil, 
because  every  man  took  what  opinion  he 
pleased  each  several  opinion  was  called  a 
heresy,  which  signified  no  more  than  a 
private  opinion  without  reference  to  truth 
or  falsehood."— HoBBS. 

'*  Heterodoxy  was  to  a  Jew  but  another 
word  for  disloyalty,  and  a  zeal  to  see  the 
rigour  of  the  law  executed  on  that  crime 
was  the  honour  of   a  Jewish  subject." — 

HURD. 

"  Schism  is  a  rent  or  division  in  the 
Church  when  it  comes  to  the  separating  of 
congregations,  and  may  also  happen  to  a 
true  Church  as  well  as  to  a  false." — MiL- 
TOK. 

HIDE.  Conceal.  Secrete. 
Cover.  Screen.  Shelter.  Shield. 
Hide  (A.  S.  kidan)  is  so  to  place 
physically  as  to  render  invisible,  or  so 
to  treat  morally  as  to  make  impercep- 
tible. Strictly  speaking,  this  is  an 
act  of  a  voluntary  agent;  but  the 
licence  of  colloc^uial  language  em- 
ploys the  term  in  the  sense  of  mere 
exclusion  from  view ;  as, "  The  trees 
hide  the  house."  To  hide,  however, 
is  always  positive,  while  Conceal 
(Lat.  concildre)  may  be  negative.  A 
man  hides  his  feelings  by  a  deliberate 
effort,  or  by  misleading  the  minds  of 
others;  he  conceals  his  intentions 
sometimes  by  simply  not  revealing 
them.  To  conceal  is  almost  invaria- 
bly to  hide  with  intention.  The  little 
brook  is  hidden  when  it  is  overgrown 
j  by  foliage.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
I    snake  lies  in  the  grass  concealed.     To 


[hideous] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


483 


hide  is  a  more  simple  and,  as  it  were, 
natural  movement.  To  conceal  is  more 
deliberate  and  reflexive.  When  sud- 
denly surprised  men  hide  what  they 
do  not  wish  to  be  seen  in  their  posses- 
sion. They  conceal  it  beforehand  if 
they  anticipate  a  visit  of  inspection. 

"Heaven  fi-om  all  creatures  hides  the 
book  of  fate." — PoPE. 

"  The  next  ground  upon  which  such  as 
are  wont  to  promise  themselves  security 
both  from  the  discovery  and  punishment  of 
their  sins,  is  the  opinion  which  they  have 
of  their  own  singular  art  and  cunning  to 
conceal  them  from  the  knowledge,  or  at 
least  of  their  power  to  rescue  them  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  eartu./  judge." — 
South. 

Secrete  ( Lat.  stcentere,  to  separate, 
part,  sicr'ctus^  is  never  used  in  other 
than  a  physical  sense,  and  denotes  the 
specific  and  purposed  hiding  of  what 
is  of  a  movable  nature.  Under  this 
term  one's  self  must  be  included. 

"  The  whole  thing  is  too  manifest  to  ad- 
mit of  any  doubt  in  any  man  how  long  this 
thing  has  been  working,  how  many  ti'icks 
have  been  played  with  the  Dean's  (Swift't) 
papers,  how  they  were  secreted  from  time 
to  time  " — Pope. 

The  term  Secrete  commonly  supposes 
an  unworthy  or  unlawful  motive.  In 
another  sense,  and  not  as  a  synonym  of 
Conceal,  Secrete  is  used  of  organic 
operations ;  so  the  snail  secretes  the 
material  of  which  the  shell  is  formed. 

To  Cover  (0.  Fr.  covrir,  Lat.  co- 
optrtre)  is  only  accidentally  to  hide; 
hiding  or  concealment  from  view 
being  the  result  of  total  covering  and 
other  circumstances,  as  the  non-trans- 
parency of  the  covering  material.  It 
may  be  observed  that  hiding  and  con- 
cealment imply  an  impossibility  of 
seeing  or  perceiving,  though,  of  course, 
not  an  impossibility  of  detection.  A 
man  is  concealed  or  hidden  in  a  cup- 
board ;  but  he  is  not  so  if  his  form 
is  simply  covered  by  some  covering 
which  exhibits  the  outline  of  his 
Sgure,  unless  owing  to  some  circum- 
Htance  the  searcher  failed  to  observe 
it.  Complete  covering  on  the  one  side, 
or  such  as  to  produce  non-recognition 
on  the  other,  is  needful  to  constitute 
concealment.  All  that  is  essential  to 
corering    is    super-extension ;     any- 


thing else  as  concealment  is  acciden- 
tal. 

"  Cover  thy  head,  cover  thy  head,  nay, 
prithee,  be  covered."—  Shakespeare. 

Screen  (O.  Fr.  escran,  Mod.  Fr. 
derail,  a  screen)  is  to  place  in  relation 
to  an  interposed  obstacle  for  the  pur- 
pose of  protection  or  concealment.  In 
the  former  case,  the  influence  may 
not  be  such  as  to  render  invisibility 
necessary,  as  to  screen  from  wind  or 
draught  by  a  plantation  or  a  trans 
parent  glass  partition. 

ToSuelteu  (connected  with  shield, 
A.  S.  scyldan,  to  shield,  to  protect)  is 
very  nearly  the  same  as  Screen  ;  but 
while  Screen  is  employed  of  protec- 
tion against  the  less  violent.  Shelter 
is  used  of  the  more  violent,  annoy- 
ances. Shelter  also  is  more  complete 
.  than  Screen.  Screening  is  partial 
shelter.  To  screen  from  harm;  to 
shelter  from  attacks ;  to  screen  from 
the  sun  or  the  wind  ;  to  shelter  from 
the  storm  and  blast ;  to  screen  from 
blame  ;  to  shelter  from  violence. 

"  A  ridge  of  hilla 
That  screened  the  fruits  of  th'  earth  and 

seats  of  men 
From  cold  septentrion  blasts." 

Milton. 
"  It  was  a  still 
And  calmy  bay,  on  th'  one  side  sheltered 
With  the  broad  shadow  of  an  hoary  hill." 
SPENSEB. 

Shield  (A.S.  scyld),  while  it  bears 
generally  the  same  meaning  as  Screen 
and  Shelter,  involves  more  the  idea  of 

Jersonal  effort,  and  voluntary  action, 
t  is  to  interpose  for  the  purpose  of 
protection  or  defence.  Generally 
speaking  arrangements  screen,  cir- 
cumstances shelter,  persons  shield. 

"God  schilde  us  fro  the  werre." — R. 
BauNNE. 

HIDEOUS.    Shocking. 

Hideous  (O.  Fr.  AtrfCTix)  is  primarily 
frightful  to  behold,  as  a  hideous  mon- 
ster. It  has  been  extended  to  sounds, 
as  a  hideous  noise.  The  effect  of 
the  hideous  is  produced  through  the 
senses  or  the  imagination,  not  through 
the  piure  reason. 

Shocking  (Fr.  choe,  a  shock,  a  eoiii- 
sion)  acts  with  more  sudden  effect, 
and  is  applicable  to  the  moral  feelings 


484 


and  the  taste.  Things  can  be  only 
casually  shocking;  but  hideousness 
IS  a  permanent  quality.  The  hideous 
contradicts  only  beauty  ;  the  shocking 
contradicts  morality. 

"  The  war-dance  consists  of  a  great  va- 
riety of  violent  raotions  and  hideous  contor- 
tions of  the  limbs,  during  which  the  coun- 
tenance also  performs  its  part." — Cook's 
Voyages. 

"  The  grossest  and  most  shocking  vil- 
I  anies. " — Sec  KER. 

HIGH.    Tall.     Lofty. 

High  (A.  S.  hedh),  as  regards  their 
purely  physical  application,  has  an 
additional  sense  to  that  of  the  other 
two,  as  denoting,  1,  continuous  ex- 
tension upwards ;  and  2,  position  at 
a  point  of  elevation.  A  tree  may  be 
high,  tall,  or  lofty.  Clouds  are  high 
without  being  tall.  In  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  synonymous  with  the 
other  iwo,  High  denotes  considerable 
elevation.  So  we  say,  a  high  house, 
but  not  a  high  man. 

Tall  (origin  uncertain;  means  high 
in  stature,  that  is,  with  a  slenderness 
as  well  as  height,  and  implies  growth 
upwards,  natural  or  artificial.  Hence 
we  speak  of  a  tall  man,  tree,  column, 
mast,  but  not  of  a  tall  mountain  or 
house. 

Lofty  (loft,  an  upper  room,  prop, 
meaning  air;  A.  S.  lyj't,  Ger.  lufl) 
denotes  an  imposing  elevation,  or  the 
union  of  expansion  with  height ;  as  a 
lofty  room.  High  and  Lofty  are 
applicable  to  moral  characteristics ; 
Tall  is  not. 

"  The  full  blazmg  sun. 
Which  now  sat  high  in  his  meridian  tower." 
Miltox. 

"  I  fear  to  go  out  of  my  depth  in  sound- 
ing imaginary  fords  which  are  real  gulfs, 
and  wherein  many  of  the  tallest  j)hiloso- 
phers  have  been  drowned,  while  none  of 
them  ever  got  over  to  the  science  they  had 
In  view." — BoLlNGBKOKE. 

"  Did  ever  any  conqueror  loftily  seated 
in  his  triumphal  chariot  yield  a  spectacle 
so  gallant  and  magnificent  ] " — Barhow. 

HILARITY.  Joviality  or 
Jollity. 

These  differ  as  the  subjects.  Hila- 
rity (Fr.  hilarile,  Lat.  hilaritatem) 
hnlongs  to  social   excitement,  espe- 


SYNONYMS  [high] 

cially  of  the  table  among  more  refined 
company;  Joviality  (Lat.  J^vidlis, 
of  or  belonging  to  Jupiter  or  Jove^ 
the  planet  Jupiter  having  been  sup- 
posed to  impart  the  mirthful  chai-ac- 
ter  to  those  who  were  born  under  it), 
to  the  same  thing  among  the  less  re- 
fined. It  is  only  to  state  the  same 
thing  in  another  form,  to  say  that 
hilarity  is  more  an  aft'ection  of  the 
mind,  joviality  of  the  animal  spirits. 

"  It  (music)  will  perform  all  this  in  an 
instant,  cheer  np  the  countenance,  expel 
austerity,  bi'ing  in  hilarity."  —  BuRTON, 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 

"  The  sport  of  their  loudest  jovialities."— 
Barrow. 

HINT.  Suggestion.  Intimation. 
Insinuation.     Innuendo. 

A  Hint  (A.  S.hentan,  to  pursue)  is 
an  indirect  communication  of  instruc- 
tion, the  incompletely  expressed  form 
of  which  has  commonly  for  its  cause 
a  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  hinter 
to  speak  more  fully  and  plainly. 

Suggestion  (Lat.  snggestionem,  n 
hint)  is  given  visibly  or  entire  '.o  the 
persons  receiving  it,  though  the  com- 
munication is  commonly  concealed 
from  others.  The  man  who  makes  a 
good  suggestion  claims  more  gratitude 
than  the  hinter,  who  shuns  responsi- 
bility, unless  it  is  the  best  that  he 
could  do  under  the  circumstances. 
Both  Hint  and  Suggest  have  ordi- 
narily reference  to  practical  assistance 
and  directions,  Hint  referring  to  the 
present  or  the  past,  and  Suggestion 
to  the  future ;  a  hint  of  danger,  a 
suggestion  how  to  avoid  it.  But  Hint 
rather  concerns  matters  of  know- 
ledge; Suggest,  matters  of  conduct. 

To  Intimate  (Lat.  iniimare,  to  make 
known)  meant  at  first  to  share  secretly 
or  privately,  in  which  sense  it  is  at 
present  obsolete.  It  now  means  to 
give  obscure  or  indirect  notice,  or  to 
suggest  apart  from  others.  It  is  in 
this  point  that  Intimate  differs  from 
Hint  and  Suggest,  which  relate  to 
the  affairs  of  the  person  to  whom  the 
hint  or  suggestion  is  made ;  while  In- 
timate may  relate  primarily  to  the 
mind  or  intentions  of  him  who  makea 
the  intimation.  1  give  another  a  hint, 
or  make  bim  a  suggestion  \  iutimato 


I  hoard] 

my  own  wishes  or  purpose.  But  the 
subject  of  the  intimation  is  commonly 
one  in  which  the  other  is  personally 
concerned. 

To  Insinuate  (Lat.  instnuare,  to 
make  one's  waii  to,  to  make  known)  is  to 
nitroduce  gradually  and  artfully,  to 
state  by  remote  allusion.  Like  Hint, 
it  comes  commonly  from  a  wnsh  to 
impart  a  fact  or  an  impression  without 
incurring  the  responsibility  of  plainly 
stating  it. 

An  Innuendo  is  a  law  term,  ex- 
pressing a  manner  of  indicating  by  a 
nod  (innuendo,  gerund  of  Lat.  innntre, 
to  nod  to)  a  person  or  thing  meant, 
when  otherwise  there  was  some  uncer- 
tainty ;  and  is  now  used  much  in  the 
same  sense  as  Insinuation,  but  as 
more  expressive  of  specific  aim  at 
personal  character  and  conduct ;  and 
is  couched  in  langTiage  of  double 
meaning,  as  insinuation  is  couched  in 
language  of  indirect  application. 

"  He  hath  frequently  taken  the  hint  from 
very  trifling  objections  to  strengthen  his 
former  works  by  several  most  material  con- 
siderations and  convincing  argaments," — 
Nei^on,  Life  of  Bull. 
"  If  good  ?    Why  do  I  yield  to  that  sugges- 
tion. 
Whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my  hair, 
And  make  my  sealed  heart  knock  at  my 

ribs. 
Against  the  use  of  nature?" 

Shakespeare,  Macbeth. 

•'Mr.  Plott,  who,  as  he  since  informed 
me,  had  prevailed  with  them  to  propose 
this  treaty,  earnestly  pressed  me  to  lay 
hold  on  the  opportunity,  intimating  by  his 
words  and  gestures  that  if  I  refused  it  I 
should  not  have  another."  —  LuDLOW, 
JiJetnoirs. 

"  Cervantes  made  Don  Quixote  say,  '  If 
the  stories  of  chivalry  be  lies,  so  must  it 
also  be  that  there  ever  was  a  Hector  or  an 
Achilles,  or  a  Trojan  war.'  A  sly  stroke  of 
satire  by  which  this  mortal  foe  of  chivalry 
would,  I  suppose,  insinuate  that  the 
Gi'ecian  romances  were  just  as  extravagant 
and  as  little  credible  as  the  Gothic." — 
HuRD. 

"  As,  by  the  way  of  innuendo, 
Lucns  is  made  a  non  lucendo." 

Churchiix. 

HIRELING.    Mercenary. 

Hireling  (A.  S.  /(ifr,  wages)  is  one 
who  serves  or  acts  for  hire,  and  is  not 
necessarily  a  term  of  venality,  though 
never  one  of  honour. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


485 


Mercenary  (Lat.  niercinarius,  one 
hired  for  wages)  is  also  one  who  sei-ves 
for  wages,  but  is  employed  exclusively 
in  a  bad  sense  when  used  of  the  charac- 
ter, though  not  so  when  used  of  the  em- 
ployment. Hired  soldiers,  called  mer- 
cenaries, may  earn  their  wages  honour- 
ably. A  mercenary  match  is  one  made 
for  the  sordid  love  of  money.  The 
acting  for  profit  exclusively  in  any 
way  IS  called  mercenary. 

"  The  hireling  fleeth  because  he  is  an 
hireling. " — Bible. 

"  This  is  to  show  both  how  tyranny  stands 
in  need  of  mercenari/  soldiers,  and  how  those 
merccTiaries  &rehymutxxa.\  obligation  firmly 
assured  unto  the  tyrant." — Ralegh. 

HISTORY.  Annate.  Chroni- 
cles. 

Annals  (Lat.  annHlis,  a  record  oj 
the  occurrences  of  a  year),  the  bare 
public  registration  of  events  connected 
with  the  progress  of  affairs  of  state, 
are  the  genn  and  rudiments  of  history. 
These  are  followed  by  Chronici.f.s 
(Gr.  x^ovixa,  i.e.,  &i6\ia,  papers,  books, 
relating  to  time,  xi°^°i)f  which  are  only 
ampler  narratives,  and  fall  short  of 
til  at  analysis  of  motive  and  action, 
cause  and  effect,  which  are  needed  to 
make  up  the  idea  of  philosophic 
History.  By  a  poetic  licence,  Annals 
is  used  as  an  elegant  word  for  His- 
tory ;  as,  "  The  short  and  simple  an- 
nals of  the  poor." — Gray. 

"  For  justly  Caesar  scorns  the  poet's  lays  ; 
It  is  to  history  he  trusts  for  praise." 

Pope. 

"  For  among  so  many  writers  there  hath 
yet  none  to  my  knowledge  published  any 
full,  plain,  and  mere  English  history.  Foe 
some  of  them  of  purpose  meaning  to  write 
short  notes  in  manner  oiannales,  commonly 
called  abridgments,  rather  touch  the  times 
when  things  were  done  than  declare  the 
manner  of  the  doinp." — Grafton. 
"  A  chronicler  should  well  in  diA-ers  tongues 

be  seen. 
And  eke  in  all  the  arts  he  ought  to  have  a 

sight. 
Whereby  he  might    the   truth  of  divera 

actions  deem. 
And  both  supply  the  wants,  correct  that  is 

not  right." 

Mirrourfor  Magistrates. 

HOARD.     Treasure. 
Hoard   (A.  S.  hard)  is  to  amass 
with  commonly  some  degree  of  an- 


486 


SYNONYMS  [hOLdJ 


vacy  or  secrecy,  and  is  a  term  of  col- 
lective application. 

Treasuue  (Fr.  trhor,  Lat.  tfiisau- 
rus)  is  applicable  to  a  single  thing  or 
to  a  number.  We  hoard  that  which 
we  believe  may  stand  us  in  good  stead ; 
we  treasure  that  which  is  intrinsically 
valuable,  or  on  which  we  personally 
place  a  value. 

"  As  some  lone  miser  visiting  his  store 
Bends  at  his  treasure,  counts,  recounts  it 

o'e:\ 
Hoards  after  hoards  his  rising  raptures  fill ; 
Yet  still  he  sighs,  for  hoards  are  wanting 

still." 

Goldsmith. 

HOLD.  Arrest.  Detain.  Keep. 
Retain.  Preserve.  Conserve.  In- 
tercept. 

To  Hold  (A.  S.  healdan,  lialdnv}  as 
used  in  a  purely  physical  sense,  is  to 
cause  to  remain  in  a  fixed  position  or 
relation,  and  is  equally  applicable  to 
voluntary  agents  and  mechanical  force 
or  support. 

To  Arrest  (O.  Yr.aresier,  to  cause 
to  stop)  is  to  exercise  a  holding  power 
upon  what  is  in  action,  movement,  or 
progi-ess,  and,  like  Hold,  may  be  either 
voluntary  or  mechanical. 

To  Detain  (Lat.  dittncre)  is  a 
milder  term  than  Arrest,  the  result 
being  physical,  but  the  cause  not 
necessarily  so;  as,  to  be  detained  by 
important  business ;  or  by  physical 
causes  operating  indirectly  upon  the 
person ;  as,  to  be  detained  by  an  acci- 
dent. It  is  to  hold  against  external 
movement  or  claim. 

Keep  (A.  S.  c^pan)  is  to  hold  in 
some  desirable  relation  to  one's  self, 
whether  direct  possession  or  not, 
against  separating  or  depriving  forces, 
and  hence  has  often  the  sense  of  guar- 
dianship. 

Retain  (Lat.  r^tinhe)  is  to  keep  as 
against  any  jnfri?iiic  alteration  or  loss 
of  power  to  hold;  as,  a  metal  retains 
heat ;  I  still  retain  my  intention. 

To  Preserve  (Lat.  prcesei-vdre)  is 
to  cause  to  continue  whole,  unbroken, 
or  unimpaired  ;  as,  to  presei-ve  fruits, 
to  preserve  silence.  He  kept  silence, 
that  is,  as  something  from  which  he 
would  not  nart.     He  held  his  tongue. 


that  is,  as  something  which  he  would 
not  allow  to  move.  He  retained  his 
silence,  that  is,  in  spite  of  attempts  to 
induce  him  to  abandon  it.  He  pre- 
served silence,  that  is,  from  being 
broken.  The  idea  of  preservation  is 
that  of  provision  against  deteriorating 
OT  destructive  influences,  accidents, 
dangers.  Vigilance  and  the  use  of 
preventive  or  counteractive  means  are 
the  methods  of  preservation. 

Conservation  stands  to  preserva- 
tion as  the  moral  to  the  material. 
That  which  is  kept  in  physical  in- 
tegrity is  preserved.  This  may  be  the 
act  of  a  moment,  that  which  is  con- 
tinuously sustained  in  moral  integrity 
is  conserved. 

That  is  Intercepted  (Lat.  iiiter- 
cdpcre,  to  intercept)  which  is  arrested 
between  two  points,  as  the  point  of 
departm-e  and  arrival,  or  some  point 
in  space,  and  the  spectator  or  auditor. 
Obstructive  interposition  is  intercep- 
tion. 

'*  A  valiant  protector,  a  careful  conserver 
and  an  happy  enlarger  of  the  honour  and 
reputation  of  your  country."— Hacklyt. 

"  Remember,  mortal  princes,  ye  be  but 
dust.  Ye  be  no  Gods.  God  will  shortly  in- 
tercept your  breath." — JoYE  'jn  Daniel. 

"A  person  lays  hold  upon  a  thing  when 
he  takes  possession  of  it,  and  claims  it  as  his 
right  and  property.      In   this    sense  the 
apostle  speaks  with  much  diffidence  and 
humility  of  his  hope  of  laying  hold  of  his 
reward. " — HoRSLE  Y . 
"  Consent  to  pay  thee  that  I  never  had ! 
Arrest  me,  foolish  fellow,  if  thou  dar'st." 
Shakespeare. 

**  If  I  lend  a  man  a  hoi"se,  and  he  after- 
wards refuses  to  restore  it,  this  injury  con- 
sists in  the  detaining,  and  not  in  the  originai 
taking ;  and  the  regular  method  for  me  to 
recover  possession  is  by  action  of  detenue." 
— State  Trials. 

"  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?  " — Sible. 

"  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  re- 
mitted unto  them  ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye 
retain,  they  are  retained." — Ibid. 

"In  this  case,  would  this  man,  think  we, 
act  rationally,  should  he,  upon  the  slender 
possibility  of  escaping,  otherwise  neglect 
the  sure  infallible  preservation  of  his  life  by 
casting  away  his  rich  goods  1 " — SoUTH. 

HOMAGE.    Fealty.    Court. 

Homage  (O.  Fr.  homage,  L.  Lat. 
hominaticum,  h'imtiiem^a  man)  was  the 
act  bv  which  a  feudal  inferior  pro- 


[honesty] 

fessed  himself  to  be  the  man  or  sub- 
ject of  the  feudal  lord. 

Fealty  (0.  Fr.  feu Ite,  Lai.  pit K- 
tdtem)  was  the  Jidellty  of  such  a 
tenant ;  and,  more  strictly,  a  lower 
species  of  homage  made  by  oath  on 
the  part  of  such  tenants  as  were  bound 
to  personal  service. 

Court  (0.  Fr.  cort,  Mod.  Fr.  cour, 
an  enclosed  space)  is  to  endeavour  to 
gain  favour  by  such  demeanour  or 
acts  as  are  pi;actised  at  the  coiirts  of 
princes.  In  present  parlance,  we 
pay  homage  to  men  of  excellence, 
virtue,  or  power,  or,  by  a  figure  of 
speech,  to  the  excellences  themselves  ; 
we  show  fealty  to  principles  by  which 
we  have  professed  to  be  guided,  or  to 
persons  who  are  not  so  tar  our  supe- 
riors as  is  implied  in  Homage.  And 
we  pay  court  when  we  desire  personal 
favour,  consulting  the  character  and 
humour  of  the  person  to  whom  we 
pay  it. 
*•  All  these  are  spirits  of  air,  and  wood,  and 

springs. 
Thy  gentle  ministers  who  come  to  pay 
Thee  homage,  and  acknowledge  thee  their 

Lord. 
What  donbt'st  Then  ?   Son  of  God,  sit  down 

and  eat."  Milton. 

"  Stndious  to  win  your  consort,  and  seduce 
Her  from  chaste  fealti/  to  joys  impure." 
Fenton. 
"  Needs  a  shipwrecked  seaman  be  courted 
to  come  to  shore,  or  a  weary  traA-eller  to  a 
place  of  rest  ?  "—Bishop  Bkveridge. 

HONESTY.  Sincerity.  Up- 
rightness.    Probity.     Integrity. 

Honesty  (Fr.  honnetett)  is  a  per- 
fectly plain  and  unambiguous  term. 
It  denotes  in  the  worthiest  sense  more 
than  commercial  strictness  of  dealing. 
Honesty  is  a  virtue  of  man  in  every 
state  of  life.  Consistent  honesty 
would  be  perfect  social  virtue,  the 
whole  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  fair- 
ness and  straightforwardness  of 
thought,  speech,  purpose,  or  con- 
duct. 

Sincerity  (Fr.  sinciritt)  has  a 
double  meaning,  either,  1,  reality  of 
conviction  or  earnestness  of  purpose ; 
or,  2,  exemption  from  unfairness  or 
dishonesty.  The  one  is  the  condition 
of  mind  in  itself;  the  other,  the  rela- 
tion of  this  state  to  practical  matters. 


DISCRI^IINATED. 


487 


Hence  a  man  may  be  sincere  and  dic- 
honfest.  Sincere  in  his  profession  of 
his  purpose,  and  dishonest  in  the 
means  he  employs  to  effect  it.  Sin- 
cerity is  a  virtue  so  far  as  it  forbids 
us  to  say  one  thing  and  think  another, 
LTpuiGHTNEss  is  honesty  combined 
with  a  native  dignity  of  character ;  it 
belongs  to  men  who  can  mix  with 
their  fellow-merx  and  retain  an  inde- 
pendent bearing;  while  the  poorest 
labouring  man  who  has  no  contact 
with  the  world  may  be  strictly  honest. 
As  commonly  taken,  honesty  is  not  so 
much  a  matter  of  principle  as  of  act 
and  habit.  A  man  is  said  to  be  honest 
who  will  not  defraud,  directly  or  in- 
directly. An  honest  tradesman  asks 
fair  prices,  and  sells  good  articles. 
He  may  be  a  sad  slanderer,  and  de- 
prive others  of  their  due  in  this  re- 
spect ;  yet  the  world  would  still  call 
him  honest. 

Probity  (Fr.  probitd)  and  In- 
tegrity ('Fr.  intt^rit6)  are  higher 
terms,  indicative  of  higher  virtues  and 
larger  characteristics.  The  man  of 
probity  is  a  man  of  principle,  and  not 
merely  of  habit ;  he  is  far  more  than 
commercially  honest ;  he  gives  men 
their  due  in  all  respects.  He  is  up- 
right in  those  obligations  which  the 
law  does  not  touch.  Integrity  comea 
from  a  sense  of  responsibility,  a  desire 
to  keep  that  whole  in  oneself  which 
ought  not  to  be  broken.  It  will  show 
itself  in  the  discharge  of  a  trust  or  the 
execution  of  an  office,  but  not  only  so. 
To  the  man  of  integrity  life  itself  is  a 
trust.  Fidelity  to  the  obligations  of 
law  and  duty  suffice  for  probity.  In- 
tegrity is  a  habitual  regard  to  the 
frinciples  of  morality  and  conscience, 
ntegrity  is  the  quality  of  the  man 
who  is  firm  and  constant  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty.  It  stands  opposed 
to  corruption.  Probity  is  virtue  under 
a  negative  aspect.  Do  to  others  as 
you  would  that  they  should  do  to  you 
is  the  rule  of  virtue.  Do  not  to  others 
what  you  would  not  that  they  should 
do  to  you  is  the  rule  of  probity.  Fi- 
delity to  law,  to  morals  and  conscience 
which  are  prohibitive  in  their  force, 
constitutes  probity. 

"  Goodness  is  that  which  makes  men  pre- 
fer their  duty  and  their  promise  before  their 


488 


SYNONYMS  [pIOPE] 


passious  or  their  interest,  and  is  properly 
the  object  of  trust.  In  our  language  it  goes 
rather  by  the  name  of  honesty,  though  what 
we  call  an  konest  man  the  Romans  called  a 
good  man."— Sir  W.  Temple. 

"  Let  us  consider  that  sincerity  is  a  duty 
no  less  plain  than  important,  that  our  con- 
sciences require  it  of  us,  and  reproach  us  for 
every  breach  of  it." — Knox. 

"  'Then,'  says  the  good  Psalmist,  'shall 
I  not  be  ashamed ; '  that  is,  then  may  I 
safely  confide  in  my  own  innocence  and  up- 
rightness, when  I  have  respect  unto  all  Thy 
commandments." — Attkrbury. 

"  If  we  could  once  get  ourselves  possessed 
of  this  probity,  this  purity  of  mind  and 
heart,  it  would  better  instruct  os  in  the  use 
of  our  liberty,  and  teach  as  to  distinguish 
between  good  and  evil." — SHARP. 

"  Tntegrity  undaunted  goes 

Through  Libyan  sands  and  Scythian  snows. 

Or  where  Hydaspes  wealthy  side 

Pays  tribute  to  the  Persian  pride." 

Roscommon,  Horace. 

HOPE.  Expectation.  Trust. 
Confidence.     Assurance. 

All  these  terms  denote  the  reposing 
of  the  mind  upon  the  future.  The 
anticipation  of  the  future  is  common 
to  Hope  (A.  S.  hojtian,  to  hope)  and 
Expectation  (Lat.  exspectutionem,  a 
looking  out,  an  expecting).  In  propor- 
tion as  it  is  welcome,  we  hope ;  in 
proportion  as  it  is  certain,  we  expect. 
We  may  expect,  but  not  hope  for,  an 
occurrence  which  will  cause  us  pain. 
Hope  is  a  faculty  of  the  human  soul, 
a  quality  which  diminishes  with  the 
increase  of  age.  The  young  who  live 
in  the  future  are  full  of  hope.  It  is 
an  active,  energetic  force,  well  fitted 
to  the  time  of  life,  which  needs  en- 
couragement and  support  in  its  work. 

Confidence  and  Assurance  closely 
resemble  each  other;  but  Confidence 
(Lat.  confidentia)  is  properly  used  only 
in  relation  to  moral  agents,  and  on  the 
ground  of  probity  of  character.  As- 
surance (Fr.  assurer,  to  secure,  stir, 
siciirus,  Eng.  sure)  is  confidence  in 
one's  self,  or  such  confidence  as  flows 
fitmi  internal  conviction  ujjon  matters 
of  fact.  Assurance  is  passive ;  con- 
fidence is  active.  Confidence  is  such 
assurance  as  leads  to  a  feeling  of 
security  or  I'eliance.  We  have  assur- 
ance in  ourselves,  we  have  confidence 
in  otliers. 


To  Trust  (to  think  true)  is  to  rest 
upon  another  as  able  to  bear  what  we 
impose ;  so  we  trust  or  not  in  what  is 
solid  or  unsolid  ;  men,  who  are  trust- 
worthy or  otherwise;  statements, 
which  may  be  veracious  or  not; 
strength  or  efforts,  which  may  or  may 
not  be  equal  to  the  task.  Trust  in 
opinion  is  belief;  in  religious  opinion, 
faith  ;  in  pecuniary  worth,  stability, 
and  integrity,  credit ;  and  in  moral 
probity,  combined  with  sufficiency  of 
power,  confidence.  Assurance  is  based 
upon  mental  confidence  on  moral 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  thing  ex- 
pected. 

♦'  Hope  is  the  encouragement  given  to 
desire,  the  pleasing  expectancy  that  its  ob- 
ject shall  be  obtained." — CoGAN. 

"  In  its  geneial  operation  the  indulgence 
of  hope  is  mixed  with  certain  portions  of 
doubt  and  solicitude;  but  when  doubt  i« 
removed,  and  the  expectation  becomes  san- 
guine, hope  rises  into  joy." — Ibid. 

"  In  a  word,  every  man  implicitly  trusts 
his  bodily  senses  concerning  external  objecti 
placed  at  a  convenient  distance." — BiSHOP 
HoRSi^y. 

"  Yet  not  terrible 
That  I  should  fear  ;  not  sot-iably  mild. 
Like  Raphael,  that  I  should  much  confide  ,• 
But  solemn,  whom,  not  to  offend. 
With  reverence  I  must  meet,  and  then  re 
tire."  Milton- 

"  On  informing  him  of  our  difficulties  and 
asking  whether  we  might  venture  across 
the  plain,  he  bid  us,  like  Caesar,  with  an  air 
of  assurance,  follow  him  and  fear  nothing." 
—Gilpin, 

HOPELESS.     Desperate. 

Hopeless  is  an  epithet  of  things  ; 
Desperate  (Lat.  d'tsph'are,  to  give  up 
hope,  part,  despirdtus)  of  things  and 
persons.  H  opeless  is  less  strong  than 
Desperate,  because  it  sometimes  de- 
notes no  more  than  an  absence  of  hope 
of  success  in  matters  where  success 
is  desirable  and  desired,  but  no  more. 
A  project  may  have  been  hopeless 
from  the  first ;  so  that  no  real  hope 
was  placed  in  it.  A  desperate  under- 
taking is  one  which  is  associated  with 
gi-eat  if  not  absolute  ahmdonment  of 
hope,  in  what  is  not  only  desired  but 
begun.  It  deserves,  however,  to  be 
observed,  that  the  full  force  of  de- 
spair does  not  survive  in  the  adjective 
Desperate.  There  must  be  some  de- 
gree of  hope  in  a  desperate  undcrtakine , 


j^  HOWEVER  J 

though  a  desperate  act  must  be  the 
simple  result  of  despair. 

'  These  words  are  part  of  that  visiou  of 
the  valley  of  bones,  wherein  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  doth,  in  a  very  lofty  and  lively 
manner,  set  out  the  lost  and  hopeless  state 
of  Israel,  then  under  captivity." — Atter- 
BURY. 

"  So  Satan,  whom  repulse  upon  repulse 
Met  ever,  and  to  shameful  silence  brought, 
Yet  gives  not  o'er,  though  desperate  of  suc- 
cess. 
And  his  vain  importunity  pursues." 

Milton. 

HOST.     Army.     Armament. 

Host  (Lat.  hostis,  an  enemy)  denotes 
an  opposing  or  hostile  force  of  indefi- 
nite number,  not  strictly  organized  ; 
hence,  generally,  a  very  numerous 
collection. 

Army  (Tr.  armte,  Lat.  armntiis, 
armed)  is  composed  of  a  definite  num- 
ber of  organized  soldiers. 

Armament  (Lat.  armdmenta,  im- 
plements, tackling)  is  a  term  which 
draws  the  attention  primarily  to  the 
equipment,  and  secondarily  to  the 
forces.  It  is  a  body  of  forces  equipped 
for  war,  and  is  applicable  both  to  sea 
and  land  forces.  Musketry,  artillery, 
and  all  munitions  of  war  are  implied 
in  an  annament. 

"  They  belov 
Lie  well   equipped  and  sheltered,  nor  re 

mote 
The  whole  united  armament  of  Greece  at 

Salamis."  Glovkr. 

HOUSE.  Family.  Lineage. 
Race.     Stock. 

House  (A.  S.  hiis),  when  employed 
as  a  synonym  with  the  rest  here  given, 
is  only  employed  of  very  distinguished 
families,  as  the  House  of  Austria,  the 
House  of  York  or  Lancaster,  and  is  an 
historical  term  comprising  successive 
generations. 

Family  (Lat.  fdmiLia,  a  household) 
denotes  those  who  descend  from  one 
common  progenitor;  hence  the  term 
may  be  applied  to  the  whole  human 
race  or  "family  of  man."  Family 
is  more  used  of  the  middle  classes. 
House  of  those  of  the  highest  quality. 
Families  are  spoken  of  in  connexion 
with  alliances,  houses  with  high  dig- 
nities and  titles. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


4«9 


Lineage  (Fr.  lignagej  lignCy  a  iine) 
is  that  common  line  of  descent  which 
constitutes  the  house  or  family. 

Race  (Fr.  race,  O.  H.  G.  reiza,  a 
line  :  Littre)  is  more  comprehensive, 
indefinite,  and  broad ;  as,  the  human 
race,  the  Caucasian  or  Mongolian  race 
— indicating  masses  of  men  ethnologi- 
cally  one. 

Stock  (A.  S.  stoc)  is  an  analogous 
term,  in  which  the  descendants  or 
children  are  referred  to  their  parents 
or  ancestors,  as  ti  e  scion  belongs  to 
the  stem.  The  term  is  commonly 
employed  when  the  qualities  of  the 
nature  are  considered  as  inherited  or 
congenital.  Men  come  of  a  good  or  a 
bad  stock. 
"  Thy  mother  was  no  goddess,  nor   thy 

stock 
From  Dardanus."  Dexham. 

HOWEVER.  Yet.  Neverthe- 
LESS.  Notwithstanding.  Stili. 
But. 

But  (A.  S.  butan,  except,  besides) 
has  a  twofold  meaning,  which  might 
be  expressed  by  the  phrases,  "  But 
yet,"  and,  "  But  on  the  contrary ; "  as, 
"This  is  not  summer,  but  it  is  as 
warm;"  and,  "This  is  not  summer, 
but  winter."  It  is  with  the  first  ol 
these  meanings  that  the  other  terms 
given  above  are  synonymous.  How- 
ever has  a  waiving  or  cancelling 
force.  "  However,  the  matter  is  not 
important,"  would  mean,  that  in  any 
case  it  is  so,  whether  what  had  been 
advanced  were  admitted  or  not.  It 
seems  equivalent  to  saying  that  what 
follows  is  so  indisputable,  that  the 
speaker  is  willing  to  forego  all  that 
has  been  said.  Yet  is  stronger  than 
But;  and  Still  yet  stronger.  It  does 
not  cancel,  but  retains  previous  ai*- 
gument,  and  admits  it ;  maintaining 
that  what  follows  is  not  removed  for 
all  that.  "  All  you  say  is  true  ;  still 
I  think."  Notwithstanding  and 
Nevertheless  are  still  stronger ; 
Nevertheless  being  the  strongest  of 
all.  Yet  brings  into  contrast  both 
expanded  statements  and  simple 
ideas.  "  Addison  was  not  a  good 
speaker;  yet  he  was  an  admirable 
writer,"  might  have  been  rendered 
by,  "  Addison  was  not  an  orator,  but 


490 


SYJSONYMS 


[hue] 


a  writer;  "  or,  "Addison  was  inelo- 
quent,  yet  accomplished  ;  "  where  it 
will  be  observed  that  But  follows  a 
negative  expression,  and  Yet  a  posi- 
tive and  adverse,  or  seemingly  ad- 
verse, one;  or,  conversely,  "  He  was 
accomplished,  but  not  eloquent." 
Neverthelkss and  Notwithstanding 
are  almost  identical;  they  have  no 
difference  beyond  that  which  is  ap- 
parent on  the  face  of  the  structure  of 
these  composite  forms.  First,  it  will 
be  observed  that  Nevertheless  is  a 
conjunctive  abverb,  while  Notwith- 
standing is  also  used  as  a  preposition. 
"  He  contradicted  me,  but  I  main- 
tained the  truth  of  what  1  had  said, 
notwithstanding,"  or, "  nevertheless ;" 
but  we  might  also  say, "  I  maintained 
my  statement,  notwithstanding  his 
contradiction  ; "  where  Nevertheless 
could  not  have  been  used.  This  force, 
however,  has  gi'own  up  out  of  trans- 
position of  the  order ;  in  old  and  more 
formal  English,  it  would  have  been, 
"  His  contradiction  of  me  notwith- 
standing; "that  is,  affording  no  effec- 
tual opposition.  Notwithstanding 
implies  that  the  fact  stated  remains 
true;  Nevertheless,  that  its  force 
remains  undiminished. 

HUE.     Colour.     Tint. 

Hue  (A.  S.  hiw,  heow,  wppearance) 
was  formerly  written  hew.  It  is, 
strictly  speaking,  a  compound  of  one 
or  more  colours,  so  forming  an  inter- 
venient  shade. 

The  Colours  (Fr.  corileur,  Lat. 
c'ildrem)  are  properly  the  seven  pris- 
matic colours  deduced  from  light  by 
the  prism. 

Tint  (Fr.  teinte)  is  a  colour  or  hue 
faintly  exbibited.  With  painters  a 
tint  is  a  subdued  colour,  weakened  in 
the  case  of  oil  colours  by  white,  and 
in  water  colours  by  water.  Hue  is  a 
vague  conversational,  rhetorical,  or 
poetical  term.  Colour  is  strictly  ar- 
tistic and  scientific.  Unlike  Tint, 
both  Hue  and  Colour  are  applicable 
to  white. 

"His  robe,  with  Incid  pearls  besprinkled 

o'er. 
Receives  a  snowy  hue  unknown  before," 
HooLE,  Tasso 


"  I  took  it  for  a  fairy  vision 
Of  some  gay  creatures  of  the  element. 
That  in  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  li've." 
Milton. 
"  Or  blend  in  beauteous  tint  the  coloored 
mass,"  POPK. 

HUGE.   Enormous.    Prodigious. 

Vast. 

These  terms  express  excessive  size. 
Huge  (O.  Fr.  ahuge,  htige,  vast: 
Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.)  denotes  great 
size,  with  shapelessness  or  massive- 
ness  preponderating  over  proportion. 

Enormous  (Lat.  inormis,  irregulary 
enormous)  is  huge  of  its  particular 
kind,  far  exceeding  its  own  proper 
average  or  standard. 

Prodigious  (Lat.  prodigiosus,  pro- 
digium,  a  prodigy)  expresses  size  or 
quantity  such  as  produces  astonish- 
ment in  our  own  minds. 

Vast  (Fr.  vaslCj  Lat.  vastus,  wastCy 
vast)  expresses  the  quality  of  great 
superficial  extent. 
"  The  knight  himself  even  trembled  at  his 

fall. 
So  huge  and  horrible  a  mass  it  seemed." 
Spenser. 

"  And  on  the  other  hand,  had  man's  body 
been  made  too  monstrously  strong,  too 
enormously  gigantic,  it  would  have  rendered 
him  a  dangerous  tyrant  in  the  world,  too 
strong  in  some  respects  even  for  his  own 
kind,  as  well  as  the  other  creatures." — 
Derham. 

"We  may  justly,  I  say,  stand  ama2ed 
that  men  should  be  so  prodigiously  supine 
and  negligent  in  an  aSair  of  this  impor- 
tance as  we  see  they  generally  are." — 
Sharp. 

"  What  a  vast  field  for  contemplation  is 
here  opened  I  " — Woolaston. 

HUNGER.     Appetite. 

Hunger  (A.  S.  hungor)  relates  to  a 
strong  craving  of  food,  either  from 
too  long  an  abstinence  or  from  na- 
tural voracity. 

Appetite  (Lat.  appetltus,  eager  de- 
sire) belongs  more  to  the  taste,  and 
comes  of  the  disj)osition  of  the  organs 
to  find  pleasure  in  eating.  The  first 
is  the  more  urgent  but  less  nice,  and 
is  contented  with  what  is  enough. 
The  second  demands  less  imperatively, 
but  demands  a  gi'eater  variety  of  ali- 
ment. All  kinds  of  food  appease 
hunger,  while  none  excites  it.  Ap- 
petite is  more  delicate.   It  is  not  every 


[HURTj 


dish  that  satisfies  it.  Hunger  is  ap- 
peased, appetite  satisfied.  Hunger  is 
a  want,  appetite  a  desire.  Hence 
Appetite  is  a  convertible  term  for  de- 
sire ;  and  lends  itself  more  readily  to 
secondary  applications.  Sordid  or 
i.oble  appetites.  We  speak  of  a  thirst, 
lather  than  hunger,  for  glory  or  any 
other  specific  object  of  desire. 

HURT.  Damage.  Detriment. 
Injury.  Harm.  Prejudice.  In- 
justice.    Wrong.     Mischief. 

Hurt  (O.  Fr.  hurter,  Mod.  heurter, 
to  strike  against)  is  physical  injury 
causing  pain,  and  is  applied  to  ani- 
mals as  having  a  sensitive  life,  and  to 
plants  as  being  quasi-sensitive.  When 
used  of  the  mind  or  feelings,  hurt  is 
employed  analogously,  in  the  sense 
of  receiving  a  rude  shock  ;  as,  "  His 
pride  was  hurt."  The  word  i«  em- 
ployed in  its  strict  meaning  in  *he 
following  : — 

"  The  least  hurt  or  blow,  especially  upon 
the  head,  may  make  it  (an  infant)  sense- 
less, stupid,  or  otherwise  miserable  for 
ever. " — Spectator. 

Some  degree  of  physical  violence  is 
implied  in  Hurt.  A  subtle  noxious 
influence  would  injure,  but  not  hurt. 
The  constitution  might  be  injured  or 
harmed,  but  not  hurt,  by  residence  in 
an  unhealthy  locality. 

Damage  (O.  Fr.  damage,  orig. 
from  the  Lat.  dam7inm,  loss  or  injury) 
is  harm  externally  inflicted  on  wliat 
is  of  value ;  as,  trees,  movable  pro- 
perty, crops,  personal  reputation.  A 
slave  so  severely  hurt  as  to  lose  the 
use  of  a  limb  is  damaged,  as  being  a 
valuable  commodity,  but  the  term  is 
not  employed  of  bodily  injury  to  per- 
sons in  general. 

"That  to  the  utmost  of  our  ability  we 
ought  to  repair  any  damage  we  have  done 
'.0  others,  is  self-evident." — Beattie, 

This  refers  of  course  only  to  such 
damage  as  involves  a  wrong  done. 
On  the  other  hand,  damage  may  be 
purely  material,  as  the  damage  done 
to  crops  by  a  storm,  or  as  in  the  case 
given  above. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


491 


Detriment  (Lat.  detrimentum,  loss, 
damage)  is  used  very  generically,  ana 
would   include  loss  of  value  by  in- 


ternal causes.  It  is  also  applied  ta 
what  is  of  the  nature  of  a  good  with- 
out having  a  strictly  appreciable 
value ;  as  a  detriment  to  religion  and 
morals.  It  stands,  generally  speak- 
ing, to  things  of  moral  value  as  dam- 
age to  things  of  material  value. 

"  Though  every  man  hath  a  property  in 
his  goods,  yet  he  must  not  use  them  in 
detriment  of  the  commonwealth."— Sfaie 
Trails. 

Injury  (Lat.  injuria,  injusticej 
harm)  has  the  purely  physical  mean- 
ing of  permanent  hurt  to  physical  ob- 
jects, and  of  harm  to  whatever  is 
susceptible  of  it,  as  moral  beings,  and 
even  abstract  goods ;  as,  a  tree  is  in- 
jured by  a  storm  ;  injury  to  a  man's 
person  or  to  his  character;  injury  to 
the  cause  of  religion  or  of  progress. 
The  word  Injury  is  one  of  the  rarer 
cases  in  which  a  term  of  moral  import 
has  become  applicable  in  a  physical 
sense,  instead  of  the  converse.  The 
primary  idea  is  that  of  wrong  or  a 
deed  against  justice.  As  such  deeds 
are  often  done  by  violence,  and  ac- 
companied by  material  hurt,  the  term 
has  come  to  be  applicable  to  the  inflic- 
tion or  result  of  violence  even  in  un- 
conscious subjects.  There  are  few 
words  in  the  English  language  having 
such  varied  and  extensive  applica- 
tions. 

♦'  Many  times  we  do  injury  to  a  cause  by 
dwelling  on  trifling  arguments." — Watts. 

Harm  (A.  S.  hearm,  grief,  injury) 
is  personal  and  intentional  injury, 
but  is  not  confined  to  this,  and  may 
be  unintentional  and  impersonal. 
Harm  is  that  sort  of  hurt  which 
causes  trouble,  difficulty,  inconve- 
nience, loss,  or  impedes  the  desirable 
growth,  operation,  progress,  and  issue 
of  things.  Harm  is  that  which  con- 
tradicts or  counteracts  well-being,  and 
is  unfavourable  to  the  proper  energy 
of  what  has  activity.  H  a  rm  is  as  wide 
a  term  as  Injury,  from  which  it  diffens 
but  slightly.  But  Harm  is  more 
general  than  Injury,  more  vague  and 
less  specifiable  ;  hence  harm  is  often 
undefined  or  undefinable  injurjr.  Mj 
watch  will  not  go.  It  is  plain  tha 
some  harm  has  happened  to  it;  ye 
I  can  perhaps  trace  no  sign  of  ii. 
lury. 


492 


"  And  who  is  he  that  shall  harm  you,  if 
ye  be  followers  of  that  which  is  good  ?  " — 
Bible. 

Prejudice  (Lat.  'pr<EJiidicium,  a 
preceding  judgment ,  disadvantage)  is  a 
foregone  conclusion,  and,  by  an  un- 
favourable extension  of  meaning, 
against  a  person ;  hence  generally 
harm.  It  is,  however,  employed  only 
of  persons  and  their  interests  or 
causes;  though  the  adjective  preju- 
dicial has  a  wider  application  in  the 
sense  of  hurtful.  Shakespeare  seems 
to  have  gone  to  the  extreme  limit  of 
the  word  when  he  says — 
"  To  seek  how  ws  laay  prejudice  the  foe." 

"  I  am  not  to  prejudice  the  cause  of  ray 
fellow  poets,  though  I  abandon  my  own  de- 
fence."— D  RYDKIi, 

Injustice  is  the  principle  of  which 
injuiy  is  the  manifestation.  Injustice 
is  also  used  in  the  sense  of  moral  in- 
j  ury ;  as, a  suspicion  which  does  another 
an  injustice.  Injustice  relates  to  ex- 
istent rights,  which  are  disregarded 
or  violated  ;  but  these  rights  are  of 
the  broadest  kind,  and  extend  even 
to  the  natural  claims  of  humanity. 

"  If  this  people  resembled  Nero  in  their 
extravagance,  much  more  did  they  (the 
Athenians)  resemble  and  even  exceed  him 
in  cruelty  and  injustice."— BvB,KS. 

Wrong  (that  which  is  wrung  or 
turned  aside;  so  Fr.  tort,  Lat.  tartus, 
twistedj  is  an  injury  done  by  one  per- 
son to  another  in  express  violation  of 
justice.  It  may  be  observed  that  both 
injustice  and  wrong  lie  in  the  prin- 
ciple, injury  in  the  act.  So  one  may 
commit  a  wrong  or  an  injustice  with- 
out committing  an  injury,  supposing 
that  circumstances  turned  out  more 
favourably  or  less  unfavourably  to  the 
person  than  we  contemplated  or  in- 
tended. On  the  other  hand,  where 
design  was  absent,  there  might  be  in- 
jury without  injustice.  An}  thing  is 
a  wrong  which  impairs  a  right  of 
whatever  kind  this  right  may  be,  as 
of  property,  privilege,  honour,  repu- 
tation. In  fact,  Wrong  commonly  ap- 
plies to  goods  and  reputation ;  it  robs 
©ne  of  one's  due. 

*♦  The  distinction  of  public  wrongs  from 
private,  of  crimes  and  misdemeanours  from 
«vil  injuries."— Blackstone, 

Mischief    (O.     Fr.    meschef,     the 


SYNONYMS  [HUSBANDJ 

bringing  to  a  bad  end ;  mes,  which  is 
the  Lat.  minns,  less,  and  chef,  Lat. 
cUput,  a  head )  is  harm  or  damage 
produced  by  something  blameworthy, 
as  heedlessness,  neglect,  perversity, 
wantonness.  It  is  a  confusion  of 
thought  to  use  the  term  as  simply 
equivalent  to  Injurious,  and  to  say, 
as  is  sometimes  said,  "The  heavy 
rains  have  been  mischievous  to  the 
crops."  Mischief  conveys  ibe  idea 
of  a  bad  or  wantonly  injurioab  intent, 
as  well  as  the  harm  in  wlucli  it  re- 
sults, and  so  belongs  to  beings  of  in- 
telligence and  will,  not  to  elemental 
or  mechanical  forces.  Mischief  is, 
however,  not  so  grave  a  term  as  in- 
juiy or  damage.  It  commonly  denotes 
not  so  much  destnictive  as  detri- 
mental effects  produced  by  the  folly, 
idleness,  or  perversity  of  men.  An 
opposite  to  mischief  is  bonchief,  i.e. 
advantage,  good  fortune ;  a  word  now 
obsolete.  It  would  seem  that  more 
latitude  might  be  allowed  to  the  noun 
Mischief  than  to  the  adjective  mis- 
chievous. The  latter  ought  to  carry 
with  it  the  idea  of  injurious  intention, 
the  former  may  be  used  analogously, 
and  is  a  convenient  term  to  express 
untoward  damage  which  is  not  of  the 
most  serious  kind,  but  which  has  the 
effect  of  impairing  the  soundness  of  a 
thing. 

"  Why  boasteth  thou  thyself,  thou  tyrant, 
that  thou  canst  do  mischief!" — English 
Psalms. 

HUSBAND.     Spouse. 

The  Husband  (not  a  true  A.  S. 
word,  but  borrowed  from  Scand.,  and 
this  from  Icel.  husbmdi,  the  master  oj 
a  liom^e  ;  Icel.  hus,  a  house,  buandi, 
inhabiting,  part.:  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.) 
designates  the  physical  quality,  the 
Spouse  (Fr.  epoux,  Lat.  spondere,  part. 
spo)isus,  to  betroth)  the  social  con- 
nexion. The  husband  answers  to  the 
wife,  as  the  man  to  the  woman.  The 
spouse  answers  to  the  spouse  as  one 
party  to  another.  The  spouse  is  the 
higher,  more  spiritual  term  ;  the  hus- 
band the  more  familiar.  The  husband 
is  the  head  of  the  wife,  over  whom 
he  has  legal  rights.  The  spouse  ia 
the  pai-tner  of  the  wife  in  moral  as 
well  as  natural  anion. 


[idea] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


493 


HYPOCRITE.    Dissembler. 

HYPOcniTE(Gr.  uTroxfi'Tn?,  an  actor) 
IS  a  false  pretender  to  virtue  or  piety, 
and  is  a  Dissembler  (Lat.  dissimii- 
Idtor)  as  to  one  half  of  his  character, 
tliat  is,  as  to  being  what  he  pretends 
not  to  be  (see  Dissemble),  but  not  as 
to  the  other,  namely,  the  not  being 
what  he  pretends  to  be.  Hypocrisy, 
it  has  been  observed,  is  the  homage 
which  vice  pays  to  virtue ;  an  idea 
which  is  only  expanded  in  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  Hypocrisy  is  a  more  modest  way  of 
sinning.  It  shows  some  reverence  to  reli- 
gion, and  does  so  far  own  the  worth  and 
excellency  of  it  as  to  acknowledge  vhat  it 
deserves  to  be  counterfeited." — Tillot- 
80N. 

"  Thoa  liest,  dissembler !  on  thy  brow 
I   read  distracted  horrors  figured  in  thy 
looks."  Ford. 


I. 


Conception. 


IDP:A.       Notion. 
Perception. 

The  perceiving  of  something  ex- 
ternal by  the  mind  through  the 
senses  is  called  a  sensation ;  the 
image  as  it  exists  in  the  mind  as  a 
matter  of  reflexion  is  an  Idea  (Gr. 
lUa),  The  idea  is  thus  present  to  the 
fancy,  and  independent  of  the  cause 
which  excited  it.  When  two  or  more 
ideas  are  combined,  so  that  the  ex- 
pression of  them  would  take  the  form 
of  an  affirmation,  this  is  a  Notion. 
*'  I  saw  the  moon  last  night;"  this 
was  sensation  or  physical  perception. 
"  I  recollect  the  image  of  what  I 
saw  ;  "  this  is  the  idea.  I  connect  it 
with  roundness  of  shape,  so  as  to  say, 
"  It  was  spherical ;  "  this  is  a  notion. 
Ideas  are  faint  or  vivid,  vague  or  dis- 
tinct; notions  are  single  or  complex, 
true  or  false.  A  notion  is  true  of 
which  the  ideas  are  veritably  asso- 
ciated in  fact ;  false  when  we  associate 
ideas  necessarily  or  naturally  inco- 
herent. In  a  complex  notion  we  often 
associate  some  that  are  naturally 
united  with  some  that  are  incoherent. 
The  truth  can  only  be  obtained  by 
ditieu tangling    tlie  partS|   and    com- 


paring anew  the  parts  and  their  com- 
binations with  experience.  Such  is 
the  sense  of  the  word  Idea,  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  Locke,  according 
to  the  Cartesian  sj^stem.  Before  him 
the  term  Idea,  as  emploj'ed  according 
to  the  system  of  Plato,  meant  the 
archetypes  or  patterns  of  created 
things,  as  they  existed  in  the  creative 
mind  before,  and  independently  of, 
their  embodiment  in  outward  and 
visible  things. 

Conception,  according  to  Coleridge 
(Lat.  conciptre,  to  comprehend,  part. 
conceptus),  is  a  conscious  act  of  the 
understanding,  assimilating  objects 
or  impressions ;  that  is,  referring 
them  to  the  same  general  class  or 
order  by  means  of  some  or  more  cha- 
racters in  common. 

Perception  (Lat.  perdpere,  to  per- 
ceive, part,  perceptns)  is  a  term  ot 
which  the  use  varies  with  philoso- 
phers. Its  older  use  was  nearly 
identical  with  that  of  consciousness. 
It  has  of  late  been  narrowed  to  the 
faculty  whereby  we  acquire  know- 
ledge, and  especially,  through  the 
senses,  of  the  external  world.  With 
others  perception  and  sensation  are 
confounded ;  while  with  others,  again, 
sensation  is  physical,  and  perception 
that  operation  of  the  mind  in  regard 
to  external  things  which  follows  and 
is  based  upon  sensation. 

"  Socrates  and  Plato  suppose  that  ideas 
be  substances  separate  and  distinct  from 
matter,  howbeit  subsisting  in  the  thoughts 
and  imaginations  of  God,  that  is  to  say,  of 
mind  and  understanding."  —  Holland's 
Hutarch. 

"  Whatsoever  is  the  immediate  object  of 
perception,  thought,  or  understanding  that 
I  call  idea." — Locke. 

"  For  it  (the  mind)  being  once  furnished 
with  simple  ideas,  it  can  put  them  together 
in  several  compositions,  and  so  make 
variety  of  complex  ideas,  without  examin- 
ing whether  they  exist  so  together  in  na- 
ture, and  hence  I  think  it  is  that  these 
ideas  are  called  iiotions,  as  they  had  their 
original  and  constant  existence  more  in  the 
thoughts  of  men  than  in  the  reality  of 
things."— Locke. 

"  By  sight  we  have  a  conception  or  image 
composed  of  colour  and  figure,  which  is  ^1 
the  notice  and  knowledge  the  object  im- 
partcth  to  lis  of  its  nature  by  the  eye.  By 
hearing  we  have  a  conception  called  sound." 
— HOBBS 


494 


SYNONYMS 


[ideal] 


"  The  power  oi perception  is  that  vre  call 
the  understanding.  Perceiption,  which  we 
make  the  act  of  the  understanding,  is  of 
three  sorts — 1,  the  perception  of  ideas  in 
our  own  minds ;  2,  the  perception  of  the 
signification  of  signs ;  3,  the  perception  of 
the  agreement  or  disagi'eement  of  any  dis- 
tinct ideas."— Locke. 

IDEAL,     Imaginary. 

The  use  of  the  adjective  Ideal 
flows  from  the  Platonic  use  of  the 
term  Idea.  It  is  not  opposed  to  the 
real,  but  abstracted  from  it.  The  ideal 
is  formed  from  the  actual  by  abstract- 
ing what  is  excellent  in  individual 
specimens  into  an  imaginary  whole. 
Imaginary  denotes  what  has  no 
existence  but  in  the  imagination.  In 
the  Ideal  the  component  parts  are 
real,  though  the  whole  may  be  called 
Imaginary,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  prac- 
tically met  with  ;  but  the  Imaginary 
is  applicable  to  such  things  as  nemr 
could  be  met  with  ;  things  created  by 
the  mind  independently  of  experience, 
as  the  animal  called  the  griffin,  for 
instance. 

"  With  inward  view. 
Thence  on  th'  ideal  kingdom  swift  she  turns 
Her  eye,   and  instant,  at    her    powerful 

glance, 
Th'  obedient  phantoms  vanish  or  appear." 
Thomson. 

"  When  time  shall  once  have  laid  his 
lenient  hand  on  the  passions  and  pursuits 
of  the  present  moment,  they  too  shall  lose 
that  imaginary  value  which  heated  fancy 
now  bestows  upon  them." — Blair. 

IDEAL.    Model. 

When  these  terms  appear  as  syno- 
nyms, it  is  that  either  might  be  taken 
to  mean  the  perfect  form  of  anything. 
Model  (see  Example)  may  mean 
either  a  pattern  of  what  a  thing  is,  or 
a  pattern  of  what  it  might  be  at  the 
best.  In  the  latter  case,  it  stands  to 
.he  Ideal  as  the  conception  to  the 
illustration.  The  Venus  de  Medicis 
is  the  ideal  of  female  beauty  as  it  is  a 
conception  of  the  sculptor,  a  model  as 
it  is  a  statue. 

"  The  ideal  is  to  be  attained  by  selecting 
and  assembling  in  one  whole  the  beauties 
and  perfections  which  are  usually  seen  in 
different  individuals,  excluding  everything 
defective  or  unseemly."— Fleming. 

"  He  that  despairs  measures  Providence 
by  his  own  contracted  model."— BovTU. 


IDENTITY.     Sameness. 

Sameness  (A.  S.  same)  belongs  to 
things. 

Identity  (Fr.  identity)  to  our  cog- 
nition of  the  things.  We  recognize 
sameness  when  we  establish  identity. 

IDIOT.    Fool. 

An  Idiot  (Gr.  Ihcirt)/;,  a  private 
person  taking  no  part  in  public  afi^airs, 
and  so  ill  informed,  awkward,  hence, 
by  a  modern  extension  of  meaning, 
of  weak  mind)  is  one  who  is  destitute 
of  the  ordinary  intellectual  powers  of 
man.  He  is  a  born  fool,  the  mental 
condition  being  commonly  accompa- 
nied by  some  defect  in  the  physical 
formation. 

Vooh(¥r.fol,fou,  crazy)  is  capable 
of  other  meanings,  denoting,  e.g., a,  per- 
son of  very  languid  mind  and  sluggish 
comprehension,  or  one  who  lives  con- 
trary to  the  principles  of  practical 
wisdom. 

"An  idiot  or  natural  fool  is  one  that  hath 
had  no  nnderstanding  from  his  nativity, 
and,  therefore,  is  by  law  presumed  never 
likely  to  attain  any." — BlaCKSTONE. 

"  Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is 
not  quickened,  except  it  die." — Eng.  Bibl» 


IDLE.     L^ 


Ini 


Idle  (A.  S.  idel,  emfty,  vain)  origi- 
nally meant  unprofitable,  as,  "idle 
pastures,"  that  is,  not  supporting 
cattle.  It  has  at  present  a  twofold 
meaning;,  1,  unemployed,  and  2,  averse 
to  employment.  Idleness  bears  refe- 
rence to  a  man's  proper  tasks  and 
duties.  He  who  escapes  from  these, 
and  will  do  nothing  useful,  is  idle, 
although  he  may  be  far  from  Lazy 
(O.  Fr.  lusche.  Mod.  Fr.  Idche,  loose, 
tunguishi7ig),  and  the  opposite  to  In- 
dolent. Idleness  is  consistent  with 
activity  in  other  matters  than  those 
or  duty  and  business,  as  in  reaction 
or  in  mischief. 

Indolent  (Lat.  in,  not.  and  dolire, 
to  suffer  pain)  denotes  a  love  of  ease 
and  an  aversion  to  activ-?  effort, 
whether  of  mind  or  body.  It  iB  pos- 
sible to  be  indolent  in  mind,  and  not 
in  body,  and  vice  versa.  Lazy  is  a 
stronger  and  more  disparaging  terra 
than  Indolent,  expressive  of  a  slothful 
habit    of   body,   to   which    physical 


[ignorant] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


495 


efibrt,  and  especially  industrious  em- 
ployment, is  hateful.  Laziness  is  not 
incompatible  with  reflexiveness  and 
study. 

•'  The  truth  is,  idleness  offers  np  the  soul 
as  a  blank  to  the  devil  for  him  to  write 
what  he  will  upou  it." — South. 

"  Shall  we  keep  our  hands  in  our  bosom, 
or  stretch  ourselves  on  our  beds  of  laziness, 
while  all  the  world  about  us  is  hard  at 
work  pursuing  the  designs  of  its  creation  ?  " 
—Barrow. 

"  But,  indeed,  there  are  crowds  of  people 
who  I  nt  themselves  in  no  method  of  pleas- 
ing themselves  or  others;  such  are  those 
whom  we  usually  call  indolent  persons." — 
Spectator. 

IDLE.     Leisure.     Vacam. 

As  applied  to  portions  ot  time, 
Idle,  as  an  idle  hour,  is  always  taken 
in  a  sense  more  or  less  unfavourable. 
An  idle  hour  is  confessedly  one  which 
might  have  been  better  spent. 

A  Leisure  hour  (Fr.  loisir,  to  be 
permitted,  an  obsolete  infinitive  ;  I>at. 
Cicere,  see  Littre)  is  one  which  has 
been  rightly  spared  fi-om  business,  or 
which  is  open  to  being  so,  but  of 
which  nothing  is  said  as  to  the  spend- 
ing. 

A  Vacant  hour(Lat  racans,  part, 
of  vdcdre,  to  be  empty,  disengaged)  is 
indefinitely  one  which  might  have 
been  filled  up,  but  is  not.  A  leisure 
time  is  welcome ;  a  vacant  hour  may 
be  unwelcome  if  employment  were 
desired,  In  an  idle  hour  we  have 
done  what  we  aftei'wards  regretted. 

IGNOMINY.  Infamy.  Oppro- 
brium.    Shame. 

Ignominy  (Lat.  ignoniinia,  in-,  noty 
and  ndm£ii,  name,  deprivation  of  good 
name)  is  public  disgrace  which  at- 
taches to  persons. 

Infamy  (Lat.  infdmia)  is  total  loss 
of  reputation,  or  extreme  baseness,  as 
attaching  to  character  or  deeds.  In- 
famy is  stronger  than  ignominy,  inas- 
much as  it  consigns  the  subject  of  it 
to  public  detestation,  while  ignominy 
brings  contempt.  It  may  also  be  ob- 
served that  ignominy  depends  upon 
the  sentiments  of  men,  who  may  in- 
flict it  where  it  is  undeserved ;  whereas 
infamy  depends  upon  the  fact  of  deeds 
done. 


Opprobrium,  a  Lat.  word,  re- 
proach, scandal,  is  less  strong,  indi- 
cating a  mingled  feeling  of  reproach 
and  disdain,  which  may  be  unde- 
served. 

Shame  (A.  S.  sceamu)  carries  with 
it  the  additional  idea  of  the  sense  or 
feeling  of  disgrace.  But  shame  differs 
from  the  rest  in  being  irrespective  of 
social  estimation  and  treatment.  It  is 
a  feeling  which  results  from  an  appeal 
direct  or  indirect  to  the  natural  sense  of 
right  and  wrong,  either  in  accusation  or 
simple  detection.  It  is  the  judgment 
which,  recognizing  an  enormity  of 
demerit,  condemns  to  infamy.  It  is  a 
sense  of  profound  humiliation  asso- 
ciated with  the  penalties  paid  for 
base  crimes  which  constitutes  igno- 
miny. Those  punishments  which 
combine  disgrace  with  pain  are  igno- 
minious. Such  are  the  pillory,  the 
gibbet,  the  cross.  On  the  otherhand, 
beheading  was  a  punishment  in  our 
own  former  history  not  ignominious. 

"  Who  (the  king)  never  called  a  Parlia- 
ment but  to  supply  his  necessities,  and 
ha\ing  supplied  those,  as  suddenly  and  ig- 
nominiously  dissolved  it,  without  redress- 
ing any  one  grievance  of  the  people." — 
MlLTOX. 

"  But  the  afflicted  queen  would  not  yield, 
and  sai  1  she  would  not  damn  her  soul  nor 
submit  to  such  infamy ;  that  she  was  his 
wife,  and  would  never  call  herself  by  any 
other  name."— Burxet. 

"  '  He,'  saith  St.  James,  '  that  speaketh 
against  his  brother,  and  judgeth  his  bro- 
ther, speaketh  against  the  law  and  judgeth 
the  law ; '  that  is,  he  opprobriously  doth 
impiy  the  law  to  be  defective  until  he  doth 
complete  or  correct  it."— Barrow. 

"  Sliame,  which  is  an  uneasiness  of  the 
mind  upon  the  thought  of  having  done 
something  which  is  indecent,  or  will  lessen 
the  valued  esteem  which  others  have  for 
us." — loCKE. 

IGNORANT.  Illiterate.  Un- 
learned.    Unlettered. 

Ignorant  (Lat.  ignorare,  to  be  ig- 
norant of)  denotes  want  of  know- 
ledge, either  of  a  single  fact,  or, 
generally,  of  such  matters  as  it  is 
considered  that  men  ought  to  know. 

Illiterate  (Lat.  iiritcratus)  is  ig- 
norant of  letters.  Some  persons  are 
ignorant  of  common  practical  every- 
day matters,  who  are  far  from  being 
illiterate;   others  are  illiterate  who 


496 


SYNONYMS  [IMB1BB| 


■without  the  Of  portuiiities  of  good 
education,  hare  picked  up  a  conside- 
rable stock  of  general  information. 

Unlearned  and  Unlettered  differ 
from  Illiterate  in  not  implying  re- 
proach. A  man  may  be  learned  in 
one  branch  of  learning,  and  unlearned 
in  another.  Unlettered  is  rather  a 
rhetorical  and  poetical  than  a  prosaic 
term.  An  honest  peasant  of  little  or 
no  education  ought  to  be  called  un- 
learned ;  a  pretentious  rich  'man,  but 
uneducated,  may  well  be  styled  Illi- 
terate. 

"  Yet  ah  I  why  should  they  know  their  fate. 
Since  sorrow  never  comes  too  late. 
And  happiness  too  swiftly  flies  ? . 
Thought  would  destroy  their  paradise 
No  more.    Where  ignorance  is  bliss, 
'Tis  folly  to  be  wise."  Gray. 

"  Others  are  not  capable  either  of  the  em- 
ployments or  divertisements  that  accrue 
from  letters.  I  know  they  are  not,  and 
therefore  cannot  much  recommend  solitude 
to  a  man  totally  illiterate." — Cowley. 

"  The  immortality  of  the  soul  has  been 
commonly  believed  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
places  by  the  unlearned  part  of  all  civilized 
people,  and  by  the  almost  general  consent 
of  all  the  most  barbarous  nations  under 
heaven .' ' — Clarke. 

Unlettered  is  a  very  old  word  in 
English,  as  in  the  following  : — 

"  And  thei  sighen  the  stidefastnesse  of 
Peter  and  Joon,  for  it  was  foundem  that 
thei  weren  men  unlettrid"  —^ICIXF. 

IMBIBE.    Absorb. 

In  Imbibing  (l^oX.imbthh-e,  to  drink 
vi)  the  moisture  taken  away  from  one 
body  is  taken  into  another. 

In  Absorbing  (Lat.  absorhire,  io 
twallow  or  suck  up)  the  moisture  is 
simply  taken  away.  For  instance,  a 
sponge  both  absorbs  and  imbibes 
moisture.  It  absorbs  it,  inasmuch  as 
it  sucks  it  away  from  the  place  where 
it  was  lodged ;  it  imbibes  it,  inasmuch 
as  the  particles  of  moisture  pass  into 
the  sponge.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
rays  of  the  sun  absorb  moist/jre,  but 
do  not  imbibe  it.  The  same  difference 
appears  in  the  moral  or  secondary  ap- 
plications of  the  words.  We  imbibe 
what  we  assimilate  to  ourselves  in  the 
way  ofinstructiofn,  doctrine,  principles, 
and  the  like.  Weare  ourselves  absorbed 
by  some  occupation  which  takes  all 
our  time,  interest,  and  attention. 


IMITATE.   Copy.    Counterfeit. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  ia 
that  of  making  one  thing  to  resemble 
another.  One  Imitates  (Lat.  tmiidri) 
through  esteem  or  appreciation  of  the 
object. 

One  Copies  (Lat.  copioy  plenty,  the 
copy  being  a  multiplication  of  the  ori- 
ginal) from  dearth  of  supply,  or  steri- 
lity of  invention,  or  want  of  origina- 
lity. 

One  Counterfeits  (Fr.  eoutrefaire) 
for  selfish  ends  of  amusement  or  profit. 
We  imitate  persons,  character,  con- 
duct, writing,  painting,  speaking, 
actions,  works  of  art,  and  so  forth, 
when  we  try  to  identify  ourselves 
with  the  spirit  and  character  of  the 
agents  and  performers,  so  as  to  act  or 
work  in  their  manner.  We  copy 
when  we  can  servilely  assimilate  our 
acts  to  those  of  others,  or  simply  re- 
produce their  productions.  We  coun- 
terfeit when  we  so  produce  that  the 
production  is  referred  to  a  false  author- 
ship, or  that  it  shall  not  be  what  it 
pretends  to  be.  The  merit  of  imitation 
IS  in  freedom,  the  merit  of  copy 
is  in  exactness.  Counterfeit  produc- 
tions are  only  to  be  condemned.  One 
may  imitate  yet  keep  one's  own  origi- 
nality ;  not  so  with  copying. 

IMITATE.    Follow. 

These  terms  both  denote  the  regu- 
lation of  our  actions  by  some  thing 
proposed  or  set  before  :is  for  that 
purpose.  But  we  Imitate  (Lat.  vnt- 
tari)  what  is  external  to  us;  we  Fol- 
low what  is  sometimes  external, 
sometimes  internal.  We  imitate  an 
example,  or,  which  is  tantamount  to 
tha  same  thing,  we  follow  it ;  but  we 
may  also  follow  the  dictates  of  reason 
and  common  sense ;  we  may  folloAv 
even  our  own  devices.  We  imitate 
objects,  persons,  actions;  we  follow 
guides,  influence?!,  dictates  of  reason, 
impulses,  and  propensities.  There  is 
a  difference  between  following  an  ex- 
ample and  imitating  an  example.  In 
the  first  place,  to  Imitate  an  example 
is  accurate  and  direct,  an  example 
being  a  model  or  pattern  and  as  such  to 
be  imitated.  To  Follow  an  example  is 
secottdary  and  inexact,  for  we  can  only 


IMMATERIAL 


DISCRIMINATED. 


497 


follow  an  example  when  we  regard    j 

it  in  a  derived  sense  as  a  guide.     We 

imitate  an  example  when  we  do  the 

same  things,  we  follow  an  example 

when  we  do  like  things.   One  follows 

a  guide  or  a  rule,  one  imitates  a  tjpe 

or  model. 

"  Acts  of  benevolence  and  love 

Give  us  a  taste  of  heaven  above. 

We  imitate  the  immortal  powers 

Whose  sunshine  and  whose  kindly  showers 

Refresh  the  poor  and  barren  ground. 

And  plant  a  paradise  around." 

SOMERVILK. 
"Onr  chief  professors  ha\'ing  thonght 
themselves  above  those  rules  that  had  been 
folloiced  by  our  ancestors,  and  that  lay 
open  to  vulgar  understandings." — CHES- 
TERFIELD. 

IMMATERIAL.  Unimportant. 
Insignificant.  Inconsiderable. 
Trifling.  Trivial.  Frivolous. 
Futile.  Unessential.  Irrelevant. 
Petty.     Nugatory. 

Immaterial  is  used  of  the  unim- 
portant in  minor  and  familiar  matters, 
especially  in  matters  of  practice; 
while  Unimportant  commonly  re- 
lates to  abstract  difference  of  result ; 
as  "  It  is  immaterial  whether  we  go 
to-morrow  or  not ;  "  *'  It  is  unimpor- 
tant whether  the  word  be  taken  in  the 
one  sense  or  the  other."  Unimportant 
«8  general ;  immaterial  is  specific. 
Immaterial  is  unimportant  as  regai'ds 
argumentative  or  practical  considera- 
tions, and  so  is  an  epithet  of  things, 
and  not  of  persons.  An  unimportant 
person  is  one  who  cairies  little  or  no 
weight,  either  generally,  or  in  regard 
to  a  specific  case.  The  epithet  Imma- 
terial is  not  applicable  in  this  way. 

"  It  is  true  that  there  be  some  scholasti 
cal  and  immaterial  truths,  the  infinite  sub 
divisions  whereof  have  rather  troubled  than 
informed  Christendom."— Bishop  Hall. 

"  They  would  be  surprised  to  be  informed 
that  one  of  the  ancient  critics  has  acquired 
fc  gi-eat  reputation  by  writing  on  an  art 
which  is  sonversaut  in  sound  rather  than 
in  sense,  and  which  is  therefore  in  their 
opinion  unimportant" — Knox. 

Inconsiderable  and  Insignificant 
differ  not  so  much  essentially  as  in 
their  application;  Inconsiderable 
being  used  of  size,  number,  weight, 
imjwrtance ;  Insignificant  of  matters 
of  personal  bearing,  appearance, 
weight  of  character. 


"  Let  him  calmly  reflect  that  within  the 
narrow  boundaries  of  that  country  to  which 
he  belongs,  and  during  that  small  portion  of 
time  which  his  life  fills  up,  his  reputation, 
great  as  he  may  fancy  it  to  be,  occupies  no 
more  than  an  inconsidei-able  corner."-- 
Blair. 

"  What  schoolboy,  what  little  insignifi' 
cant  monk,  could  not  have  made  a  more 
elegant  speech  for  the  king,  and  in  better 
Latin,  than  this  royal  advocate  has  done  I" 
—Milton. 

Tuiflino  (trijiey  a  corruption  of 
trivial)  applies  not  only  to  questions 
of  importance,  but  also  of  value  or 
utility.  The  trifling  is  opposed  to 
the  grave  and  considerable.  That  is 
trifling  which  need  not  exercise  our 
care,  anxiety,  or  attention. 

Trivial  (Lat.  ti^vialis,  belonging  to 
a  trtviiim,  a  place  uhere  three  roads, 
(tres  vice),  meet;  hence  common)  denotes 
that  which  is  destitute  of  originality 
or  force,  or  is  unimportant  by  reason 
of  the  commonplace  character  of  the 
thing,  and  is  very  commonly  em- 
ployed of  matters  of  consideration  or 
remark,  pursuits  and  the  like.  A  tri- 
fling remark  is  not  worth  listening  to, 
because  there  is  little  or  no  force  m  it. 
The  trivial  remark  has  lost  ita  force 
by  repetition. 

Frivolous  (Lat.  frw)ilns,  silly f  tri' 
fiing)  denotes  that  which  is  in  such  a 
manner  unimportant  as  to  be  destitute 
of  gravity  or  earnestness,  so  that  it  in- 
volves disgrace  to  allege,  to  follow  it, 
01  to  heed  it.  The  term  is  applicable 
both  to  persons  and  things ;  I  rivial, 
to  things  alone.  Frivolous  is  a  term 
of  habit  and  disposition ;  Trifling,  of 
specific  matters. 

Futile  ( Lat. /i(ti7t5,  from  fund^rej 
to  pour  or  let  loose,  pouring  out  easiln, 
worthless)  is  employed  of  intellectual 
subject-matter,  or  its  expression  by 
statement  and  reasoning;  as  futile 
theories  or  arguments. 

"  Those  who  are  carried  away  with  the 
spontaneous  current  of  their  own  thoughts 
must  never  humour  their  minds  in  being 
thns  triflingly  busy."— LoCKJt 

The  fundamental  sense  of  Trivial  is 
seen  in  the  following,  where  it  is  op- 
posed to  philosophical : — 

"  Ami  for  the  pretended  trivialnessoi  the 
fifth  and  sixth  days'  work,  I  think  it  is  appa- 
rent firoin  what  we  have  noted  oc  the  fifth 
K  s 


498 


SYNONYMS 


[immaterial] 


day,  that  Moses  his  ranging  of  fish  and  fowl 
together  is  a  consideration  not  vulgar  and 
trivial,  but  philosophical."— More.  | 

"  It  is  the  characteristic  of  little  and /rt» 
roZtms  minds  to  be  wholly  occupied  with  the 
vulgar  objects  of  life." — Blair. 
Bacon  employed  the  term  Futile  in 
the  sense  of  having  a  tendency  to  pour 
forth  in  conversation,  and  so  to  pour 
forth  what  was  weak  : — 

"As  for  talkers  and  futile  persons,  they 
are  commonly  vain  and  credulous  withal." 

It  is  now  not  applied  directly  to 
persons,  but  to  mental  efforts  in  the 
way  of  arguments,  and  especially  of 
objections,  and  by  a  further  extension 
of  meaning  to  efforts  or  attempts  ge- 
nerally. A  futile  attempt  is  one  in 
which  time,  thought,  and  strength 
have  been  as  it  were  placed  in  a 
vessel  that  pours  out  easily. 

"  He  was  prepared  to  show  the  madness 
of  their  declaration  of  the  pretended  rights 
of  man,  the  childish  futility  of  some  of  their 
maxims,  the  gross  and  stupid  absurdity,  and 
the  palpable  falsity  of  others."— BuRKE. 

Nugatory  (Lat.  nugdtbrius,  of  or 
belonging  to  a  trifler,  nngdtor)  de- 
notes that  which  is  so  far  trifling  that 
it  lacks  operative  force.  In  the  nu- 
gatory the  mean  bears  no  proportion 
or  a  very  inadequate  one  to  the  end 
gained. 

"If  all  are  pardoned  and  pard<Jhed  as  a 
mere  act  of  clemency,  the  very  substance  of 
government  is  made  nugatory."— I.  Tay- 
lor. 

Unessential  is  literally  belonging 
not  to  the  essence,  but,  as  it  were,  to 
the  accidents  of  a  thing,  not  going  to 
form  part  of  the  thing  itself.  So  Un- 
essential and  Immaterial  differ  in 
denoting  what  does  not  constitute,  the 
former  conceptional,  the  latter  prac- 
tical completeness.  Station,  it  mi^ht 
be  said,  is  unessential  to  virtue,  that 
is,  does  not  enter  into  the  idea  or  de- 
finition of  it;  immaterial  to  it,  that  is, 
virtue  can  act  without  it. 

Irrelevant  belongs  to  argumenta- 
tive considerations.  An  irrelevant  re- 
mark (i.e.  not  relevant,  Lat.  rtlivare,  to 
lighten)  is  one  which  does  not  apper- 
tain in  any  way  to  the  argument,  does 
not,  as  it  were,  hold  of  it,  is  not 
subordinate  to,  but  unconnected  with 
it. 

The  term  Petty  (Fr.  petit,  small) 


we  apply  to  what  is  so  small  as  to  be 
beneath  consideration.  It  denotes  a 
somewhat  contemptible  insignificance 
or  meanness.  It  is  applicable  to  lit- 
tleness in  character,  conduct,  office, 
argumentative  consideration. 

"  Neither  diflference  of  time,  nor  dis- 
tance of  place,  nor  rigour  of  unjust  censuj'e, 
nor  any  unessential  error,  can  bar  our  in- 
terest in  this  blessed  unity." — Bishop 
Hall. 

"  Some  of  which  dispositions  were  upon 
oath,  some  upon  honour,  and  others  neither 
upon  oath  nor  hononr;  but  all  or  most  of 
them  were  of  an  irregular  and  irrelevant 
nat  ure. " —  BuRKK. 

-  "  Divided  power  contention  still  affords. 

And  for  a  village  strive  the  petty  lords." 

RowK,  Lucan, 

IMMATERIAL.  Incori-oreal. 
Spiritual.     Disembodied. 

Immaterial  {see  above)  is  em- 
ployed of  everything  which  exists,  or 
may  be  conceived  to  have  existence, 
apart  from  material  composition,  or 
which  does  not  fulfil  the  definition  of 
matter.  Light  and  other  imponder- 
able agents  might  be  called  immaterial 
in  this  sense,  but  more  decidedly  the 
mind  and  thoughts  of  man. 

Incorporeal  (Lat.  incorp^ireus,  in-, 
not,  and  corpus,  a  body)  denotes  the 
absence  of  organized  matter  in  the 
constitution.  Angels  are  incorporeal 
beings.  Incorporeal  and  Immate- 
rial are  relative  and  negative. 

Spiritual  (Lat.  sp'n^tudlis)  is  abso- 
lute and  positive,  indicative  of  the 
actual  presence  or  possession  of  that 
distinct  condition  of  existence  which 
we  call  spiritual,  and  which  is  not  a 
mere  negation  of  the  material  or  the 
corporeal,  as  in  the  case  of  the  pre- 
existence  of  spirits  to  the  formatior 
of  matter,  the  earth,  or  man. 

Disembodied  is  employed  of  sucl 
existences  as  have  ceased  to  be  cor 
poreal. 
"Angels  are  spirits  immaterial  and  int«I 

lectual."  Hooker. 

"  Thus  incorporeal  spirits  to  smaller  form 
Reduced  these  shapes  immense." 

Milton. 

"  There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  i 
a  spiritual  body." — English,  Bible. 

"  Devils  embodied  and  disembodied." 
W.  Scott 


[immodest] 


IMMENSE.  Infinite.  Bound- 
less. 

The  Immense  (Lat.  immensus,  in-, 
not,  and  metior,  part,  tnensus,  to  mea- 
sure) is  the  relativelu  Isfi^ute  {infini- 
lus,  i»-,  not,  and  f'mitiis,  bounded). 
The  infinite  is  the  essentially  Bound- 
less. The  infinite  is  so  by  virtue  of 
itself ;  the  immense,  by  virtue  of  our 
inability  to  place  or  discern  limits. 
The  power  of  God  is  infinite  ;  the  ex- 
panse of  ocean  immense.  Boundless 
IS  more  applicable  to  what  meets  the 
eye,  which  searches  in  vain  for  limits  ; 
while  Immense  expresses  the  effect 
upon  the  mind,  and  the  inability  prac- 
tically to  define  or  limit ;  as,  bound- 
less deserts,  boundless  beneficence. 

"  This  power  of  repeating  or  doubling 
any  idea  we  have  of  any  distance,  and  ad- 
ding it  to  the  former  as  often  as  we  will, 
without  being  ever  able  to  come  to  any  stop 
or  stint,  let  us  enlarge  it  as  much  as  we 
will,  is  that  which  gives  us  the  idea  of  im- 
mensity."— Locke. 

"  I  know  that  whatsoever  hath  or  must 
necessarily  have  limits  or  fines,  is  not, 
cannot  be  infinite;  and,  therefore,  this 
globe  in  my  hand  cannot  be  infinite  ;  and 
if  I  can  find  in  any  other  thing  a  parity  of 
reason,  I  do  and  may  remove  inkniteness 
from  it  as  reasonably  and  evidently  as  I  do 
from  this  globe  I  hold,  or  this  hour  I  write, 
or  this  life  I  live." — Hale. 

Boundless   is  a  term  poetical,  rhe- 
torical, and  inexact;    Immense  is   a 
practical  term,  Infinite  is  metaphy- 
sical. 
••  Where'er  the  eye  can  pierce,  the  feet  can 

move. 
This  wide,  this  boundless  universe  is  Jove." 
Lyttelton,  Speech  of  Cato. 

IMMINENT.  Impending. 
Threatening. 

These  terms  are  all  employed  in 
regard  to  some  evil  near  at  hand  in 
the  way  of  peril  or  misfortune. 

Imminent  (Lat.  imminere,  to  hang 
over)  denotes  that  which  is  ready  to 
fall,  and  is  near  at  hand.  So  we  may 
say,  "  He  was  in  imminent  danger." 
But  we  could  not  say,  "  He  was  in 
Impending  (Lat.  impendcre,  to  hang 
ever)  danger,"  inasmuch  as  impend- 
ing is  indefinite  as  to  time.  The  evil 
imminent  or  impending  is,  however, 
already  brought  into  contact  with  us, 
while    a   Threatening   evil    ''A.    g. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


4P9 


threatian,  to  urge,  to  threaten)  is  in 
the  future,  and  may  pass  off  without 
coming  near  us  at  all.  The  imminent 
and  impending  evil  has  nearly  touched 
us,  though  we  may  have  escaped  from 
them.  We  ourselves  escape  from  im- 
minent and  impending  danger ;  but 
the  threatening  danger  passes  away 
from  us.  Thus  also  imminent  has  the 
force  of  expressing  degree ;  impend- 
ing, of  expressing  fact — any  danger 
while  it  exists  is  impending ;  but  only 
a  great  as  well  as  close  danger  would 
be  said  to  be  imminent.  VV'e  might 
therefore  say  thus,  "I  think  it  my 
duty  to  warn  you  that  danger  is  im- 
pending. But  I  would  not  alarm  you 
needlessly.  I  do  not  speak  of  it  as 
imminent,  because  I  think  that,  by 
timely  precautions,  you  may  reason- 
ably hope  to  escape' it."  He  who  at 
night  approaches  a  precipice  through 
ignorance  is  in  imminent  danger  of 
his  life ;  but  death  is  impending  in 
the  natural  course  of  things  even  when 
we  are  most  safe. 

"So  it  is  certain  that  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  my  life  should  be  out  oiimmineni 
hazard  before  I  can  take  a  delight  in  the 
suflfeiings  of  othere,  real  or  imaginary,  or, 
indeed,  in  anything  else,  from  any  cause 
whatsoever."— B  URKE. 

"  Destruction  hangs  o'er  yon  devoted  wall. 
And  nodding  Ilion  waits  th'  impending  fall." 

Pope. 
"The  honour,  sir,  that  flames  in  your  fail 

eyes 
Before  I  speak,  too  threateningly  replies." 
Shakespeare. 

IMMODEST.    Indecent.    Inde- 

LICATE. 

The  fii-st  of  these  (Lat.  imm'6destus, 
unrestrained)  belongs  to  the  character 
and  disposition;  the  second  (Lat.  in- 
dicens,  unbecoming)  to  outward  acts 
and  appearance,  or  expressions,  as 
conveying  them.  Want  of  reflexion 
might  lead  to  Indecency  ;  corruption 
of  nature  is  the  cause  of  Immo- 
desty. 

Indelicate  (see  Delicate)  denotes 
an  offence  against  refined  propriety, 
good  manners,  or  perfect  purity  oi 
mind.  Indelicacy  relates  to  what  in 
conventional.  The  coarser  modes  of 
thought  and  speech  of  the  humbler 
classes,  or  their  mode  of  dress  indi- 


500 


SYNONYMS  [immolate] 


cateB  no  immodesty  of  necessity  in 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  an  in- 
delicacy in  words,  as  coming  from  a 
refined  and  educated  person,  being 
calculated  to  convey  more  than  its 
eupei-ficial  meaning-,  may  be  very 
much  so.  The  refined  licentious 
literature  of  the  day  makes  use  of  the 
indelicate  to  express  the  indecent, 
knowing  the  trained  and  susceptible 
intellects  with  which  it  has  to  deal. 
Indelicate,  however,  is  also  appli- 
cable to  moral  propriety  purely,  and 
often  denotes  want  of  sensitive  con- 
sideration for  others  ;  so,  to  laugh  in 
the  house  of  mourning  is  indelicate, 
even  where  unfeeling  would  be 
too  strong  a  term,  as  it  might  be 
done  thoughtlessly ;  where  no  such 
thoughtlessness  could  be  pleaded  such 
behaviour  might  be  called  indecent. 

IMMOLATE.     Sacrifice. 

SACiuFicE(Lat.s*crY/"5f'ciMm)denote8 
the  depriving  one's  self  of  something 
for  the  purpose  of  consecrating  it  to 
the  Divinity.  It  is  so  devoted  as  to 
be  transformed  or  lost  to  one's  self. 

Immolate  (Lat.  imni6lare;  mola,  the 
cake  placed  on  the  head  of  the  victim 
to  be  slain)  denotes  the  offering  of  a 
bloody  sacrifice.  It  involves  the 
death.  A  sacrifice  may  be  of  many 
kinds  of  objects ;  immolation  is  only 
of  living  beings.  That  which  is  sa- 
crificed is  given  to  the  Deity ;  that 
which  is  immolated  is  destroyed  in 
his  honour.  The  purpose  of  sacrifice 
is  generally  to  perform  an  act  of  wor- 
ship, that  of  immolation  to  perform 
an  act  of  propitiation.  In  their 
secondary  and  moral  application  we 
sacrifice  that  which  we  voluntarily  re- 
nounce for  the  sake  of  some  other  in- 
terest, or  the  interest  of  another.  We 
immolate  thai  which  we  treat  like  a 
victim,  depriving  it  of  what  is  precious 
or  desirable  for  our  interests  or  those 
of  others.  We  are  said  to  sacrifice 
feelings,  hopes,  plans,  and  the  like,  as 
well  as  persons.  It  would  be  by  a 
greater  eflfort  that  we  should  speak  of 
immolating  them.  Self-immolation 
may  be  on  special  occasions  as  an  act 
Df  peculiar  heroism.  Self-sacrifice  to 
some  extent  is  a  daily  duty. 


IMMUNITY.     Exemption. 

Immunity  (Lat.  immuTiitdtem)  is  a 
dispensation  from  an  onerous  charge. 

Exemption  (Lat.  exemptionenij  a 
taking  out)  is  an  exception  from  a 
common  obligation. 

Immunity  in  its  primary  sense  is 
seldom  used,  but  of  matters  of  juris- 
prudence and  finance.  It  is  an  ex- 
emption from  civil  charges  and  fiscal 
dues.  Exemption  is  extended  to  all 
kinds  of  charges,  dues,  duties,  obliga- 
tions ;  hence  an  exemption  from  cares, 
vices,  diseases  in  the  moral  and  the 
physical  order  of  things.  Immunity 
is  properly  a  title  or  condition  by 
virtue  of  which  persons  or  things  are 
withdrawn  fi-om  certain  civil  or  social 
burdens.  Exemption  is  the  particular 
act  conferring  upon  persons  or  things 
a  freedom  from  some  burden  to  which 
they  would  have  been  subjected  to- 
gether with  others  without  this  ex- 
ception to  the  common  rule.  Im- 
munity is  rather  a  sort  of  right  founded 
or  based  on  the  nature  or  quality  of 
things.  Exemption  is  rather  a  sort  of 
privilege  accorded  as  a  favour  on  cer- 
tain considerations.  Immunity  is  pri- 
marily applicable  to  those  exemptions 
which  are  enjoyed  by  corporations, 
communities,  cities,  or  orders  of  per- 
sons. Exemption  to  private  privileges 
is  either  personal  or  in  connexion  with 
certain  offices.  Immunity  relates 
specially  to  persons  enjoying  it. 
Exemption  to  advantages  enjoyed. 

"  As  no  man  is  exempt  from  some  defects, 
or  can  live  free  fi-om  some  misdemeanours, 
so  by  this  practice  (slander)  every  man  may 
be  rendered  very  odious  and  infamous."— 
Barrow. 

"  But  man  is  frail,  and  can  but  ill  sustain 
I    A  long  immunity  from  grief  and  pain." 
COWPER. 

IMPAIR.     Injure. 

To  Impair  (L.  Lat.  imphjorare,  to 
make  worse)  is  to  injure  in  a  lasting 
manner,  so  that  though  the  detriment 
be  but  partial,  it  is  permanent.  We 
hear  that  a  friend  has  received  an  in- 
jury in  the  eye;  we  hope  that  his 
eyesight  will  not  be  impaired.  Hence 
injury  is  of  bodies  themselves;  im- 
pairing is  of  their  value,  their  action, 
their  utility,  or  their  properties.  (See 
Injury.) 


[IMPEKTINENT]        LUSCKIMINATED. 


"  Time  sensibly  all  thiugs  impairs. 

Our  fathers  have  been  worse  than  theirs. 

And  we  than  ours." 

Roscommon,  Horace. 

IMPART.     Communicate. 

Impart  (Lat.  impariire^  and  -per- 
t'tre,  lo  bestow)  ia  to  give  a  part  or 
share. 

Communicate  (Lat.  commwiicdre) 
is  to  give  so  as  to  have  in  com- 
mon. Impart  has  the  stronger  mean- 
ing in  one  respect.  We  communicate 
what  has  come  to  us  generally  ;  we 
impart  what  we  regarded  as  pecu- 
liarly our  own.  **  He  told  me  the 
fact.  I  now  communicate  it  to  you," 
jUiight  or  might  not  be  a  favour  to  the 
other  party  ;  but,  "  I  impart  it  to 
you,"  would  imply  that  1  consider 
myself  in  some  sense  as  conferring  a 
favour  in  making  the  communication. 
Impart  is  often  used  of  natural  action 
not  accompanied  by  consciousness  or 
purpose  ;  as  the  sun  imparts  warmtli. 
Communicate  involves  also  the  will 
or  intention  to  impart;  so  we  should 
naturally  refrain  from  saying  that  the 
clouds  communicated  rain.  There  is, 
however,  an  application  of  the  word 
Communicate,  though  not  a  common 
one,  namely,  to  transmit  as  a  medium 
of  connexion,  intercourse,  or  supply. 
In  this  sense  it  is  used  of  animate  or 
aianimate  things,  as,  the  telegraphic 
wire  communicates  intelligence — that 
is,  serves  as  a  common  medium  be- 
tween the  sender  and  the  receiver. 

"  Well  may  he  then  to  you  his  cares  im- 
part." Dryden. 

"  As  the  inquisitive,  in  my  opinion,  ar** 
»uch  merely  from  a  vacancy  in  their  own 
imaginations,  there  is  nothing,  methinks, 
BO  dangerous  as  to  communicate  secrets  to 
them ;  for  the  same  temper  of  inquiry 
makes  them  as  impertinently  communica- 
tive."— Spectator. 

IMPASSABLE.     Impervious. 

Impassable  denotes  that  which  can- 
not be  passed  along,  over,  or  through ; 
as  an  impassable  road,  barrier,  or  mo- 
rass. It  relates  to  the  movements  of 
living  creatures. 

Impervious  (  Lat.  impervius)  relates 
to  that  which  cannot  be  pierced  or 
nenetrated  by  animate  or  inanimate 
influences;  as  a  wood  is  impervious 


501 


to   the   sun's   rays.     Impassable  de- 
notes an  accidental  or  temporary,  im- 
pervious a  permanent  quality. 
"  But  lest  the  difficulty  of  passing  back 
Stay  his  return,  perhaps  over  this  gulf 
Impassable,  impervious,  let  us  try 
Advent'rons  work."  MiLTON. 

IMPERTINENT.  Impudent. 
Insolent. 

Impertinent  (Lat.  tmi>ertinentein) 
not  pertaining  to  the  matter  in  hand, 
has  the  primary  meaning  of  irrelevant ; 
hence  unbecoming  in  speech  or  action. 
He  is  impertinent  who  meddles  with 
matters  in  which  he  has  no  concern. 
He  is  rude  because  he  does  not  see 
his  own  subordinate  relation  to  the 
matter  in  question. 

Impudence  (LAt.impiUlentia, shame- 
lessuess)  is  an  unblushing  assurance 
which  is  accompanied  by  cool  dis- 
regard of  the  presence  or  claims  of 
others  to  respect ;  and  it  is  manifested 
in  words,  looks,  tones,  gestures,  or 
even  affected  silence.  Impudence  is 
a  frolicsome  disrespect. 

Insolent  (Lat.  visolens,  unusual, 
insolent)  has  for  its  radical  meaning 
a  disposition  to  act  in  violation  of  the 
established  rules  of  social  intercoui-se. 
It  is  now  used  in  the  sense  of  un- 
bridled exhibition  of  impudence  or 
pride,  to  the  disregard  of  the  feelings 
of  others,  or  their  purj>osed  wounding. 
The  impudent  person  may  be  so  from 
levity  of  character.  The  impertinent 
is  so  from  want  of  humility  and  de- 
ference. The  insolent  is  commonly 
urged,  by  some  feeling  of  dislike,  re- 
bellion, or  opposition,  to  a  studied 
disrespect.  Impertinence  is  no  re- 
specter of  propriety  ;  impudence  no 
respecter  of  delicacy ;  insolence  no 
respecter  of  persons.  Impertinence 
is  the  converse  of  reserve ;  impudence 
of  modesty  ;  insolence  of  meekness. 

"  I'd  have  the  expression  of  her  thoughts 

be  such 
She  might  not  seen  reserved,  nor  talk  to* 

much  ; 
That  shows  a  want  of  judgment,  and  of 

sense ; 
More  than  enough  is  but  impertinence." 
POM^KJt'l. 
"  Can  any  one  reflect  for  a  moment  i-o 
all  those  claims  of  debt  which  the  minister 
exhausts  himself  with  contrivances  to  ang- 


502 


SYNONYMS 


[impious] 


ment  with  new  usuries,  without  lifting  up 
liis  hands  and  eyes  in  astonishment  at  the 
impudence  both  of  the  claim  and  the  ad- 
judication ?  " — BuKKE. 

"  The  clergy,  according  to  the  genius  of 
that  religion,  having  their  authority  forti- 
fied with  such  severe  laws,  were  now  more 
cruel  and  insolent  than  ever." — BuKiNkt. 

IMPIOUS.  luuELicious.  Pro- 
fane. 

Irreligious  (Lat.  irrWgiosus)  is 
negative. 

Impious  (Lat.  impins,  irreverent) 
and  Profane  are  positive  (Lat.  pro- 
f'dnus;  pro,  in  front  of,  i.e.  without, 
and  fanum,  the  temple,  literally  ex- 
cluded from  religious  mysteries).  A 
man  under  no  influence  of  religion  is 
irreligious.  When  applied  to  things, 
however,  it  implies  a  tendency  to  be 
unfavourable  to  religion,  though  with- 
out of  necessity  a  premeditated  de- 
termination or  desire  to  be  so.  Im- 
pious denotes  a  defiant  irreligion,  and 
a  disposition  to  do  dishonour  to  what 
religious  men  hold  in  veneration,  espe- 
cially as  regards  the  character,  works, 
or  dealings  of  the  Supreme  Being.  As 
Impious  relates  more  commonly  to  the 
thoughts,  so  Profane  to  the  words  or 
acts  of  men.  Profanity  is  irreverence 
in  speech  about  sacred  things.  It 
may  be  observed  that  Profan  e  has  the 
milder  sense,  also,  of  secular,  or  not 
dii-tinctivelif  religious  :  so  history  may 
be  divided  into  sacred  and  profane. 
Impious  thoughts ;  irreligious  persons 
or  books ;  profane  language. 

"  They  were  the  words  of  Job  at  a  time 
when  to  his  other  calamities  this  domestic 
affliction  was  added,  that  one  who  ought  to 
have  assuaged  and  soothed  his  sorrows 
provoked  his  indignation  by  an  impious 
speech." — Blair. 

"  In  his  (Lord  Bolingbroke's)  reasonings 
f(>r  the  most  part  he  is  flimsy  and  false,  in 
his  political  writings  factious,  in  what  he 
calls  his  philosophical  ones  irreligious  and 
sophistical  in  the  highest  degree." — Ibid. 

"  Somewhat  allied  to  this  (blasphemy), 
though  in  an  inferior  degree,  is  the  ofiPence 
oi profane  and  common  swearing  or  curs- 
ing."—Blackstone  . 

IMPLACABLE.  Inexorable. 
Unrelenting.     Relentless. 

Implacable  (Lat.  imptdcdbtlis,  in-, 
not,  and  pldcare,  to  appease)  denotes  a 
disposition  which  nothing  can  ap- 
pease 


Ink.xorable  (hm.inexoraViUs,  in-^ 
not,  and  exorare,  to  move  by  intreawig ) 
is  implacable  to  entreaty  in  particular 
and  in  a  specific  case. 

Unreleniing  is  not  relenting  (Fr. 
ralentir,  to  retard  ;  lent,  slow)  that  is, 
yielding,  from  harshness,  hardness, 
or  cruelty,  as  a  fact ;  while  Relent- 
less is  unyielding  as  a  property  or 
habit.  A  relentless  cruelty ;  an  un- 
relenting line  of  conduct.  **  In  spite 
of  the  suflferings  of  his  enemy,  his  re- 
venge was  implacable.  He  looked  on 
the  tears  and  heard  the  entreaties  o! 
his  prisoner,  but  remained  inexora- 
ble.' Unrelenting  belongs  rather  to 
the  person.  Relentless  to  the  quality 
which  he  exhibits.  The  implacable 
man  is  so  from  moral  hardness  of 
heart ;  the  inexorable  may  be  so  from 
mental  stubbornness  or  inflexible  re- 
solution. If  partiality  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  were  asked  by  the 
accused,  tlie  judge  would  be  bound 
to  show  himSfelf  inexorable. 

"An  object  of  implacable  enmity."— 
Macaulay. 

"  Inexorable  equality  of  laws." — GiBBON. 
Unrelenting  is  passive.  Relentless 
active.  The  former  denotes  rather  the 
specific  fact  of  not  giving  way  before 
external  influences,  which  would  tend 
to  stop  the  course  of  injustice  or 
cruelty;  the  latter  the  condition  of 
nature  which  suggests  nothing  in  the 
way  of  forbearance. 

"He  (Oldham)  has  lashed  the  Jesuits 
with  deserved  and  ujireletiting  rigour.  But 
though  severe  punishment  is  often  neces- 
sary, yet  to  see  it  inflicted  with  the  wanton 
cruelty  of  an  assassin  is  not  agreeable."— 
Knox. 

"  Nor  hope  to  be  myself  less  miserable 
By  what  I  seek,  but  others  to  make  such 
As  I,  though  thereby  worse  to  me  redound 
For  only  in  destroying  I  find  ease 
To  my  relentless  thoughts."        Milton. 

IMPLANT.  Ingraft.  Incul- 
GATE.     Infuse.     Instil. 

Implant,  Ingraft,  and  Incuix;aie 
(Lat.  inculcdre,  to  tread  in,  to  impress 
upon)  are  employed  of  abstract  prin- 
ciples, and  rules  of  right  and  wrong. 

Instil  (Lat.  instiltdre,  to  ponr  in  by 
drops,  stillu,  a  drop) and  Infuse  (Lat. 
injundere,  part,  infnsns,  to  ponr  in)  of 
such  things  as  move  the  heart,  feel- 


[l3iPLY] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


503 


ings,  and  passions.  To  Implant  con- 
veys the  idea  of  that  tender  and  care- 
ful cultivation  of  the  young  which 
belongs  to  the  office  of  parents.  That 
which  is  implanted  becomes  part  of 
the  nature,  and  grows  with  the 
growth.  To  Ingraft  conveys  the  idea 
of  such  later  training  of  the  more 
mature  mind  as  belongs  to  the  mas- 
ter or  j)receptor.  Instil  conveys  the 
idea  of  gently  and  gradually  intro- 
ducing sentiments  with  the  aid  of  in- 
fluences collateral  to  the  influence  of 
the  person  instilling  them,  while  In- 
fuse denotes  the  direct  endeavour  of 
the  person ;  nor  does  Infuse  imply 
such  permanency  in  what  is  infused 
as  Instil.  We  instil  abiding-  senti- 
ments ;  we  may  infuse  what  is  tem- 
porary, as  a  spirit  of  patriotism,  or 
military  ardour.  To  Inculcate  points 
to  the  repeated  eflforts  of  exhortation, 
j)recept,  and  Ae  like,  which  are  em- 
ployed to  give  force  to  what  is  im- 
pressed, by  way  of  practical  admoni- 
tion. 

"To  provide  effectnally  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  social  virtues,  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  implant  in  man  not  only  the  power 
of  reason,  which  enables  him  to  see  the 
connection  between  his  own  happiness  and 
that  of  others,  but  also  certain  instincts 
and  propensities  which  make  him  feel  it." 
— HuRD. 

"  Ingrafted  love  he  bears  to  Ctesar." — 
Shakespeare. 

"  The  Earls  of  Monmouth  and  Warring- 
ton were  in/i^sm^  jealousies  into  their  party 
wf  n  the  same  industry  that  the  Earl  of 
Nottingham  was  at  the  same  time  instill- 
iiig  into  the  king  jealousies  of  them;  and 
both  acted  with  too  much  success." — BuB- 
NET. 

"  For  the  wisdom  of  poets  would  first 
make  the  images  of  Virtue  so  amiable  that 
her  beholders  should  not  be  able  to  look  off, 
rather  gently  and  delightfully  infusing  than 
inculcating  precepts." — Davknant. 

IMPLY.  Signify.  Involve. 
Entail.     Necessitate. 

Imply  (a  coined  word)  is  to  signify- 
in  substance  or  by  fair  inference,  or 
by  construction,  though  not  expressed 
in  words. 

Involve  (Lat.  involvere,  to  roll  up) 
denotes  a  drawing  after  by  practical 
force,  as  Imply  by  metaphysical  force. 
Hence  an  implication  may  often  be 
recognized  or  not  at  will ;  while  that 


which  is  involved  follows  of  atern 
logical  or  practical  necessity.  War 
implies  fighting  ;  but  it  involves  such 
things  as  taxation  and  bloodshed. 
The  premises  of  a  syllogism  do  not 
imply  but  involve  the  conclusion 
which  is  evolved  from  them.  On 
the  other  hand  a  relative  term,  an 
father,  implies  iis  correlative,  son. 

Signify  (Lat.  sigiufycdre,  to  point 
out)  is  to  declare  by  any  kind  of  con- 
ventional sign,  as  by  words — which 
are  signs  of  ideas — gestures,  signals, 
writing — which  is  written  signals— 
and  the  like.  Implication  is  indirect 
signification.  Words  which  signified 
little  might  be  made  to  imply  much 
by  the  tone  or  manner  in  which  they 
were  uttered. 

"  Vour  smooth  eulogium,  to  one  crown  ad- 
dressed. 
Seems  to  imply  a  censure  on  the.rest." 

COWPEB. 

"  (3ne  of  which  boats  I  sent  away  with 
an  officer  round  a  point  on  the  larboard 
hand,  to  look  for  anchorage.  This  he  found, 
and  signified  the  same  by  signal." — Cook's 
Voyages. 

Imply  is  opposed  to  Express;  In- 
volve goes  beyond  the  interpretation 
of  things,  and  has  to  do  with  their 
necessary  relations. 

"  We  cannot  demonstrate  these  things  so 
as  to  show  that  the  contrary  involves  a  con- 
tradiction."—TiLLOTSON. 

Entail  is  from  the  O.  Fr.  entaillerj 
to  cut  into.  An  estate  in  tail,  or  en- 
tailed, is  one  which  is  cut  down  to  or 
limited  to  certain  heirs  ;  hence  to  En- 
tail is  employed  in  the  secondary 
sense  of  to  fix,  or  insure  inalienably 
upon  a  person.  It  has  nearly  the 
same  sense  as  Necessitate  (Lat.  nc- 
cessttdtem,  necessity),  but  Necessitate 
implies  action  as  the  consequence, 
while  Entail  is  applicable  to  conse- 
quences generally.  So  inasmuch  as 
action  is  involved  in  labour,  we  might 
say  that  poverty  entails  or  necessi- 
tates labour.  But  riches  entail  (not 
necessitate)  anxiety.  The  force  of  En- 
tail is  suictly  employed  in  the  follow- 
ing : — 

•'  We  adhere  to  the  determination  of  onr 
fathers,  as  if  their  opinions  were  entailed  on 
us  as  their  lands."— Glanvill. 

And  the  contrary  to  liberty,  whatever 


name  we  call  that  by,  is  a  person'; 


Vci 


ug 


604 


hlndere  J  or  nnable  to  conduct  as  lie  will,  or 
being  necessitated  to  do  otherwise." — Rd- 
WAIIDS, 

IMPORT.  Purport.  Mkaxing. 
Sense.  Signification.  Tenor.  Drift. 
Scope. 

The  Import  (Fr.  importer,  Lat. 
importdre,  to  carry  or  coitvey)  is  that 
which  a  word,  statement,  phrase,  or 
document  is  specifically  and  directly 
designed  to  convey.  We,  however, 
more  commonly  speak  of  the  meaning 
or  signification  of  words,  and  the  im- 
port of  expressions  or  statements. 

"  To  draw  near  to  God  is  an  expression 
of  awful  and  mysterious  import." — Blair. 

The  Purport  (O.  Fr.  pourporter,  to 
make  knoun)  is  tlie  import  of  some- 
thing continuous,  or  regarded  in  its 
continuity,  and  may  be  applied  to 
continuous  action  as  well  as  con- 
tinuous speech.  Import  is  more  allied 
to  Meaning  and  Signification  ;  Pur- 
port to  Drift  and  Scope. 
"  Thus  there  he  stood,  whilst  high  over  his 

head 
There  written  was  the  purport  of  his  sin. 
In  cyphers  strange,  that  few  could  rightly 

read."  Spenser. 

Both  Import  and  Purport  are  em- 
ployed of  moral,  not  material,  sub- 
jects. Thus  a  certain  vegetable  pro- 
duction is  the  meaning  or  signification, 
not  the  purport,  of  the  word  oak.  But 
where  more  than  this  is  meant  we 
may  employ  the  term  Import;  as  we 
may  say  that  a  human  habitation  of 
a  certain  character,  capacity,  solidity, 
and  the  like,  is  the  import  of  the 
word  house. 

Meaning  (A,  S.  miEnan,  to  intend 
to  tell)  is  used  in  a  twofold  sense, 
either,  1,  the  casual  intention  of  tlie 
person,  or,  '2,  the  fixed  import  of  tlie 
thing.  "  That  is  not  my  meaning," 
illustrates  the  first.  "  Take  the  words 
in  their  grammatical  meaning,"  the 
second. 

"  Wha.t  mean  ye  to  weep  and  to  break 
mine  heart?" — English  Bible. 

"  The  word  is  always  sufficiently  original 
for  ine  in  that  language  where  its  meaning, 
which  is  the  cause  of  its  application,  can  be 
found."— ToOKK. 

Sense  (L&i.  semus,  sensation,  under- 
itanding),  unlike  Meaning,  is  insepa- 


SYNONYMS  [iMPORTj 

rably  attached  to  the  thing  or  the  ex  • 
pression,  and  is  irrespective  of  the 
uses.  We  say,  "  I  used  the  word  iu 
that  sense  ;"  but  we  could  not  say, 
*'  That  IS  my  sense,"  for  meaning. 
Sense  is  imposed  force  or  technica. 
recognized  acceptation. 

"  Shall  take  it  in  the  literal  and  gram- 
matical sense." — Preface  to  Tkirty-Nine 
Articles. 

SiGMFicATioN(Lat.  sig'n^/^rtttonem) 
is  nearly  identical  with  Meaning  or 
Import.  Signification,  however,  ia 
the  act  of  making  known,  as  well  as 
the  intention  of  the  terms  employed 
for  the  purpose.  Signification  is  at- 
tached to  the  thing,  and  does  not  be- 
long to  the  person.  "  As  the  wordo 
have  that  signification ;"  we  could 
not  say,  "That  is  my  signification. 
Signification  has  a  stricter  reference 
than  Meaning  to  what  is  of  a  symbo- 
lical nature,  as  the  signification  of 
words  or  of  demonstrations ;  bu* 
Meaning  is  capable  of  reference  tc 
anything  which  requires  interpre- 
tation or  accounting  for,  as,  "1  can- 
not understand  the  meaning  of  such 
conduct;"  that  is,  "  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
interpret  or  account  for  it."  The  terra 
Meaning  is  the  most  generic  of  all 
these  synonyms. 

"  It  (Lord)  is  a  word,  therefore,  of  larga 
and  various  signification,  denoting  dominioE 
of  every  sort  and  degree,  from  the  universal 
and  absolute  dominion  of  God,  to  the  private 
and  limited  dominion  of  a  single  slave." — 
Bishop  Horslky. 

Tenor,  Drift,  and  Scope  relate  no; 
to  isolated  terms,  but  to  continuous 
speech.  The  Tenor  (Lat.  tiindrem, 
course,  direction)  is  the  general  course 
and  character  which  holds  on  through 
a  speech  or  a  remark.  The  tenor  of 
a  speech  might  be  affected  by  the 
temper  or  feelings  of  the  speaker,  the 
drift  of  it  is  an  indirect  expression  oi 
his  permanent  sentiments. 

The  DRiFT(or  object  towards  which 
it  drives)  is  the  object,  not,  however, 
expressly  notified,  but  gathered  gene- 
rally—tlie  tendency  of  it,  or  aim  not 
foriually  avowed. 

The  Scope  (Gr.  crxoTrdj,  nuirk  or  ob- 
jert  •  is  the  avowed  design,  that  which  it 
is  aimed  at  and  is  intended  to  embrace. 
*'  i  o  discuss  such  a  point  does  not  faU 


[IMPOIITUNATE  I       DISCRIMINATED. 

mthin  the  scope  of  this  discourse." 
The  Tenou  and  DiaFT(iifter,the  former 
including  more  than  what  is  actually 
said,  and  comprising  the  character  of 
it,  the  latter  relating  to  the  remarks 
or  statements  only,  but  in  connexion 
with  their  aim  or  object. 

"  The  whole  tenor  of  the  Gospels  and 
Epistles  shows  tlfii  human  virtues  are  all 
light  in  the  balance,  and  have  no  proper 
efficacy  in  themselves  for  procuring  human 
salvation." — Wateklani). 

"  But  so  strangely-  perverse  is  his  com- 
mentator, that  he  will  suppose  him  to  mean 
anything  rather  than  what  the  obvious  drift 
of  his  argument  requires." — Warburton 
On  Pope. 

"  I  think  I  could  easily  demonstrate  that 
firom  Adam  to  Moses,  from  Moses  to  the 
Prophets,  from  the  Prophets  to  Jesus  Christ, 
the  main  scope  and  design  of  all  Divine  re- 
velation hath  been  the  gradual  discovery  of 
this  great  mystery  of  the  mediation." — 
Scott,  Christian  Life. 

IMPORTANCE.  Consequence. 
Weight.     Moment.     Account. 

Importance  (see  Import)  is  the 
quality  of  being  important;  but  Con- 
sequence (Lat.  conscquentia,  consequi, 
to  follow  upon  )  is  not  in  this  sense  the 
quality  of  being  consequent.  In  other 
words,  it  is  only  the  nouns,  and  not 
the  adjectives,  that  are  synonymous. 
Another  adjective,  however,  has  been 
framed — consequential^  which  means, 
assuming  the  air  of  dignity  and  impor- 
tance. As  applied  to  persons,  a  per- 
son may  be  of  importance  specifically, 
BO  that  a  matter  could  not  well  go  on 
without  him ;  but  he  is  of  consequence 
inherently.  Consequence  in  this 
sense  is  recognized  importance  in  a 
social  point  of  view;  a  person  of  high 
rank  and  consequence  may  not  be  of 
importance  in  regard  to  a  particular 
matter. 

Weight  (A.S.  rvegav,  to  bear,  to 
weigh)  is  efficacious  importance,  which 
may  have  the  eflfect  of  practical  n- 
fluence ;  as,  a  character  or  considera- 
tion of  great  weight. 

Moment  (Lat.  momentum,  move- 
ment, injiuence,  movhe,  to  move)  is  not 
thus  applicable  to  persons,  but  only  to 
events,  afiairs,  transactions,  or  prac- 
tical considerations.  Weight  belongs 
tc  words  and  arguments.  Moment  to 
occurrences.  Consequence,  as  regards 


505 


things,  is  that  sort  of  importance 
which  attaches  to  what  is  attended 
with  decided  results.  A  thing  of  no 
consequence  is  a  thing  which  endj 
with  itself.  "  It  is  a  matter  of  great 
consequence  that  we  should  not  delay 
our  departure ;  for  business  of  mo- 
ment depends  upon  it;  and  the  im- 
portance of  your  position  will  give 
weight  to  the  expression  of  your 
views." 

Account  (O.  Fr.  aconter ;  Lat.  ad, 
and  compiitare,  to  count)  is  theoretical, 
as  importance  is  practical.  A  thing 
or  person  of  account  is  one  who  or 
which  is  deserving  of  an  estimate, 
whatever  that  estimate  maybe.  A  thing 
which  is  of  no  account  is  not  worth  con- 
sidering. It  does  not  express  any 
high  or  great  estimate.  We  speak  of 
great  importance,  consequences, 
weight,  and  moment,  but  seldom  of 
great  account  except  for  the  purpose 
of  denying  it.  But  Account  involves 
the  exercise  of  reason  on  the  nature  or 
character  of  things,  and  not  on  the 
question  of  their  relative  magnitude. 
That  is  of  no  account  which  is  irrele- 
vant, which  forms  no  item  in  the  cal- 
culation in  hand. 

"  And  of  the  counseill  non  accompte 

He  set."  GowEK. 

"The  cause  was  not  common  and  ordi- 
nary, such  as  were  wont  to  be  tried  before 
the  governors  of  provinces,  but  of  an  un- 
usual and  public  nature,  not  a  question  of 
words  and  names,  as  Gallio  thought  it,  but 
a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
world." — Stillixgflket. 

"  The  corruption  of  our  taste  is  not  of 
equal  consequence  with  the  depravation  of 
our  virtue."— WartOxV. 

"When  to  demonstration  on  the  one 
side,  there  are  opposed  on  the  other  only 
difficulties  raised  from  the  want  of  our 
having  adequate  ideas  of  tbe  things  them- 
selves, this  ought  not  to  ^e  esteemed  an 
objection  of  any  real  weight.'" — Clarke. 

"  Whoever  shall  re^^ew  his  life,  will  find 
that  the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct  has  been 
determined  by  some  accident  of  no  apparent 
moment,"—  Joh>son. 

IMPORTUNATE.  Urgent- 
Pressing. 

Importunate,  which  expresses  the 
quality  of  the  verb  importune  (Lat. 
importimus,  troublesome,  unmannerhf) 
is  only  apjtlicable  to  persons,  and  de- 


506 


SYNONYMS  [ixMl'OSEj 


aoies  a  peculiar  tenacity  and  trouble- 
some pertinacity  of  application. 

Urgent  (Lat.  urgere,  to  impel)  and 
Pressing  (Lat.  ■prtmere,  part,  pressus, 
to  press),  are  equally  applicable  to  mat- 
ters of  business  and  practical  considera- 
tions generally.  There  is  a  very  slight 
difference  between  them  ;  but  Press- 
ing seems  to  be  more  commonly  used 
of  the  abstract  nature  of  things ; 
^Jrgent,  of  the  things  themselves:  as 
^>ressing  necessity ;  pressing  impor- 
tance; an  urgent  appeal;  an  urgent 
case;  urgent  affairs.  Itmay  be  added, 
that  that  which  is  pressing  demands 
immediate  attention ;  that  which  is 
urgent  immediate  action;  as  also  that 
persons  are  pressing,  and  circum- 
stances urgent. 

"  But  of  all  other  passages  of  Scriptnre 
the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  this  importunity 
in  prayer  that  we  speak  of,  is  most  wisely 
set  forth  to  us  by  our  blessed  Savionr,  in 
that  remarkable  parable  of  His  in  the  ele- 
venth of  St.  Luke's  Gospel."— Sharp. 

'*  Bat  time  is  urgent.    Haste  we  to  consult 
Priest,  prophet,  or  interpreter  of  dreams 
(For  dreams  are  also  of  Jove),  that  we  may 

learn 
What  crime  of  ours  Apollo  thus  resents." 
COWPKR. 
"  Mr.  Gay,  whose  zeal  in  your  concern  is 
worthy  a  friend,  writes  to  me  in  the  most 
pressing  terms  about  it." — Popk. 

IMPOSE.    Injoin. 

We  Impose  (Fr.  imposer,  Lat.  impb- 
nhrCf  to  place  npon),  or  circumstances 
also  may  impose,  what  is  of  the  nature 
of  a  burden,  charge,  obligation. 

We  Injoin  (Lat.  injungire)  that 
which  is  the  subject  of  authoritative 
admonition,  whether  positive  or  nega- 
tive. As  it  is  authority  that  injoins, 
so  it  is  force  or  power  that  imposes. 
Accordingly  that  which  is  imposed  is 
commonly  more  defined  than  that 
which  is  injoined.  A  specific  task  is 
imposed,  a  general  course  of  conduct 
©r  some  principle  of  action  is  injoined, 
leaving  the  application  of  it  to  be  re- 
gulated by  circumstances;  as,  to  injoin 
moderation  or  secresy. 

IMPOSTOR.     Deceiver. 

An  Impostor  (  Lat.  impostor,  a  de- 
ceiver) is  a  deceiver  of  the  public, 
while  Deceiver  (Ff.  dicevoiry  to  de- 


ceive) might  be  of  the  public  or  of  a 
private  individual.     Any   one   who 
deceives  by  word  or  deed  is  a  deceiver. 
An  impostor  assumes  a  false  appear- 
ance, and  impersonates  what  is  not 
truly  his.     An  iu  postor  acts  for  his 
own    benefit;     a  deceiver  may   act 
simply  for  the  injury  of  another. 
"  But  now,  when  Time  has  made  th'  im- 
posture plain 
(Late  though  he  followed  Truth,  and  limp- 
ing held  her  train). 
What  new  delusion  charms  your  cheated 
eyes  again."  Drydkn. 

"  Surely,  if  these  things  prove  true,  let 
me  be  registered  to  my  perpetual  infamy, 
not  only  for  a  most  notorious  deceiver,  but 
such  an  hypocrite  as  never  trod  upon  the 
earth  before." — Sthvpe. 

IMPRESS.     Imprint. 

Impress  (Lat.  impressare,  freq.  of 
imprtmere)  and  Imprint  ^compounded 
of  im-  and  print)  have  tneir  physical 
and  their  metaphorical  senses.  In  the 
fonner  they  are  identical — meaning 
to  press  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
mark.  In  the  latter,  Imprint  is  so  to 
press  upon  the  mind  as  to  produce  a 
lively  image  of  the  thing ;  Impress  is 
so  to  press  as  to  produce  a  conviction 
of  its  importance  or  necessity.  "  My 
father's  kind  maxims  are  imprinted  on 
my  mind  ;  he  early  impressed  me  with 
their  importance."  We  imprint  on 
the  imagination  or  the  memory ;  we 
impress  on  the  understanding  and  the 
heart. 

"  It  seeming  to  me  a  near  contradiction 
to  say  that  there  are  truths  imprinted  on 
the  soul  which  it  perceives  or  understands 
not ;  imprinting,  if  it  signify  anything, 
being  nothing  else  but  the  making  certain 
truths  to  be  perceived."— LoCKE. 
"  So  deep  the  deadly  fear  of  that  foul  swain 
Was  erst  impressed  in  her  gentle  sprite." 
Spenseb. 

IMPRESSION.  ^NDEKTAT''t.^f. 

Mark.     Print.     Stamp. 

In  its  physical  sense,  Impression 
{see  Impress)  is  a  mark  made  by 
pressure,  either  on  the  surface,  or  so 
as  to  penetrate  below  the  surface  of 
a  body.     It  is  of  a  distinct  outline. 

Indentation  (Law  Lat.  indentdre, 
to  cut  into  teeth,  dentes,  or  notches)  is 
a  mark  as  of  a  tooth,  either  a  sharji 
depression  by  violence  of  the  surface 
of  a  solid  body,  or  a  lateral  notching 


^inactive] 

of  it,  as  ill  the  indentations  of  a  saw. 
It  may  be  entirely  wanting  in  distinct- 
ness of  outline. 

Mark  (Fr.  marque)  is  more  general, 
and  may  be  cut,  coloured,  pressed, 
smeared,  or  produced  in  any  way 
which  causes  a  visible  trace,  whether 
accidentally  or  by  design,  in  protube- 
rance or  depression. 

PniNT  (see  Impress)  is  an  impres- 
sion of  definite  outline,  as  the  print  of 
feet  upon  sand,  but  implying  less  force 
and  depth  than  impression. 

Stamp  (a  stronger  form  of  the  word 
tep)  is  commonly  employed  at  pre- 
sent of  merel}'  superficial  impression, 
generally  with  colouring  matter ;  as, 
to  stamp  a  letter.  Sometimes,  how- 
ever, it  is  of  stronger  force;  so  that 
the  cliaracteristic  meaning  of  Stamp 
is  rather  a  formal,  official,  or  sym- 
bolical impression.  Impression  may 
be  made  by  any  part  of  the  body,  or 
by  an  instrument.  Indentation  com- 
monly implies  an  instrument.  Mark 
is  indefinite.  Print  maybe  either; 
and  Stamp  usually  denotes  an  instru- 
ment. A  stamp  is  a  characteristic 
mark  impressed. 

IMPROVE.     Better.     Mend. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that, 
contrary  to  the  usual  rule,  the  Latin 
tenn  Improve  (im-,  Lat.  in,  and 
prove,  Lat.  probdre,  to  approve)  is  of 
more  extensive  application  than  the 
Saxon  Better,  which  is  seldom  used 
but  of  the  outward  circumstances  or 
condition;  while  Improve  expresses 
all  tliat  is  expressed  by  the  phrase  to 
make  better,  and  is  applicable  to  any- 
thing which  may  be  conceived  by  the 
mind  as  existing  in  degi"ees  of  possible 
goodness. 

IMend  (abbreviated  from  O.  Fr. 
amender,  the  Lat.  imenddre)  has  not 
the  general  scope  of  Improve,  but  re- 
lates specifically  to  what  is  or  has  be- 
come defective  or  faulty  (  Lat.  mendum, 
aw  error).  The  mind  of  the  child  is 
improved  when  it  is  gradually  in- 
structed; his  circumstances  are  bet- 
tered when  he  is  well  fed  and  clothed 
instead  of  poor.  Mend  is  more  generic, 
and  applies  to  what  is  physically  im- 
paired^ or  morally  ill-conducted.    Im- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


507 


prove  is  better  applicable  than  either 
of  the  others  to  what  exists  only  ia 
the  mind  abstractedly ;  as  a  plan,  con- 
ception, form  of  expression,'inatter  of 
taste,  subject  of  beauty  or  power. 

'*  Reflect  npon  that  great  law  of  our  na- 
ture, that  exercise  is  the  ^eat  source  of 
improvement  in  all  our  faculties."— Blair. 
Formerly  the  term  Better  had  much 
the  sense  of  Improve.  So  Bishop 
Taylor, 

"  Grace  is  the  improvement  and  better- 
ing of  nature  ;  and  Christian  graces  are  the 
perfections  of  moral  habits,  and  are  bat 
new  circuxnstances,  formalities,  and  de- 
grees." 

INACCESSIBLE.    Unapproacu- 

ABLE. 

Unapproachable  (Fr.  approcher,  to 
approach,  Lat.  apprtipiare)  expresses 
more  than  Inaccessible  (Lat.  ^nac- 
ccssibtUs,  in-,  not,  and  accidire,  to 
come  to),  for  that  which  is  unap- 
proachable cannot  be  even  drawi 
near  to;  that  which  is  inaccessible 
cannot  be  come  up  to. 

INACTIVE.  Inert.  Sluggish. 
Slothful. 

Inactive  is  general.  It  simply 
denotes  absence  of  activity,  or  in- 
disposition to  behave  or  act  with 
vigour.  This  may  proceed  from  a 
variety  of  causes,  as  diffidence,  ti- 
midity, or  an  insufficient  knowledge  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Per- 
sons may  even  remain  inactive  pur- 
posely. 

Inert  (Lat.  inertem,  unskilled,  idle, 
iJi-,  not,  artem,  art)  denotes  some- 
thing natural,  constitutional,  or  habi- 
tual. Yet  it  need  not  be  the  last, 
and  one  might  feel  inert  frou*  tem- 
porary indisposition. 

Sluggish  (slug,  an  idler,  connected 
with  slack  and  slow,  A.  S.  sldw)  indi- 
cates even  more  than  this,  as  if  some 
defect  of  temperament  obstructed  all 
ettbrts. 

Slothful  (A.  S.  sldw,  stow)  is  com- 
monly employed  as  a  relative  term  in 
connexion  with  activity  as  a  duty  to 
one's  self  or  to  others;  hence  such 
terms  as,  "  Slothful  in  business." 
The  man  is  slothful  who  is  sluggish 
in  such  a  way  as  to  be  dilatory  or 
negligent  of  the  duties  which  claim 


608 


SYNONYMS  [inadequate] 


his  attention.  The  sluggish  man  does 
what  he  has  to  do  lazily  or  inertly  ; 
the  slothful  man  gives  his  own  ease 
the  preference,  and  indulges  it  when 
he  ought  to  be  at  work. 

"  Every  one  exerted  himself  to  the  ntter- 
most  with  a  quiet  and  patient  perseverance 
equally  distant  from  the  tumultuous  vio- 
lence of  terror,  and  the  gloomy  inactivity 
of  despair." — Cook's  Voyages. 
"  If  to  your  builder  you  will  conduct  give, 
A  power  to  choose,  to  manage,  and  con- 
trive. 
Your    idol    chance,    supposed    inert    and 

blind. 
Must  be  enrolled  an  active,  conscious 
mind."  Blackmore,  Creation. 
"  Every  man  who  has  undartaken  to  in- 
struct others  can  tell  what  slow  advances 
he  has  been  able  to  make,  and  how  much 
patience  it  requires  to  recall  vagrant  inat- 
tention, to  stimulate  sluggish  indiflerence, 
and  to  rectify  absurd  misapprehensions." — 
Knox. 

"  Not  slothful  in  business,  but  fervent  in 
spirit."— £'n^/tsA  Bible, 

INADEQUATE.     Insufficient. 
Inadequate    {in-y   not,    and   tidcB- 

?nidre,  part,  -dtus,  to  make  equal  or 
evel)  refers  to  an  external,  Insuffi- 
cient (Lat.  insajficientem)  to  an  in- 
ternal requirement.  That  which  is  in- 
adequate is  insufficient  for  a  purpose; 
while  Insufficient  may  refer  only  to 
a  want,  or  material  requirement.  For 
instance,  we  might  say,  "  You  under- 
took to  bring  a  hundred,  but  you  have 
brought  onlv  ninety;  this  is  insuf- 
ficient." We  could  not  use  the  term 
Inadequate  without  specifying  or 
implying  a  purpose.  In  very  many 
cases  the  terms  may  be  used  inter- 
changeably. Yet  even  in  such 
cases,  Insufficient  rather  relates  to 

Juantity,  Inadequate  to  proportion,  j 
f  we  said,  "  The  population  is 
inadequately  represented,  we  should 
mean,  that  the  number  of  repre- 
sentatives was  not  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  the  population ;  if 
we  said  insufficiently,  that  there 
were  too  few  of  the  representatives 
themselves.  An  insufficient  num- 
ber ;  an  inadequate  force ;  an  insuf- 
ficient amount;  an  inadequate  pro- 
vision. When  the  insufficient  has 
been  so  adjudged  by  the  mind  it  may 
be  called  inadequate,  which  very  often 
jneans,  the  insufficient  conceived  or 


determined  to  be  such — subjective  in- 
sufficiency. Moreover,  insufficiency 
denotes  more  simply  a  lack  of  quan^ 
tity ;  inadeq  uate,  a  lack  of  force  or 
quality,  where  no  purpose  or  direct  re- 
quirement exists.  Insufficient  falls 
short  of  the  measure  of  need,  Inade- 
quate of  the  measure  of  justice,  pro- 
priety, and  right  relationship.  A  pro- 
lix speaker  may  have  treated  his  sub- 
ject quite  sufficiently,  yet  very  inade- 
quately. 

*'  We  must  accept  them  (translations) 
with  all  their  unavoidable  imperfections, 
as  in  general  sufficiently  representative  of 
the  sense  of  their  originals,  though  in  some 
particulars  that  sense  be  iiuideqtuiiely  con- 
veyed to  us." — HuRD. 

The  word  sufficient  had  fonnerly  a 
meaning  answering  to  adequate;  as 
when  St.  Paul  asks, "  Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things  ?  " 

"It  may  here  perhaps  be  pretended  by 
modern  deists,  that  the  great  ignorance 
and  undeniable  corruptness  of  the  whole 
heathen  world  has  always  been  owing,  not 
to  any  absolute  insufficiency  of  the  light  of 
Nature  itself,  but  merely  to  the  fault  of  the 
several  pai'ticular  persons  in  not  sufficiently 
improving  that  light." — CiARKB. 

INADVERTENCY.       Inatten- 

TION. 

Inadvertency  (Lat.  in-,  not,  and 
adverthre,  to  turn  the  mind  towards)  is 
the  quality  or  effect  of  not  taking  no- 
tice ;  Inattention  (m-,  not,  and  at- 
tendcre,  to  turn  or  stretch  the  mind 
towards),  of  not  taking  heed.  In  the 
fonner  case  there  was  an  involuntary 
accident ;  in  the  latter  a  culpable 
neglect.  Or  if  there  is  anything  cul- 
pable in  inadvertency,  it  is  of  another 
nature,  and  comes  from  not  realizing 
the  importance  of  what  was  over- 
looked, not  from  any  heedlessness  as 
being  the  cause  of  the  overlooking, 
which  would  be  inattention.  Inadver- 
tency therefore  is  occasional ;  inatten- 
tion is  more  sustained,  and,  indeed, 
may  involve  many  acts  of  inadvertency. 
In  inadvertency  you  failed  to  observe 
because  not  apprised  ;  in  inattention, 
though  you  had  been  apprised.  In 
the  one  case  you  might  have  avoided, 
in  the  other  you  ought  to  have 
avoided  the  fault.  Yet  both  may 
be  culpable,  in  that  inadvertence  may 
be  where  one  might  have  foreseen,  afl 


[inattentive]       discriminated. 


509 


inattention  where  one  might  have 
taken  care.  Earnest  minds  going 
straight  to  their  purpose  may  be  in- 
advertent, frivolous  minds  having  no 
purpose  may  be  inattentive.  Frequent 
maavertence  is  stupidity,  frequent  in- 
attention rudeness. 

"  When  the  intention  seems  upright,  and 
the  end  proposed  is  to  make  men  better 
and  wiser,  what  is  not  ill  execnted  should 
be  received  with  approbation,  with  goo<l 
words,  and  good  wishes ;  and  small  faults 
and  inadvertencies  should  be  candidly  ex- 
cused."— JoRTiy. 

"  The  universal  indolence  and  inattention 
among  us  to  things  that  concern  the  pub- 
lic, made  me  look  back  with  the  highest  re- 
verence on  the  glorious  instances  in  an- 
tiquity of  a  contrary  behaviour  in  like  cir- 
cumstances."— Tatler. 

INANITY.    Vacuity.    Vacancy. 

Inanity  (Lat.  inanitatem,  emptiness) 
IS  not  now  used  in  a  physical  sense. 
It  denotes  such  mental  emptiness  as 
implies  want  of  strength  of  mind,  or 
want  of  character,  a  characterless 
vapidity  of  mind.  The  older  philo- 
sophers used  the  terms  inane  and 
inanity  in  the  sense  of  void,  denoting 
the  voidness  of  space  in  the  abstract, 
as  Locke : — 

"  The  great  inane,  beyond  the  confines 
of  the  world." 

The  noun  inanition  is  employed  to  ex- 
press the  emptiness  of  the  body  either 
from  want  of  food,  or  want  of  diges- 
tive power. 

"  But  nothing  still   from   nothing  would 

proceed. 
Raise  or  depress,  or  magnify  or  blame. 
Inanity  will  ever  be  the  same." 

Smart. 
"  However  pleased  people  may  appear, 
they  commonly  retire  from  the  company  in 
which  these  (noise  and  laughter)  have 
formed  the  only  entertainment  with  an 
unsatisfied  and  uneasy  vacuity,  and  some- 
times with  disgust  and  disagreeable  reflec- 
tion."—Knox,  Essays. 

"  He  landed  them  in  safety,  and  con- 
ducted them  to  their  companions,  among 
whom  he  remarked  the  same  vacant  indif- 
ference as  in  those  who  had  been  on  board." 
Cook's  Voyages. 

Vacuity  (Lat.  vScuitatefn,  exemp- 
tion f  a  vacant  space^  empty)  denotes  sim- 
ply  emptiness,  or  an  empty  space. 

Vacancy  draw*  attention  to  the  fact 


that  such  emptiness  is  customarily 
filled,  and  so  only  temporary.  Va- 
cuity of  mind  would  denote  that  the 
mind  was  unstored  by  education ; 
vacancy  of  mind,  that  it  was  for  a 
time  idle  or  unoccupied,  or  was  want- 
ing in  the  common  faculties. 

inattentive.  Careless. 
Thoughtless.  Heedless.  Negli- 
gent.    Remiss. 

Inattentive  (see  Inattention)  is 
specific,  and  relates  to  casual  matters. 
It  is  not  so  much  an  expression  of  an 
habitual  temperament  as  of  an  occa- 
sional state,  though  this  may  often 
come  from  an  habitual  impatience  of 
persistent  thought.  Like  Heedless, 
It  relat-es  to  the  passing  matters  of  the 
moment,  heedlessness  (A.  S.  h^dan, 
to  7ni7td)  being  inattention  of  a  certain 
kind  or  to  certain  particulars,  as  to 
practical  warning,  advice,  and  conse- 
quences of  conduct. 

Careless  denotes  that  want  of  at- 
tention to  matters  of  minor  or  or- 
dinary moment  which  comes  from  un- 
awakened  interest  or  indifference. 

Thoughtless  is  employ td  of  more 
serious  inattention  to  matters  of  gjaver 
moment.  It  designates  that  quality 
which,  though  apparently  not  nighly 
reprehensible,  may  lead  to  very  dis- 
astrous results.  It  is  the  unrestrained 
conduct  of  the  man  who  does  not 
pause  to  weigh  the  importance  oi 
actions  or  the  probability  of  results. 

Negligent  and  Remiss  both  refer 
especially  to  cases  where  the  contrary 
qualities  are  matters  of  duty  and  re- 
sponsibility ;  but  Negligent  is  a 
term  of  more  reproach  than  Remiss. 
Negligence  (Lat.  negtigentia)  may 
lead  to  the  omission  of  duty  alto- 
gether; while  Remissness  (Lat.  re- 
mittere,  part,  remissus,  to  slacken)  at 
least  implies  its  performance,  though 
in  a  careless  manner.  Negligence  in- 
dicates want  of  care  and  interest ;  re- 
missness, want  of  activity  and  energy. 

"What  prodigies  can  power  divine  per' 

form 
More  grand  than  it  produces  year  by  year. 
And  all  in  sight  of  inattentive  man  ?" 

COWPKR. 
"  Therefore  for  Coriolauus  neither  to  care 
whether  they  lore  or  hate  him  maniiesta 


510 


that  true  knowledge  he  has  in  their  dispo- 
sition, and  out  of  his  noble  carelessness  leta 
them  plainly  see  it."— Shakespeark. 

"  Seamen  are  so  accustomed  in  ships  of 
war  to  be  directed  in  the  care  of  themselves 
by  their  officers,  that  they  lose  the  very 
idea  of  foresight,  and  contract  the  thought- 
lessness of  children."— Cook's  Voyages. 

"To  have  no  apprehension  of  mischief 
at  hand,  nor  to  make  a  just  estimate  of  the 
danger,  but  heedlessly  to  run  into  it,  be  the 
hazard  what  it  will." — LoCKE. 
"  This  paper  hath  undone  me ;  'tis  th'  ac- 
count 
Of  all  that  world  of  wealth  I  have  drawn 

together 
For  mine  own  ends — indeed,  to  gain  the 

popedom 
And  see  my  friends  in  Rome.     Oh,  negli- 
gence ! 
Fit  for  a  fool  to  fall  by." 

Shakespeare. 
"  Some  indiscretion  of  conduct   or   fro- 
wardness  of  temper,  some  remissness  or  tar- 
diness in  good  offices,  or  some  neglects  or 
failures  in  services."— Wateeland. 

INAUGURATE.     Initiate. 

We  Initiate  (Lat.  hutiare)  when 
we  do  something  which  is  of  tlie  na- 
ture of  a  fii*st  act  in  a  series  of  pro- 
ceedings, which  are  of  a  continuous 
character. 

We  Inaugurate  when  we  formally 
or  solemnly  set  such  proceedings  in 
motion  or  progress.  As  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  Roman  augur  to  take  the 
omens  at  the  commencement  of  some 
public  transaction  and  ceremony,  the 
word  Inaugurate  signifies  to  open 
with  formality.  He  who  inaugurates 
must  have  personal  or  official  weight 
that  he  may  give  sanction  to  what  is 
begun.  He  who  initiates  must  have 
skill  and  tact  that  he  may  give  to  the 
proceeding  the  most  suitable  and 
favourable  commencement. 

INBORN.  Inbred.  Inherent. 
Innate. 

The  Inborn  denotes  more  strictly 
what  is  involved  in  the  nature,  In- 
bred what  has  been  involved  in  the 
habits  or  training  of  individuals. 

Innate  (Lat.  iiuiutus,  inborn,  part. 
ofinnascor)  is  the  Latin  equivalent  of 
the  Saxon  Inborn,  but  is  used  in  a 
more  philosophic  way  ;  as,  "  the  doc- 
trine of  innate  ideas,  '  that  is,  derived 
from  sources  independent  of  sensa- 
tions from  external  objects. 


SYNONYMS  [inaugurate] 

Inherent  (Lat.  inhiEvire,  tostick)y 
unlike  Inborn  and  Inbred,  is  appli- 
cable to  many  other  things  than  those 
which  have  life,  and  has  the  general 
force  of  essentially,  or  logically  in- 
volved ;  80  we  speak  of  the  inherent 
properties  of  matter,  as  distinguished 
from  what  may  be  temporarily  or 
accidentally  attached  to  it.  Innate, 
Inborn,  and  Inherent  may  often  be 
used  interchangeably;  Inherent  de- 
noting permanent  indwelling ;  In- 
nate and  Inborn,  that  this  indwel- 
ling is  not  artificial  or  designed,  but 
congenital. 

"  When  men  have  been  so  long  seated  in 
a  place  that  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
are  become  natives  of  the  soil,  the  i7ibom 
love  of  a  country  has  by  that  time  struck 
such  deep  roots  into  it  that  nothing  but  ex- 
treme violence  can  draw  them  out." — War- 
BURTON. 

'•  Haste  and  delay  as  inbred  qualities 
were  remarkable  in  the  two  most  martial 
people  of  Greece."— Drayton. 

"  I  consider  a  human  soul  without  edu- 
cation like  marble  in  a  quarry,  which  shows 
none  of  its  inlierent  beauties  till  the  skill  of 
the  polisher  fetches  out  the  colours,  makes 
the  surface  shine,  and  discovers  every  orna- 
mental cloud,  spot,  and  vein  that  runs 
through  the  body  of  xt."— Spectator. 

"  Certain  innate  principles,  some  primary 
notions,  ieo*va»  lvvo»<w,  characters  as  it  were 
stamped  upon  the  mind  of  man,  which  the 
soul  receives  m  ita  very  flret  being,  and 
brings  into  the  world  with  it." — Locke. 

INCAPABLE.     Incompetent. 

Incapable  (Lat.  in-,  not,  smdcUpd- 
btlis,  capable  of)  is  an  absolute  term, 
denoting  want  of  spatial  extent  or 
adequacy  to  contain,  inadequate  men- 
tal, or  physical,  or  moral  power,  or 
general  unfitness  or  insusceptibility. 

Incompetent  (Lat.  incompetentem, 
see  Competent)  denotes  a  specific  and 
relative  incapacity  as  to  a  given  task, 
duty,  office,  or  undertaking.  Incom- 
petent is  only  employed  of  persons; 
Incai-able  may  be  employed  of  inani- 
mate substances,  as  a  bridge  may  be 
so  dilapidated  as  to  be  incapable  of 
repair.  An  incompetent  person  ;  an 
incapable  subject.  The  incompetent 
cannot  act ;  the  incapable  cannot  be 
acted  upon.  The  twofold  force  of  In- 
capable, or  its  active  and  passive  sig- 
nifications, appears  in  the  following, 


[inconstant]        discriminated. 


where  the  word  means  iucapahle  in 
essence,  and  incapable  in  operation. 

"  Whatever  is  iticapdble  of  being  a  uanse 
in  any  time  ever  was  and  ever  will  through 
eternity  continue  equally  incapable"  — 
Brooke. 

"  Now  that  incompetence  arises  from  this, 
that  no  man  can  judge  rightly  of  two  things 
but  by  comparing  them  together  ;  and  com- 
pare them  he  cannot  unless  he  exactly  know 
them  both."— South. 

INCOHERENT.  Incongruous. 
Inconsistent.     Incompatible. 

Incoherent  (Lat.m-,  not,  cohttrere, 
to  stick  togethei-)  is  seldom  emj)loyed 
of  material  substances,  the  term  inco- 
hesive  better  supplying  its  place.  It 
is  generally  applicable  to  cases  which 
are  deficient  in  that  sort  of  unity  which 
depends  upon  the  interdependence  of 
parts,  especially  in  sequence  or  con- 
tinuity, and  commonly  implies  defec- 
tive torm  of  statement,  because  mere 
ideas,  though  they  may  be  incoherent, 
cannot  be  pronounced  so  till  they  are 


Incongruous  (hat.  incongruus)  de- 
notes that  kind  of  absence  of  harmony 
or  suitableness  of  which  the  taste  and 
experience  of  men  takes  cognizance. 
It  18  applied  to  the  modes  and  quali- 
ties of  things;  Inconsistent  (I^at. 
in-,  not,  and  consisth-e,  to  stand  toge- 
ther), that  kind  which  cannot  be  ad- 
justed to  some  recognized  third  term 
as  a  standard.  It  is  applied  to  the 
actions  and  sentiments  of  men. 

Incompatible  (Fr.  incompatible), 
that  which  cannot  exist  under  similar 
circumstances,  conditions,  or  suppo- 
sitions. It  is  applied  to  the  essential 
attributes  of  things.  Unlike  the 
others,  Incompatible  is  only  used 
specifically  of  cases  preceded  by  the 
tenn  with.  Generally  speaking,  it  is 
reason  which  decides  upon  incon- 
sistency, taste  upon  incongruity,  ex- 
perience upon  incompatibility,  and 
•  udgment  upon  incoherency. 

"  Observe  the  incoherence  of  the  things 
here  joined  together,  making  'a  view 
extinguish,'  and  *  extinguish  seeds.'  " — 
Blair. 

"  God  commands  not  impossibilities ;  and 
all  the  ecclesiastical  glue  the  liturgy  or  lay- 
men can  compound  is  not  able  to  soder  np 


511 


two  such  ineongruoui  natures  intc  the  one 
flesh  of  a  true  beseeming  marriage."— 
MiLTOJI. 

"  If  we  should  suppose  Him  to  have  been 
an  impostor  and  a  false  prophet,  a  character 
would  arise  full  of  contradictions  and  in- 
consistency."— JORTIN. 

"Certain  properties  incompatible  with 
the  essentiaJ  properties  of  matter."  — 
Clarke. 

inconstant.  Changeable. 
Mutable.  Variable.  Fickle. 
Versatile. 

That  which  is  Inconstant  (Lat. 
i7iconstantem)  whether  the  term  be 
employed  of  persons  or  qualities  (it 
is  only  by  poetic  licence  that  the  term 
is  used  of  anything  else,  as  Shake- 
speare's "inconstant  moon"),  owes 
its  character  to  an  impatience  of  uni- 
form or  sustained  adherence  and  at- 
tachment. Changeable  denotes  no 
more  than  exhibiting  the  phenomenon 
of  easy  or  frequent  change,  whether 
in  opinions,  feelings,  or  the  pheno- 
mena of  physical  nature  and  appear- 
ances; as  a  changeable  disposition, 
changeable  weather.  As  epithets  of 
character.  Inconstant  and  Change- 
able stand  related  to  each  other  as 
negative  and  positive.  The  change- 
able person  is  continually  rejecting 
what  he  has  adopted,  in  order  to  take 
up  something  new.  The  inconstant 
person  simply  attaches  himself  to  no- 
thing long.  Changeableness  is  active, 
inconstancy  passive.  Changeableness 
is  a  fault  of  commission,  inconstancy 
of  omission.     See  Constancy. 

"  Success  on  Maevius  always  does  attend  ; 
Inconstant  Fortune  is  his  constant  fiiend." 

POMFRET. 

"  I  choose  to  give  an  instance  in  the  stuff 
I  have  been  speaking  of,  because  the  mix- 
ture being  more  simple,  the  way  whereby 
the  changeableness  is  produced  may  be  the 
more  easily  apprehended." — BoYLK. 

Mutable  (Lat.  mutHbilis,  from  mu- 
tiire,  to  change)  is  seldom  used  of  any- 
thing but  external  circumstances  and 
events  of  life,  though  Byron  has  the 
forced  phrase,  "  INlost  mutable  in 
wishes.  Mutable  is  a  term  of  moral 
reflexion,  and  is  commonly  associated 
with  change,  as  it  aflfects  men's  hopes, 
desires,  attachments,  observations, 
and  experience. 


512 


SYNONYMS  [iNCONTHOVERTII'.LE] 


"  What  man  that  sees  the  ever-whirling 

wheel 
Of  change,   the   which  all   mortal  things 

doth  sway, 
But  that  thereby  doth  find  and  plainly  feel 
How  mutability  in  them  doth  play 
Her  crnel  sports,  to  many  men's  decay?  " 
Spenser. 
Variable  ^Lat.  vfiriahilis,  change-  • 
able)  denotes  indefinite  multiplicity  of 
change.     A  thing  may  be  changeable 
«vhicb  is  liable  to  one  or  two  changes. 
1 1  is  variable  when  its  transmutations 
are  so  numerous  that  they  defy  antici- 
pation, and  may   assume  many  dif- 
ferent phases  in  a  short  space.     In 
matters  of  the  will  or  feelings  of  men 
we  use  the  term  Variable;  in  phy- 
sical matters,  Changeable. 

Fickle  (A.  S.  Jicol)  denotes  that 
specific  changeableness  which  ex- 
hibits itself  in  matters  of  taste,  pur- 
pose, and  attachment — the  change- 
ableness of  easily  transferred  likes 
and  dislikes. 

Versatile  (L&t.  versattlis ;  versdre, 
to  tui^  frequently)  denotes  change- 
ableness,   not    as    involuntary,    but 
voluntary ;  not  as  weakness,  but  as 
indicating  power  of  mind,  an  ability 
easily  to  adapt  one's  self  to  altered  cir- 
cumstances; as  a  "versatile  genius." 
"  We  should  also  recollect  that  besides 
this  temporary  variableness  of  the  mind, 
the  tongue  is  unruly." — Knox. 
"  The  one  was  fire  and  ficJdeness  ;  a  child 
Most' mutable  in  wishes ;  but  in  mind 
A  wit  as  various,  pay,  gi-ave,  sage,  or  wild, 
Historian,  bard,  philosopher  combined." 
Byron. 
"  Nature  seems  incapable  of  such  extra- 
ordinary   combinations    as   composed    his 
(Julius  Caosar's)  versatile  capacity."' — Tbid. 

INCONTROVERTIBLE.  Indu- 
bitable. Unquestionable.  Indis- 
putable. Undeniable.  Irrefrag- 
able. 

These  terms  all  express  conclusive- 
ness of  evidence,  not  absolute  cer- 
tainty or  truth.  Incontrovertihle 
(made  up  from  in-,  not,  and  the  verb 
controvert)  applies  to  such  matters  as 
are  so  clear  and  certain  as  not  to  ad- 
mit of  lengthened  and  argumentative 
questioning  or  contradiction. 

Indubitable  (Lat.  indiiMtabilis,  in-, 
not,  and  diibitdre,  to  doubt)  throws  the 
matter  back  yet  farther,  and  asserts 


that  not  only  may  the  matter  not  be 
controverted  in  tei"ms,  but  not  even 
doubted  of  in  the  mind.  Unquestion 
ABLE  expresses  that  which  may  not 
be  called  in  question  ;  Indisputable, 
that  which  may  not  De  disputed  ;  Un- 
deniable, that  which  may  not  be  de- 
nied; Irrefragable  (Lat.  irrcf'rdgfi- 
biiis,  not  to  be  withsicod)  that  of  which 
the  argumentative  force  or  the  evi- 
dence may  not  be  broken.  It  is  in  their 
application  that  their  differences  con- 
sist. Incontrovertible  is  employed 
of  statements,  views,  or  opinions,  evi- 
dence, and  the  like,  but  not  of  simple 
facts;  Indubitable,  of  facts  and  as- 
sertions; Unquestionable,  of  propo- 
sitions;  Indisputable,  of  rights  and 
claims  also;  Undeniable,  of  state- 
ments ;  Irrefragable,  of  evidence 
and  arguments. 

"  This  therefore  msy  be  assumed  as  an 
incontrovertible  principle  that  the  diffe- 
rence of  good  and  evil  in  actions  is  not 
founded  on  arbitrary  opinions  or  institu- 
tions, but  in  the  nature  of  things  and  the 
nature  of  man." — Blajr. 

"  There  may  be  an  indubitable  certainty 
where  there  is  not  an  'nf«llible  certainty." 
— WiLKINS. 

"Making  us  ^ecei^e  that  for  an  un- 
questionable truth  which  is  really  at  b«st 
but  a  very  doubtful  conjecture." — Locke. 

"  Precedents  of  indisputable  authority." 
— Rambler. 

"Thus  says  he,  it  must  be  undeniably 
plain  ;  thus,  that  is,  gi-ant  him  his  pre- 
misses, and  the  conclusion  follows  without 
doubt." — Warburton. 

"I  do  not  find  that  anything  hitherto 
has  been  so  clearly  and  irrefrag&ly  proved 
for  the  immortality  of  tne  sonf." — South. 

INCREASE.  Accession.  Aug- 
mentation. Addition.  Enhance- 
ment.    MULTIP  Lie  Ario  N . 

Increase  CLat.  increscere,  to  in- 
CI  ease)  is  the  most  comprehensive  of 
these  terms,  and  indeed  includes  the 
rest.  It  denotes  addition  of  bulk, 
Quantity,  number,  degree,  value, 
force,  and  extension,  either  by  inter- 
nal vitality  or  by  accession  from  with- 
out. 

Accession  (Lat.  accessidnem,  an  ad- 
dition) is  an  accidental  mode  of  in- 
crease bv  addition  from  without; 
while  both  Addition  (  Lat.  additiimtm) 
and  Augmentation  (Lat.  augmentd- 


[indebtedJ 

tionem)  imply  pwposed  increase. 
Augmentation  is  commonly  increase 
in  what  is  of  the  nature  of  a  desirable 
possession,  and  is  not  consonantly 
with  present  custom,  so  often  em- 
ployed, like  Addition  and  Accession, 
of  such  things  as  are  evils,  e.g-.  misery 
or  misfortune.  Increase  and  Aug- 
mentation are  intrinsic,  Accession 
and  Addition  extrinsic,  being  applic- 
able to  the  thing  which  causes,  not  that 
«^hich  receives,  increase.  Increase 
stands  to  addition  or  accession  as  the 
effect  to  the  cause,  and  expresses  not 
an  operation,  but  a  state  or  result.  In 
the  case  of  increase  and  augmentation, 
the  thing  added  loses  its  individuality, 
and  passes  into  the  general  mass  and 
unity  of  the  matter  augmented ;  in  ad- 
dition and  accession,  they  still  remain, 
as  it  were,  outside  it.  So  the  ad- 
dition and  accession  may  still  be  con- 
templated after  the  union  has  been 
made ;  but  no  separate  part  or  item  is 
expressed  by  iNCREASEorAuGMENTA- 
tion.  An  estate  bequeathed  to  a  pro- 
prietor, in  addition  to  that  which  he 
holds  already,  may  be  a  valuable  ac- 
cession, and  tend  not  only  to  increase 
his  property,  but  to  augment  con- 
siderably the  revenue  derived  from  it. 
Augmentation  is  iiitrinsic  increase  in 
the  stock  and  suhstcnice  of  things.  It 
affects  quantity  in  the  gross,  as  in- 
crease affects  quantity  in  extent. 

'*  Wherever  the  commerce  between  the 
sexes  is  regulated  by  man*iage,  and  a  pro- 
iTsion  for  that  mode  of  subsistence  to  which 
each  class  of  the  community  is  accustomed 
can  be  procured  with  ease  and  certainty, 
there  the  nu  mber  of  the  people  wil  1  increase  ; 
and  the  rapidity  as  well  as  the  extent  of  the 
increase  will  be  proportioned  to  the  degree 
in  which  these  causes  exist." — Paxey. 

"  Ancient  Troy,  seated  on  an  eminence 
at  the  foot  •f  Mount  Ida,  overlooked  the 
mouth  of  the  Hellespont,  which  scarcely 
received  an  accession  of  waters  from  the  tri- 
bute of  those  immortal  rivulets  the  Simois 
and  Scamander."— Gibbon. 
"Thongh    fortune    change,   his   constant 

spouse  remains. 
Augments  his  joys,  or  mitigates  his  pains." 
Pope. 

"  All  the  praises  and  commendations  of 
the  whole  world  can  add  no  more  to  the 
real  and  intrinsic  value  of  a  man  than  they 
can  add  to  his  stature." — Swift. 

Enhance  (of  which  the  root  is  O. 
Pror.  enanSf  forwardSf  Lat.  infante)  is 


DISCRIMINATED. 


5n 


not  employ  ed  of  mere  material  addition, 
but  to  the  heightening  of  a  property 
or  quality  first  of  favourable,  after- 
wards also  of  unfavourable  qualities. 
That  which  is  enhanced  possesses  a 
force,  a  value,  a  beauty.  It  had  at  one 
time  a  physical  meaning,  viz.  to  raise, 
which  has  entirely  given  way  to  the 
metaphorical  one;  as  in  Spenser, 
"  Who  naught  aghast  his  mighty  hand 
enhanced,"  that  is  raised. 

"  The  reputation  of  ferocity  enhanced  the 
the  value  of  their  services  in  making  them 
feared  as  well  as  hated." — Southey. 

Multiplication  (Lat.  multipticd- 
tidnem)  is  the  same  thing  as  numerical 
addition,  or  addition  as  applied  not  to 
quantity  but  to  numbers.  The  rule  of 
multiplication  is  virtually  only  a  rule 
of  addition,  by  which  any  number  is 
added  to  itself  a  given*  number  of 
times.  It  may  be  observed  that  Mul- 
tiplication is  sometimes  employed 
of  indefinite  increase  of  quantity. 

♦*  I  will  greatly  multiply  thy  sorrow." — 
English  Bible. 

INDEBTED.     Obliged. 

Indebted  (O.  Fr.  endetter,  to  bring 
into  debt)  is  in  reference  to  what  may- 
have  been  received  from  or  done  for 
us  by  others.  It  is  a  much  stronger 
term  than  Obliged.  "  I  am  indebted 
to  him  for  saving  my  life."  It  would 
be  inadequate  to  say  Obliged  (Lat. 
obtigare,  to  bind,  to  oblige).  Obliged 
is  never  employed  directly  of  events 
or  circumstances — which  is  the  case 
with  Indebted — but  only  of  persons. 
"  For  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  this 
country  we  are  mainly  indebted  (not 
obliged)  to  Christianity."  The  feel- 
ing of  moral  obligation  is  not  neces- 
sarily implied  in  Indebted  ;  hence  the 
term  is  employed  with  readiness  of 
many  agents,  where  Obliged  could 
not  be  so  employed.  In  such  cases  it 
seems  to  mean  little  more  than  ac- 
knowledgment of  a  cause  or  source  ; 
as,  "  For  such  elements  of  the  national 
character  we  are  indebted  to  our  Saxon 
ancestry."  On  the  other  hand.  Obliged 
always  indicates  some  amount  of  favour 
received,  and  gratitude  due,  though 
the  favour  may  be  very  slight,  and 
cannot,  as  we  have  seen,  be  very  gres;; 
as,  to  be  obliged  by  an  act  of  substan 

L  L 


514 


tial  kindness,  oi  a  piece  of  common 
courtesy. 

'« As  a  misery  is  not  to  be  measured  from 
tfl8  nature  of  the  evil,  but  from  the  temper 
of  the  sufferer,  I  shall  present  my  readers 
who  are  unhappy  either  in  reality  or  ima- 
gination with  an  allegory,  for  which  I  am 
indebted  to  the  great  father  and  prince  of 
poets."— Toiler. 
"  Thus  man  to  heaven  by  his  own  strength 

would  soar. 
And  would  not  be  obliged  to  God  for  more." 
Dryden. 

INDICATrON.  Token.  Symp- 
tom. 

Indication  (Lat.  indicare,  part,  in- 
dtcdtus,  to  point  out)  is  a  subjective 
token,  that  is,  its  force  as  a  sign  de- 
pends upon  the  understanding  of  the 
observer.  Hence  an  indication  may 
be  either  very  simple,  direct,  and  pal- 
pable, or  complex,  indirect,  or  infe- 
rential. Indication  has  frequently 
the  force  of  a  sign  of  something  inhe- 
rent in  the  person  or  subject.  A 
hearty  shake  of  the  hand  is  an  indica- 
tion of  goodwill,  sleep  of  weariness, 
a  crack  in  a  wall  of  a  sinking  of  the 
foundation. 

Token  (A.  S.  tdcon,  a  token)  conveys 
simpler  and  more  direct  evidence,  and 
may  consist  in  a  visible  material  ob- 
ject; as  a  book  is  given  in  token,  or 
as  a  token  of  friendship.  Indica- 
tion is  not  so  used,  being  of  a  more 
complex  character  ;  as  an  act,  a  speech, 
an  expression,  a  line  of  conduct. 

Symptom  (Gr.  crv/xitroo/xa,,  a  falling 
iriya  symptom)  is  a  specific  token  or  indi- 
cation naturally  attached  to  that  which 
it  Indicates,  so  that  seeing  the  one  en- 
ables us  to  infer  the  other.  Like  In- 
dication, but  more  strongly,  it  con- 
sists not  in  simple  objects,  and  derives 
its  force  from  experience  and  induc- 
tion of  instances  in  which  it  occurs. 
A  token  is  recognized  by  sense  and 
feeling ;  an  indication,  by  observation 
and  experience ;  a  symptom,  by  know- 
ledge and  science. 

"  Modesty  is  the  certain  indication  of  a 
great  spirit,  and  impudence  the  affectation 
of  it." — Spectator. 

"  In  every  canoe  there  were  young  plan- 
tains and  branches  of  a  tree  which  the 
Indians  call  e  midho.  These,  as  we  after- 
wards learnt,  were  brought  as  tokent  of 
peace  and  amity."— Cook's  Voyages. 


SYNONYMS  [INDICATION] 

"It  will  save  the  patient  from  that  syinp- 
tome  of  being  afraid  of  water,  which  is  in- 
cident unto  such  as  be  so  bitten."— Hol- 
land, Pliny. 

Tokens  and  symptoms  are  of  things 
present;  indications  may  also  be  of 
things  to  come.  Symptoms  accom- 
pany. Tokens  are  given.  Indications 
are  made  or  given,  accompany,  pre- 
cede, or  even  follow. 

INDIFFERENCE.  Apathy.  In- 
sensibility. Callousness.  Neutra- 
lity. 

Indifference  (Lat.  indiffcrentem, 
a  word  of  Cicero's  coinage  to  translate 
alia.<^ofov)  denotes  no  more  than  a 
casual  fact,  namely,  that  the  presence 
or  absence  of  something  makes  no 
difference  to  a  person.  This  may  be 
ill  many  ways,  as  with  or  without  a 
full  knowledge  of  circumstances,  so 
that  it  might  be  removable  or  not.  It 
expresses  a  state,  and  not  any  quality 
of  persons. 

Insensibility  and  Apathy  (Gr. 
aTraflfja,  a-,  not,  and  TraQof,  suffering  or 
feeling )  are  qualities  inherent,  though 
insensibility  is  commonly  acquired  or 
produced,  apathy  innate ;  but  Apathy 
and  Insensibility  are  used  in  diffe- 
rent relations ;  for  insensibility  may  be 
either  intellectual  or  moral ;  apathy 
is  always  moral.  Insensibility  may 
be  either  from  want  of  understanding 
or  from  want  of  feeling ;  apathy  is 
from  want  of  feeling.  Again,  in 
apathy  and  in  insensibility  the  matter 
is  looked  at  from  different  points  of 
view.  Apathy  as  it  exists  in  the  per- 
son ;  insensibility  as  its  existence  is 
evidenced  by  the  unavailingness  of 
external  appliances  or  influences  to 
excite  feeling.  Hence  Apathy  is  used 
abstractedly,  Insensibility  in  specific 
reference  to  some  such  appliance  or 
influence.  A  man  is  simply  apathetic. 
He  is  insensible  to  something.  Indif- 
ference is  to  the  soul  what  tranquillity 
is  to  the  body,  and  insensibility  is  to 
the  soul  what  lethargy  is  to  the  body. 
Indifference  checks  vigorous  action 
and  strong  desire.  Insensibility  is  the 
bane  of  tender  and  of  noble  feeline. 
Indifference  springing  from  the  ab- 
sence of  passion  leaves  open  the  mind 
to  the  sway  of  pure  reason.     Ingenai- 


[indignation]        discriminated. 

bility  isolates  a  man  from  his  kind  and 
makes  him  a  brute  or  a  savage.  In- 
difference is  the  placid  summer  lake, 
insensibility  is  the  same  lake  frozen. 
Indifference,  it  has  been  said,  makes 
philosophers,  and  insensibility  makes 
monsters.  Apathy  is  the  extreme  of 
indifference  ana  drugs  the  mind,  and 
produces  nothing  but  inaction.  It  is 
possible  to  be  insensible  to  some 
things  and  not  to  others.  The  good 
man  is  insensible  to  the  attractions  of 
vice.  The  apathetic  man  never  acts 
but  with  an  effort,  against  his  inclina- 
tion, and  only  when  compelled  by 
external  force. 


515 


Callousness  keeps  up  in  its  secon- 
dary a  sti'ict  analogy  to  its  primary 
meaning.  Callum  or  callus,  in  Latin, 
is  hard  skin  or  rind,  that  thickening 
of  the  animal  or  vegetable  integument 
which  is  the  result  of  use  or  exposure. 
Hence  callousness  is  the  insensibility 
of  habituation. 

"  He  discovered  him  to  be  a  mean  per- 
son by  the  rusticity  and  hardness  of  his 
body  :  not  by  a  callousness  of  his  feet  or  a 
wart  upon  his  fingers ;  but  his  whole  body 
was  hard  and  servile."— Bp.  Tayloe,  on 
Repentance. 

Neutrality,  as  its  name  sufficiently 
indicates  (Lat.  neuter,  neither),  is  the 
Btate  of  taking  no  part  on  either  side. 
It  may  refer  both  to  parties  and  to  their 
sentiments ;  in  other  words,  we  may 
be  neutral  in  action  or  in  feeling.  It 
may  be  the  result  of  disposition  or  of 
duty.  Or  a  neutrality  of  action  may 
be  accompanied  by  strong  partiality  of 
feeling.  It  is  a  condition  of  commu- 
nities as  well  as  pei-aons,  while  the 
others  are  confined  to  the  latter. 

"  Men  who  possess  a  state  of  neutrality 
in  times  of  public  danger  desert  the  inte- 
rests of  their  fellow-subjects." — Addison. 

•'  In  matters  of  religion,  he  (the  upright 
man)  hath  the  indifference  of  a  traveller 
whose  great  concernment  is  to  arrive  at  his 
journey's  end." — Sharp. 

"  Pride  is  always  an  ignorant,  lazy,  or 
cowardly  acquiescence  in  a  false  appearance 
«f  excellence,  and  proceeds  not  from  con- 
sciousiiess  of  our  attainments,  but  insensi- 
bility of  our  wants." — Rambler. 

"  In  this  sullen  apathy  neither  ti-ue  wis- 
dom nor  true  happiness  can  be  found." — 
HUMK. 

Apathy,  or  a  dispassionate  state,  was 


recommended  by  the  Stoical  philo* 
sophers  as  the  secret  of  human  hap- 
piness. 

INDIGENOUS.    Aboriginal. 

The  separation  in  use  between  these 
terms  is  at  present  wider  than  for- 
merly. Indigenous  (Lat.  ind^genuSf 
indu-,  for  in,  and  gigno,  I  beget)  is 
seldom  used  of  races,  but  most  com- 
monly of  the  vegetable  productions  of 
a  country  ;  while  Aboriginal  (Lat. 
dborlgtnes,  original  inhabitants)  is  used 
only  of  men.  But,  even  as  employed 
of  men,  a  distinction  is  observable. 
An  indigenous  people  is  an  ethnologi- 
cal, aborigines  an  historical,  terra. 
The  former  term  is  used  to  express 
the  earliest  in  physical  history,  the 
latter  the  earliest  in  the  history  of 
civilization.  The  race  found  in  exis- 
tence in  newly-discovered  countries 
by  civilized  discoverers  is  called  ab- 
original. Indigenous  is  used  in  a 
metaphorical  way,  not  applicable  to 
Aboriginal,  as — 

"The  emotions  indigenous  to  the  human 
mind."— I.  Taylor, 

"  Their  language  (that  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Biscay)  is  accounted  aboriginal." — SwiK- 
BURNE. 

INDIGNATION.     Resentment. 

Indignation  (Lat.  indignationem) 
is  a  feeling  akin  to  anger,  but  with- 
out its  selfishness,  being  excited  by  a 
real  or  supposed  wrong  towards  our- 
selves or  others,  in  which  the  feeling 
of  wrong  predominates  over  and  tem- 
pers the  sense  of  hurt,  and  in  which 
the  existence  of  injury,  though  it 
must  mostly  follow  practically,  is  not 
essential. 

Resentment  (Fr.  ressentiment)  1b 
more  energetic  and  active  than  indig- 
nation, which  latter  may  be  expressed 
only  in  words,  or  even  a  look  ;  while 
resentment  seeks  to  make  itself  felt. 
It  is  the  reaction  of  the  mind  against 
personal  injury  or  insult.  It  may  be 
more  or  less  lasting  ;  and  in  its  purer 
and  more  unselfish  form  may  be  ex- 
cited on  behalf  of  others.  It  denotes 
a  stronger  feeling  of  personal  dislike 
against  the  offender  than  indignation, 
which  springs  from  the  act. 

"  Indignation  expresses  a  strong  an-1  ele 


516 


SYNONYMS  [indisposition] 


Tated  disapprobation  of  mind,  w^hich  is  also 
inspired  by  something  flagitious  in  the  con- 
duct of  another."— CoGAN. 

Up  to  a  late  period  of  English  litera- 
ture, the  word  Resentment  was  used 
to  signify  the  appropriate  return  of 
feeling,  whether  in  the  way  of  grati- 
tude or  its  opposite,  which  is  the 
simple  and  etymological  force  of  the 
word.     So  Bishop  Hull  writes — 

*'  Throughout  this  excellent  song  the 
•acred  Virgin  expresseth  a  deep  sense  of 
her  own  unworthiness,  and  upon  that 
account  a  profound  resentment  of  the  sin- 
gular favour  of  the  Almighty  bestowed 
upon  her." 

"  Hesentment,"  says  Cogan,  "  is  a  lesser 
degree  of  wrath,  excited  by  smaller  offences 
committed  against  less  irritable  minds.  It 
is  a  deep,  reflective  displeasure  against  the 
conduct  of  the  offender." 

INDISPOSITION.  Illness.  (See 
Disease.) 

Indisposition  is  a  slight  disorder 
of  the  healthy  functions  of  the  body. 
Illness  is  continuous  indisposition. 
It  supposes  an  actual  or  probable 
termination,  and  conveys  an  idea  of 
the  accidents  of  sickness  generally, 
without  the  features  of  any  specific 
complaint. 

"  By  our  laws,  as  that  Modus  lays  them 
down,  the  Kin^  neither  can  nor  ought  to 
absent  himself  from  his  parliament  unless 
he  be  indisposed  in  health,  nor  then  neither 
till  twelve  of  the  Peers  have  been  with  him 
to  inspect  his  body  and  give  the  Parliament 
an  account  of  his  indisposition." — MlLTON. 

"  Alstf,  I  only  wish  fov  health  again 
Because  1  think  my  lover  shares  my  pain  ; 
For  what  could  health  avail  to  wretched 

me 
If  yor  could  unconcerned  my  ilhiess  see." 
LiTTLKTON. 

INDISTINCT.  Confused.  Ob- 
scure. 

Indistinct  (Lat.  indistinctus,  not 
separated)  may,  like  the  other  syno- 
nyms here  mentioned,  be  employed  of 
the  physical  or  the  mental  perception 
— ot  the  sight,  the  hearing,  or  the 
understanding.  That  is  indistinct 
which  does  not  present  itself  to  the 
eye  or  the  mind  in  clear  outline  and 
definite  totality,  so  that  we  compre- 
hend it  positively  and  negatively,  and 
see  at  once  what  it  is,  and  what  it  is 
QOt.     The  distinct  is  clear  iu  itself. 


and  separable  from  surrounding  ob- 
jects. 

Confused  (Lat.  conftmdtre,  part. 
cinifusus,  to  pour  together,  to  conj'ound) 
denotes  a  manifold  indistinctness  ot 
parts,  relations,  or  objects  in  relation- 
ship. Want  of  force  may  make  things 
indistinct,  want  of  definiteness  makes 
til  em  confused.  An  indistinct  sound 
is  a  faint  sound,  a  confused  sound  is 
a  medley  of  sounds  of  different  cha- 
racters. 

Obscure  (Lat.  obsciiriis)  expresses 
that  which  is  difficult  to  comprehend 
from  want  of  light,  clearness,  or  per- 
spicuity. Indistinctness  and  obscurity, 
as  they  are  applied  to  matters  of  the 
understanding,  commonly  relate,  the 
former  to  the  mode  of  expression,  the 
latter  to  the  subject  matter.  A  per- 
son's words  may  be  indistinct  even 
from  thickness  of  utterance.  His  ex- 
pressions may  be  so  from  want  of 
power  to  make  things  plain.  If  he  is 
obscure,  it  is  probably  from  insufficient 
statements,  or  possibly  from  the  in- 
herent abstruseness  of  the  subject. 
So  we  speak  of  indistinct  ideas,  con- 
fused statements,  obscure  subjects, 
meanings,  or  allusions. 

"  The  colours  of  objects,  according  as 
they  are  more  distant,  become  more  faint 
and  languid,  and  are  tinged  more  with  the 
azure  of  the  intervening  atmosphere.  Tc 
this  we  may  add  that  their  minnte  parts 
become  more  indistinct,  and  their  outline 
less  accurately  defined." — Rkid. 

"Amphion   so   made   stones    and   timber 

leap 
Into  fair  figures  from  a  confused  heap." 
Waller. 

"  These  questions  of  predestination  being 
perplexed,  thorny,  and  troublesome  through 
their  obscureness,  may,  without  all  detri- 
ment of  salvation,  be  either  unknown  of 
discussed."— Bishop  Hall. 

INDIVIDUAL.  Particular. 
Single.     Solitary. 

The  difference  between  these  terms 
is  best  seen  by  considering  that  against 
which  each  stands  opposed.  Indi- 
vidual (Lat.  indwtdmis,  indivisible^ 
is  opposed  to  collective;  Particular 
(  Lat.  particularism  to  universal.  Hence 
an  individual  instance  is  one,  and  not 
more ;  particular  is  one,  and  rat 
another. 


[ineffectual]      discriminated. 


Single  (Lat.  singiilus,  more  com- 
monly plur.  sirigiili)  has  the  force  of 
only  one,  or  even  one,  standing  against 
a  possible  plurality,  and  hence  is  com- 
monly employed  in  a  negative  sen- 
tence ;  while  Solitary  (Lat.  sotitdrinSy 
alone  by  itself)  is  employed  in  positive 
sentences.     "  I  have  found  one  soli- 


617 


tary  mstance. 


I  have  not  found  a 


single  instance."  Particular  implies 
something  specifically,  as  distin- 
guished from  generally  or  universally, 
true.  If  I  say,  "  It  is  true  in  this 
particular  case,"  I  discard  all  respon- 
sibility of  statement  as  regai'ds  other 
such  cases. 

"It  would  be  wise  in  them,  as  individual 
and  private  mortals,  to  look  back  a  little." 
—Swift. 

"  Of  this  Prince  there  is  little  particular 
memory." — Bacon. 

"But  he  might  have  altered  the  shape 
of  his  argument  and  explicated  them  better 
in  single  scenes. 

Cor.  That  had  been  single  indeed." 

B.  JoNSON,  Bhiery  Man  out  of  his 
Humour. 
"  With  solitary  hand 
Reaching  beyond  all  limit  at  one  blow. 
Unaided  could   have   punished   the«    and 

whelm'd 
Thy  legions  under  darkness."    Milton. 

INEFFABLE.  Unspeakable. 
Unutterable.     Inexpressible. 

Ineffable  (Lat.  tneffdbilis,  unpro- 
nounceable, in-,  not,  e,  out,  and  far  i,  to 
speak)  is  commonly  used  only  of  those 
things  which  transcend  expression  by 
their  admirable  or  precious  qualities; 
as  the  ineffable  joys  of  heaven.  Un- 
speakable serves  the  purpose  of  a 
•superlative  adjective  of  quantity, 
especially  in  summing  up  states  of 
mind  ;  as  unspeakable  joy,  misery, 
satisfaction.  Unutterable  has  a 
tendency  to  the  unfavourable,  as  In- 
expressible to  the  favourable.  We 
more  often  speak  of  unutterable  sor- 
row than  unutterable  joy.  Unutter- 
able, however,  has  the  meaning  of  too 
deep  to  be  uttered  at  all ;  while  Inex- 
pressible means  too  high  or  too  deep 
to  be  adequately  conveyed  in  terms. 
Hence  it  may  apply  to  the  inherent 
expressiveness  o£  words  only,  to  which 
the  others  are  inapplicable;  as,  "  Such 
an  idea  of  a  foreign  writer  may  be  in- 
fxpressible  in  English." 


"  He  said,  and  on  His  Son  with  rays  direct 
Shone  full.    He  all  W.s   Father  fnll  ex- 

prest 
Ineff<d>ly  into  His  face  received. 
And   thus   the   filial   Godhead    answering 
spake."  Milton. 

"  Him  that  without  exception  doth  un- 
speakably exceed  all  other  things." — 
Fisher,  Godly  Treatise. 

"  I  believe  few  parents  would  wish  their 
sons  to  live   the    life   of   Cowper,  which, 
though  virtuous  and  amiable,  was  at  cer- 
tain times  unutterably  woeful." — Knox. 
"  Who  since  the  morning  hour  set  cct  fron 

heaven. 
Where  God  resides,  and  ere  mid- day  bi-- 

rived 
In  Eden,  distance  inexpressible 
By  numbers  that  have  name." 

Milton. 

INEFFECTUAL.  Vain.  Abor- 
tive.    Fruitless. 

Of  these  terms,  which  all  relate  to 
human  endeavour.  Vain  is  the  most 
general  (Lat.  vanus,  empty).  It  may 
apply  to  the  object  of  the  attempt  as 
well  as  to  the  attempt  itself.  Accord- 
irgly,  this  twofold  force  is  often  ex- 
pressed in  the  use  of  Vain.  A  vain 
ambition  may  mean  that  the  effort 
will  be  fruitless,  and  the  object  not 
worth  achieving  were  it  otherwise. 
Accordingly,  as  the  rest  express 
failure  as  limited  by  human  weakness, 
Vain  may  express  that  failure  which 
comes  necessarily  from  the  nature  of 
the  thing  aimed  at,  or  even  desired. 
Thoughts,  hopes,  and  desires  or  sup- 
positions may  be  vain  ;  but  only  eflbrts 
are  ineffectual,  abortive,  or  fniitless. 
Ineffectual  and  Fruitless  differ  as 
the  specific  from  the  general.  The 
former  relates  to  a  particular  end, 
which  is  represented  as  not  gained  ; 
the  latter  to  the  absence  generally 
of  profitable  results.  Again,  Ineffec- 
tual is  applicable  to  material  in- 
fluences or  powers ;  Fruitless,  to 
the  exertion  of  the  human  will.  We 
speak  of  fruitless  attempts  or  ineffec- 
tual attempts,  but  of  ineffectual,  not 
fruitless,  remedies. 

Abortive  (La,t. dbortivus,  born  pre- 
maturely), like  Fruitless,  is  only  ap- 
plicable to  voluntary  efforts,  not  to 
mere  natural  powers,  and  commonly 
to  such  efforts  as  imply  some  amount 
of  design,  or  complex  efforts  and 
schemes.  Ineffectual  and  Fkuitless 


518 


nnply  more  strongly  that  the  failure 
is  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  per- 
son making  the  attempt;  Abortive  is 
more  external  in  its  character,  and  may 
denote  the  untoward  issue  as  the  result 
of  unforeseen  or  irresistible  counter- 
action of  what  has  been  well  prepared. 
Unforeseen  casualties  may  render  the 
best-laid  plans  abortive. 

"  Hereford  was  surprised  on  the  18th  of 
December  by  Colonel  Birch  and  Colonel 
Morgan,  after  it  had  been  besieged  for 
about  two  months  ineffectually  by  the 
Scots."— Ludlow. 
"  Full  sure  he  thought  Troy's  fatal  hour 

arrived. 
Vain  thought !  he  knew  not  the  designs  of 
Jove."  CowPER. 

"  Any  enterprise  undertaken  without  re- 
solution, managed  without  care,  prosecuted 
without  vigour,  will  easily  be  dashed,  and 
prove  abortive.** — Barrow. 

"  The  fruitlessness  of  their  inquiries  into 
the  arcana  of  the  Godhead."— Warbur- 
TON. 

INFATUATION.     Folly. 

Folly  is  of  two  kinds — mental  and 
practical.  The 'former  is  weakness 
of  understanding ;  the  latter,  weak- 
ness of  conduct. 

Infatuation  (Lat.  infdtuare,  to 
make  a  fool  of)  brings  out  more 
strongly  the  idea  of  Folly  (Fr.folie) 
in  its  practical  aspect.  The  infatu- 
ated man  acts  under  some  peculiar 
beguiling,  fascinating  influence,  lead- 
ing him  from  the  paths  of  prudence 
and  self-control — some  one  thought 
or  desire  which  blinds  his  understand- 
ing to  what  he  ought  to  do  or  avoid, 
and  for  the  sake  of  which  other  need- 
ful considerations  are  sacrificed. 

"The  infatuations  of  the  sensual  and  fri- 
volous part  of  mankind  are  amazing ;  but 
the  infatuations  of  the  learned  and  sophis- 
tical are  incomparably  more  so." — I. 
Taylor. 

"  Wh&t  folly  'tis  to  hazard  life  for  ill!  " 
Shakespeare. 

INFERENCE.  Deduction.  Con- 
clusion.   Consequence.    Induction. 

Inference  (Fr,  inferer,  to  infer)  is 
the  broadest  of  these  terms,  denoting 
any  process  by  which  from  one  truth 
or  fact  laid  dowu  or  known  we  draw 
another.  Inference  may  be  either  by 
Induc«i3n  or  Deduction,  and  hence 


SYNONYMS  [infatuation] 

may  be  probable  or  certain.  Infer- 
ence by  induction  is  more  or  less  pro- 
bable, except  where  all  cases  of  the 
kind  have  been  collated,  when  it 
ceases,  strictly  speaking,  to  be  infer- 
ence, and  is  only  the  assigning  of  a 
common  name,  or  stating  an  universal 
proposition.  From  having  seen  twenty 
swans  all  white,  one  might  infer  that 
all  swans  are  so.  This  would  be  only 
a  probability  in  itself,  and,  as  a  fact, 
not  true.  In  induction  we  observe  a 
sufficient  number  of  individual  facts 
or  cases,  and  extending  by  analogy 
what  is  true  of  them  to  others  of  the 
same  class,  establish  a  general  princi- 
ple or  law.  This  is  the  method  of 
physical  science.  The  process  of  de- 
duction is  the  converse  of  this.  We 
lay  down  a  general  truth,  and  connect 
a  particular  case  with  it  by  means  of 
a  middle  term.  When  inference  is 
conducted  by  the  syllogistic  process, 
it  is  called  Deduction  (Lat.  deduc 
tionem,  a  dediiciiig,  diductre,  to  draw 
from),  the  thing  inferred  being  the 
Conclusion,  which  establishes,  or, 
as  it  were,  shuts  up  (Lat.  concliiderey 
to  shut  up)  the  argument.  A  conclu- 
sion is  a  proposition  viewed  relatively 
to  others  from  which  it  has  been  de- 
duced. 

A  Consequence  (Lat.  constqueutia, 
constqui,  to  follow  7ip)  is  a  conclusion 
regarded  as  admitting  of  degrees  of 
closeness  or  directness.  Between  the 
first  stage  of  any  argument  and  any 
particular  consequence  several  links 
of  reasoning  may  intervene.  Hence 
the  common  phrase,  *' remote  conse- 
quences," as  meaning  results  which 
will  follow  sooner  or  later  from  what 
has  been  stated  or  conceded.  Unlike 
the  rest.  Consequence  is  applicable  to 
practical  results,  as  a  severe  cold  may 
have  beeivthe  consequence  of  impru- 
dent exposure.  The  consequence  is 
also  logically  taken  in  an  abstract 
sense.  The  conclusion  is  the  propo- 
sition which  follows  from  the  pre- 
misses, tlie  consequence  being  the 
link  between  the  two;  and  so  the 
conclusion  may  be  drawn  true  in 
fact  though  the  consequence  be  false, 
i.e.  in  reasoning  ;  or  the  conclusion 
false  in  fact  though  the  consequence 
be  true,  i.e.  logicallj'  true. 


[infobm] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


519 


"  Thoogh  it  may  chance  to  be  right  in 
the  conclusion,  it  is  yet  unjust  and  mis- 
taken in  the  method  of  inference."  — GulN- 
VIXL. 

"  From  the  words  of  Moses  cited  by  oar 
Savionr,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state 
may  as  clearly  be  deduced  as  from  any  single 
text  which  can  be  produced  out  of  any  one 
of  the  Prophets." — JoRTIN. 

"  He  granted  him  the  major  and  minor, 
but  denied  him  the  conclusion" — Addi- 
80K. 

"  Link  follows  link  by  necessary  conse- 
quence."—Colkuidgk. 

"  When  by  thus  comparing  a  number  of 
cases  agreeing  hi  some  circumstances,  but 
differing  in  others,  and  all  attended  with 
the  same  result,  a  philosopher  connects, 
as  a  general  law  of  nature,  the  event  with 
its  physical  cause,  he- is  said  to  proceed  ac- 
cording to  the  method  of  induction." — 
Stewart. 

INFERIOR.  Second.  Secon- 
dary.    Minor. 

Inferior  (Lat.  comparative  of 
infh-us,  low)  is  not  employed  gene- 
rally in  the  physical  sense,  but  ex- 
presses the  quality  of  being  lower  in 
rank,  importance,  excellence,  force, 
ralue,  and  the  like. 

Second  (Lat.  secimdus)  relates  to  a 
presumed  or  declared  order  of  se- 
quence, implying  a  first,  which  it  im- 
mediately succeeds.  The  principle 
of  the  sequence  may  be  any;  as, 
place,  time,  value,  dignity,  or  one  ar- 
bitrarily assumed.  Secondary  is  op- 
posed to  ■primary J  and  denotes  second 
m  order  of  necessity,  importance,  or 
operation. 

Minor  (Lat.  minor,  less)  has,  in 
addition  to  the  idea  of  inferiority, 
that  of  subdivision ;  as  the  minor  sec- 
tions of  a  body,  where  the  relation  is 
not  extrinsic,  but  intrinijic. 

*'  Inferiors  both  in  fortune  and  in  under- 
■tanding." — Toiler. 

"  But  here  you  exclaim  of  '  the  strange 
abuse  made  of  quotations  and  second-h&nd 
representations.' "— WATKRIt^ND. 

"  Europe  herself  hath  so  many  mother- 
languages  quite  discrepant  one  from  the 
other,  besides  secondary  tongues  and  dia- 
le«t«."— HowBlX. 

"  Asia  Minor.'" — Geography. 

INFLUENCE.  Sway.  Ascen- 
dancy. 

Influence  (an  astrological  term,  a 
flowing  in,  O.  Fr.  influence,  of  plane- 


tary virtues  into  men)  is  hidden  or  in- 
direct exercise  of  power,  which,  in 
personal  matters,  may  spring  from  a 
variety  of  sources,  as  talent,  wealth, 
position,  or  persuasive  power.  It  is 
in  moral  things  analogous  to  what 
takes  place  in  physical,  when  effects 
are  produced  by  gentle,  gradual,  or 
unobserved  processes  for  good  or  ill. 
Sway  (A.  S.  swegian,  to  prevail) 
is  power  of  control  either  consciously 
exerted  or  specifically  tending  to  de- 
finite ends ;  while  influence  may  be 
altogether  indefinite.  Ascendancy 
(also  an  astrological  term,  denoting 
that  degree  of  the  ecliptic  which  risea 
above  the  horizon  at  the  time  of  birth, 
supposed  to  exercise  great  influence 
over  the  chai-acter  and  destiny  of  in- 
dividuals) denotes,  accordin  g  to  its  ori- 
gin, a  governing  or  controlling  power 
in  relation  to  a  certain  time  or  set  of 
circumstances.  It  is  uniform  influence. 
It  is  moral  power  which  influences 
human  conduct  to  the  exclusion  of 
other  motives,  and  in  individuals  is 
the  result  sometimes  of  natural  supe- 
riority, sometimes  of  personal  aim, 
and  very  often  of  both  combined. 
Sway  is  relative  to  a  supposed  course 
or  line  of  procedure  which  has  been 
affected.  To  sway  the  counsels  or 
decisions  of  an  assembly,  for  instance, 
is  to  exercise  an  altering  or  modifying 
influence. 

*'  After  the  restoration  there  succeeded 
in  its  place,  and  since  the  revolution  has 
been  methodically  pursued  the  more  suc- 
cessful expedient  of  influence." — Paley. 

The  primary  import  of  Sway  is  seen 
in  the  following : — 

"  Oft  must  menne  on  the  oke  smite  till 
the  happie  dente  have  entred  whieh  with 
the  oke's  own  swaie  maketh  it  to  come  all 
at  ones."— Chauckr. 

"That  predominant  love  of  righteous- 
ness and  hatred  of  iniquity  maintaining  an 
absolute  ascendency  in  the  mind  in  all 
times  and  unon  all  occasions." — Harlky. 

INFORM.     Acquaint.    Apprisk.  • 
Advise.     Instruct.     Teach. 

Inform  (Lat.  informare,  to  fashion, 
to  declare)  relates  only  to  matters  of 
fact  made  known  to  one  who  could 
not  have  known  them  befoi'e.  ^ 

Instruction  (Lat.  instructionemfisi 
arranging)  relates  lo  the   principles 


520 


SYNONYMS 


[infraction  1 


drawn  from  known  facts.  One  in- 
forms by  virtue  of  possessing  specific 
knowledge  of  matters  of  fact  which 
have  in  some  way,  possibly  even  by 
accident,  come  to  one's  ears.  One 
instructs  by  virtue  of  having  more 
knowledge.  Priority  of  knowledge 
makes  the  informant,  superiority  of 
knowledge  the  instructor. 

Teaching  (A.  S.  tizcan,  to  teach), 
as  distinct  from  instruction,  is  applied 
to  practice  ( it  may  be  the  practice  of 
a  art  or  branch  of  knowledge).  A 
child  is  instructed  in  grammar,  and 
taught  to  speak  a  language.  Teach 
has  a  purely  mechanical  application, 
which  does  not  belong  to  Instruct. 
A  dog  may  be  taught  a  trick  ;  but  he 
could  not  be  instructed  in  anything. 
The  two  processes  of  teaching  and 
instruction  may  thus  go  on  simulta- 
neously. In  mathematics  there  is  no 
information,  because  the  propositions 
are  not  statements  of  fact,  but  are 
based  upon  principles  assumed.  In- 
formation is  of  new  facts ;  instruction 
is  of  undeveloped  truths.  Information 
extends  knowledge;  instruction  gives 
additional  understanding;  teaching, 
additional  power  of  doing. 

Acquaint  (Fr.  accointer,  L.  Lat. 
adcognttare,  to  make  knowti),  Apprise 
(Fr,  apprise,  instruction,  horn  apren- 
dre,  the  Lat.  apprendcre),  and  Ad- 
vise (Fr.  avis,  an  opinionzzzhsit.  ad  vi- 
sum, according  to  what  has  seemed  best) 
closely  resemble  Inform,  inasmuch  as 
they  relate  to  the  communication  of 
matters  of  fact.  I  inform  a  man  when 
I  simply  tell  him  a  fact  which  he  did 
not  know  before.  I  acquaint  him 
with  that  of  which  I  furnish  him  with 
all  the  details.  So  I  inform  him  of 
the  fact,  and  acquaint  him  with  the 
particulars  of  it.  I  apprise  him  of 
what  particularly  concerns  him  to 
know,  whether  it  be  a  good  or  an  evil, 
or  a  danger,  or  a  probability  of  any 
-sort.  I  advise  him  of  that  which  I 
impart  to  him  formally,  officially,  or 
as  in  duty  bound,  of  what  occurs  in 
due  course,  or  in  the  way  of  business. 
All  the  othei-  terms  may  be  used  of 
unintelligent  things,  but  only  livinff 
persons  can  inform. 
"  Vour  (Algernon  Sidney's)  present  abode 


was  no  secret  to  me  before  I  knew  it  from 
your  own  hand ;  that  information  having 
been  given  me  about  two  or  three  month* 
since  by  some  English  gentlemen." — Sib 
W.  Templk. 

"  Divers  that  first  believe  the  Scripture 
but  upon  the  Church's  score  are  afterwards 
by  acquaintedniiss  brought  to  believe  the 
Scripture  upon  its  own  score." — BoYLB. 

"It  is  evident  from  the  care  taken  to 
apprise  the  world  of  it,  even  before  Chris- 
tianity was  promulgated,  how  important 
and  essential  a  part  this  must  be  of  that 
Divine  religion." — Bishop  Porteus. 

"  There  were  several  letters  from  France 
just  come  in  with  advice  that  the  king  was 
in  good  health."— Addison, 

"  The  coldness  of  passion  seems  to  be  the 
natural  ground  of  ability  and  honesty  among 
men,  as  the  government  or  moderation  of 
them  the  great  end  of  philosophical  and 
moral  instructions." — Sir  W.  Temple. 

"  As  a  child  is  taught  to  expect  from  its 
parent,  so  are  we  taught  to  expect  from 
God  every  good  of  which  our  nature  is  ca- 
pable."—Gilpik. 

INFRACTION.     Infringement, 

Although  these  terms  are  connected 
by  a  common  derivation  (Lat.  infrin- 
gere,  to  break,  to  xveaken),  they  are 
differently  applied  :  Infraction  being 
reserved  for  the  violation  of  public 
riglitsand  formal  treaties  ;  Infringe- 
ment of  minor,  or  else  more  persona', 
and  social  claims.  The  infraction  ot 
a  treaty  of  commerce ;  the  infringe- 
ment upon  one's  neighbour's  liberty 
or  convenience ;  an  infringement  ot 
the  laws  of  good  society  or  good 
manners. 

"The  infringers  of  the  duties  of  im- 
perfect obligation,  which  civil  laws  cannot 
reach."— Warburton. 

"  The  young  King  of  Denmark,  upon  his 
coming  to  the  crown,  complained  of  these 
infractions. " — Burnet. 

ingenious.  Clever.  Inven- 
tive. 

Ingenious  (Lat.  ingeniosus,  having 
good  natural  talents)is  purelymental. 

Clever  (see  Clever)  is  practical 
as  well  as  mental.  Ingenuity  is  more 
akin  to  genius,  cleverness  to  talent ; 
tlie  one  is  inventive,  the  other  execu- 
tive. Tie  use  of  Clever  in  En"lisb 
is  overdone,  as  the  term  is  made  to 
stand  for  every  form  of  intellectual 
ability  and  adaptive  faculty.  Inge- 
nuity is  genius  on  a  small  scale,  or  a* 


[innkb] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


521 


■hown  in  matters  of  minor  moment  or 
less  gravity  and  seriousness.  A 
readiness  in  nicely  doing  actions  not 
habitual  is  commonly  called  Clever- 
ness, where  bodily  activity  is  engaged, 
and  ingenuity  where  mental.  Clever- 
ness is  ingenuity  of  the  body,  as  in- 
genuity is  cleverness  of  the  mind. 
INIen  may  contrive  ingeniously,  and 
manage  cleverly. 

"  Of  all  the  means  which  human  ingenuity 
has  contrived  for  recalling  the  images  of 
real  objects,  and  awakening  by  representa- 
tion similar  emotions  to  those  which  are 
raised  by  the  original,  none  is  so  full  and 
extensive  as  that  wliich  is  executed  by 
words  and  writing." — BlaiR. 

"  He  (the  Duke  of  Monmouth)  gave  the 
hangman  but  half  the  reward  he  intended, 
and  said  if  he  cut  off  his  head  cleverly,  and 
not  so  butcherly  as  he  did  Lord  Russell's, 
his  man  should  give  him  the  rest." — Bur- 
net. 

Inventive  (Lat.  invtnire,  part,  in- 
ventus, tojind)  expresses  the  active  and 
practical  side  of  ingenuity.  The  in- 
genious person  sees  readily,  the  in- 
ventive person  projects,  adapts  and 
contrives.  He  deals  in  expedients, 
and  constructs  means  to  an  end,  where 
such  means  are  not  ready  to  his  hand. 

"  For  Alcibiades,  as  he  was  passing  in- 
genious and  inventive  of  matter,  so  he 
wanted  audacity,  and  was  not  so  ready  as 
some  others  to  utter  the  same." — Holland, 
Plutarch. 

INGRATIATE.     Insinuate. 

These  terms  differ  as  to  the  modes 
adopted.  Insinuate  (Lat.  in^nuare, 
to  make  to  wind  in)  leans  to  an  unfa- 
vourable signification,  as  often  imply- 
ing artfulness  of  purpose  and  selfish 
ends  ;  Ingratiate  (Lat.  in,  into, 
gratia,  favour),  the  compassing  the 
same  end  with  candour  and  merit.  In- 
sinuate is  used  of  physical  influences 
and  substances,  and,  metaphorically, 
of  influences  in  the-^bstract ;  Ingra- 
tiate, only  of  the  acts  and  demeanour 
of  human  agents.  Ingratiate  is  n»7er 
employed,  like  Insinuate,  of  simple 
idea«,  notions,  suppositions,  or  state- 
ments. Insinuation,  in  this  sense,  is 
indirect  declaration,  or  a  statement  of 
a  part,  leaving  more  to  be  inferred. 

*'  One  of  those  who  came  off  was  the  old 
man  who  h«d  already  ingratiated  himself 
into  our  favour." — Cook's  VoyaQss, 


"Some  do  wind  and  insintiate  into  the 
grace  and  favour  of  the  hearer,  and  by 
such  an  occasion  draw  his  heart  unto 
them."— Holland,  Plutarch, 

INNOCENCE.     Purity. 

Innocence  (Lat.  imwcentia)  is  a 
negative.  Purity  (Lat.  piirttatem)  is 
a  positive  quality.  Innocence  is  free 
dom  from  harm  or  guilt,  hence  speci- 
fically of  some  particular  act  or  charge. 
A  very  wicked  and  injurious  person 
may  be  quite  innocent  of  a  particular 
crime.  Purity  is  perfect  moral  clean- 
ness. Purity  is  spotlessness  of  soul. 
Innocence  is  purity  of  manners. 
Purity  is  the  cause  and  safeguard  of 
innocence.  Purity  regards  the  mind 
and  the  motives,  innocence  the  inten- 
tions and  the  actions. 

INNER.  Inward.  Internal. 
Interior.     Intrinsic. 

These  temis  may  be  partly  illus- 
trated  by  those  to  which  they  stand 
opposed.  Thus  inner  is  opposed  to 
outer,  inward  to  outward,  internal  to 
external,  interior  to  exterior.  Inner 
is  employed  of  such  things  as  admit 
of  degrees  of  comparison  in  relation 
to  a  state  or  position  inwards.  Thus 
inner  means  more  towards  the  centre, 
and  has  a  superlative — inmost  or  in- 
nermost. The  inner  walls  of  a  forti- 
fication are  those  which  approach  the 
stronghold.  Inward  is  used,  not  like 
inner,  of  physical  locality  or  relation- 
ship, but  morally  to  express  the 
quality  of  being  within,  as  opposed 
to  being  exposed  to  observation  or 
view  ;  as,  "  He  believes  it  in  his  in- 
ward heart,  whatever  he  may  say." 

Internal  (Lat.  internus)i3  always 
specific,  being  not  an  absolute  but  a 
relative  term,  and  coupled  with  some 
object  in  particular  implied  or  ex- 
pressed ;  as,  the  internal  arrange- 
ments of  a  house ;  internal  trade, 
which  implies  external  commerce,  to 
which  it  stands  opposed. 

Interior  (Lat.  mtmor),  like  Inner, 
admits  of  degrees,  which  are  excluded 
from  Internal;  as,  the  interior  dis- 
tricts of  a  country,  which  are  re- 
moved in  different  degrees  from  the 
borders  or  confines  of  it. 

Intrinsic  is  internally  orinhe rentb 


522 


SYNONYMS 


[inordinate] 


belonging,  as  distinguished  from  what 
is  only  apparent  or  fictitious ;  hence 
genuine,  real. 

INORDINATE.  Immoderate. 
Excessive.  Extravagant.  Exor- 
bitant. 

Inordinate  (Lat.  hiordiuatus,  dis- 
ordered) is  well  employed  of  human 
desires  ;  as  an  inordinate  ambition  or 
love  of  pleasure ;  or  human  qualities, 
as  inordinate  vanity. 

Immoderate  (Lat.immMh'atus,  un- 
restrained) has  a  wider  application  to 
anything  exceeding  j  ust  limits ;  as  im- 
moderate demands,  immoderate  grief. 

Excessive  (Lat.  excidere^  sup.  ex- 
cessiim,  to  go  beyond)  differs  from  Im- 
moderate in  relating  to  the  thing  it- 
self, not  to  the  person ;  as,  "  He  was 
immoderate  in  his  claims  ;  "  or, "  The 
demand  itself  was  excessive."  In  the 
term  "excessive  expenditure  "  there  is 
not  the  same  reflexion  on  the  conduct 
of  individuals  as  in  "  immoderate  ex- 
penditure." 

Extravagant  (Lat.  extra,  beyond, 
and  vUgciri,  to  wander)  has  the  same 
application,  with  the  idea  of  a  reck- 
less absence  of  calculation  or  propor- 
tion in  matters  of  expending  or  de- 
manding ;  as,  an  extravagant  demand 
or  claim.  It  is  applicable  to  anything 
which  is  immoderately  expended,  as 
extravagant  praise. 

Exorbitant  (Lat.  exnvbilare  to  go 
out  of  the  track,  orbtta)  denotes  the 
designedly  extravagant.  A  demand 
may  be  extravagant  from  want  of  at- 
tention ;  it  is  exorbitant  as  the  result 
of  an  extortionate  aim,  or  a  desire  to 
enjoy  or  acquire  more  than  is  reason- 
able, fair,  or  just.  Exorbitant  pas- 
sions are  those  which  claim  over-in- 
dulgence. The  exorbitant  is  the  more 
extravagant  form  of  the  excessive. 
Both  are  applicable  to  things  which 
being  susceptible  of  increase  have  re- 
ceived more  than  is  due,  but  the  latter 
advances  upon  tlie  former.  That 
which  is  excessive  passes  the  ordinary 
course  or  bounds.  That  which  is  ex- 
orbitant passes  them  to  a  degree  which 
is  out  of  all  proportion.  Exorbitant 
pretensions  are  beyond  excessive  pre- 
tensions.    The  first  are  strained,  but 


we  do  not  know  where  the  second 
will  end.  Excessive  is  capable  of  a 
meaning  not  altogether  unfavourable. 
Exorbitant  always  denotes  what  is 
wrong.  An  excessive  generosity  is  a 
sort  of  noble  weakness.  An  exorbi- 
tant generosity  could  be  only  mad- 
ness. 

"  Their  object  is  to  merge  all  natural  and 
all  social  sentiment  in  inordinate  vanity." — 
Burke. 

"  In  the  fourth  place,  from  all  that  has 
been  said,  we  should  learn  never  to  be  im,' 
moderateli/ anxious  about  our  external  situa- 
tion, but  submit  our  lot  with  cheerfulness 
to  the  disposal  of  Heaven."— Blair. 

"Excessive  lenity  and  indulgence  are 
ultimately  excessive  rigour."  —  Knox, 
Essays. 

"  They  declaimed  against  human  reason. 
They  depressed  it  as  extravagantly  as  their 
adversaries  had  advanced  it." — Warbur- 
ton. 

"  To  reduce  the  crown  from  the  exorbi- 
tances it  affected  within  the  ancient  and 
legal  boundaries  of  the  constitution." — 
Bishop  Hurd. 

INQUIRY.  Interrogate.  Ask. 
Question. 

Inquire  (Lat.  inquirtre)  denotes 
the  process  of  seeking  for  truth  by 
one  or  more  questions,  which  may  be 
put  in  different  ways  and  in  different 
directions,  or  answered  from  different 
sources. 

Interrogate  (Lat.  interr'dgare,  t^ 
ask)  is  to  put  several  questions  in  a 
formal  and  systematic  manner,  and  is 
directed  only  to  one  quarter  and  to 
living  persons.  Ask  is  simpler,  and 
generally  turns  upon  a  simple  aflSrma- 
tive  or  negative  answer  to  a  matter  of 
fact;  as,  "Ask  him  if  such  is  the 
case."  It  has,  of  course,  also  the 
sense  of  crave. 

Question  (Lat.  qucestionem,  an  in- 
quiry, quxrcre,  to  seek)  is  of  wider 
meaning  ;  and,  in  addition  to  the 
sense  of  Interrogate,  has  that  of  dis- 
puting or  arguing  from  a  doubt  of  some 
specific  statement  or  alleged  fact. 
Where  Question  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  putting  questions,  it  differs  from  In- 
terrogate  in  being  of  wider  signifi- 
cation. Interrogation  is  of  some  fact. 
Question  may  be  of  the  possession  of 
knowledge  in  a  more  extended  way, 
as  to  question  a  student  in  history, 


[inscrutable]       discriminated. 


523 


Hence  Question,  unlike  the  others, 
turns  upon  matters  more  strictly  con- 
nected with  the  condition  of  the  per- 
son questioned.  Curiosity  leads  us  to 
question.  Authoritativeness  appears 
in  interrogation ;  desire  of  knowledge, 
in  inquiry. 

"  And  all  that  is  wanting  to  the  perfection 
of  this  art  (of  medicine)  will  undoubtedly 
be  found  if  able  men,  and  such  as  are  in- 
structed in  the  ancient  rules,  will  make  a 
further  inquiry  into  it." — Drydex. 

"  The  traveller,  whoever  he  might  be, 
coming  to  the  fortified  habitation  of  a  chief- 
tain, would  probably  have  been  interro- 
gated"—io^^SO^. 
"  Th'  eternal  quest'ner  shun ;    a  certain 

rule, 
There  is  no  blab  like  to  the  quest'ning  fool." 
HAMiLTOif,  Horace. 

"  Wejown  it  to  be  highly  proper  that  men 
should  ask  themselves  why  they  believe; 
but  it  is  equally  proper  for  them  to  ask  why 
they  disbelieve." — Skckkr. 

INQUISITIVE.  Curious.  Pry- 
ing. 

The  Curious  person  (see  Curious) 
is  eager  for  information  generally,  or 
for  the  possession  of  it  in  any  one  of 
many  ways,  as  in  problems  of  Nature, 
art,  or  science,  as  well  as  with  refer- 
ence to  causes  of  little  or  no  impor- 
tance or  concern  to  himself. 

He  is  Inquisitive (Lat.  viqu'isitwus, 
searching  into^  who  busies  himself 
with  inquiries  on  a  small  scale,  of  no 
intrinsic  importance  or  of  little  prac- 
tical concern  to  himself. 

The  Prying  man  (the  derivation  of 
pry  is  very  uncertain)  uses  his  own 
powers  of  observation,  rather  than 
questions  put  to  others,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  discovering  their  secret  affairs 
out  of  a  puerile  or  low-minded  curio- 
sity. 

"  Exercising  upon  theological  matters 
that  inquisitiveness  and  sagacity  that  has 
made  in  our  age  such  a  happy  progress  in 
philosophical  ones." — BovLE. 

"Man  is  read  in  his  face,  God  in  his 
creatures,  but  not  as  the  philosopher,  the 
creature  of  glory,  reads  him,  but  as  the 
divine,  the  servant  of  humility;  yet  even  he 
must  take  care  not  to  be  too  curious."— B, 
JONSON. 

"  So  close  in  poplar  shades,  her  children 

gone. 
The  raother  nightingale  laments  alone. 
Whose  nest  some  prying  churl  had  found." 
Dryben,   Virgil. 


INROAD.  Invasion.  Incursion. 
Irruption.     Intrusion. 

Forcible  or  unallowed  entrance  is 
common  to  these  words.  An  Inroad 
is  an  entry  by  some  novel  and  forcible 
method,  involving  an  injury  and  tres- 
pass in  the  action. 

Invasion  ( Lat.  inrosionem;  invadHrey 
to  invade)  denotes  a  forcible  entry 
upon  what  is  the  property  of  another, 
with  a  violation  of  his  right  of  pro- 
perty, and  with  the  direct  intention 
of  depriving  him  of  some  such  right, 
or  in  retaliation  for  alleged  injuries 
committed  by  him. 

Incursion  (Lat.  incursionem,  an  on- 
set ;  inciirr^re,  to  run  into)  is  a  lighter 
kind  of  invasion,  without  the  idea  of 
permanence  or  occupation,  and,  as  a 
transitory  act,  involving  the  original 
intention  of  a  return. 

Irruption  (Lat.  irruptionem,  a 
rushing  into)  is  more  violent  and  sus- 
tained, being  done  in  the  spirit  of 
destruction  and  conquest. 

Intrusion  (Lat.  intrudere^  to  thrust 
into)  is  such  an  entry  as,  being  with- 
out violence,  is  nevertheless  without 
right  or  welcome. 
"  Far  from  their  inroads  in  my  pastures 

feed 
The  lowing  heifer,  and  the  pampered  steed." 
TiCKELX,  Iliad. 

"The  universal  good-wiil  which  is  so 
strong  in  him  exposes  him  to  the  assaults  of 
every  iiivader  upon  his  time,  his  conversa- 
tion, and  his  property," — Tatler. 

"  So  Greece  to  combat  shall  in  safety  go. 
Nor  fear  the  fierce  incursions  of  the  foe." 
Pope,  Homer. 

"  Letters  had  there  been  happily  profest 
in  very  ancient  time  with  frequency  of 
scholars,  until  irruptions  of  pagans  had 
brought  them  to  this  lately  restored  defi- 
ciency."—Drayton. 

"  The  Pope  would  not  desire  any  viols- 
tion  of  the  immunities  of  the  realm,  or  to 
bring  those  into  public  contention  which 
had  been  hitherto  enjoyed  without  intrusion 
or  molestation." — Burnet. 

INSCRUTABLE.  Unseahch- 
ABLE.     Impenetrable. 

Inscrutable  (Lat.  inscrntdbilis)  re- 
lates to  that  particular  form  of  the 
unsearchable  which  baffles  intrinsic 
inquiry,  and  so  denotes  what  cnnnot 
^e   comprehended  by  reason  of  the 


524 


mystery  and  complexity  which  belong 
to  it. 

Unsearchable  relates  to  what 
cannot  be  explored  by  reason  of  its 
intrinsic  depth  or  distance.  Hence 
I NSCRUTABLE  is  applicable  to  things  of 
ordinary  kinds,  but  of  extraordinary 
difficulty ;  as,  "  inscrutable  designs :  " 
unsearchable,  to  extraordinary  things ; 
as,  the  "unsearchable  attributes  of 
God." 

Impenetrable  (Lat.  imptnctrdbtlis ; 
paittrdre,  to  penetrate)  stands  to  In- 
scrutable as  the  more  specific  to  the 
more  generic.  Inscrutable  denotes 
the  nature  of  the  thing;  Impenetrable 
may  apply  also  to  what  is  made  in- 
scrutable. The  decrees  of  God  are 
inscrutable ;  the  designs  of  a  subtle 
diplomatist  may  be  impenetrable  by 
the  disguise  in  which  he  clothes  his 
ideas.  Inscrutable  belongs  to  the 
whole;  Impenetrable  also  to  the 
parts  in  detail. 

'*  'Tis  not  in  man 
To  yield  a  reason  for  the  will  of  Heaven, 
Which  is  inscrutable.'" 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 
"  He  who  withont  warrant  but  his  own 
fantastic  surmise  takes  upon  him  perpetu- 
ally to  unfold  the  secret  and  unsearchable 
mysteries  of  high  Providence,  is  likely  for 
the  most  part  to  mistake  and  slander  them." 
— MiLTOK. 

"Nothing  almost  escaped  that  he  acheved 
not,  were  the  thing  never  sodifBcyle,  or  (as 
who  sayth)  impenetrable"— ^ir T.  Elyot. 

INSIDE.     Interior. 

These  terms  differ  in  dignity.  Any- 
thing which  has  an  outside  may  have 
an  inside.  But,  as  the  exterior  is  a 
graver  word  than  outhide,  so  is  Inte- 
rior than  Inside.  The  interior  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  conveys  a  different 
impression  from  the  inside ;  the  latter 
is  simply  that  which  is  not  the  out- 
side or  the  neighbouring  street ;  the 
former  is  architecturally  correlative  to 
the  exterior.  In  the  same  way,  in 
speaking  of  insignificant,  objects,  we 
use  the  term  Inside;  as  the  inside, 
not  the  interior,  of  a  glove,  or  a  shoe. 

INSIDIOUS.     Treacherous. 

An  enemy  is  Insidious  (Lat.  insi- 
diosus,  artful).  A  friend  is  Treache- 
rous (see  Faithless).  The  insidious 
nwin  carries  on  a  system  of  deccptiv,- 


SYNONYMS  [iNSIDEJ 

ti-eatment  under  the  mask  of  indiffe- 
rence. The  treacherous  man  betrays 
all  at  once  the  friendship  or  confidence 
which  has  been  reposed  in  him.  In 
their  metaphorical  meanings,  this  dis- 
tinction is  sustained.  A  treacherous 
climate  is  one  which,  under  the  ap- 
pearance of  cloudless  skies  and 
warmth,  harbours  fever  or  other  dis- 
ease, which  may  at  any  time  take 
suQuen  effect.  An  insidious  disease  is 
one  of  which  the  virulence  and  certain 
progress  are  marked  by  the  absence 
of  pain,  and  the  slow  degrees  by 
which  it  develops  itself. 

"  The  upright  man  hath  little  of  the  ser- 
pent, none  of  its  lurking  insidiousness." 
—Barrow. 

"  The  world  must  think  him  in  the  wrong. 
Would  say  he  made  a  treach'rous  use 
Of  wit,  to  flatter  and  seduce."       SwiPT. 

INSIGHT.     Inspection. 

Insight  is  for  one's  self.  Inspec- 
tion (Lat.  inspectionem ;  inspicirej  to 
look  into)  is  for  some  purpose  external 
to  one's  self  directly  connected  with 
the  object  inspected.  Insight  extends 
knowledge  or  experience.  Inspection 
is  for  the  sake  of  assurance  or  amend- 
ment. Insight  is  quick,  and  may  be 
instantaneous ;  inspection  is  careful 
and  gradual.  Insight  is  connected 
with  the  understanding;  inspection 
more  simply  with  the  bodily  vision. 

"  Angels,  both  good  and  bad,  have  a  full 
insight  into  the  activity  and  force  of  natural 
causes." — SouTn. 

"  The  embroilment  in  his  father's  affairs 
could  never  have  happened  if  the  affairs 
of  that  kingdom  had  been  under  a  more 
equal  inspection." — BuRNHT. 

INSINUATE.    Suggest. 

One  Insinuates  (Lat.  insinuare,  te 
put  into  the  bosom)  finely  and  with 
address;  one  Suggests  (Lat.  sitggc- 
rcre,  part,  siiggestus)  by  influeiice  and 
design.  In  order  to  insinuate  one 
must  manage  the  time,  the  occasion, 
the  air  and  manner  of  saying  the 
thing.  To  suggest,  one  must  have 
gained  some  sort  of  influence  over  the 
minds  of  persons.  One  covers  skil- 
fully what  one  insinuates,  one  gives 
force  to  what  one  suggests.  The  sub- 
ject of  an  insinuation  is  commonly 
an  opinion ;  that  of  suggestion  an  act 
r^T  course  of  action,  though  we  may 


[instrument]        discriminated. 

also  suggest  openly  and  in  matters  of 
opinion  also ;  as,  to  suggest  an  expla- 
nation for  a  difficulty.  There  is  both  in 
insinuation  and  in  suggestion,  a  limi- 
ted statement  which  is  left  to  be  en- 
forced, expanded,  or  applied  by  the 
understanding  of  the  person  addressed. 
Insinuation  is  of  a  personal  character, 
having  to  do  with  men's  characters, 
motives,  and  actions  ;  suggestion  may 
be  on  any  matter.  The  moral  cowar- 
dice which  shrinks  from  the  respon- 
sibility of  an  outspoken  declaration, 
leads  persons  to  insinuate.  The  mo- 
desty which  distrusts  its  own  judg- 
ment, or  which  is  slow  to  dictate  to 
others,  leads  them  to  suggest. 


525 


INSIST.  Persist. 
Insist  (Lat.  insistere,  to  persevere,  to 
urge)  andP  EHSiST  (persisterCyto  continue 
steadfastli^)hoih  denote  determined  con- 
tinuance in  speech  or  action  against 
some  amount  of  opposition,  which  is 
overcome  in  the  former  case  by  deter- 
mination and  energy  of  will;  in  the 
latter  by  p^severance  and  patience. 
We  insist  as  against  others.  We 
persist  in  what  exclusively  relates  to 
ourselves.  "  He  persisted  in  that 
course."  ''He  insisted  on  his  friend's 
adopting  it."  Insist  implies  some 
alleged  right,  as  authority  or  claim. 
Persist  may  be  from  obstinacy  alone, 
and  either  with  or  against  rights. 
"  I  urged  you  further ;  theu  you  scratched 

your  head. 
And   too   impatiently  stamped   with   your 

foot; 
Yet  I  insisted  ;  yet  you  answered  not. 
But,  with  an  angry  wafter  of  your  hand. 
Gave  sign  for  me  to  leave  you." 

Shakespeare. 
"  I,  on  the  other  side, 
Us'd  no  ambition  to  commend  my  deeds ; 
The  deeds  themselves,  though  mute,  spoke 

loud  the  doer. 
But  they  persisted  deaf,  and  would  not 

seem 
To  count  them  things  worth  notice." 

Milton. 

INSTINCTIVE.     Intuitive. 

That  is  iNSTiNtTiVE  (Lat.  instin- 
guere,  part,  instinctus,  to  instigate,  im- 
vel)  which  we  are  led  to  feel  or  to  do 
oy  the  involuntary  and  unreasoning 
prompting  of  nature  ;  instinct  being, 
according  to  Paley's  well-known  de- 
6nition,  "  A  propensity  prior  to  expe- 


rience, and  independent  cf  instruc- 
tion." 

That  is  Intuitive  (Lat.  intuirtf  to 
look  on,  part,  intuttus)  which  is  the 
action  or  result  of  knowledge,  inde- 
pendent of  reasoning  or  instruction. 
The  instinctive  regards  feeling  and 
action,  whether  bodily  or  mental,  the 
intuitive  regards  perception.  Gene- 
rally speaking,  I  do  a  thing  instinc- 
tively, and  understand  it  intuitively. 

INSTITUTE.     Institution. 

To  Institute  {Lat,  instttiiere,  part. 
instttiitus)  is  to  set  up,  to  cause  to 
stand,  to  establish.  That  which  is 
publicly  established  with  authority  is 
an  institution.  But  the  word  Institu- 
tion has  the  particular  meaning  of  an 
established,  organized  society.  In- 
stitute (setting  aside  its  meaning  of 
authoritatively  recognized  precepts  or 
principles  of  jurisprudence)  is  simi- 
larly employed.  The  diiference  seems 
to  be  that  Institution  being  an  old 
word  in  English,  and  Institute  in  this 
sense  being  an  adoption  of  the  French 
Institut,  which  is  a  literary  and  phi- 
losophical society,  the  term  Institute 
is  restricted  to  this  use.  So  among 
other  institutions  in  large  towns, 
literary,  charitable,  or  commercial, 
we  observe  generally  in  these  days  a 
mechanics'  institute. 

INSTRUMENT.  Implement. 
Tool. 

Instrument  (Lat.  instrumentum, 
instruh-e,  to  furnish)  is  used  in  more 
than  reference  to  physical  manipu- 
lation. We  speak  of  agricultural  and 
surgical,  but  also  of  mathematical 
instruments.  Anything  which  is  em- 
ployed to  do  a  work  or  effect  an  end 
is  an  instrument,  as  a  musical  instru- 
ment. 

Implement  (Lat.  implimentutn,  in  a 
late  sense  of  a  fulfilling,  implh-e,  to 
Jill  up)  is  always  restricted  to  physical 
use. 

Tool  (A.  S.  tol)  is  a  simpler  word 
for  an  instrument  of  the  manual  arts, 
and  differs  from  Implement  in  being 
more  general  or  less  specific.  An 
implement  is  a  tool  regarded  in  refe- 
rence to  its  particular  purpose.  In 
the  metaphorical  application,  Instru- 


526 


SYNONYMS 


[insult] 


MRNT  is  capable  of  an  honourable  or 
indifferent,  as  well  as  dishonourable, 
Tool  only  of  a  dishonourable,  sense. 
"  The  tool  of  a  party."  "An  instru- 
ment in  the  hands  of  God."  "  An  in- 
strument in  bringing  about  a  peace 
between  the  two  nations."  The 
character  of  a  tool  is  simplicity,  of  an 
implement  technical  adaptation,  of  an 
instrument  scientific  ingenuity  and 
effectiveness.  One  speaks  of  the  tools 
of  a  carpenter,  of  the  implements  of 
husbandry,  of  the  instruments  of  the 
astronomer.  The  implement  goes  to 
perform  a  work  with  which  it  comes 
into  physical  contact,  the  insti-ument 
is  a  scientific  invention  for  multipl}'- 
ing  and  enhancing  the  faculties  and 
powers  of  men. 

"  The  bold  are  but  the  instruments  of  the 

wise."  Dryden. 

"  Dilated  and  infuriate,  shall  send  forth 
From  far  with  thund'ring  noise  among  our 

foes 
8nch  implements  of  mischief  as  shall  dash 
To  pieces  and  o'erwhelm  whatev^sr  stands 
Adverse."  Milton. 

INSULT.  Affront.  Outrage. 
Indignity. 

An  Insult  (Lat.  insultdre,  to  leap 
upon)  is  never  accompanied  by  vio- 
lence, as  at  present  used — this  sense 
being  reserved  for  assault  (  Lat.  asiUlre, 
to  leap  upon,  sup.  assultum)  another 
compound  of  the  same  verb — but  con- 
sists in  words  or  actions  of  an  offen- 
sive and  derogatory  kind. 

Affront  (O.  Fr.  afronter,  Lat.  ad 
frontem,  to  the  forehead  or  front)  is  a 
marked  intentional,  if  not  public, 
breach  of  politeness.  It  lies  more  in 
manner  than  in  words,  and  may  be 
unaccompanied  by  words.  It  is  more 
demonstrative  and  less  bitter  than 
insult. 

Outrage  (Fr.  outrage)  is  gross  and 
violent  insult  and  indignity,  or  over- 
bearing or  cniel  violation  of  the  feel- 
ings or  the  person. 

Indignity  (Lat.  indignHixLiem,  un- 
warthiness,  baseness)  can  only  be  prac- 
tised upon  persons  claiming  or  entitled 
to  high  respect ;  the  force  of  it  de- 
pending on  the  contrast  between  the 
worth  or  station  of  the  person,  and 
the  treatment  to  which  he  is  subjected. 


"  The  defender  oi  religion  should  not  imi- 
tate the  insulter  of  it  in  his  modes  of 
disputation,  which  may  be  comprised  in 
sophistry,  buffoonery,  and  scurrility," — 
Warburton. 

♦'  If  thy  brother  or  thy  neighboBr  have 
offered  thee  an  injury  or  an  affront,  forgive 
him.  "—Chilling  WORTH. 

As  Indignity  implies  superiority  in 
the  object  of  it,  so  Affront  implies 
equality ;  while  Insult  may  be  to  the 
strong  or  the  weak,  to  superiors, 
equals,  or  inferiors.  The  weakness 
and  modesty  of  women  are  said  to  be 
insulted  or  outraged,  not  affronted. 
An  affi-ont  is  a  manifestation  of  re- 
proach or  contempt  in  the  face  of  an- 
other. It  wounds,  and  is  intended  to 
wound,  those  who  are  sensitive  to 
their  honour.  An  insult  is  an  insolent 
attack.  It  is  more  easy  to  imagine  an 
affront  where  none  was  intended  than 
an  insult.  There  never  can  be  a  jus- 
tification of  insult.  Affront  is  passive 
in  its  character,  insult  and  outrage 
active.  Good  men  never  insult,  but 
it  would  be  better  to  affront  another  or 
run  the  risk  of  doing  so,  than  to  appear 
to  sympathize  with  him  in  what  is  dis- 
graceful. Affront  does  not  exclude 
politeness.  Insult  does. 

"  This  is  the  round  of  a  passionate  man's 
life  :  he  contracts  debts  when  he  is  furious, 
which  his  virtue,  if  he  has  virtue,  obliges 
him  to  discharge  at  the  return  of  reason. 
He  spends  his  time  in  outrage  and  repara- 
tion."— Johnson. 

"  The  Spaniards  took  it  as  the  greatest 
indignity  in  the  world  that  Holland  should 
pretend  to  oblige  the  crown  of  Spain  to 
accept  the  very  conditions  of  France." — 
Sir  W,  Tkmple. 

INSUPERABLE.  Insurmount- 
able. Invincible.  Unconquer- 
able. 

Mental  bairiers  are  commonly  said 
to  be  Insuperable  (Lat.  insupera* 
bills ;  in-f  not,  and  siiptrare,  to  get  over)  ; 
such  are  difficulties,  obstacles,  or  ob- 
jections. That  is  said  to  be  insuper- 
able which  the  person  has  not  the 
power  of  overcoming;  as  that  is  In- 
surmountable  (in',  not,  and  turmount' 
able,  Fr.  surmonter,  to  swmount)  which 
does  not  admit  of  sufficient  external 
appliances ;  so,  an  insuperable  aver- 
sion, an  insurmountable  objection. 

Invincible  (Lat.  invincK&^/is)  is  em* 


[insurrection]     discriminated. 


527 


ployed  to  denote  that  which  power 
cannot  oyercome ;  as,  invincible  igno- 
rance, the  Invincible  Armada. 

Unconquerable  (Lat.  conqmrh-ey 
in  a  late  sense  of  to  conquer),  denotes 
what  cannot  be  overcome  by  the  par- 
ticular power  of  reason  or  persuasion, 
and  is  accordingly  applied  usually  to 
the  resistance  which  proceeds  from  an- 
tagonistic feeling  ;  as,  unconquerable 
prejudice,  aversion,  and  the  like. 

"  Many  who  toil  through  the  intricacy  of 
complicated  systems  are  insuperably  embar- 
rassed with  the  least  perplexity  in  common 
affairs." — Rambler. 

"  Doubtless  they  saw  in  the  attempt  (to 
convert  the  people  beyond  the  Rhine)  tuswr- 
mountable  difficulties,  either  from  the  diver- 
sity of  language,  or  the  ferocity  of  these 
nations  so  remote  from  Christian  mildness," 
— JORYIN, 

"  The  invincibleness  of  general  custom." 
— WiLKIKS. 

**  All  is  not  lost ;  the  unconquerable  will 

And  study  of  revenge,  immortal  hate. 

And  courage  never  to  submit  or  yield. 

And  what  is  else  not  to  be  overcome." 

MlLTOU. 

INSURRECTION.  Sedition. 
Rebellion.  Revolt.  Revolution. 
Mutiny.     Defection.     Riot. 

An  Insurrection  (Lat.  insurrec- 
tionem,  insurgire,  sup.  insiir rectum,  to 
rise  up)  is  a  rising  up  of  individuals 
against  the  laws  of  a  community  or 
state  or  the  authority  of  the  govern- 
ment. This  may  or  may  not  be  carried 
out  into  fighting  or  active  opposition, 
the  mere  taking  up  arms  against  the 
State  being  sufficient  to  constitute  in- 
surrection. 

Sedition  is,  literally,  a  sepai*ation 
of  the  people  (Lat.  seditionem ;  se-, 
apart,  and  itionem,  a  going).  It  is  such 
a  commotion  in  the  State  as  manifests 
public  discontent,  without  aiming  at 
violent  opposition  to  the  laws.  It  is 
generally  the  work  of  turbulent  and 
audacious  spirits. 

Reb ellion (Lat.  r'&bellionem)  is  from 
the  Latin  re-,  again,  and  helium,  war. 
The  term  was  applied  by  the  Romans, 
not  to  risings  at  home,  but  abroad,  a- 
mong  those  conquered  nations  who,  in 
seeking  to  cast  oflf  the  Roman  power, 
involved  the  State  in  a  new  war.  It  is 
employed  by  us  in  the  sense  of  a  rieing 


of  the  whole  or  the  great  majority  of 
a  people  against  the  supreme  ruler  of 
government,  being  an  extended  insur- 
rection or  revolt. 

Revolt  (Fr.  rdvolte),  is  an  attempt 
ta  shake  off  one  ruler  or  form  of 
government,  for  the  purpose  of  sub- 
stituting another.  This  may  not  have 
come  to  overt  acts  of  violence.  A 
parliament  may  be  in  a  state  of  revolt 
from  the  supreme  ruler  without  using 
more  than  meetings  and  proclama- 
tions. It  may  be  well  to  dwell  a 
little  on  the  specific  differences  be- 
tween Rebellion  and  Revolt.  Re- 
bellion is  an  outbreak  of  disobedience 
and  indignation.  The  rebel  rises  up 
against  the  authority  that  presses  upon 
him.  The  Revolter  turns  against  the 
society  to  which  he  was  attached.  The 
object  of  the  former  is  to  escaipe  from 
the  power  that  dominates  over  him, 
that  of  the  latter,  to  overthrow  and  de- 
stroy the  power  and  the  laws  which 
he  has  recognized.  A  successful  re- 
bellion ends  in  a  revolt,  a  permanent 
revolt  in  a  revolution.  Rebellion  and 
revolt  are  states  of  war,  revolution  is 
a  state  of  peace,  though  on  a  new  foot- 
ing. Revolt  is  commonly  employed  of 
important  matters,  Rebellion  some- 
times of  things  less  important.  Hence 
Rebellion  is  more  easily  applicable 
to  individuals  and  individual  acts  than 
Revolt.  Revolution,  which  is  of  the 
same  derivation,  is  such  a  radical 
change  in  the  political  organization 
as  supposes  a  revolt  successfully  car- 
ried out. 

MuTiNir(Fr.  meute,  Lat.  mofa, a  troop 
raised  for  some  expedition,  became  = 
6meute,  whence,  adj.  mutin,  Bracket) 
is  a  movement  of  revolt  against  minor 
institutions  or  against  military  or 
naval  authorities  or  commanders,  as 
the  mutiny  of  a  regiment  or  a  ship's 
crew.  Insurrection,  rebellion,  and 
revolt,  may  be  universal  or  partial. 
Sedition  and  mutiny  are  always  par- 
tial.    Revolution  always  universal, 

*'  Our  people   here   at  home,  grown  difc 
content 
Through   great  exactions,  insurrection$ 

breed."  Danikl. 

"  Sedition  is  of  the  like  tendency  with 
treason,  butwith(-at  the  overt  acts  th«it  ar« 
essential  to  tie  la  ;ter." — Brax  dk 


628 


SYNONYMS  [intellect] 


"  For  rebellion  bein^  an  opposition,  not  to 
persons  but  to  authority,  which  is  founded 
only  in  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
government,  those,  whoever  they  be,  who 
by  force  break  through,  and  by  force  justify 
their  violation  of  them,  are  truly  and  pro- 
perly rebels."— Locke. 

"  Our  discontented  counties  do  revolt." 
Shakespeare. 

Revolt  is  not  commonly  employed  of 
individuals,  but  of  communities  which 
form  part  of  a  more  extended  juris- 
diction, as  the  "  revolted  provinces." 

"  The  violence  of  revolutions  is  generally 
proportioned  to  the  degree  of  the  malad- 
ministration which  has  produced  them," — 
Macaulay. 

"In  every  mutiny/  against  the  discipline 
of  the  college  he  was  the  ringleader." — 
Ibid. 

Defection  differs  from  the  above 
in  having  not  an  active  but  a  negative 
force.  Defection  (Lat.  dlfectmiem)  is 
the  failure  in  duty,  obligation,  alle- 
giance, to  that  to  which  one  ought  to  be 
attached  or  has  attached  one's  self.  It 
springs  from  abated  force  of  principle, 
as  estrangement  of  feeling.  Insurrec- 
tion, sedition,  and  mutiny  are  external 
acts.  Revolt,  rebellion,  revolution, 
and  defection  are  ex'pressive  also  of 
acts  or  states  of  mind. 

"  There  were  fewer  instances  then  of 
leaving  one  sect  for  another  than  now  we 
have  of  defection  to  Popery,  or  of  apostasy 
to  Mahometism." — Bentley. 

Riot  (O.  Fr.  riote,  and  not,  Lit- 
tre)  the  doing  of  anything  in  a  tur- 
bulent or  violent  way  against  the 
peace,  and  by  three  or  more  persons 
assembled  for  the  purpose.  Such  is  its 
legal  definition.  In  common  parlance 
any  uproar  or  noisy  and  tumultuous 
conduct  in  one  or  more  may  be  called 
a  riot. 

"  His  headstrong  riot  hath  no  curb." 
Shakespeare. 

INTELLECT.  Intelligence. 
Understanding.     Reason. 

Intellect  (Lat.  intellectus,  intelti- 
gtre,  to  understand)  is,  in  the  strict 
scientific  view,  that  part  of  the  human 
soul  by  which  it  knows,  as  distin- 
guished from  those  by  which  it  feels 
or  wills.  It  is  employed  in  the  fur- 
ther sense  of  the  capacity  for  higher 
forms  of  knowledge,  as  distinguished 
from  the  faculties  of  perception  and  J 


imagination ;  the  faculty  of  seeing  the 
relations  of  objects,  involving  compre- 
hension and  judgment.  The  former 
identity  of  Intellect  and  Intelli- 
gence has  been  of  late  years  dissolved 
(omitting  its  meaning  of  Information, 
as  contained  in  the  newspapers),  and 
Intelligence  now  means  a  good 
quality  of  the  understanding,  a  readi- 
ness to  comprehend  things  of  ordinary 
occurrence,  which  may  be  quickened 
by  practice  and  experience ;  while 
Intellect  is  confined  to  the  mental 
powers  and  their  capacity  in  the  ab- 
stract. Understanding  is  the  Saxon 
expression  for  the  Latin  Intellect  and 
Intelligence.  Its  characteristic  seems 
to  flow  from  this  fact.  It  is  a  native 
word,  and  so  applied  in  a  more  collo- 
quial way,  and  to  the  things  of  life  in 
their  more  familiar  and  practical  as- 
pects. Hence  such  phrases  of  fi-equent 
occurrence,  as  "A  sound  practical 
understanding."  "  I  understand  it 
sufficientlj'  for  practical  purposes." 

"  The  word  intellect  can  be  of  no  essential 
use  whatever,  if  the  ambiguity  in  the  signi- 
fication of  the  good  old  English  word  under- 
standing be  avoided  ;  and  as  to  intellection, 
which  a  late  very  accurate  writer  has  at- 
tempted to  introduce,  I  can  see  no  advan- 
tage attending  it."— STEWART. 

"  In  affirming  that  the  universe  proceeds 
from  chance,  it  would  appear  that  atheists 
mean  either  that  it  has  no  cause  at  all,  or 
that  its  cause  did  not  act  intelligently  or 
with  design  in  the  production  of  it." — 
Beattie. 

Reason  (Fr.  raison,  Lat.  rtitionem) 
is  used  in  manifold  senses.  As  a  syn- 
onym here  it  may  be  defined  as  that 
faculty  or  capacity  of  the  human  mind 
by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  the 
inferior  animals ;  an^  again,  as  being 
different  from  the  lower  powers  of 
cognition,  such  as  sense,  imagination, 
and  memory,  and  as  separate  from  the 
feelings  and  desires.  The  reason  is 
distinguished  from  the  understanding, 
when  the  latter  is  made  to  include 
conception,  judgment,  and  reasoning. 
It  is  then  that  faculty  by  which  man 
perceives  first  tiniths  intuitively  as 
being  beyond  the  reach  of  explana- 
tion or  what  logicians  term  Discourse. 
"  The  sense  perceives,  the  understanding 
in  its  own  peculiar  operation  conceives,  th« 
reason,  as  rationaliaed  understaading  com- 
prehends "-  0OLBBIDa& 


intercourseJ      discriminated. 


529 


INTELLECTUAL.    Mental. 

Mental  (Fr.  mental,  Lat.  mentem, 
the  mind)  is  simply  belonging  to  the 
mind  as  distinct  from  the  body;  In- 
tellectual (see  Intellect)  to  the 
powers,  attributes,  and  dignity  of 
mind,  as  distinguished  fi*om  sense  or 
matter.  "The  conversation  turned 
on  mental  subjects,"  would  mean 
metaphysics ;  on  intellectual  subjects, 
might  mean  any  branch  of  high  know- 
ledge or  education. 

"  In  order  to  the  actual  intellection  of  any 
object,  there  is  a  spiritual  intellectual  light 
necessary  to  enable  the  object  to  move  or 
affect  the  intellective  faculty." — South. 

"  A  strong  expression  of  mental  energy." 
—Stewart. 

INTENSE.     Extreme. 

Extreme  (Lat.  extrimus)  qualifies 
the  last  degree  of  measurement,  In- 
tense (Lat.  intendere,  to  stretch,  part. 
intentus  and  -siis)  a  high  degi-ee  of 
force.  That  which  is  extreme  is  be- 
yond what  is  common,  that  which  is 
intense  is  strained  or  exercised  beyond 
what  is  common.  Extreme  pain  is 
very  great  pain,  intense  pain  is  very 
violent  pain.  Extreme  heat  is  regis- 
tered by  the  then 
makes  itself  felt. 

INTERCEDE.  Interpose.  Me- 
diate.    Interfere.    Intermeddle. 

To  Intercede  (Lat.  intercedere,  to 
go  between)isof  words  ;  to  Interpose 
(Fr.  intei-poser)  is  of  action.  We  in- 
tercede with  a  superior  on  behalf  of 
an  equal  or  inferior ;  we  interpose  be- 
tween equals.  In  interposition  we 
exercise  our  own  power  or  authority ; 
in  intercession  we  endeavour  to  en- 
list on  our  behalf  the  power  or  autho- 
rity of  another. 

Mediate  (Lat.  mMiare,  to  be  in  the 
middle)  is  to  interpose  between  two 
parties,  as  the  equal  friend  of  each, 
with  influence  recognized  by  each. 

Interfere  (O.Fr.  entre-ferir,  toex- 
change  blows,  Lat.  /"erlre,  to  strike)  and 
Intermeddle  are  applicable  to  any 
pre-existent  or  appointed  course  of 
things,  whether  matters  of  personal 
conduct  or  not ;  as,  to  interfere  in  a 
dispute ;  to  interfere  with  arrange- 
ments ;  or  one  arrangement  may  inter- 


fere with  another.  Interfere  implies 
the  exercise  of  influence,  personal 
power,  or  authority,  for  the  purpose, 
or  with  the  effect  of  altering  or  modi- 
fying some  established  course.  Inter- 
meddle is  only  employed  of  the  inter- 
ference of  one  conscious  agent  with 
the  affairs  of  others  in  an  obti-usive 
way,  and  without  any  recognized 
right,  but  of  self-will, 

•'  Moses  interceded  for  transgressors,  ana 
caused  an  atonement  to  be  made  for  them, 
and  stopped    the  wrath   of  God :    so   did 
Christ."— Jortin. 
"  Those  who  in  quarrels  interpose. 
Must  often  wipe  a  bloociy  nose." 

Gay. 
"  And  thereupon  was  Warwick  (by  whose 

ctist 
All  must  be  wrought)  employed  to  medinle 
A  present  marriage,  to  be  had  between 
Him  and  the  sister  of  the  young  French 
queen."  Daniel. 

"  In  truth,  it  is  not  the  interfering  or 
keeping  aloof,  bat  iniquitous  intermeddling 
or  treacherous  inaction  which  is  praised  or 
blamed  by  the  decision  of  an  equitable 
judge."— BuRKK. 

INTERCOURSE.  Connexion. 
Communication.  Communion. 

Dealing. 

Intercourse  (Lat.  intercursus,  in  a 
late  sense,  whence  Fr.  entrecours) 
subsists  only  between  persons.  Con- 
nexion (Lat.  connexionem,  a  binding 
together),  and  Communication  (Lat. 
communXcdtionem,  an  imparting)  be- 
tween both  things  and  persons.  In- 
tercourse is  a  very  wide  term,  com- 
prehending every  kind  of  reciprocal 
action  and  dealing  between  persons 
and  communities,  or  nations,  in  mat- 
ters of  business,  thought,  words,  or 
feelings,  from  matters  of  the  gravest 
to  the  most  ordinary  character.  Con- 
nexion is  permanent,  as  communica- 
tion is  temporary,  intercourse ;  the 
former  involving  an  unity  and  com- 
munity of  purpose  or  dealing  ;  the 
latter  a  more  casual  interchange  of 
words  and  thoughts  in  the  common 
aflPairs  of  life. 

Communion  (Lat.  commiinioHem, 
participation  in  common)  which  lies  less 
in  externals  than  Communication,  is 
among  many,  being  such  interchange 
of  offices  as  flows  from  i  fcond  of  unity 
in  sentiment,  feelings    t  conviction. 

SI   M 


530 


SYNONYMS  [interest^ 


Communication  is   from  one   to   an- 
other ;  communion  is  reciprocal. 

Dealing  (A.  S.  daUm,  to  divide)  is 
entirely  confined  to  exteinal  transac- 
tions, being  inapplicable  to  matters  of 
the  mind  and  feeling. 

'•  This  sweet  intercourse 
Of  looks  and  smiles." 

MlLTON. 

"  The  eternal  and  inseparable  conyiection 
between  virtue  and  happiness." — Atter- 
BURY. 

"  Cardinal  Wolsey  in  his  ambassage  into 
(trance,  commanded  his  servants  to  use  no 
French,  but  mere  English  to  the  French  in 
all  commimica^towswhatsoerer." — Camden, 
'  On  flowers  reposed,  and  with  fresh  flow- 
rets  crowned. 
They  eat,  they  drink,  and  in  communion 

sweet 
Quaff  immortality  and  joy."       MiltoN. 

"  It  (charity)  must  preside  with  a  supe- 
riority over  all  the  desires  of  our  hearts, 
that  neither  wantonness  nor  lust,  nor  anger 
and  revenge,  nor  covetousness  and  ambi- 
tion, may  carry  us  aside  from  the  ways  of 
righteousness  and  equity  in  onr  dealings  one 
with  another." — Sherlock. 

INTEREST.     Concern. 

Concern  (Lat.  concernire,  to  mix 
together,  whence  Fr.  concerner)  is 
grave  interest.  As  Interest  (Lat. 
interesse,  to  be  of  importance)  m.a,y  flow 
from  what  touches  our  feelings,  so 
concern  belongs  to  what  is  of  practi- 
cal importance  to  our  circumstances 
and  state.  So  grave  is  the  character 
of  Concern  (while  we  may  be  inte- 
rested even  in  ti'ifles),that  the  term  is 
sometimes  employed  to  express  tlie 
extreme  of  compassion  and  even  sor- 
row. There  is  a  distinct  and  objective 
use  of  the  term  Interest,  in  which 
it  is  synonymous,  not  with  concern, 
but  with  advantage. 

INTERLOPER.     Intruder. 

The  Interloper  was  one  who  ran 
in  between  the  legal  trader  and  his 
trade,  for  the  purpose  of  appropriat- 
ing its  profits  and  advantages.  We 
owe  the  term  to  the  Dutch  (Dut. 
looper,  a  runner,  cf.  Eng.  leap)  and  to 
the  period  when  they  monopolized  the 
carrying  trade  of  the  world.  As  at 
present  employed,  the  word  retains 
this  force. 

The  Intruder  (Lat.  intruderej  to 
thru&t  in)  if  one  who  pushes  himself 


into  a  place  or  a  society  in  an  un- 
welcome mannei  ;  the  interloper  is 
an  intruder  with  the  further  design 
of  benefiting  himself  by  the  intrusion, 
which  he  seeks  to  establish  for  a  con- 
tinuance; while  the  inti'uder  may 
possibly  offend  only  once  or  momen- 
tarily. 

"  They  see  plainly,  whatever  privileges 
are  allowed  your  company  at  Dort  will  be 
given  by  the  other  towns,  either  openly  or 
covertly,  to  all  those  interlopers  who  bring 
their  woollen  manufacture  directly  thither." 
—Sir  W.  TEMPI.E. 

"  Aa  intruder  upon  their  retreat,  and  a" 
disturber  of  their  repose."— iJamiier. 

INTERMEDIATE.      Interven 

INC. 

These  differ  as  being  in  the  middle 
differs  from  coming  into  the  middle. 
lNTERMEDiATE(Lat.  intemicdius)  time, 
space,  points ; 

Intervening  occurrences  (Lat. 
intervenire,  to  come  between).  The  in- 
termediate is  calculated  and  fixed ;  the 
intervening  is  accidental  and  often 
unforeseen.  There  is,  however,  a 
sense  in  which  Inconvenient  stands 
to  Intermediate  as  the  observation  ot 
a  fact  to  the  fact  itself.  When  the  in- 
termediate is  discerned  in  the  course 
of  observation  it  is  intervetiient,  or 
accruing  in  the  course  of  time. 

"  lie  saw  also  the  intermediate  joys  of 
paradise,  wherewith  the  souls  of  the  faith- 
fnl  are  refreshed  until  the  resuiTection." — 
IksHop  Bull. 

♦'  But  a  law  is  then  properly  dispensed 
with  when  it  is  capable  of  being  obeyed, 
and  the  person  capable  of  yielding  such 
obedience  to  it  is  yet,  by  an  intervenieni 
power,  discharged  from  his  obligation  to 
obey."— South. 

INTERMISSION.        Interrup- 

'iiON.     Cessation. 

Cessation  (Lai.  cessdre,  to  cease)  is 
final.  Intermission  and  Interrup- 
tion are  not  final,  inasmuch  as  they 
denote  rest  intermediate  between  two 
movements.  The  one  denotes  extinct, 
the  others  suspended  motion.  Inter- 
mission (Lat.  intermittcre,  to  discon- 
nee t) is  internal;  inteiTuption  external. 
Intermission  is  temporary  cessation 
(or  cessation  at  intervals)  regarded  in 
itself,  or  as  self-produced  ;  Interrup- 
tion (Lat.  interrumpere^  to  break  apart'^ 


[INTKODUCEJ  DISCRIMINATED. 


531 


is  the  same  thing  as  produced  by  ex- 
ternal force  or  influence.  It  may  be  ob- 
served that  Intehmission  denotes  com- 
plete cessation,  while  Interruption 
may  denote  no  more  than  such  check 
as  produces  an  alteration  of  proceed- 
ing. The  stream  which  is  interrup- 
ted by  a  rock  still  flows  on.  An  in- 
termission of  a  supply  of  water  im- 
plies, for  the  time,  a  cessation  of  the 
flow.  An  interruption  of  a  speech 
would  denote  that  it  was  still  pursued, 
though  the  uniformity  of  its  delivery 
had  been  interfered  with. 

**  Scourge  after  scourge,  and  blows  succeed- 
ing blows ; 

Lord,  has  Thy  hand  no  mercy,  and  our 
woes 

No  intermission  ?  "  Habte. 

"  The  parliaments  and  two  or  three  high- 
spirited  kings  had  given  some  interruption 
to  the  cruel  exactions." — Burnet. 

"  The  general  eclipse  and  cessation  of 
oracles." — Holland,  Plutarch. 

INTERVAL.  Interstice.  In- 
tersection.    Interspace. 

Interval  (Lat.  intervallum)  is  a 
void  space  intervening  between  any 
two  objects,  as  points  of  time,  or  such 
abstract  difterence  as  is  analogous  to 
this;  as,e.^.,  to  Jbe second  to  another  in 
some  matter  of  proficiency,  but  at  a 
great  interval. 

An  Interstice  (Lat.  interst^du/w)  is 
an  interval  between  things  closely  set, 
especially  the  parts  which  compose 
an  otherwise  continuous  body  or  sur- 
face. 

Interspace  (  Lat.  inter  and  spiitium) 
is  the  space  comprised  by  intersect- 
ing lines, 

INTERVENTION.  Interposi- 
tion. 

These  differ  as  the  involuntary  fi-om 
the  voluntary.  Intervention  (Lat. 
intervtnlrey  to  come  between)  being 
employed  of  accidental  forces  and 
influences,  as  well  as  the  acts  of  volun- 
tary agents.  Interposition  (Lat.  m- 
terpbnere,  to  place  between)  only  of  the 
latter.  The  moon  is  obscured  by  the 
intervention  of  clouds ;  a  happy  in- 
terrention  of  circumstances.  Human 
or  Divine  interposition.  An  excep- 
tion to  this,  however,  occurs  in  the    i 


purely  physical  sense,  in  which  In- 
ter posiiion  is  sometimes  used,  as  the 
privation  of  the  sun's  light  by  the 
interposition  of  an  opaque  body.  In 
that  case,  the  difference  between  the 
terms  is  that  one  implies  previous 
motion,  the  other  not.  Every  plane- 
tary obscuration  is  an  interposition, 
implying  intervention.  In  the  acts 
of  men,  the  motive  of  intervention  is 
commonly  less  authoritative  or  for- 
cible than  interposition.  "  He  owed 
his  1-ife  to  the  intervention  of  another," 
would  mean,  entreaty  or  help ;  inter- 
position would  involve  rescue. 

"  The  species  not  only  of  sensible  objects, 
but  even  of  notions  of  the  mind,  are  pre- 
served in  the  memory,  without  confusion 
and  dissipation,  notwithstanding  lapse  of 
time  and  intervention  of  infinite  variety  of 
numbers."— Hale. 

"  The  righteous  would  be  detained  pri- 
soners here  below  by  the  chains  of  theij 
unhappy  natures,  were  there  not  some  ex- 
traordinary inferposure  for  their  rescue  and 
enlargement."— Glanvill. 

INTERVIEW.    Meeting. 

Meeting  (A.  S.  mttan,  to  meet  with, 
obtain)  is  the  simpler  and  more  com- 
prehensive, but  less  distinctive  of 
these  tenns.  It  may  serve  to  express 
any  coming  together  of  physical  or 
inanimate,  as  well  as  animate  objects 
or  voluntary  agents ;  as  the  meeting 
of  the  waters,  of  clouds,  of  fi-iends,  of 
an  assembly  or  conference.  It  may 
be  designed  or  accidental. 

An  Interview  (Fr.  entrevue,  for- 
merly entreveu)  is,  as  its  name  denotes 
a  mutually-recognized  meeting  be- 
tween tw©  or  more  persons,  usually 
preconcerted,  and  for  a  purpose  al 
ready  known.  It  involves  a  common 
matter  of  importance  to  both  parties, 
which  demands  formal  adj  ustment. 
"  Stay,  stay  your  steps,  and  listen  to  my 

vows ; 
'Tis  the  last  interview  that  fate  allows," 
Dbyden,  Virgil. 

"  We  can  just  as  easily  conceive  the  con- 
nection and  mutual  influence  of  soul  and 
body,  as  we  can  explain  how  two  mathema- 
tical lines  indefinitely  pi-oduced  can  be  for 
ever  approaching  each  other,  yet  never 
meei,"— Bishop  Porteus. 

INTRODUCE.  Insert.  Present. 

Introduce  (Lat.  introductre,  to  lead 

within)  has  its  physical  and  its  moral 


532 


SYNONYMS  [introductory] 


senses.  In  the  former  it  is  synony- 
mous -with  Insert  (Lat,  i?jsem*e, part. 
msertus),  in  the  latter  with  Present 
(Lat.  prcese7itdre,  to  present,  to  present 
one's  self).  As  employed  of  physical 
operations,  to  Introduce  implies  an 
easier  process  than  insertion,and  is  bet- 
ter employed  of  cases  where  the  way  is 
partly  open  or  facilitated  ;  Insert,  of 
cases  where  the  way  has  to  be  artifi- 
cially made.  Moreover,  that  which 
is  introduced  may  be  hidden  from 
view ;  that  which  is  inserted  is  partly 
visible  after  insertion.  Insert  has  a 
more  purely  physical  force  than  In- 
troduce, and  commonly  implies  a 
more  permanent  purpose.  An  addi- 
tional topic  is  introduced ;  an  addi- 
tional paragraph  is  inserted.  The 
surgeon's  probe,  having  only  a  tem- 
porary use,  is  introduced,  not  inserted, 
into  the  wound.  Introduction  may 
be  a  gradual  process;  insertion  is 
done  at  once. 

•'  They  are  the  plainest  and  best  dealers 
in  the  world,  which  seems  not  to  grow  so 
much  from  a  principle  of  conscience  or  mo- 
rality as  from  a  custom  or  habit  introduced 
by  the  necessity  of  trade  among  them,  which 
depends  as  much  upon  common  honesty  as 
war  does  upon  discipline."  —  Sir  W. 
Temple. 

In  its  other  sense,  and  as  a  synonym 
with  present,  to  introduce  is  to  bring 
forward  one  person  to  the  presence  of 
another  as  an  equal ;  to  present  is  to 
do  the  same  thingto  onewho  is  superior 
to  the  person  presented  or  introduced. 
Persons  are  introduced  to  the  acquain- 
tance of  one  another  generally;  they 
are  presented,  for  instance,  at  court. 
"  The  bud  inserted  in  the  rind, 
The  bud  of  peach  or  i-ose. 
Adorns,  though  differing  in  its  kind, 
The  stock  whereon  it  grows 
With  flower  as  sweet,  or  fruit  as  fair. 
As  if  produced  by  Nature  there." 

COWPER. 

"  Ourlaws  make  the  Ordinarya  disturber 
if  he  does  not  give  institution  upon  the  fit- 
ness of  a  person  presented  to  him,  or  at  least 
give  notice  to  the  patron  of  the  disability  of 
his  presentee" — Ayliffk. 

INTRODUCTORY.  Prelimi- 
nary.    Preparatory. 

In  the  case  of  the  Introductory 
(s?e  Introduce),  the  proceeding  com- 
monly has  reference  to  thought  and 
understanding,   while  Preliminary 


(Fr.  priliminaire,  Lat.  prx,  before ^ 
and  lirfien,  a  threshold)  relates  to  mat- 
ters of  action.  An  introductory  trea- 
tise; a  preliminary  step.  The  one 
precedes  wider  exhibition  or  fuller 
knowledge,  the  latter  more  extended 
action. 

Preparatory  (Fr.  prtparatoire) 
relates  to  the  purpose  rather  than  the 
object,  or  the  doer  rather  than  the 
deed.  In  the  preparatory,  I  do  what 
will  enable  me  the  better  to  do  some- 
thing beyond.  The  preliminary  is 
congruous;  the  preparatory  is  effec- 
tive ;  the  introductory  is  natural. 
Preliminaries  commonly  belong  to 
matters  of  social  arrangement  or  com- 
pact, whether  amicable  or  otherwise, 
as  the  preliminaries  of  a  contract,  a 
marriage,  or  a  duel. 

"  This  introductory  discourse  itself  is  tc 
be  but  an  essay,  not  a  book,"— Boyle. 

"  I  have  discussed  the  nuptial  prelimina- 
ries so  often,  that  I  can  repeat  the  forms  in 
which  jointures  are  settled  and  pin-money 
secured."—  JoHNSON, 

"  A  creature  which  is  to  pass  a  small 
portion  of  its  existence  in  one  state,  to  be 
preparatoiy  to  another,  ought,  no  doubt,  t« 
have  its  attention  constantly  fixed  upon 
Its  ulterior  and  permanent  destination."— 
Paley. 

INTRUDE.     Obtrude. 

Unwelcome  things  or  persons  In- 
trude themselves ;  self-asserting 
things  or  persons  Obtrude  them- 
selves. We  desire  to  rid  ourselves  of 
that  which  intrudes  by  reason  of  its 
inherent  uncongeniality  to  us ;  of 
that  which  obtrudes  by  reason  of  the 
simple  irrepressibility  of  it.  When 
certain  thoughts  intrude  themselves 
on  our  minds  they  make  us  uneasy ; 
when  they  obtrude  themselves,  they 
prevent  us  from  thinking  of  anything 
else. 

"  Thy  wit  wants  edge 
And    manners    to    intrude   where    I    am 
graced."  Shakespeare. 

"  Experience  teaches  that  it  (plain  speak- 
ing) is  too  frequently  under  bad  manage- 
ment, and  obtruded  on  society  out  of  time 
and  season," — Observer. 

INVECTIVE.    Abuse. 

Abuse  (Lat.  UbiUi,  part,  dbiisus)  as 
compared  with  Invective  (Lat.  in- 
vect'iva,  plur.,  angry  complaijits),  is 
more    personal    and    coarse,     being 


rresolute]         discriminated. 


533 


conveyed  in  harsh  and  unseemly 
terms,  and  dictated  by  angry  feel- 
ing and  bitter  temper.  Invective 
is  more  commonly  aimed  at  cha- 
racter or  conduct,  and  may  be  con- 
veyed in  writing  and  in  refined  lan- 
guage, and  dictated  by  indignation 
against  what  is  in  itself  blameworthy. 
It  often,  however,  means  public 
abuse  under  such  restraints  as  are 
imposed  by  position  and  education. 

"  It  seemeth,  therefore,  mach  amiss  that 
against  them  ■whom  they  term  sacramen- 
taries  so  many  invective  disconrses  are 
made." — Hooker. 

"  Thrasippus,  a  man  of  violent  pansion, 
and  inflamed  with  wine,  took  some  occa- 
sion not  recorded  to  break  out  into  the 
most  violen.  abuse  and  insult." — Cumber- 
land. 

INVIGORATE.       Strengthen. 

FORTIFV. 

Strengthen  (A.  S.  strene^u, 
strength)  is  the  simplest  of  tnese 
terms,  but  it  is  not  so  positively  ex- 
pressive as  the  others.  Anything  is 
strengthened  which  is  made  never  so 
little  stronger  than  before,  though  it 
be  after  all  comparatively  weak. 

Invigorate  (Lat.  in-,  and  vtgdrem, 
vigour)  is  specifically  to  strengthen, 
as  relates  to  the  vital  force  of  a  body, 
or  what  is  analogous  to  it;  as,  the 
spirit  of  a  constitution.  Hence  only 
living  systems  can  be  invigorated. 

Fortify  (Lat.  fortif^dre,  to 
strengthen)  is  applied  to  structures 
and  systems,  as  such,  and  not  in  refe- 
rence to  any  vital  force  which  animates 
the  organization.  The  end  of  invigora- 
tion  is  increased  efiiciency  of  action  ; 
of  fortification,  increased  eificiency  of 
resistance.  That  which  is  strength- 
ened may  yet  be  weak;  that  which 
is  invigorated  or  fortified  becomes 
strong. 

"  With  the  fierce  race 
Poured  in  a  fresh,  invigorating  stream, 
Blood   where  unquelled    a    mighty   spirit 
glowed."  Thomson,  Liberty, 

"  And  there  appeared  an  angel  unto  Him 
from  he&ven, strengthening  Him." — English 
Bible. 

"  Timidity  was  fortified  by  pride."— 
Gibbon. 

INVISIBLE.     Imperceptible. 
Invisible  (Lat.  xnvxiMiu)  is  that 
vliich  cannot  be  seen. 


Imperceptible(  Lat.  m-,  not, perce/)- 
ttUilis,  perceivable)  is  that  which  can- 
not be  perceived  by  the  senses  in 
general  or  by  the  eye  in  particular. 
That  which  is  imperceptible  is  in- 
visible, because  by  its  smallness  it 
escapes  our  sight.  God  is  invisible. 
The  ultimate  atoms  of  which  sub- 
stances are  composed  are  impercep- 
tible. That  which  is  invisible  may 
become  visible.  That  which  is  im- 
perceptible being  so  by  nature  remains 
so  for  ever. 

IRREPROACHABLE.  Blame- 
less. 

The  former  is  a  stronger  term,  con- 
vepng  higher  praise  than  the  latter. 
Blameless  (Fr.  hldmer,  formerly 
blasiner,  Low  Lat.  blasphandre ;  see 
Bracket)  expresses  no  more  than 
the  harmless  absence  of  whatis  worthy 
of  censure. 

Irreproachable  (YrArreprochable ; 
see  Brachet,  s.v.  reprocher),  the  pos- 
session of  that  which  deserves  praise 
in  relation  to  social  life.  An  act  may 
be  blameless ;  a  course  of  conduct  irre- 
proachable. To  be  irreproachable  is 
put  forth  in  positive  commendation ; 
to  be  blameless  in  negative  defence. 

"  He  (Berkeley)  erred  ;  and  who  is  free 
from  error?  but  his  intentions  were  trre- 
proachable,  and  his  conduct  as  a  man  and  a 
Christian  did  honour  to  human  nature." — 
Beattie. 

"  To  this  we  owe  much  of  the  innocency, 
and  in  some  respects  blamelessness ,  of  our 
lives,  that  we  hare  not  been  a  scandal  to 
the  Qospel,  a  shame  to  the  good,  and  a 
scorn  to  the  bad." — Hopkins. 

IRRESOLUTE.    Undecided. 

The  Irresolute  (see  Resolution) 
does  not  know  what  to  resolve ;  he  is 
therefore  slow  to  take  a  part,  while 
the  resolute  is  quick  to  do  so.  The 
Undecided  {see  Decision)  does  noi 
know  what  to  decide ;  he  is  therefore 
slow  to  entertain  a  sentiment  which 
the  decided  is  quick  to  form.  So  long 
as  a  man  is  irresolute  he  cannot  deter- 
mine to  act,  so  long  as  he  is  undecidec' 
he  cannot  conclude.  2n  the  first  cast- 
he  fears  and  deliberates,  in  the  second 
be  doubts  and  examines.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  be  quite  decided  upon  the 
merit  of  a  course  of  action  without 
having  the  resolution  to  adopt  it.  Tba 


634 


irresolute  doubts  as  to  what  he  shall 
do,  the  undecided  as  to  what  he  ought 
10  do.  In  irresolution  the  feeling  is 
lot  affected  towards  an  object  power- 
fully enough  to  prefer  it.  In  indeci- 
uion  the  mind  does  not  see  in  any  ob- 
ject motives  powerfully  enough  to 
fix  its  choice.  The  soulthat  is  feeble, 
timid,  pusillanimous,  indolent,  unen- 
ergetic,  will  be  irresolute.  The  mind 
which  is  timid,  sluggish,  light,  with- 
out understanding  and  without  saga- 
city will  be  undecided.  The  irresolute 
man  must  be  prompted,  urged,  incited, 
the  unilecided  man  must  be  enlight- 
ened, instructed,  persuaded,  con- 
vinced. 

IRRITABLE.     Irascible. 

The  former  (Lat.  irritare)  is  used  of 
substances  as  well  as  sentient  beings, 
the  latter  (Lat.  irasci,  to  he  angry)  only 
of  sentient  beings.  Parts  of  the  hu- 
man frame  are  rendered  irritable  by 
disease  or  injury.  The  idea  is  that 
of  an  extreme  and  morbid  suscepti- 
bility. The  merest  trifle  affects  the 
iriitable  man.  The  irascible  man 
is  quick  to  anger.  I'he  irritable 
man  does  not  allow  vent  to  his 
feelings.  Reserved  and  timid  persons 
are  often  irritable.  The  irascible 
man  breaks  out.  The  irritable  man  is 
of  extreme  sensibility  and  suffers  con- 
tinually from  this  peculiarity  of  tem- 
perament, and  is  an  object  of  compas- 
sion. The  irascible  man  flies  off 
without  cause,  and  is  rather  an  object 
of  fear.  The  irritable  man  is  to  be 
managed  by  sympathy,  the  irascible 
by  prudence. 

ISSUE.     Emerge. 

Issue  (Fr.  issu,  part  of  issir,  to  go 
oftit,  Lat.  ejtre),  in  the  purely  physical 
sense,  denotes  the  coming  forth  of  one 
body  out  of  another  which  comprised 
it,  and  had  some  close  relationship  to 
it,  even  if  it  were  not  so  close  as  that 
of  cause  and  effect;  while  Emerge 
(Lat.  emergh-e)  denotes  no  more  than 
the  becoming  visible  by  coming  out  of 
that  which  before  had  the  effect  of  con- 
cealing, or  in  which  the  object  had 
been  plunged  and  enveloped.  "  Horse- 
men issued  from  the  wood,"  would 
convey  the  idea  of  their  having  been 


SYNONYMS  [irritable] 

previously  stationed  there ;  that  they 
emerged,  would  mean,  that  they  were 
seen  to  con-e  out  of  it.  Issue  is  as 
often  the  result  of  mechanical  force 
exercised  on  inanimate  things ;  as 
the  stream  issued  from  the  rock. 
Emerge  is  more  appropriate  to  the 
movements  of  voluntary  agents.  In 
the  secondary  or  analogous  applica- 
tions of  these  words.  Issue  denotes  the 
existence  of  cause  and  effect;  Emerge, 
that  of  antecedent  and  consequent. 

•'  From  this  Eternal  Fountain  of  all 
truth  and  of  all  good  gifts,  there  issues  light 
which  lighteth  every  one  that  cometh  into 
the  world,"— Jortix. 

"  At  the  very  moment  when  some  of  them 
seemed  plunged  in  unfathomable  abysses  of 
disgi-a<-e  and  disaster,  they  have  suddenly 
emerged"—  Bubke. 


JADE.  Weary.  Tire.  Harass. 
Fatigue. 

Jade  (North  Eng.  form,  yaud,  a 
sorry  horse,  has  suggested  a  connexion 
with  A.  S.  eode,  i.e.  goes,  or  gone;  as 
if  a  wearied -out  animal,  but  ?)  denotes 
the  superinducement  of  weariness  by 
forced  repetition  of  the  same  act  or 
effort ;  a  sensation  of  physical  weari- 
ness to  little  profit  of  work  done. 

To  Weary  (A.  S,  werig)  denotes 
the  wearing  effect  of  mental  or  bodily 
exertion,  which  is  accompanied  with 
dissatisfaction  and  distate  of  the  em- 
ployment. Weariness  is  less  than  the 
former  the  result  of  specific  exertion, 
and  may  follow  from  satiety  ;  so  that 
men  may  weary  even  of  enjoyments. 

Tire  (A.  S.  tenan,  tirian,  to  vex, 
iri'itate)  has  much  the  same  force  with 
Weary,  but  commonly  refers  to  more 
active  causes  and  greater  lassitude  in 
consequence.  It  is  the  result  of  the 
difficult,  the  laborious,  or  the  burden- 
some. 

Fatigue  {L&t.  fMgdre,  to  weary) 
relates  to  normal  and  systematic  exer- 
tion, which  has  resulted  in  such  a 
moderate  effect  as  repose  may  correct. 

Harass  (O.  Fr.  harasser,  to  tire  mit) 
combines  with  the  idea  of  wearying 


[jaunt] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


536 


that  of  mental  annoyance  m  care,  im- 
portunities, perplexity.  The  weari- 
ness, however,  is  secondary.  So  that 
a  person  may  be  considerably  harassed 
without  being  wearied  or  fatigued. 
An  accumulation  of  petty  efforts  and 
instigations  results  in  the  feeling  of 
being  jaded. 

"  What  thousands  seek. 
With  dishes  tortnred  from  their  native 

taste. 
And  mad  variety,  to  spur  beyond 
Its  wiser  will,  the  jaded  appetite  1 " 

Armstkoxg. 
"  Whether  by  fate,  or  missing  of  the  way. 
Or  that  she  was  by  weariness  detained. " 
Surrey,  Virgil. 
"  Yet  whatever  degree  of  elegance  he 
possesses,  the  natural  monotony  of  French 
verse    tires  the   ears  accustomed  to   the 
various  harmony  of  our  English  poet." — 
Knox. 

"  Bankrupt  nobility,  a  factious,  giddy,  and 
Divided  senate,  a  harass'd  commonalty. 
Is  all  the  strength  of  Venice." 

Otway. 
"  And  so  the  conqueror, /ai/^erf  in  war. 
With  hot  pursuit  of  enemies  afar. 
Reclines  to  drink  the  torrent  gliding  by, 
Then  lifts  his  looks  to  repossess  the  sky." 
Parxell. 

JANGLE.    Jar.    Wrangle. 

Jangle  (O.  Fr.  jangler)  is  a  term 
formed  to  express  the  sound  of  con- 
fused talk,  as  of  persons  disputing 
with  one  another.  It  expresses  the 
lighter  discordance  of  feeling,  and  the 
state  of  persons  who  are  out  of  humour 
with  one  another. 

As  Jangle  stands  to  disputation  and 
contradiction,  so  does  Wrangle  (Low 
Germ,  urangen,  to  wrestle,  to  strive ; 
compare  A.  S.  wringan,  to  wring,  to 
strain)  stand  to  contention;  that  is,  it 
involves  more  of  argument,  and  of  a 
subject  matter  in  which  the  disputants 
are  contending  for  poirits  in  which  they 
are  personally  interested. 

Jar  (a  word  formed  perhaps  to  re- 
present the  sound,  but  see  Skeat, 
Eiwn.  Diet.)  denotes  more  than  the 
mere  sound  or  expression  of  disagree- 
ment, and  includes  discordant  senti- 
ment, feeling,  purpose,  and  the  like. 

*'  There  are  those,  I  know,  who  will  re- 
gard this  praise,  whatever  it  be ,  as  injurious 
to  the  learned  prelate  rather  than  honour- 
able to  him  ;  who  will  he  ready  to  tell  ug 


that  controversial _;(7n^ZJ7J^«  are  out  of  dat«, 
that  they  never  did  any  good,  and  are  now 
at  length  fallen  into  general  and  just  con- 
tempt."— HuRD,  Life  of  Warburton. 
"  Cease,  cease  such_;ar.?,aud  rest  your  minda 

in  peace."  Shakespeare. 

"  I  worshu)  as  my  fathers  did  before  ma, 
Unpractis  d    in    disputes    and    tvrangling 

schools."  Rows. 

JAUNT.  Excursion.  Tour. 
Trip.     Ramble. 

Jaunt  (the  same  word  aa  Jaunce, 
O.  Fr.  jancer,  to  play  tricks  with  a 
horse  ;  thus  to  "jaunt  "  is  to  play  the 
fool,  hence  to  ramble  ;  Skeat,  Ktym. 
Diet.)  is  a  pleasant  journey  of  a  lively 
character,  and  so. not  commonly  ac- 
companied with  the  fatigue  of  walk- 
ing, having  no  specific  object  or 
fmrpose  beyond  that  of  pleasurable 
ocomotion. 

An  Excursion  (Lat.  excursionem,  a 
running  forth)  is  a  trip  for  pleasure 
or  health,  commonly  undertaken  in 
company,  and  with  a  definite  point 
or  place  in  view. 

Tour  (Fr.  tour,  a  turn)  is  a  syste- 
matic excursion,  having  for  its  object 
the  visiting  of  certain  places,  or  the 
observation  of  a  pai-ticular  district. 
The  road  of  return  is  different  from 
the  setting  out. 

Ramble  is  a  roving  excursion 
taken  at  leisure,  with  no  determinate 
object  in  view,  and  an  expectation 
that  matters  of  interest  sufficient  will 
present  themselves  in  the  course  of 
the  roaming — with  which  word  (A.S. 
ryman,  to  make  room)  Ramble  is  per- 
haps connected. 

A  Trip  (Dut.  trippen)  is  a  short, 
active  expedition  to  a  particular  place, 
undertaken  with  a  view  to  a  speedy 
return.  The  word  Jaunt  had  oi  old  a 
graver  meaning,  equivalent  to  a  weari- 
some journey  on  foot.  So  Milton — 
"  Our  Saviour  meek,  and  with  untroubled 

mind^ 
After  his  aery  jaunt,  though  hurried  sore, 
Hungi-y,  and  cold,  betook  him  to  his  rest." 
The  modern  use  of  the  term  is  illus- 
trated by  the  following  : — 
"  Then  a  fresh  maggot  takes  tkem  in  th« 

head. 
To  have  one  meTTj jaunt  on  shore  ; 
They'd  not  be  fettered  up,  they  swore." 
Yaldkk. 


536 


•'  Of  rest  was  Noah's  clove  bereft. 
When  with  impatitmt  wing  she  left 

That  safe  retreat  the  ark. 
Giving  her  vain  excursions  o'er. 
The  disappointed  bird  once  more 
Explored  the  sacred  bark." 

Cotton. 
"  He  one  day,  attended  by  some  of  his 
officers,  endeavoured  to  make  the  tour  of 
the  island." — Anson's  Voyages. 

"The  little  boat  was  obliged  to  make 
three  trips  before  we  could  all  get  over  to 
the  rest  of  the  party."— Cooks  Voyages. 

"  We  must  not  ramble  in  this  field  with- 
out discernment  or  choice,  nor  even  with 
these  must  we  ramble  too  long." — Boling- 
BROKE. 

JEER.     Scoff.     Giuk.     Sneer. 

Jeer  (of  uncertain  origin)  is  per- 
sonal, consisting  of  words  addressed 
to  an  individual ;  which  is  also  the 
case  with  Gibe  (cf.  Icel.  geib,  idle 
talk)  ;  but  Jeer  conveys  more  of  ridi- 
cule and  contempt,  Gibe  of  bitter 
scorn  and  ill-will. 

Scoff  (O.  N.  skaup,  derision)  is  to 
manifest  contempt  in  any  way,  as  by 
looks,  gestures,  or  words.  It  relates 
not  so  much  to  the  person  as  to  the 
force  of  what  he  says  or  does. 

Sneer  (Low  Ger.  snarren,  to 
grumble)  is  coimected  with  the  gri- 
mace of  expression  rather  than  with 
words.  If  employed,  as  it  may  be,  of 
spoken  contempt,  sneering  is  covert 
and  indirect,  while  scoff  is  open,  in- 
solent, and  defiant. 
*' '  Friend  Tortoise,'    quoth    the   jeering 

Hare, 
'  Your  burthen's  more  than  you  can  bear. 
To  help  your  speed  it  were  as  well 
That  I  should  ease  you  of  your  shell.'  " 

Lloyd. 
"  A  Socrates  himself  in  that  loose  age. 
Was  made  the  pastime  of  a  scoffing  stage." 

Dryden. 
•'  Shrewd  fellows  and  arch  wags,  a  tribe 
That  met  for  nothing  but  a  gibe." 

Swift. 

♦'  Who  can  refute  a  sneer .' "—Paley. 

JEST.     Joke.     Sport. 

As  they  relate  to  the  display  of  the 
humorous,  a  Jest  (orig.  meaning  a 
tale,  geste ;  O.  Fr.  geste,  Lat.  gesta, 
ail  exploit)  is  for  the  sake  of  others;  a 
Joke  (Lat.  j^cus)  for  one's  own. 
Jokes  spring  more  purely  out  of  the 
imagination,  and  less  fi'om  external 
circumstances,  and  are  therefore  com- 


stjjionyms  [jeer] 

monly  less  personal  and  more  liarm- 
less.  Joke  indicates  more  of  pure 
Lilarity,  wit,  or  humour;  Jest  more 
of  ridicule  and  satire. 

Sport  (an  abridgment  of  disport, 
0.  Fr.  se  desporter,  to  carry  one's  self 
away  from  work  to  amusement)  relates 
to  both  persons  and  things,  and  de- 
notes no  more  than  that  they  are 
treated  in  a  light,  where  they  might 
have  been  treated  in  a  gi-aver,  manner. 
Sport  stands  to  jest  as  playfulness  to 
ridicule. 

"  Let  your  jests  fly  at  large ;  yet  there- 
withal 

See  they  be  salt,  but  not  yet  mixed  with 
gall."  Drayton. 

"  And  joyoas  mirth 
Engages  our  raised  souls,  pat  repartee. 
Or  viitty  Joke,  our  airy  senses  moves 
To  pleasant  laughter."  Gay. 

"  And  while  the  robes  imbibe  the  solar  ray. 
O'er  the  green  mead  the  sporting  virgini 

play. 
Their  shining  veils  unbound. " 

Pope,  Homer. 

JOIN.     Unite. 

To  Join  (Fr.  joigner,  Lat.  jimgere) 
is  to  put  things  into  pennanent  con- 
tact. 

To  Unite  (Lat.  unire)  is,  as  its 
etymology  indicates,  to  join  them  in 
such  fasnion  that  they  may  be  one. 
The  objects  joined  or  united  may  be 
of  the  same  or  of  different  natures.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  define  the 
point  at  which  junction  may  become 
union  ;  but  practically  it  may  be  said 
that  things  firmly  brought  together 
are  joined,  inseparably  brought  to- 
gether are  united.  This  impossibility 
of  separation  may  come  either  from 
the  indissoluble  force  of  the  connexion, 
or  from  the  fact  that  the  individuality 
of  the  thing  joined  is  lost.  When  two 
streams  ioin  they  become  united  intc 
one.  We  join  persons  when  we  em- 
ploy them  for  a  common  purpose,  wt 
unite  them  when  we  make  them  one 
in  their  interests  or  feelings.  Love 
and  friendship  unite  persons,  while 
they  may  join  in  social  intercourse  or 
the  same  undertaking.  Many  are 
joined  in  man-iage  who  are  notuniten 
in  heart.  Men  unite  in  esteem ;  they 
may  join  in  battle.  That  which  is 
joined  may  be  separated,  though  it  he 


[judgment] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


5S7 


needful  to  employ  force.  That  which  is 
united  cannot  be  separated  without 
being  broken. 

JOURNEY.     Travel.     V'oyage. 

These  differ  as  the  special  from  the 
general.  Travel  (Fr.  travail,  pain  ; 
of.  arbeit,  labour,  which  in  some  parts 
of  Germany  means  to  travel)  is  loco- 
motion from  place. 

Journey  (Yx.journte,  a  day,  a  day's 
work,  or  xr^'-iey)  is  the  portion  of 
travel  perfonned  on  any  one  occasion. 
It  is  well  enough  known  that  Voyag  e 
(Fr.  voyage,  hat. vidticnm, pronsion for 
a  journey ;  2,  a  journey)  is  now  re- 
stricted to  travel  by  sea ;  but  it  may 
be  remarked  that  this  belongs  to  the 
usage,  not  the  derivation  of  the  word, 
the  French  voyage  being  used  in  the 
sense  of  journey.  Travel  is  indefinite ; 
journey  definite,  having  its  ap)x,'inted 
destination.  We  journey  to  a  country, 
and  travel  in  it. 

"We  must  all  have  the  same  loumey's 
end,  if  we  hope  to  get  to  heaven  ;  bat  some 
may  meet  with  a  freer  road,  and  a  calmer 
•eason,  and  better  company  in  their  jotimej/ 
than  others."— Stiixingfleet. 

"  It  was  the  well-known  remark  of  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.,  who  had  travelled  so 
frequently  through  both  countries,  that 
everything  abounded  in  France,  but  that 
every  thing  was  wanting  in  Spain." — Smith, 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

••  I  love  a  sea-voyage  and  a  blnst'ring  tem- 
pest." 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

JUDGE.  Umpire.  Arbiter. 
Arbitrator. 

Judge  (Fr.  juge,  Lat.  judiccm)  is 
generic,  denoting,  in  its  widest  sense, 
one  who  has  knowledge  sufficient  to 
decide  a  question ;  and,  in  its  more 
restricted  sense  one  who  is  invested 
with  authority  to  do  so. 

The  Umpire  (Fr.  non'pair,  odd 
man;  the  third  party  called  in  be- 
tween other  two)  and  Arbiter  (Lat. 
arbiter,  a  judge)  are  such,  not  by  na- 
tural qualifications,  but  by  specific 
appointment,  and  only  in  private 
matters.  They  pronounce  a  decision 
on  their  own  personal  responsibility, 
and  are  not  required  to  give  reasons  or 
quote  precedents.  The  umpii-e  is 
commonly  chosen  for  his  skill  and 


conversance  with  the  subject-matter 
of  the  question  ;  the  arbitrator,  for 
his  good-temper  and  impartiality ; 
the  cases  which  come  under  the  cog- 
nizance of  the  former  being  questions 
for  adjudication  in  competition;  of 
the  latter,  cases  of  dispute.  Arbiter  is 
the  old  term  for  what  is  now  expressed 
by  Arbitrator,  but  has  risen  to  a 
loftier  meaning — that  of  sovereign 
controller,  or  one  whose  power  of 
governing  and  deciding  is  unlimited. 
An  umpire  may  be  called  in  where 
there  is  not  agreement  among  arbi- 
tratoi-8. 

'  'And  now  by  this  their  feast  all  being  ended, 
Ihe  judges  which  thereto  selected  were 
Into  the  Martian  field  adown  descended. 
To  deem  this  doubtful  case  for  which  they 
all  contended." 


"  If  they  (the  arbitrators)  do  not  agree, 
it  is  usual  to  add  that  another  person  be 
called  in  as  umpire  (imperator  or  impar),  to 
whose  sole  judgment  it  is  then  referred." — 

Bl^CKSTONK. 

"  It  is  a  sign  from  Jove. 
Now  follows  war,  with  all  its  woes  again  ; 
Or  peace  between  us,  by  his  fixed  award ; 
For  Jove  is  arbiter  of  both  to  man." 

CowPER,  Iliad. 

"  It  happens  well  if  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion is  not  almost  settled  before  the  arbi- 
trator is  called  into  the  debate." — Sternk. 

JUDGMENT.  Sense. 
Sense  (Lat.  sensus,  sentire,  to  feel)  in 
the  intellectual  application  of  the  term 
must  by  analogy  be  the  same  thing  in 
the  mind  which  Sense  in  the  material 
application  is  in  the  body.  It  is  the 
faculty  of  warning,  knowing,  distin- 
guishing, discerning  objects,  their 
?|ualities,  their  relations;  when  the 
acuity  connects,  combines  these  rela- 
tions, and  pronounces  on  their  exis- 
tence,it  is  JvvGMEyT(TT.juge,a  judge, 
Lat.  judicare,  to  judge).  Sense  is  the 
intelligence  which  takes  cognizarce  of 
things ;  judgment  is  thereason  which 
decides  upon  them,  the  verifying  fa- 
culty which  determines  on  the  facta 
submitted  to  it  by  the  sense.  Sense 
and  judgment  are  often  and  easilj 
confounded ;  but  sense  is  the  per- 
ceptive reason,  judgment  is  the  de- 
terminative reason.  Judgment  is  the 
practical  development  of  sense.  If 
the  sense  judges,  it  is  not  formally, 
but  lightly  and  instinctively.     Yet  a 


538 


SYNONYM» 


JUMr 


person  of  great  sense  is  acting  ever 
upon  some  degree  of  judgment.  He 
sees  so  far,  so  deeply,  and  so  well,  he 
brings  involuntarily  so  much  reflexion 
to  bear  upon  the  matter,  that  in  his 
case  to  see  and  to  determine  are  the 
same  thing.  Good  sense  is  the  ground 
of  solid  judgment,  but  it  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  contribute  or  insure  it.  Men 
of  very  good  sense  are  not  always  men 
of  sound  judgment,  because  they  allow 
passion  or  prejudice,  which  does  not 
deprive  them  of  their  sense,  to  corrupt 
their  judgment.  The  integrity  of  a 
judge  is  not  merely  his  clear-sighted- 
ness. He  who  has  no  sense  is  a  beast. 
He  who  has  no  judgment  is  a  fool. 
The  man  of  sense  has  practical  discern- 
ment. The  man  of  judgment  has  pro- 
found discrimination.  One  listens  to 
the  former  and  consults  the  latter. 

JUMP.    Leap.     Bound. 

To  Jump  (Sw.  giimpa)  is  to  throw 
one's  self  off  the  ground  in  any  direc- 
tion, or  to  any  height,  however  small, 
from  a  standing  posture,  alighting 
again  on  the  feet. 

To  Leap  (A.  S.  htedpaii)  is  the 
same  movement,  but  for  a  considerable 
interval  and  without  involving  a  re- 
turn to  one's  footing,  as  to  leap  upon 
a  horse.  Curtius  leaped,  not  jumped 
into  the  gulf  in  the  Forum. 

To  Bound  (Fr.  bondir)  is  to  move 
forward  by  a  leap  or  a  succession  of 
leaps. 

JUICE.  Liquor.  Liquid.  Hu- 
mour. 

Juice  (Fr.  jus,  Lat.  jus,  broth)  is 
the  moisture  which  is  naturally  fur- 
nished by  bodies  in  greater  or  less 
quantity,  and  may  be  expressed  from 
them,  as  in  vegetables  and  fruits,  and 
less  commonly  in  animal  bodies. 
Liquid  is  fluid  which  is  not  aeriform. 
Liquor  is  liauid  in  relation  to  arti- 
ficial uses  ana  treatment. 

Humour  (Lat.  humorem,  moisture) 
is  especially  the  moisture  or  fluid  of 
animal  bodies  secreted  in  health  or 
disease. 

"  If  ,so,  yet  still  I  can  assure  our  safety  ; 
For  as  you  fear  my  softness  of  complexion, 
I'll  stain  it  with  the  Juice  of  dusky  leaves." 
Mason. 


"  A  fermented  liqtior,  for  example,  which 
is  called  beer,  but  which,  as  it  is  made  of 
molasses,  bears  very  little  resemblance  to 
our  beer,  makes  a  considerable  part  of  the 
common  drink  of  the  people  in  America." — 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  In  oil  of  aniseeds,  which  I  drew  both 
with  and  without  fermentation,  I  observed 
the  whole  body  of  the  oil  in  a  cool  place  to 
thicken  into  the  consistence  and  appear- 
ance of  white  butter,  which  with  the  least 
heat  resumed  its  former  liquidness," — 
Boyle. 

"  A^mil.  Is  he  not  jealous  ? 
"  Desdemona.  Who  ?  he  ?  I  think  the  sob 
where  he  was  born 
Drew  all  such  humours  from  him." 

Shakespeaeb. 

JUST.     Right. 

Just  has  taken  up  the  combinec. 
meanings  of  the  Latin  Justus  and  the 
French  juste ;  the  latter  meaning 
nicely  coincident  or  fitting,  as  in  the 
English  verb  to  adjust.  A  just  ob- 
servation may  be  one  which  expresses 
justice  or  which  bears  a  character  of 
fitness.  The  contrary  to  the  former 
would  be  an  unjust,  to  the  latter  an 
irrelevant  or  inappropriate  one. 

That  is  Right  (Lat.  rectus)  which 
goes  straight  to  the  point  without  de- 
viation or  error.  That  is  right  which 
is  according  to  rule,  that  is  just  which 
is  according  to  proportion.  A  right 
remark  is  relatively  true,  a  just  remark 
is  well  timed,  opposite,  and  suitable. 
Taking  the  terms  in  their  purely  moral 
meaning,  he  does  just  who  observes 
in  his  dealings  what  is  relatively  due 
to  others,  he  does  right  who  acts  ac- 
cording to  the  direction  of  a  true  rule 
or  law. 

The  French  force  of  Just  appears  in 
the  following : 

"  Many  of  the  poets,  to  describe  the  execu- 
tion which  is  done  by  the  passion,  repre- 
sent the  fair  sex  as  basilisks  which  destroy 
with  their  eyes  ;  but  I  think  that  Cowley 
has  with  greater  justness  of  thought  com- 
pared a  beautiful  woman  to  a  porcupine 
that  sends  an  arrow  from  every  part." — 
!Spectator. 

"  Hear  then  my  argument,  confess  we  must 
A  God  there  is  supremely  wise  and  just. 
If  so,  however  things  affect  our  sight. 
As  sings  our  bard,  whatever  is  is  right." 
Jknyns. 

JUSTICE.     Precision. 

Justice  is  a  safegunrd  against  the 


[kinsman] 

false,  Precision  against  the  super- 
fluous and  useless.  Justness  or  jus- 
tice of  thought  produces  precii?ion  of 
expression. 


K. 

KEEPING.    Custody. 

Kekping  (A.  S.  ctpan,  to  stare  vp) 
i  simple  and  generic. 

Cusi  ODY  (Lat.  custodia)  is  a  specific 
keeping,  involving  responsibility,  and 
is  for  the  sake  of  obviating  escape  in 
the  case  of  persons,  and  loss  in  the 
case  of  inanimate  objects ;  as  the  cus- 
tody of  prisoners  or  documents. 

"  In  Baptista's  keep  my  treasure  is." 
Shakespeare. 

**  Tailor,  take  him  to  thy  custody." 

Ibid. 

KILL.  Murder.  Slay.  Assas- 
sinate.    Slaughter. 

To  Kill  is  the  broadest  and  sim- 
plest term  (witli  some  A.  S.  cicelUm, 
to  kill:  Skeat,  Etym.  Diet.,  gives 
Icel.  kella,  to  hit  on  the  head,  kollr), 
meaning  no  more  than  to  deprive  of 
life,  and  is  applied  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term  life,  as  the  vegetative  life 
of  plants,  which  may  be  killed  by 
frost.  In  the  case  of  persons,  the  act 
may  be  the  result  of  accident  or  self- 
defence,  as  well  as  in  malice  pre- 
pense. 

To  Murder  (Fr.  meurtre,  murder, 
Low  Lat.  mordrum)  was  anciently 
employed  only  of  the  secret  killing  of 
one  human  being  by  another,  but  now 
means  the  killing  with  malicious  fore- 
thought and  intention.  To  Assassi- 
nate is  to  murder  by  secret,  close, 
and  sudden  attack  upon  the  person, 
who  is  generally  one  of  importance. 
The  nature  of  the  deed  flows  from  the 
origin  of  the  word — haschisch,  ine- 
briating hemp  by  which  the  Assassins 
of  the  East,  or  followers  of  the  Old 
Man  of  the  Mountain,  were  incited  to 
their  work  of  stabbing  crusaders  and 
others.  It  is  a  deviation  from  the 
original  sense  to  apply  it  to  poisoning. 

Slay  (A.  S.  sledn,  to  strike,  to  kill) 
is  to  kill  with  a  weapon,  or  by  t lo- 
lence,  (not,  for  instance,  by  poison,) 


DISCRIMINATED. 


539 


and  in  a  sort  of  animal  wa}'',  that  is, 
with  little  thought  but  that  of  de- 
stroying animal  life,  whether  in  men 
or  other  animals.  It  is  violent,  but 
not  necessarily  illegal ;  as,  to  slay  in 
battle.  Slaughter  commonly  de- 
notes killing  in  a  promiscuous  way, 
or  extensively.  This  is  still  the  case, 
even  when  the  butcher  slaughters  a 
single  beast,  the  idea  being  that  of 
supplying  the  meat  market.  Kill  and 
Slay,  but  not  the  others,  are  applic- 
able to  cases  of  suicide,  though  in 
composition  we  meet  with  the  term 
self-murder. 

••  Thon  Shalt  not  kill."— DKCX1.0QVE. 

"  The  first  great  disturbance  in  the  world 
after  the  fall  of  man  was  by  a  murderer, 
whom  the  vengeance  of  God  pnrsned." — 
South. 

"Man.    Of  ruin,  indeed,  methonght  1 
heard  the  noise. 
Oh,  it  continues !  they  have  slain  my  son  I 

Chorus.  Thy  son  is  rather  slaying  them  ; 
that  outcry 
From  slaughter  of  one  foe  could  not  ascend.' 
Milton. 

"  He  (Oliver  Cromwell)  said  assassina- 
tions were  such  detestable  things  that  he 
would  never  begin  them  ;  but  if  any  of  the 
king's  party  should  endeavour  to  assassi- 
nate him,  and  fail  in  it,  he  would  make  an 
assassinating  war  of  it,  and  destroy  the 
whole  family." — Burnet. 

KINGLY.     Royal.    Regal. 

Kingly  means  like  a  king;  Royal 
(Fr.  rot,  Lat.  rigem,  a  king),  belong- 
ing to  the  person  of  a  king;  Regal, 
belonging  to  the  attributes  of  a  king. 
A  kingly  form  ;  a  royal  residence ; 
regal  magnificence. 

"  He  stands  in  daylight,  and  disdains  to  hide 
An  act  to  which  by  honour  he  is  tied, 
A  generous,  laudable,  and  kingly  pride." 

Dryden, 
"  And  by  descent  from  royall  lynage  came 
Of  ancient  kinges  and  queenes." 

Spenser. 

"  Our  adversaries  sometimes  tell  us  of  a 
throne,  a  power  of  judging,  a  regal  autho- 
rity belonging  to  the  Son,  and  that  there- 
fore he  is  God,  and  they  observe,  as  they 
think  shrewdly,  but  in  truth  very  weakly, 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  has,  therefore,  none 
of  that  title  as  having  no  regal  dominion.' 
— WATERI.AND. 

KINSMAN.     Relative. 
Kinsman  is  one  of  the  same  kin, 
and  so  related  by  blood. 


540 


Relative  (Fr.  relatif)  is  one  con- 
nected either  by  blood  or  by  affinity. 

"  By  conseirt  of  the  Britons,  Hengist  and 
Horsa  sent  for  their  two  sons  or  near  kins- 
men to  come  over  with  a  new  army  of 
Saxons  by  sea."— SiK  W.  Templk. 

"  Belativehas  indeed,  within  my  memory, 
by  a  ridiculous  aflfectation  of  false  and  un- 
founded accuracy,  crept  into  improper  use 
to  the  exclusion  of  relation."— TooKE. 

KNAVISH.     Dishonest. 

The  latter  simply  states  that  the 
person  is  the  opposite  to  honest,  or 
that  the  act  is  so  ;  the  former  ( A.  S. 
cnafa,  cf.  Ger.  knabe,  a  boy,  a  young 
man)  carries  the  mind  directly  to  the 
person  and  his  frauds  and  artifices. 
Dishonest  is  a  term  of  grave,  Knavish 
of  contemptuous,  reproach.  The 
former  expresses  a  habit ;  the  latter  a 
propensity. 

"  Although  his  master  had  thoroughly 
thwacked  him  for  his  knavish  tricks  played 
a  few  days  before,  and  that  then  it  seemeth 
he  had  opportunity  to  be  revenged,  he  to 
the  contrary,  employed  himself  after  a 
marvellous  fashion  to  save  his  master." — 
North,  Plutarch. 

"  One  thing  was  very  dishonestly  insin- 
uated, that  the  prisoner  was  a  Papist,  which 
was  only  to  incense  the  jury  against  him, 
and  it  had  its  effect."— iSfate  Trials. 

KNOWLEDGE.  Learning.  Eru- 
dition. Science.  Literature.  Art. 
Letters.     Philosophy. 

Knowledge  is  a  general  term,  de- 
noting the  fact  or  the  subject  of  know- 
ing, clear  perception  or  apprehension, 
familiar  cognizance. 

Learning  (A.  S.  leorman,  to  learn') 
is  acquired  knowledge  in  any  branch 
of  science  or  literature. 

Science  (Lat.  scientia,  scire,  to 
know)  is,  literally,  knowledge,  but 
usually  denotes  knowledge  according 
to  system.  Science  embraces  those 
branches  of  knowledge  of  which  the 
subject  is  ultimate  principles,  or 
facts  as  explained  by  principles,  or 
laws  arranged  in  natural  order. 

Literature  (Lat.  llth-a,  a  letter), 
in  its  widest  application,  embraces  all 
compositions  which  do  not  appertain 
to  the  positive  sciences.  As  a  man 
of  literature  is  versed  in  the  belles 
lettres,  so  a  man  of  learning  excels  in 
'vliat  is  taught  in  the  schools,  and  be- 


SYKONYMS  [knavish] 

longs  almost  wholly  to  the  past ;  while 
Literature  includes  the  current  com- 
positions of  the  day. 

Erudition  (Lat.  iriidltus,  cultiva- 
ted) relates  to  literature  and  learning 
rather  than  to  science,  and  to  its  ex- 
tensive attainment,  involving  a  know- 
ledge of  subjects  commonly  unfami- 
liar. 

Art  (Lat.  artem)  is  the  application 
of  knowledge  to  practice.  As  science 
consists  of  speculative  principles,  so 
art  is  a  system  of  rules,  serving  to 
facilitate  the  performance  of  certain 
actions.  Arts  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  the  useful,  mechanical,  or 
industrial  arts,  and  the  liberal,  polite, 
or  fine  arts.  The  fonner  are  called 
ti-ades;  the  latter  have  to  do  with 
imagination  and  design,  as  poetry, 
painting,  sculpture,  designing,  and 
the  like.  The  teim  ''liberal  arts" 
was  formerly  applied  to  the  subjects 
of  academical  education ;  as  "  De- 
grees in  arts  at  the  universities." 

Letters  (Fr.  lettre ;  Lat.  tith-a,  a 
letter)  equivalent  to  the  French 
^' belles  lettres,"  polite  learning — is  to 
Literature  as  the  abstract  to  the  con- 
crete ;  literature  being  letters  in  spe- 
cific relationship ;  as,  the  literature 
(not  the  letters)  of  a  particular  coun- 
tiy. 

Philosophy  (Gr.  <piXoa-o<pla)  is  lite- 
rally the  love  of  wisdom,  and  there- 
fore has  varied  in  its  application,  ac- 
cording to  tlie  kind  of  wisdom  in 
vogue.  Phenomena  as  explained  by 
causes  and  reasons  would  be  the  sub- 
ject of  mental  philosophy,  pheno- 
mena as  the  result  of  forces  and  laws 
would  be  the  subject  of  physical  phi- 
losophy. The  different  departments 
of  human  knowledge,  as  theology, 
natural  history,  ethics,  metaphysics, 
are  specific  applications  oi  philo- 
sophy. 

"Knowledge,  then,  seems  to  me  to  be 
nothing  but  the  perception  of  the  connection 
and  agreement  or  disagreement  and  repug- 
nancy of  any  of  our  ideas.  In  this  alone  it 
consists.  Where  this  perception  is  there  is 
knowledge." — LocKK. 

"  The  parts  of  human  learning  have  re- 
ference to  the  three  parts  of  man's  under- 
standing, which  is  the  seat  of  learning, 
history  to  his  memory,  poesy  to  his  imagi. 


[lack] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


541 


nation,  and  philosophy  to  his  reason." — 
Bacon. 

"  'Twere  well,  says  one  sage,  erudite,  pro- 
found. 

Terribly  arch'd  and  aquiline  his  nose. 

And  over-built  with  most  impending 
brows — 

'Twere  well  could  you  permit  the  world  to 
live 

As  the  world  pleases.  What's  the  world 
to  you?"  CowPER. 

"  The  works  of  speculation  or  science  may 
be  reduced  to  the  four  classes  of  philosophy, 
mathematics,  astronomy,  and  physic." — 
GlBBOX, 

"  Our  descendants  may  possibly  contem- 
plate with  equal  ridicule  and  surprise  the 
preposterous  partiality  which  the  present 
age  has  shown  to  the  frippery  and  tinsel  of 
French  literature."— ^vs^JlCE.,  Italy. 

"  Art  can  never  give  the  rules  that  make 
an  art.  This  is,  I  believe,  the  reason  why 
artists  in  general,  and  poets  principally, 
have  been  confined  in  so  narrow  a  circle." 
—Burke. 

"  lehe  for  sothe  in  science  otlettres  knowe 
thy  konnyng." — R,  GLOUCESTER. 

"In  philosophy  the  contemplations  of 
man  do  either  penetrate  unto  God  or  are 
circumferred  to  Nature  or  are  reflected  or 
reverted  on  himself,  out  of  which  several 
inquiries  there  do  arise  three  knowledges, 
divine  philosophy,  natural  philosophy,  and 
human  philosophy." — Bacon. 


L. 

LACONIC.     Concise. 

The  Laconic,  so  called  from  the  La- 
conians  or  Lacedemonians,  who  affec- 
ted it,  is  a  species  of  Conciseness.  See 
Concise.  1  he  term  Concise  is  a  term 
of  simple  praise  belonging  to  expres- 
sion or  style.  Laconic  expresses  an 
affected  conciseness,  -which  springs 
not  from  desire  to  do  justice  to  the 
expression,  but  fi-om  some  peculiarity 
or  sentiment  of  the  speaker,  who 
wishes  to  avoid  the  smallest  waste  of 
words  upon  the  subject  or  the  person 
addressed.  Conciseness  is  a  proof  of 
regard,  laconism  of  disregard.  So 
that  it  is  associated  not  only  with 
brevity  but  with  bluntness.  To  be 
concise  shows  mental  refinement,  to 
be  laconic  shows  the  moral  want 
of  It. 


Ntci 


LACK.     Wani.     Need. 

SITY. 

Lack  (an  old  Low  Ger.  word)  re- 
fers more  directly  to  the  failing 
or  inadequate  source  or  supply; 
Want  (Icel.  iwnfa,  to  be  wanting),  to 
the  inadequate  supply  or  possession, 
combined  with  the  requirement  or 
demand. 

Need  (A,S.  nedd,  want,  compulsion) 
relates  directly  to  the  urgency  of  the 
demand,  and  indirectly  to  the  absence 
of  supply.  Want  is  commonly  ab- 
sence of  mere  possession ;  need,  ab- 
sence of  means  of  action.  As  they 
express  states.  Necessity  (Lat.  neces- 
sitatem)  is  stronger  than  Need,  for 
whereas  Need  is  negative,  Necessity 
has  a  positive  and  compelling  force. 
A  man  is  in  need  of  food.  Under 
some  circumstances  there  is  a  neces- 
sity for  immediate  action.  Need  is 
pressing,  necessity  unyielding.  Need 
18  the  strongest  degree  of  requirement, 
necessity  of  demand.  In  the  phrase 
of  the  English  Psalms,  "  See  that  such 
as  are  in  iieed  and  necessity  haveright," 
the  second  term  is  an  augmentation 
of  the  first.  Need  may  be  tempora- 
rily and  easily  removed  ;  necessity  is 
more  lasting  and  less  remediable. 
We  need,  in  cases  of  difficulty,  the 
advice  and  support  of  friends;  but 
lacking  this,  we  are  often  compelled, 
by  necessity,  to  decide  and  act  for 
ourselves.  The  words  Lack,  Want, 
and  Need,  rise  in  force.  The  super- 
fluities of  life — wealth,  estates,  g^eat 
power  or  influence — I  lack ;  the  con- 
veniences which  I  am  without,  I 
want;  the  necessaries  which  I  am 
without,  I  need.  Lack  is  the  absence 
of  excess;  want,  of  comfort;  need, 
of  sufficiency. 

"  But  though  each  court  a  jester  lacks, 
To  laugh  at  monarchs  to  their  face. 
Yet  all  mankind  behind  their  backa. 
Supply  the  honest  jester's  place." 

DODSLEY. 

"  There  is  yet  another  cause  of  necessity 
which  has  occasioned  great  speculation 
among  the  writers  upon  general  Iaw,namely, 
whether  a  man  in  extreme  want  of  food  or 
clothing  may  justify  stealing  either  to  re- 
lieve his  present  necessities." — Black* 
STOJTE. 

•♦It  is  evident  that  nothing  can  be  mora 
amiable,  suitable,  and  universally  subser- 


542 


SYNONYMS 


[lag] 


rient  both  tvj  the  needs  and  to  the  refresh- 
ments of  the  creature  than  light."— South. 

LAG,  Linger.  Loiter.  Saunter. 
Tarry. 

Lao  (Gael,  llag,  weak,  slack)  is 
commonly  relative  to  others,  with 
whom  the  movements  of  the  lagging 
person  are  slow  in  comparison,  a  de- 
finite line  of  progress  being  common 
to  all. 

Linger  (A.  S.  lengan,  to  prolong  de- 
lay) relates  not  to  any  definite  onward 
movement,  either  of  others  or  of  the 

f>erson  lingering,  but  simply  to  the 
ocality  at  or  near  which  the  lingerer 
stops  and  delays.  It  is  sometimes 
employed  of  inanimate,  and  therefore 
involuntary  things ;  as,  a  lingering 
hope  or  sickness. 

Loiter  (cf.  Du.  and  Ger.  luddern, 
to  loiter;  Du.  leuteren,  bteren,  to  de- 
lay) is  to  linger  from  tardiness  or  in- 
dolence, as  Linger  implies  a  constrain- 
ing or  retarding  influence  attached  to 
the  locality. 

Saunter  (which  has  been  derived 
from  sainte  terre,  the  Holy  Land,  as  if 
connected  with  the  strolling  of  pil- 
grims, but  is,  more  probably,  a  modi- 
fication of  the  German  schlenlern,  to 
wander  idly,  of  which  other  forms  are 
schlendern  anislendern)  is  to  move  on- 
wards, but  in  a  lazy,  dreamy  fashion. 

Tarry  (Fr.  tarder,  to  linger;  Lat. 
tarda.}  e)  diflf'ers  from  the  others  in  de- 
noting, for  a  time,  movement  abso- 
lutely suspended,  but  in  reference  to 
an  implied  progress.  We  lag  through 
laziness  or  absence  of  mind ;  linger 
through  attachment ;  loiter  through 
idleness;  saunter  for  pleasuic;  and 
tarry  for  a  purpose. 
"Yet  not  content,   more   to  increase   his 

fehame. 
When  so  she  tagged,  as  she  needs  mote  so. 
He  with  his  spear  (that  was  to  him  great 

blame) 
Would  thnmp  her  forward,  and  enforce  to 
go."  Spenser. 

"  On  yonder  cliffs,  a  grisly  band, 
I  see  them  sit ;  they  linger  yet. 
Avengers  of  their  native  land," 

Gray. 

"  We  must  proceed  on  speedily,  and  per- 
sist constantly,  nowhere  staying  or  fcifer- 
in^,"— Barrow. 

"  Upon  the  first  suspicion  a  father  has 
that  his  sou  is  of  a  saunteriTt^  temper,  he 


must  carefully  observe  him  whether  he  be 
listless  and  indifferent  in  all  his  actions,  or 
whether  in  some  things  alone  he  be  slow 
and  sluggish,  but  in  others  vigorous  and 
eager."— Locke. 

•'  Why  is  his  chariot  so  long  in  coming  ? 
why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariot?"— 
English  Bible. 

LAND.  Country.  Soil.  Mould. 
Earth.     Globe.     World. 

Land  (A.  S.  land)  denotes,  seve- 
rally, the  solid,  as  distinguished  from 
the  fluid  portions  of  the  globe  ;  any 
portion  of  that  mass  as  related  or 
appertaining  to  an  individual  or  a 
people;  the  compositionof  the  earth's 
surface  as  regards  its  agricultural  use ; 
and,  by  a  rhetorical  extension  of  mean- 
.  ing,  the  persons  inhabiting  a  particu- 
lar land. 

Country  (Fr.  contrie,  Latcontrdta, 
the  tract  over  against  the  spectator)  is 
a  tract  of  land  as  it  meets  the  eye,  or 
such  a  tract  as  connected  with  resi- 
dents or  inhabitants,  or  as  opposed  to 
the  city  or  the  town.  It  is  also,  like 
Land,  often  used  for  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country ;  as,  ''  The  unanimous 
feeling  of  the  country."  According  as 
the  term  Country  is  employed  under 
a  physical  or  a  social  aspect,  it  is  ac- 
companied by  different  sets  of  epithets. 
It  is  populous  or  thinly  inhabited, 
prosperous  or  otherwise,  fertile  or  ste- 
rile. Land  in  imaginative  style  is 
employed  to  represent  a  characteristic 
locality  which  is  peopled  by  certain 
associations,  as  the  land  of  dreams,  a 
land  of  plenty,  fairy  land. 

Soil  (Lat.  s)ilum)  is  never  employed 
but  of  the  physical  components  of  the 
earth's  surface. 

Earth  (A.  S.  eor^e,  orig.  meaning 
not  certain),  Globe,  and  World  have 
a  special  connexion  with  one  another. 
Omitting  the  use  of  Earth  in  the  sense 
of  Soil,  from  which  it  differs  in  that 
Soil  is  employed  of  the  aggregate  of 
superficial  substances,  while  Earth 
designates  only  the  lighter  and  looser 
particles,  just  as  Mould  (A.  S. 
molde,  mould,  earth)  again  denotes  es- 
pecially the  highly  fertile  and  fine 
jjarticles  of  decayed  organic  matter, 
we  come  to  regard  it  as  a  synonym 
with  Globe  (Ft.  globe,  ha,t.  ghbum,  a 
ball)  and  World  (A.  S.  looruld),     la 


[landscape] 

speaking  of  the  earth  we  commonly 
have  in  mind  its  external  and  mate- 
rial part.  The  term  World  denotes 
the  moral  and  abstract  view  of  the 
same  thing  ;  the  world  of  Nature  and 
the  world  of  man  in  combination.  We 
speak  of  the  construction,  the  produc- 
tions, the  geological  formation,  the 
planetary  movements  of  the  earth,  and 
its  relative  place  in  the  solar  system. 
The  world  is  the  earth  viewed  in  re- 
lation to  its  inhabitants.  The  earth 
abounds  in  wonders  and  beauties. 
The  world  is  subject  to  the  control 
of  a  supreme  Moral  Governor.  The 
World  is  thus  a  term  of  higher  moral 
dignity  than  Earth  ;  so  we  speak  of  the 
civilized  world,  not  earth.  It  is  in  rela- 
tion to  its  character  as  the  abode  of 
recently-discovered  j)eoples,  that  the 
continent  of  America  was  called  the 
New  World.  The  intellectual,  politi- 
cal, religious,  gay,  scientific  world,  a 
poet's  world  of  dreams,  and  the  like, 
all  denote  the  idea  of  sentient  occupa- 
tion, or  peopling.  The  same  charac- 
ter of  connexion  with  mind  and  sen- 
tient recognition,  as  of  the  Creator  or 
of  the  angels,  belongs  to  the  use  of 
the  term  World  in  reference  to  the 
heavenly  bodies ;  as,  "  The  unnum- 
bered worlds  which  lie  outside  our 
own."  Earth  is  limited  to  our  own 
planet,  though  we  speak  of  other 
worlds.  A  future  life  of  social  hap- 
piness is  called  a  better  world.  Globe 
IS  used  for  the  earth  poetically,  and 
also  under  its  scientific  aspects,  as  in 
geology  and  phj'sical  geography. 

"  As  8ooa  as  the  luTid  of  any  country  has 
all  become  private  property,  the  landlords, 
like  all  other  men,  love  to  reap  where  they 
never  sowed,  and  demand  a  rent  even  \ar 
its  natural  produce." — Smith,  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

"  All  the  soil  on  that  side  of  Ravenna  has 
been  left  there  insensibly  by  the  sea's  dis- 
charging itself  upon  it  for  many  ages." — 
Addison. 

"  It  is  said  of  Archimedes  that  he  would 
undertake  to  turn  about  the  whole  earth, 
if  he  could  but  have  some  place  beside  the 
earth  to  fix  his  feet  upon." — South. 
"  Look   downward   oa    that  globe,    whose 

hither  side 
With   light  from   hence,  though  but   re- 
flected, shines  ; 
That  place  u«  earth,  the  ieat  of  man  ;  that 

light 
His  day."  Miltok. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


i)43 


"Snre  there  is  need  of  social  intercourse. 
Benevolence,  and  peace,  and  mutual  aid 
Bitween  the  nations,  in  a  world  that  seemt 
To  toll  the  death-bell  of  its  own  decease. 
And  by  the  voice  of  all  its  elements 
To  preach  the  gen'ral  doom."    CowPER. 

"Adam,  earth's  hallowed  mould." 
Mlltox. 

LANDSCAPE.  Prospect.  View. 

The  English  termination  'ship,  like 
the  German  schaft,  is  connected  with 
the  verb  schaffen,  and  the  English 
shape.  Thus  lordship,  friendship,  is 
that  which  constitutes  a  lord,  a  friend, 
and  the  like.  To  this  class  of  words 
belongs  Landscape.  Thus  landscape 
is  a  shape  of  land,  or  the  artistic  re- 
presentation of  it.  It  is,  therefore, 
such  a  prospect  as  comprises  rural  ob- 
jects, or  an  open  space  of  country. 

Prospect  (  Lat.  prospectxts,  from  prb- 
sjnccre^  to  bok for  ward)  is  a  more  gene- 
ral term,  denoting  a  broad  expanse 
overlooked,  without  denoting  any- 
thing of  what  composes  it.  Hence 
we  may  have  a  prospect  of  the  open 
sea  or  of  the  starry  heavens. 

View  (Fr.  vue,  Lat.  vtdire,  to  see) 
is  yet  wider  in  its  application,  and  is 
applicable  to  single  objects ;  as,  a  view 
of  a  town  or  a  street,  as  well  as  of  an 
extensive  tract.  It  implies  unity  in 
variety,  and  details  combined  into  a 
whole.  Landscape  has  no  secondary 
sense.  This  is  the  case  with  View  and 
Prospect — the  former  signifying  opi- 
nions and  aims,  the  latter  the  recog- 
nized probability  of  events  ;  as  some 
persons  are  said  to  hold  peculiar  views; 
after  seasonable  weather  there  is  every 
prospect  of  a  good  harvest. 

"  Straight  my  eye  hath  caught  new  plea- 
sures. 
Whilst  the  landscape  round  it  measures." 
MiLTOJf. 

"  Heavens  I  what  a  goodly  ;)ros;7erf  spreads 
around , 

Of  hills,  and  dales,  and  woods,  and  lawns, 
and  spires. 

And  glittering  towns,  and  gilded  streams, 
till  all 

The  stretching  landscape  into  smoke  de- 
cays." Thomson. 

Unlike  the  rest,  View  is  used  subjec- 
tively for  the  act  of  viewing,  as  well 
as  objectively  for  the  thing  viewed. 


544 


SYNONYMS 


[language] 


•*  For  what  can  force  or  guile  vrith  Him  ? 
Or  who  «aceive  His  mind,  whose  eye 
V'«ws  all   things  at  one  viewf     He  from 

heaven's  height 
All  these  our  motions  rain  sees  and  de- 
rides." Milton. 

LANGUAGE.  Dialect.  Idiom. 
Tongue.     Speech. 

Language  (Fr.  langage;  langue,  the 
tongue)  is  the  most  comprehensive  of 
these  terms.  It  denotes  any  mode  of 
expressing  or  conveying  ideas  ;  as, 
the  language  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
It  may  be  written  as  well  as  spoken, 
nor  is  the  idea  dependent  upon  any 
particular  mode  of  transmission. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  word 
Tongue  (A.  S.  tunge,  tonguCj  speech)^ 
the  idea  of  spokennegs  is  exclusively 
retained.  Tongue,  Speech,  and  the 
other  terms  are  applicable  only  to 
human  beings,  while  Language  may 
be  employed  of  the  natural  utterances 
of  irrational  animals ;  as  the  language 
of  bii'ds.  Spefcii  is  the  faculty  or 
expression  of  articulate  sounds,  and 
is  used  broadly  of  the  whole  human 
race,  while  Tongue  is  commonly  re- 
stricted to  the  peculiar  speech  of  a 
people ;  as  the  English  or  mother 
tongue. 

Dialect  (Gr.  ^laXtxrof,  discourse,  a 
dialect)  is  speech  characterized  by 
local  peculiarities  or  specific  circum- 
stances ;  as,  for  instance,  a  science  or 
a  profession ;  provincial  dialect ;  the 
dialect  of  the  learned. 

Idiom  (Gr.  iSw^a,  a  pecidiaritUf  an 
jdiom )  is  a  foi-m  of  expression  peculiar 
to  a  language  or  an  author ;  and,  in  a 
wider  sense,  the  aggregate  of  pecu- 
liarities in  a  language— that  is,  its 
general  cast  or  genius.  The  idioms 
of  a  language  belong  to  its  structure, 
and  are  the  same,  wherever  the  lan- 
guage is  spoken.  The  dialects  vary, 
as  being  forms  engrafted  upon  it  here 
and  there,  or  mutations  to  which  it 
has  been  subjected  locally. 

"  The  ends  of  language  in  our  discourse 
with  others  being  chiefly  these  three— first, 
to  make  known  one  man's  thoughts  to  an- 
other: secondly,  to  do  it  with  as  much 
ease  and  quickness  as  is  possible ;  and 
thirdly,  thereby  to  convey  the  knowledge 
of  things,  langvage  is  either  abused  or  de- 
ficient when  it  fails  in  any  of  these  three." 
—Locke. 


"  And  we  all  know  the  common  dialed 
in  which  the  great  masters  of  this  art  used 
to  pray  for  the  king,  and  which  may  justly 
pass  for  only  a  cleanlier  and  more  refined 
kind  of  libelling  him  in  the  Lord,  as  that 
God  %vill  ttu'n  his  heart  and  open  his  eyes." 
—South. 
"  But  whence  art  thoa  inspired,  and  thou 

alone. 
To  flourish  in  an  idiom  not  thine  own  ?  " 
Drydkx. 
"  For  what  royalme  almoste  CEnglande 
excepted)  hath  not  all  the   good  autonrs 
that  ever  wrote  translated  into  the  mother- 
toungue  ?  " — Udal. 

"  The  acts  of  God  to  human  ears 
Cannot  without  process  of  speech  be  told." 
Milton. 

LARGELY.    Copiously.    Fully. 

As  adverbs  expressing  modes  of 
abundance.  Largely  (Fr.  large,  Lat. 
largus)  commonly  implies  the  will  of 
an  agent;  as,  "He  distributed  honours 
largely  among  the  citizens;"  Copi- 
ously (Lat.  cbpiosus,  having  abun- 
dance), the  mere  natural  abundance 
of  supply ;  as,  "  Rivers  copiously  sup- 
plied in  rainy  seasons." 

Fully  (A.  S.ful)  applies  indiscri- 
minately to  both,  but  commonly  im- 
plies an  antecedent  measure  of  re- 
quirement or  capacity.  It  is  als< 
more  properly  used  of  abstract  things 
than  the  others ;  as,  *'  To  be  fully  per- 
suaded." 

"  Largelie  promised,  and  slacklie  per- 
fourmed."— HoLlNSHED. 

"  If  our  barren  wits  were  dried  up,  they 
might  be   copiously  irrigated   from   those 
fruitful  well-springs." — BuRTON,  Anatomy 
of  Melancholy. 
"All   hail,    Patroelus!    let    thy    vengeful 

ghost 
Hear  and  exult  on  Pluto's  dreary  coast ; 
Behold  Achilles'  promise /u/Zy  paid. 
Twelve  Trojan  heroes  offered  to  thy  shade." 
Pope,  Homer, 

LAST.  Continue.  Endure.  Re- 
main. 

Last  (A.  S.  l&stan,  to  perform,  con- 
tinue) denotes  a  continuance  in  time, 
and  also  a  condition  unimpaired.  It 
is  applicable  to  physical  and  to  ab- 
stract things  ;  as,  "  This  memorial 
will  last  for  many  generations ; " 
*'  The  storm  lasted  through  the 
night :  "  "  Under  the  violence  of  the 
waves,  the  ship  will  not  last  much 
longer."    The  term,  it  will  be  seen. 


[latest] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


545 


lends  itself  less  appropriately  to  the 
expression  of  mere  physical  conserva- 
tion, and  better  to  abstract  duration. 
It  would  be  impossible  now  to  say, 
with  Bacon,  the  "lasting  of  trees," 
meaning  their  preservation. 

Continue  (Fr.  continuer)  is  not 
applicable  at  all  in  this  sense,  but 
onlv  to  permanence  in  place,  in  time, 
and  in  sequence  as  a  matter  of  obser- 
vation; as,  "  The  sound  continues  ;  " 
"  The  border  continues  round  the 
pattern."  The  first-mentioned  force 
of  Continue,  that  of  permanence  in 
locality,  is  now  so  rare  that  it  may  be 
considered  nearly  obsolete  ;  as,  in  the 
sentence  of  the  English  Bible,  "  They 
continue  with  Me  now  three  days, 
and  have  nothing  to  eat."  Indeed,  it 
may  be  associated  with  action  or 
movement  as  Remain  is  associated 
with  rest. 

To  Endure  (Fr.  endurer)  conveys 
the  idea  of  lasting,  in  spite  of  influ- 
ences at  work  to  destroy,  and  is  ap- 
plicable to  physical  and  moral  perma- 
nence; as,  "Metals  endure  a  certain 
deCTee  of  heat  without  melting;  ' 
"  His  patience,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will 
not  endure  much  longer." 

Remain  (Lat.  remdnere)  has  the 
same  relation  to  Rest  as  Continue  has 
to  action  and  movement.  The  walker 
continues  walking;  the  stander  re- 
mains standing. 

•♦  Your  sufferings  are  of  a  short  duratiou  ; 
your  joy  will  last  for  ever." — Hart,  Sledi- 
tation. 

"The  same  dull  sights  in  the  same  land- 
scape mixt. 

Scenes  of  still  life,  and  points  for  ever 
fixt, 

A  tedious  pleasure  in  the  mind  bestow. 

And  pall  the  sense  with  one  contiyiued 
show."  Addison. 

"  The  favour  of  God  is  to  them  that  ob- 
tain it,  a  better  and  an  enduring  substance, 
which,  like  the  widow's  barrel  and  cruse, 
wastes  not  in  the  evil  days  of  famine." — 

HORNE. 

"  Entellus  thus :  My  soul  is  still  the 
same, 

Unmoved  with  fear,  and  moved  with  mar- 
tial fame ; 

But  my  chill  blood  is  curdled  in  my 
veins, 

ind  scarce  the  shadow  of  a  man  remains." 
Drydkk,  Virgil. 


LATENT.  Secret.  Hidden.  Oc- 
cult. 

Latent  (Lat.  ULtire,  to  be  hid)  is 
applied  to  those  cases  of  the  hidden 
or  secret  in  which  the  possibility  oi 
propriety  of  the  contrary  state  is  con- 
templated ;  as,  a  latent  motive ;  a 
latent  cause  of  mischief.  It  is  most 
commonly  employed  of  that  which  is 
of  the  nature  of  an  undeveloped  or 
suppressed  force . 

What  is  Secret  (Lat.  sicrctus,  part, 
of  sicern'tre,  to  set  apart)  is  so  far  re- 
moved from  common  observation  as 
to  be  unperceived.  It  involves  a 
purposed  hiding ;  and,  therefore, 
that  which  is  secret  must  be  known 
to  some  one. 

What  is  Hidden  (A.  S.  hidan^  to 
hide)  is  so  covered  as  to  be  invisible, 
which  may  be  from  natural  or  from 
artificial  causes.  In  the  former  case, 
it  was  never  known  to  any  ;  as  with 
the  hidden  minerals  not  yet  disin- 
terred from  the  earth. 

Occult  (Lat.  occHlh-e,  part,  occul- 
tuSf  to  hide)  denotes  the  untraceable 
rather  than  the  unknown,  and  is  a 
term  of  processes  and  influences, 
the  existence  of  which  is  known,  but 
whose  mode  of  operation  is  latent, 
below  the  surface,  and  not  exposed  to 
the  sight  and  observation  of  man- 
kind. 

"  Every  breach  of  veracity  indicates  som? 
latent  vice,  or  some  criminal  intention 
which  an  individual  is  ashamed  to  avow. 
And  hence  the  peculiar  beauty  of  openness 
or  sincerity." — Stewart. 

"  The  blind,  laborious  mole 
In  winding  mazes  works  her  hidden  hole." 

Dryden. 
"  My  heart,  which  by  a  secret  harmony 
Still  moves  with  thine,  joined  in  connection 
sweet."  Milton. 

"  It  is  of  an  occult  kind,  and  is  so  insen- 
sible in  its  advances  as  to  escape  observa- 
tion."—I.  Taylor. 

LATEST.  Last.  Final.  Ulti- 
mate.    Eventual. 

Latest,  the  superlative  of  Late  (A. 
S.  late),  applies  only  to  the  last  in  the 
order  of  time,  being  opposed  to  the 
earliest.  Last,  which  is  an  abbre- 
viated form  of  the  same  word,  relates 
to  the  order  of  succession  generally, 
as  well  as  of  time  in  particular. 


546 


SYNONYMS 


[laudable^ 


¥lKA-L{l.'dUfindlis,  finis,  cm  end)  is 
employed  of  that  which,  in  reference 
to  human  actions,  brings  with  it  .an 
end ;  as,  a  final  decision,  which  puts, 
as  it  were,  the  finishing  stroke  to  a 
thing. 

Ultimate  (Lat.  ultimdve,  to  come 
to  an  end)  brings  out  more  strongly, 
m  relation  to  cause  and  eftect,  the 
fact  of  preceding  circumstances,  as 
well  as  the  finality  of  the  fact  itself. 
The   ultimate  belongs   to   a  line   of 

fmrpose  or  inquiry,  as  final  does  to  a 
ine  of  action.  An  ultimate  object; 
ultimate  principles.  A  final  farewell ; 
a  final  (not  ultimate)  touch  to  a 
painting.  An  ultimate  conclusion;  a 
final  (not ultimate)  word.  Final  and 
Ultimate  are  absolute,  and  can  be  fol- 
lowed by  nothing.  Latest  and  Last 
are  sometimes  used  relatively,  and  so 
admit  the  possibility  of  being  followed 
by  something  of  the  same  kind.     A 

Eerson's  last  injunctions  may  be  the 
ist  which  he  has  had  the  opportunity 
of  giving ;  the  latest  intelligence  may 
be  so  interesting  as  to  cause  us  to  look 
forward  with  eagerness  to  the  news  of 
to-morrow. 

EvENTUAL(Lat.  cventus ;  e,oat,  and 
venire,  to  come)  points  not  so  much  to 
the  finality  of  the  eftect  or  conse- 
quence as  to  the  continuous  opera- 
tion of  the  preceding  cause.  That 
is  eventual  which  happens  as  a  final 
or  remote  consequence,  or  late  in  a 
train  of  circumstances,  without  ac- 
tually involving  the  idea  of  causation. 

LAUDABLE.  Praisewobthv. 
Commendable. 

Laudable  (Lat.  lauddbilis)  and 
Commendable  (Lat.  commenddbtlis) 
seem  better  applicable  to  the  ac- 
tions or  qualities  of  individuals,  and 
PuAisEwonTHv  to  the  individuals 
themselves;  as,  a  praiseworthy  cha- 
■•acter  ;  laudable  ambition ;  com- 
^nendable  propriety.  Laudable  is 
Aveaker  than  Commendable;  the 
former  denoting  that  praise  is  pos- 
sible, the  latter,  that  it  is  appro- 
priate and  right.  A  thing  is  laud- 
able in  itself.  It  is  commendable  or 
praiseworthy  as  exhibited  in  or  done 
by  gome  perpon. 


"  Yet  in  my  opinion  obsolete  words  may 
then  be  laudabli/  revived  when  either  they 
are  more  sounding  or  more  significant  than 
those  in  practice." — Dbydkn. 

"  But  whether  they  so  kept  it  or  not,  if 
this  gift  of  chastitie  which  they  professed 
were  given  them  of  God,  small  praise- 
woorthie  was  it  in  them  to  keep  it." — Fox, 
Martyrs. 

"He  who,  though  undeservedly,  hatn 
lost  his  reputation,  hath  lost  many  oppor- 
tunities of  doing  service  to  mankind.  What 
comes  from  him,  though  comm,endable  and 
profitable  in  itself,  is  often  suspected, 
slighted,  and  ill-received."— JouTIN. 

LAWFUL.  Legal.  Legitimate. 
Licit. 

Lawful  denotes  conformable  to 
law  (Fr.  /oi,  Lat.  legem)  in  any  sense 
in  which  the  term  law  may  be  em- 
ployed, whether  the  law  of  the  land, 
moral  law,  propriety,  or  specific  regu- 
lation. Legal  is  conformable  or  aj)- 
pertaining  to  the  law  of  the  land. 
Legitimate  has  the  wider  sense  of 
conformable  to  law,  rule,  principle, 
justice,  fairness,  or  propriety.  Legi- 
timate denotes  that  which  is  in  con- 
formity with  specific  law  or  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  particular  system.  It 
stands  to  rule  as  lawful  to  law. 

Licit  (Lat.  licitum,  permitted,  Moire, 
to  be  lawful)  is  far  less  common  than 
its  negative,  illicit.  These  terms  re 
gard  the  lawful  or  legal  in  reference 
to  mutual  trade,  intercourse,  con- 
nexions, or  relations  between  man 
and  man. 

"  This  judicial  ti'ial  of  right  yet  remains 
in  some  cases,  as  a  divine  lot  of  battle, 
though  controverted  by  divines,  touching 
the  lawfulness  of  it." — Bacon. 

"But  if  you  lessen  the  rate  of  use,  the 
lender,  whose  interest  it  is  to  keep  up  the 
rate  of  money,  will  rather  lend  it  to  the 
banker  at  legal  interest  than  to  the  trades- 
man or  gentleman  who,  when  the  law  is 
broken,  shall  be  sure  to  pay  the  full  natural 
interest,  or  more." — LocKE. 

"  Every  such  process  of  reasoning,  it  is 
well  known,  may  be  resolved  into  a  series 
of  legitimate  syllogisms,  exhibiting  sepa- 
rately and  distinctly  in  a  light  as  clear  and 
strong  as  language  can  afford  each  suc- 
cessive link  of  the  demonstration." — 
Stewakt. 

LAX.     Loose.     Vague. 

Lax  (Lat.  Uixus,  /oose)  is  connected, 
probably,  with  loose.  It  is  employeu 
of  intellectual  and  moral,  as  well  a? 


;lead"I 


DI8CBIMINATED. 


547 


•jhysical,  matters;  as,  a  lax  state- 
Jient ;  lax  principles  or  habits  ;  a  lax 
fibre.  It  denotes  want  of  logical 
strictness,  moral  restraint,  or  physical 
tension. 

"  The  flesh  of  that  sort  of  fish  being  lax 
and  spongy,  and  nothing  so  firm,  solid,  and 
weighty  as  that  of  the  bony  fishes," — 
Hay. 

"  In  this  general  depravity  of  manners, 
and  laxity  of  principles,  pure  religion  is 
nowhere  more  strongly  inculcated  than  in 
our  universities."— Johnson. 

Loose  (A.  S.  has,  false,  loose,  weak) 
has  the  same  applications,  but,  as 
physically  employed, differs  from  Lax. 
A  loose  rope  may  have  been  purposely 
let  loose  ;butLAxwouldimplya  want 
of  due  constriction  in  its  texture,  as, 
for  instance,  by  dryness.  Morally, 
Lax  is  not  employed  of  speech  and 
actions  so  commonly  as  Loose  ;  lax 
principles ;  loose  talk  or  behaviour. 

Vague  (Fr.  vague,  hsLt.v^gus,wa)i' 
dering)  is  employed  only  of  intellec- 
tual things.  As  Lax  and  Loose  denote 
both  what  is  wanting  in  logical  strict- 
ness and  moral  propriety,  so  Vague 
denotes  that  which  is  indefinite,  and 
ambiguous,  whether  from  want  of 
clearness  and  precision  of  statement 
or  conception,  or  from  definiteness  of 
authority.  A  vague  idea;  a  va^ue 
proposition  ;  a  vague  report,  which  is 
equivalent  to  a  rumour ;  a  vague  notion 
or  impression,  and,  in  consequence, 
vague  hopes  and  desires. 

"  The  most  voluptuous  and  loose  person 
breathing,  were  he  but  tied  to  follow  uis 
dice  and  his  courtships  every  day,  would 
find  it  the  greatest  torment  that  could  be- 
fall him."— South. 

"  This  law  has  been  styled — and,  notwith- 
standing the  objections  of  some  wi'itei's  to 
the  vagueness  of  the  language,  appears  to 
have  been  styled  with  great  propriety — '  the 
Law  of  Nature,'"— Mackintosh. 

LAY.     Put.     Place.     Set. 

Of  these  the  simplest  and  most  com- 
prehensive, and,  therefore,  the  least 
distinctive,  is  Put,  which  denotes  no 
more  than  to  bring  in  any  way  to  a 
position  or  relation  ;  as,  to  put  a  ques- 
tion ;  to  put  a  book  on  the  shelf. 

To  Place  (Fr.  placer,  Lat,  platea, 
a  street,  a  courtyard)  is  to  put  in  a  par- 
ticular part  of  space,  or  in  a  specific 
position.     A  book  is  placed  on  the 


shelf,  as  being  the  appointed  anange- 
ment  for  it. 

To  Lay  (A.  S.  lecgun,  to  cause  to  lie) 
can  be  used  only  ol  those  things 
which  may  be  made  in  some  degree 
to  lie;  while  Set  (A.  S.  settan),  is 
used  of  tliose  which  may  be  made  to 
stand.  We  lay  a  plate  on  the  table, 
and  set  a  candlestick.  To  set  a  thing 
is  to  give  it  fixity.  So  Lay  points  to 
the  flat  or  recumbent  arrangement  of 
the  object.  Put  to  the  distinct  act  of 
the  person,  Place  to  the  specific  loca- 
lity, and  Set  to  the  establishment  of 
the  object. 

LEAD.    Conduct.     Guide. 

To  Lead  (A.  S.  Iddan,  from  Lid,  a 
path)  is  only  employed  of  animate 
objects,  with  commonly,  though  not 
necessarily,  the  idea  of  preceding,  to 
show  the  way.  It  is  associated  with 
the  ideas  of  care,  responsibility,  and 
persuasion. 

CoNDUci  (Lat.  condwtre,  part,  con- 
ductus)  and  Guide  (Fr.  guider)  are 
applicable  to  inanimate  objects,  and 
to  affairs  in  general ;  as,  to  conduct 
or  guide  a  traveller  or  a  transaction. 
As  applied  to  sentient  beings.  Conduct 
is  more  prominently  associated  with 
the  ideas  of  authority  and  office ; 
Guide,  with  those  of  knowledge  and 
skill.  One  conducts  an  argument  or 
a  lawsuit,  guides  a  ti-aveller,  leads  a 
child.  One  conducts  or  guides  those 
who  do  not  know  the  way;  one  leads 
tliose  who  cannot  or  will  not  go  alone. 
We  are  conducted  in  our  proceedings 
in  order  that  we  may  do  precisely 
that  which  we  have  to  do ;  we  are 
guided  that  we  may  not  wander  from 
the  right  line  or  road.  AVe  are  led  to 
those  points  or  persons  wliom  it  is  re- 
quired we  should  reach.  To  guide  is 
to  teach  or  to  show  the  Avay ;  to  con- 
duct is  to  show  the  road,  to  direct  tlie 
movements,  as  the  head  ;  to  lead  is  to 
direct  the  very  steps.  A  general  guides 
his  army  when  he  knows,  as  it  does 
not,  the  line  of  march ;  he  conducts  his 
army  when  he  gives  them  the  full  bene- 
fit of  his  skill  and  experience.  He  leads 
his  army  when  he  has  given  orders  to 
follow  him.  Men  are  guided  by  rea- 
son, conducted  by  experience,  and, 
too  often,  led  by  passion. 


548 


STNONYMS  [lean] 


'He  tried  each  art,   reproved  each  dnll 

delay, 
Allured  to  brighter   worlds,  and  led  the 

way."  Goldsmith. 

"  A  favonr'd  goat,  conductor  of  my  herd, 
Strayed  to  a  dale  whose  outlet  is  the  post 
ToPhocian's  left.and  penetx'ates  to  Greece." 
Glover,  Leonidas. 
*'  Common  sense,  or  that  share  and  species 
of  understanding  which   Nature   has   be- 
stowed on  the  greater  part  of  men,  is,  when 
competently  improAed  by  education,  and  as- 
sisted by  divine  grace,  the  safest  guide  to 
certainty  and  happiness." — Knox,  Essays. 

LEAN.     Meagre.     Lank. 

Lean  (  A.  S.  hlekne)  signifies  deyoid 
ofj'at,  Meagre  (Fr.  maigre,  lean),  de- 
void oi  flesh.  Meaghe  lends  itself 
much  more  readily  to  metaphorical 
uses,  meanmg  destitute  of  fulness 
and  power,  deficient  in  quantity 
or  requisite  quality,  as,  a  meagre 
supply ;  a  meagre  statement,  argu- 
ment, exposition,  or  treatment  of  a 
subject. 

"  i^Cturst,  Leanness,  excess  of  animal  secre- 
tions, ai'e  signs  and  effects  of  too  great 
thinness  of  blood." — Arbuthxot. 
"  Thou  art  so  leaii  and  meagre  waxen  late, 
That  scarce  ''thy  legs  uphold  thy  feeble 
gait."  SpKNSKR. 

That  is  Lank  (A,  S.  Idanc)  which 
is  so  long  and  slender  as  to  appear 
weak  and  deficient  in  firmness  or  ful- 
ness. 

"  The  clergy's  bags 
Are  lank  and  lean  with  thy  extortions." 
Shakespeare. 

LEAN.     Bend.     Incline. 

Of  these  Bend  (A.  S.  bendan)  and 
Lncline  (Lat.  hiclhiare,  to  bend),  do 
not  involve  of  necessity  a  relation  to 
the  perpendicular,  which  is  implied 
in  Lean  (A.  S.  hlcinan,  to  make  to 
bend),  except  when  it  is  used  in  the 
metaphorical  sense  of  leaning  in  opi- 
nion or  moral  inclination.  That  which 
inclines,  leans,  or  bends  only  in  a 
slight  degree,  and  in  relation  to  any 
kind  of  line,  vertical,  horizontal,  or 
otherwise.  The  tower  of  Pisa  leans, 
and  might  be  said  to  incline,  in  a 
certain  direction.  In  this  case,  In- 
cline is  only  a  more  refined  word. 
A  road  inclines  to  the  right,  if  its 
deviation  is  but  slight ;  it  bends,  if  it 
is  sufficiently  rapid  to  form  a  distinct 
curve.    In  their  moral  tjwage,  a  man 


leans  to  certain  opinions,  as  having  a 
natural  or  constitutional  tendency  to 
adopt  them.  He  bends  when  strong 
external  pressure  of  circumstances 
bears  upon  him  ;  as,  e.  g.  to  necessity. 
He  inclines  when  he  is  prompted 
by  natural  preference  and  bias,  or 
tendency  of  the  will.  Both  Bend 
and  Incline  ai'e  intrinsic ;  Lean  has 
also  an  extrinsic  application  when 
it  is  followed  by  the  prepositions  upon 
or  against. 
"Thus  to  relieve  the  wi-etched   was  his 

pride. 
And  ev'n   his   failings  leaned    to   virtue's 
side."  Goldsmith. 

"  She  had  ^so  contrived  another  puppet, 
which,  by  the  help  of  several  little  springs 
to  be  wound  up  within  it,  could  move  all 
its  limbs,  and  that  she  had  sent  over  to  her 
correspondent  in  Paris,  to  be  taught  the 
various  leanings  and  bendings  of  the  head, 
the  risings  of  the  bosom." — Spectator. 

"  Shall  I  venture  to  say,  my  lord,  that  in 
our  late  conversation  you  were  inclined  to 
the  party  which  you  adopted  rather  by  the 
feelings  of  your  good  nature  than  by  the 
conviction  of  your  judgment  ?  " — BuRKE. 

LEAVE.  Liberty.  Licence. 
Permission. 

Leave  is  the  simplest  term  (A.  S. 
leaf,  ■permission)  ;  it  imples  the  placing 
of  a  person  in  a  position  to  act  or  not, 
as  he  pleases ;  a  discretionary  pennis- 
sion  ;  Liberty  (Fr.  liberty),  that  all 
obstructions  or  hindrances  are  removed 
to  specific  action ;  as,  liberty  of  speech ; 
liberty  of  access.  These  two  may  be 
taken  as  well  as  given.  License  and 
Permission  must  be  specially  granted. 
Liberty  is  fuller,  more  discretionary, 
and  generally  more  courteous;  leave 
is  more  familiarly  permissive.  The 
characteristic  difierence  between  the 
two  maybe  further  seen  in  the  phrases 
to  take  leave,  and  to  take  a  liberty. 
The  first  is  to  assume  permission 
without  stopping  to  ask  lor  it;  the 
second  is  to  give  one's  self  a  freedom 
of  action,  beyond  due  resti-aint. 

Licence  (Lat.  licent'ui,  permission) 
is  liberty  in  a  particular  case,  for- 
mally, or  even  legally  granted  by 
special  permission ;  as,  a  licence  to 
print ;  a  marriage  licence  or  a  poetic 
licence. 

Permission  (Lat.  permissionem)  is 
the  mere  absence  on  the  part  of  an- 


[lift] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


549 


otlier  of  prevention  or  of  opposition, 
without  implying  sanction  or  approval. 

"  Then  let  ns  not  think  hard 
One  easy  prohibition,  that  enjoy 
Free  leave  so  large  to  all  things  else,  and 

choice 
Unlimited  of  manifold  delights." 

Milton. 

"  So  that  the  idea  of  liberty  is  the  idea  of 
a  power  in  any  agent  to  do  or  forbear  any 
particular  action,  according  to  the  deter- 
mination or  thonght  of  the  mind,  whereby 
either  of  them  is  preferred  to  the  other." — 
Locke. 

As  Licence  implies  the  principle  of 
liberty,  so  it  implies  also  a  contrary 
principle  of  restraint,  except  when  it 
is  employed  of  one's  self,  in  which  it 
is  simply  equivalent  to  reckless  as- 
sumption of  liberty.  He  who  receives 
licence  from  authority  receives  cer- 
tain free  powers,  but  modified  by  the 
authority  which  granted  it.  So,  poli- 
tically speaking,  licence  may  imply 
not  a  Httle  which  is  against  freedom. 

"  My  lords,  from  the  precedent  now  be- 
fore us,  we  shall  be  induced — nay,  we  can 
find  no  reason  for  refusing — to  lay  the  press 
under  a  general  licence,  and  then  we  may 
bid  adieu  to  the  liberties  of  Great  Britain." 
—Chesterfield. 

"  The  will 
And  high  permission  of  all-ruling  Heaven 
Left  him  at  large  to  his  own  dark  designs." 
Milton. 

LEAVE.    Quit. 

We  Leave  that  to  which  we  may 
return. 

We  Qun  (Fr.  quitter^  to  leave,  to 
part  from)  that  to  which  we  purpose 
not  to  return. 

LENGTHEN.     Prolong. 

To  Lengthen  is  to  add  to  one  of  the 
ends  or  to  extend  the  substance. 

To  PnoLONG  (Fr.  prolonger,  Lat. 
proloitgdre)  is  to  throw  fai'ther  on  the 
termination  of  a  thing,  whether  by 
continuity,  by  postponements,  or  by 
the  introduction  of  incidental  matter. 
One  is  commonly  said  to  lengthen  a 
cord,  a  rod,  a  discourse,  or  letter ;  to 
prolong  a  walk,  a  conversation,  a 
story,  an  occupation. 

LEVITY.  Giddiness.  Lightness. 
Volatility.     Flightiness. 

Levity  (Lat.  levitdtem,  lightness) 
ie  :bat  kind  of  lisrhtness  which  denotes 


an  inability  or  inaptitude  to  weigh  the 
importance  of  principles  in  thought 
and  action,  and  so  borders  on  immo- 
rality, if  it  is  not  actually  such.  It  is, 
in  its  outward  form,  a  disregard  of 
the  proprieties  of  time  and  place. 

Giddiness  (A.  S.  gyddiauy  to  be 
merry)  is  wild  thoughtlessness,  espe- 
cially such  as  comes  of  exuberant 
spirits,  combined  with  scanty  powers 
of  reflexion,  as  in  some  young  persons ; 
an  inability,  as  in  the  case  of  vertigo, 
to  collect  the  thoughts. 

Lightness  (A.  S.  leoht,  light)  is 
that  quality  of  mind  which  disposes 
it  to  be  influenced  by  trifling  con- 
siderations, and  shows  itself  therefore 
in  inconstancy  of  purpose  and  want  of 
steadfastness  and  resolution. 

Volatility  (Lat.  vMdltlis,  flying, 
ti-ansitory)  is  active  lightness  of  dis- 
position ;  a  tendency  to  fly  from  one 
thing  to  another  from  curiosity  and 
petty  interest,  and  to  extract  pleasure 
of  a  passing  kind  from  a  variety  of 
objects  and  pursuits. 

Flightiness  (A.  S.fliht,flyht,  afly- 
ing)  comes  of  mental  unsteadiness, 
which  shows  itself  in  capricious  fan- 
cies, irregular  conduct,  and  disordered 
intentions  ;  it  betokens  intellectual  de- 
ficiency. 

"  That  leviti/  which  is  fatigued  and  dis- 
gusted with  everything  of  which  it  is  in 
possession." — Bu.HKE. 

"  Young  heads  &re  giddy,  and  young  hearts 
are  warm. 

And   make  mistakes   for  manhood  to  re- 
form." COWPEB. 
"  When  I  therefore  was  thus  minded, 

did  I  use  lightness  ?" — English  Bible. 

"  Volatile  and  fugitive  instances  of  re- 
pentance are  not  the  proper  and  propor- 
tioned remedy  to  the  evil  of  vicious  habits." 
—Bishop  Taylor. 

"  The  flighty  gambols  of  chance  are  ob- 
jects of  no  science  nor  grounds  of  any 
dependence  whatever." — Searle. 

LIFT.  Heave.  Raise.  Kiev  ate. 
Erect.   Exalt.    Hoist.    Heighten. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  \a 
that  of  making  high  or  higher  than 
before. 

To  Lift  (Icel.  lypta,  to  raise)  is  to 
bring  up  from  a  specific  spot  to  3 
higher  by  a  direct  exertion  of  per- 


550 


PYNONYMS  [likeness] 


sonal  or  mechanical  force,  producing 
%  separation  in  the  thing  lifted  from 
Its  former  points  of  rest  or  support. 
That  is  lifted  which  is  drawn  up  into 
the  air,  as  that  maj  be  Raised  (Icel. 
reisa,  to  raise)  which  still  preserves 
mediate  or  immediate  contact  with  the 
ground — tliat  is,  of  course,  in  the 
physical  senses  of  these  terms.  We 
lift  a  ladder  when  we  take  it  up  off  the 
ground.  We  may  raise  it  by  one  end 
only,  so  as  to  place  it  against  the 
house. 

Heave  (A.  S.  hebban,  to  lift)  denotes 
the  raising  slowly,  as  of  weight  or 
with  difficulty.  It  has  the  additional 
force  of  impelling  as  well  as  raising ; 
as,  to  heave  a  stone  at  an  object.  !See 
Swell. 

Elevate  (Lat.  ilivare;  IcviSj  light  in 
weight)  is  to  raise  relatively,  or  to 
brinp^  from  a  lower  place  to  a  higher. 

To  Erect  (Lat.  irigere,  part,  erec- 
tits)  is  to  raise  pei-pendicularly,  still 
preserving  the  relation  to,  and  sup- 
port of,  some  base  or  foundation  on 
which  the  thing  erected  rests. 

To  Exalt  (Lat.  exaltdre,  to  elevate) 
is  so  to  raise  as  to  produce  with  the 
raising  an  impression  of  dignity  and 
superiority ;  the  physical  being  em- 
blematical of  a  moral  raising. 

Hoist  (O.  Dut.  hyssen),  commonly 
combines  the  idea  of  gradual  raising 
of  something  weighty  with  that  of 
mechanical  means,  or  at  least  of  some 
effort ;  as  to  hoist  a  package,  a  sail, 
or  an  ensign. 

Heighten  (A.S.  hedh,  high)  is  to 
increase  an  already  existing  height, 
as  opposed  to  lowering;  to  make 
higher  or  taller.  A  thing  already 
raised  or  erected  may  be  further  heigh- 
tened, as  a  flag-staff,  by  an  addition 
to  its  substance. 

"  As  for  the  casting  up  of  the  eyes,  and 
lifting  up  of  the  hands,  it  is  a  kind  of 
appeal  to  the  Deity." — Baco?^ . 

*'Shed  thy  faire  beames  unto  my  feeble 

eyne. 
And  raise  my  thoughtes  too  humble  and 

too  vile."  Spenser. 

"  If  a  pagan  had  been  present  at  one  of 
the  Christian  assemblies  and,  at  the  eleva- 
tixm  of  the  Host,  had  seen  them  all  fall 
dovrn  and  •wcrship,"— Sharp. 


*♦  Round  her  throne. 

Erected  in  the  bosom  of  the  just, 

£ach  virtue  'listed  forms  her  manly  guard." 
Young. 

"  Walked    boldly    upright   with    exalted 
head."  Drydkn. 

"  Let  him  take  thee 

And  hoist  thee  up  to  the   shouting  ple- 
beians." Shakespeare. 

"Fancy  enervates  while    it    soothes    the 
heart. 

And  while  it  dazzles  wounds  the  mental 
sight ; 

To  joy  each  heightening  charm  it  can  im- 
part. 

But  wraps    the  hour    of  woe    in  tenfold 
night."  Beattik. 

LIKENESS.  Resemblance. 
Similarity.     Similitude. 

Likeness  (A.S.  lie)  is  the  most 
familiar  and  comprehensive.  It  is 
applicable  both  to  the  internal  nature 
and  to  the  outward  semblances  of 
things. 

Resemblance  (Fr.  ressembler,  to  be 
alike)  has  much  the  same  meaning, 
but  has  a  more  subjective,  as  likeness 
a  more  objective,  force  ;  that  is,  like- 
ness belongs  rather  to  objects  them- 
selves ;  resemblance,  to  their  proper- 
ties, and  the  effect  produced  by  them. 
Hence  Likeness  seems  more  appro- 
priate in  the  case  of  visible  and  pal- 
pable objects  ;  Resemblance,  in  the 
qualities  of  things,  and  where  the 
likeness  is  fainter.  A  strong  like- 
ness in  feature ;  a  faint  resemblance 
in  manner. 

Similarity  (Fr.  similaire,  similar) 
lends  itself  more  readily  to  express 
likeness  in  properties  or  accidents  of 
things  than  things  themselves ;  as,  a 
similarity  of  appearance,  nature,  dis- 
position, of  proceeding,  of  result,  or 
of  such  things  as  are  judged  purely 
by  the  mind,  and  not  the  senses ;  as  » 
similarity  of  belief.  Similitude  is 
to  similarity  as  the  concrete  to  the 
abstract,  similitude  being  embodied 
similarity  or  likeness  as  it  is  not  only 
recognirved  or  appreciated,  but  repre- 
sented and  expressed.  Hence  a  simi- 
larity may  be  shown  by  a  similitude, 
in  the  rhetorical  sense  of  the  term. 
When  a  tjTant  is  called  a  tiger,  it  is  a 
similitude  based  upon  a  similarity'. 

"  There  is  a  fabulous  narrative  that  in  the 
northern  countries  there  should  be  aa  herb 


[little] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


551 


that  grovreth  ia  the  likeness  of  a,  lamh,  and 
feefleth  upon  the  grass." — BaCON. 

"  To  do  good  is  to  become  most  like  God. 
It  is  that  which  of  all  other  qualities  gives 
us  the  resemblance  of  His  nature  and  per- 
fection."— Sharp. 

"  From  the  knowledge  I  had  of  this  tree, 
and  the  similarity  it  bore  to  the  spruce,  I 
judged  that, -with  the  addition  of  inspissated 
juice  of  wort  and  molasses,  it  would  make 
a  very  wholesome  beer."—  CoctK's  Voyages. 

"  Thus  they  turned  their  glory  into  the 
similitude  of  a.  calf  that  eateth  h&y."— Eng- 
lish Psalms. 

LIKELY.     Probable. 

Likely  (literally, /j/ce  what  has  hap- 
pened, and  so  like  to  happen)  has  the 
same  sense  as  Probable  (Lat.  pr'dbd- 
bilis),  and  an  additional  force  beyond 
it.  Probable  qualifies  only  facts  or 
events  as  regards  the  evidence  which 
is  greater  for  than  against  it,  hence  af- 
fording ground  for  belief ;  as,  probable 
evidence  distinguished  from  mathe- 
matical or  demonstrative.  But  Likely 
has  the  further  force  of  possessing  an 
inherent  tendency  to  bring  about  a  re- 
sult, and  so  the  probable  cause  of  it. 
In  this  way  Likely  is  applicable  to 
persons  and  events,  not  simply  in  re- 
gard to  their  occurrence,  but  their 
effects  and  actions.  "  It  is  probable 
that  I  shall  go  to-morrow,"  might  be 
expressed  thus:  *'  I  am  likely  to  go 
to-morrow,"  where  "lam  probable" 
could  not  have  been  employed. 

LIMB.     Member. 

Member  (hat.  membrum,  a  limb)  is 
a  general  term  applied  to  any  distinct 
section  or  portion  of  an  organized 
body  performing  a  distinct  office,  as 
the  eye,  the  ear. 

Limb  (A.  S.  Urn)  is  the  term  re- 
stricted to  the  arms  and  legs.  Mem- 
ber lends  itself,  as  Limb  does  not,  to 
secondary  or  metaphorical  uses ;  as,  a 
member  of  Parliament,  a  family,  or  an 
association. 
"And  on  the  grass  her  dainty  limbs  did 

lay. 
In  secret  shadow,  far  from  all  men's  sight." 
Spknser. 

"But  now  are  they  many  members,  yet 
not  one  body." — English  Bible. 

LISTLESS.     Careless.     Supine. 
The  Listless  person  (originally  lust- 


less,  t.e.  wanting  in  vigour)  is  in  a  state 
of  mental  and  moral  torpor,  which  ex- 
cludes the  desire  of  any  object  which 
requires  exertion.  Listless  stands  to 
the  ends  of  action  as  Careless  to  ac- 
tion itself,  whether  physical  or  men- 
tal. The  careless  man  does  his  work 
without  pains  ;  the  listless  man  does 
not  think  it  worth  doing  at  all. 

SuriXE  is  the  Lat.  siipiniis,  lying  on 
the  back,  as  opposed  to  pronus,  binding 
forwards.  So  the  supine  is  without 
that  proneness  which  comes  from  the 
propensity  to  activity  and  the  faculty 
of  interest.  As  listlessness  is  em- 
ployed of  minor  matters,  so  supine- 
ness  implies  matters  of  some  principle 
and  obligation.  The  careless  person 
is  not  necessarily  supine ;  he  may  be 
active,  ener^f^e,  and  lively,  but  spe- 
cifically indifferent  or  uninterested  in 
the  object  before  him.  The  listless 
person  has  no  interest.  The  supine 
may  have  some  amount  of  it,  but  not 
enough  to  be  an  incentive  to  action, 
or  enough  to  overcome  a  constitutional 
laziness.  Listlessness  is  rather  the 
absence  of  desire;  supineness,  the  ab- 
sence of  pure  interest.  Carelessness 
may  come  from  an  excess  of  animal 
spirits,  and  a  playful  defiance  of  for- 
tune.  A  person  is  supine  by  nature; 
circumstances  may  make  him.  listless. 

"  That  listlessness  and  depression  of  spirits 
Trhich  generally  accompany  national  disas- 
tei-»."— Eustace,  Italy. 

"  If,  indeed,  the  little  improvement  they 
apparently  derive  from  such  perfunctory 
lectures  arises  from  their  own  supineness^ 
themselves  only  are  justly  culpable  ;  but  I 
suspect  their  very  supineness  usually  arise* 
from  the  indifference  and  dulness  of  the 
tutors'  manner." — Knox,  Essays. 
"  The  Priest  whose  office  is,  with  zeal  sin 

cere. 
To  watch  the  fountain  and  preserve  it  clear, 
Carelessly  nods  and  sleeps  upon  the  brink 
While  others  poison  what  the  flocks  must 
drink."  COWPER. 

LITTLE.  Small.  D'^T.^"JTIVE. 
Minute. 

Little  (A.  S.  lytel)  is  the  most 
general  term,  and  is  applicable  to 
quantity  as  well  as  size;  as  a  little 
person,  a  little  water. 

Small  (A.  S.  smtzi)  applies  to  tliat 
which  is  wanting  in  extension  or  ex- 
tent.    We  could  not  say   "  a  sma]! 


552 


water,"  but  "  quantity  "  or  "  piece  of 
water."  Both  have  the  moral  import 
of  insignificant  or  mean.  Little  and 
Small  being  both  relative  terms,  the 
former  is  stronger  than  the  latter; 
Little  meaning  remarkably  or  excep- 
tionally small.  Hence  Small  belongs 
more  purely  to  standards  of  compari- 
son, without  implying  disparagement. 
If  my  income  has  diminished,  I  must 
occupy  a  smaller  (not  a  littler)  house. 
Little  is  opposed  to  big ;  small  to 
large.  A  little  child  is  contrasted 
with  a  grown  man.  A  small  child  is 
a  proportio7uitely  small,  that  is,  puny 
or  ill-developed  child.  Little  is  often 
associated  with  the  feelings,  as  Small 
is  not.  So  it  may  be  a  term  of  endear- 
ment ;  as,  a  little  darling. 

Diminutive  (Lat.  diminucre,  to 
diminish,  part,  dlminutus)  is  relative 
to  an  assumed  or  expressed  standard ; 
as  a  diminutive  person  is  one  who  falls 
far  below  the  average  size. 

Minute  (Lat. witnun-e,part.  mmuttis, 
to  diminish)  is  that  which  requires  or 
implies  closeness  of  observation  or  in- 
spection, and  is  a  term  of  purely  phy- 
sical proportion,  except  when  it  is 
used  analogously  or  metaphorically. 

"  I  confess  I  love  littleness  almost  in  all 
things  ;  a  little,  convenient  estate,  a  little 
cheerful  house,  a  little  company,  and  a  very 
little  feast,"— Cowley. 
"  Thenceforth  I  'gan  in  my  engrieved  breast 
To  scorn  all  difference  of  gi*eat  and  small 
Sith  that  the  greatest  often  are  opprest. 
And  unawares  do  into  danger  fall," 

SpENSEB. 

"The  diminutiveness  of  his  figure  vras 
totally  eclipsed  by  the  expansion  of  his 
instrument." — Student. 

"  Whose  corpuscles,  by  reason  of  their 
minuteness,  swim  easily  for  a  while  in  the 
water,"— Boyle. 

LIVELIHOOD.  Living.  Sub- 
sistence. Support.  Maintenance. 
Sustenance. 

The  means  of  living  or  supporting 
life,  or  the  life  so  supported,  are  the 
ideas  common  to  these  terms. 

Livelihood  stands  to  Living  (A,  S. 
Uf,  life;  liban  and  lyhharij  to  live)  as 
the  general  result  to  the  course  or 
means ;  the  getting  of  the  living  being 
the  livelihood,  that  is,  occupation, 
calling,  or  work  in  life.   A  livelihood 


SYNONYMS  [LIVELIHOODj 

is  a  calling  or  profession  regarded  as 
the  condition  of  subsistence ;  while 
living  is  the  subsistence  itself.  Both 
Livelihood  and  Living  are  restricted 
to  rational  creatures,  whose  mainte- 
nance depends  upon  their  own  exer- 
tions. 

Subsistence  (Lat.  subsistere,  to  sus- 
tain) is  employed  of  what  furnishes 
support  to  animal  life  generally  and 
directly,  as  food ;  while  to  Support 
(  Lat.  supportdre,  to  convey  to)  is  to  fur- 
nish with  the  means  of  sustenance  in 
any  shape,  as  money,  foocl,  aci  the 
like. 

Maintenance  (Fr.  7nainfe7iir;  Lat. 
mUnus,  the  hand,  and  t^nire,  to  hold) 
has  a  wider  meaning,  and  denotes 
generally  the  keeping  up  of  anything 
which  has  to  be  upheld  m  a  course  of 
being,  action,  or  operation;  as  the 
maintenance  of  life,  of  the  body,  of  a 
fabric,  of  respectability,  of  splendour, 
of  public  war  or  worship. 

Sustenance  (Lat.  sub,  uiider,  and 
tcnire,  to  hold)  denotes  no  more  than 
means  of  supporting  life,  but  is  not 
restricted  to  animal  life,  being  applic- 
able to  the  vegetative  life  of  plants. 
Sustenance  passes  into  the  body  of 
things ;  not  so  maintenance,  nor  (in 
all  cases)  support.  Livelihood  is 
earned.  Living  is  procured.  Subsis- 
tence accrues.  Support  is  given. 
Maintenance  is  aflforded.  Sustenance 
is  imparted.  Unlike  the  rest.  Main- 
tenance and  Support  are  applicable 
to  things  of  the  moral  nature :  as  the 
support  of  courage  and  hope;  the 
maintenance  of  order,  cheerfulness,  or 
resolution. 

"  My  lord,  saith  he,  was  never  worthy  man 
So  nobly  bred,  and  of  so  high  descent. 
Of  so  fair  livelihood,  and  so  large  rent." 
Drayton. 
"  'Tis  the  very  profession  and  livelihood 
of  such  people,  getting  their  living  by  those 
practices  for  which  they  deserve  to  forfeit 
their  lives."— South. 

"  By  the  means  of  subsistence,  I  under- 
stand not  the  means  of  superfluous  gratifi- 
cations, but  that  present  competency  which 
every  individual  must  possess  in  order  to  be 
in  a  capacity  to  derive  a  support  from  hia 
industry  in  the  proper  business  of  his  call- 
ing."—Bishop  HORSLEY. 

*' By  giving  up  the  belief  of  a  God,  I  throw 
away  all  these  considerations,  and  leave  my- 


DISCRIMINAIED. 


[loud] 


self  utterly  destitute  and  supportless."  — 
Scott,  Christian  Life. 

"  All  men  are  sensible  of  the  necessity  of 
justice  to  maintain  peace  and  order;  and 
all  men  are  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  peace 
and  order  for  the  mainteTuxnce  of  society." — 
Hume. 

"  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  rich 
man  maintains  his  servants,  tradesmen, 
tenants,  and  labourers.  The  truth  is,  they 
maintain  him." — Palky. 

"  The  sheriffs  of  Hertford  and  Essex  were 
commanded  to  ward  him  there,  and  to  pre- 
vent all  sustenance  to  be  brought  him." 

Drayton. 

LONELY.     Solitary. 

Lovely  conveys  the  idea  of  the 
melancholy  or  the  forsaken ;  while 
Solitary  (Lat.  sulitdrius)  denotes  no  j 
more  than  the  absence  of  life  or  so- 
ciety. A  bird  of  solitaiy  habits  is  dis- 
tinguished fi-om  gregarious  birds.  A 
lonely  wanderer  is  not  only  solitary, 
but  feels  it  in  sadness.  Places  are  soli- 
tary, as  being  without  inhabitants. 
They  are  lonely,  as  producing  in  per- 
sons the  efiects  of  isolation.  So  we  may 
be  lonely,  though  not  solitaiy,  in 
crowds.  As  the  essence  of  solitariness 
is  separation,  not  the  feelings  conse- 
quent upon  it,  it  is  a  synonym  of 
iingle ;  as  a  solitary  instance,  that  is, 
one,  and  only  one. 

"To  the  misled  and  lonely  traveller." 
Shakespeare. 
"  Hie  home  unto  my  chamber. 
Where  thou  shalt  find  me  sad  and  solitary." 
Ibid. 

LOQUACIOUS.  Talkative. 
Garrulous. 

The  LoQu  Acious  person  (  Lat.  I6qua- 
cenij  from  I6qui,  to  speak)  is  one  who 
is  in  the  habit  of  talking  continually  or 
excessively.  The  Talkative  person  is 
not  necessarily  so  exclusively  fond 
of  the  sound  of  his  own  voice,  and 
likes  talkativeness  in  others  as  well. 

The  Garrulous  person  (Lat.  g^r- 
rtilus,  garrire,  to  chatter)  is  unduly 
communicative,  and  fluently  eloquent 
in  imparting  small  and  valueless  in- 
formation. He  tends  more  distinc- 
tively to  talk  about  his  neighbour's 
affairs  and  his  own.  He  is  full  of 
petty  experiences,  which  he  occupies 
the  time  of  others  in  detailing.  Chil- 
dren are  often  talkative ;  lively  women 
'oquacious ;  old  men  garrulous. 


553 


"  Why  loqiMcity  is  to  be  avoided,  the  wise 
man  gives  us  a  sufficient  reason,  Prov.  x.  19: 
•  In  the  multitude  of  words  there  wanteth 
not  sin  ; '  and  Ecdes.  v.  7  :  '  In  many  words 
there  are  divers  vanities.'  " — Ray. 

"  Pardon,  my  lord,  the  feeble  garrulity 
of  age,  which  loves  to  diffuse  itself  in  dis- 
course of  the  departed  great." — BuRKB. 

"  With  such  cautions,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  that  talkativeness  is  greatly  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  taciturnity,  both  for  our  own 
and  others'  pleasure  and  improvement." — 
Kxox,  Essays. 

LOUD.  Noisy.  Clamorous.  Ob- 
streperous.    Sonorous. 

Loud  (A.  S.  hliid)  is  producing  any 
kind  of  sound  in  a  high  degree, 
whether  continuously  or  not.  It  is  a 
characteristic  also  of  the  sound  itself 
striking  the  ear  witli  force. 

Noisy  (O.  Fr.  noise,  Lat.  nausea^ 
disgust,  quarrel;  but  LiTTREinclinesto 
noxia,  hurt,  damage,  annoyance)  means 
producing  confused,  unmusical, sense- 
less, and  abnormal  sound,  which  can- 
not be  reduced  to  musical  notes,  or  a 
ratio  of  vibration.  Tlie  loud  deafens 
us,  the  noisy  distracts  us. 

Clamorous  (Lat.  cldmdre,  to  call 
aloud ;  cldmorem,  a  shout)  applies  only 
to  the  unrestrained  and  noisy  exercise 
of  the  human  or  animal  voice,  as  the 
manifestation  of  some  strong  senti- 
ment or  desire. 

Obstreperous  (Lat.  ohstreptirey  to 
make  a  noise  at)  is  producing  a  dis- 
turbing or  tumultuous  noise. 

Sonorous  (Lat.  sonorus,  sounding) 
is  having  the  power  or  quality  of 
loudness  by  nature,  as  a  sonorous 
voice,  a  sonorous  metal ;  and  carries 
with  it  no  disagreeableness  of  im- 
pression, on  the  one  hand,  or  musica 
character,  on  the  other,  but  is  simplj 
opposed  to  weakness  or  deadness  ol 
sound. 

"The  loudest  peals  and  rattlings  of  our 
conscience." — Barrow. 

"  The  king's  demand  of  a  supply  pro 
duced  one  of  those  noisy  speeches  which 
disaffection  and  discontent  regularly  dic- 
tate."—JoHNSON. 

"We  may  much  more  easily  think  to 
clamour  the  sun  and  stai-s  out  of  their 
courses,  than  to  word  the  great  Creator  of 
them  out  of  the  steady  purposes  of  His  owf. 
will  by  all  the  vehemence  and  loudness  ft 
our  petitions."-.  South. 


554 


"  There  are  who,  deaf  to  mad  ambition's 

call, 
Wonld    shrink    to    hear    th'  obstreperous 

trump  of  fame. 
Supremely  blest  if  to  their  portion  fall 
Health,  competence,  and  peace." 

Beattie. 
*'  They  have  sonorous  instruments,  but 
they  can  be  scarcely  called  instruments  of 
ronsic." — Cook's  Voyages. 

LOWER.     Rfduce. 

To  LowEn  is  the  simpler  and  gene- 
ric term,  beino-  applicable  to  anything 
which  exists  in  degree,  and  of  which 
that  degree  may  be  altered  for  more 
or  less. 

To  Reduce  (Lat.  reducere,to  bring 
back)  is  to  lower  in  a  certain  way, 
that  is,  to  lower  in  reference  to  an  ex- 
clusively internal  standard.  We  lower 
a  bucket  into  a  well.  AVe  reduce  a 
substance  to  powder,  the  particles 
beingregarded  as  in  their  individuality 
prior  to  their  existence  in  combina- 
tion. We  reduce  expenses,  that  is, 
make  tliem  lower  by  bringing  them 
back  to  what  they  have  been  or  ought 
to  be.  We  reduce  an  argument  to  a 
simple  statement  when  we  regard  this 
statement  as  containing  the  primary 
truth  or  meaning,  and  all  else  as  ac- 
cretion, accident,  or  surplusage.  To 
lower  is  to  reduce  in  respect  to  size, 
quantity,  rank,  value,  and  the  like. 
As  applied  to  persons.  Lower  relates 
to  moral  estimation  and  social  posi- 
tion. Reduce  to  their  cii'cumstances 
and  resources. 

'*  Many  writer<»  seem  to  have  imagined 
that  the  increase  of  the  quantity  of  gold  and 
silver,  in  consequence  of  the  discovery  of 
the  Spanish  West  Indies,  was  the  real  cause 
of  the  lowering  of  the  rate  of  interest 
through  the  greater  part  of  Europe."— 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"They  resolve  that  all  manner  of  life 
whatsoever  is  generable  and  corruptible, 
or  edncible  out  of  nothing,  and  reducible  to 
nothing  again."— CuDWORTH. 

LOWLY.  Humble.  Modest. 
Diffident. 

Lowly  is  rather  a  term  of  the  natu- 
ral disposition,  and  sometimes  ex- 
presses simply  the  social  condition ; 

Humble  (Lat.  hYirxilis),  of  the  spirit 
and  intellect,  except  when  meaning 
socially  inferior  ;  as,  a  humble  station 
of  life.     Humility  is  more  reflexive 


SYNONYMS  [lower] 

than  lowliness.  A  man  by  self-disci- 
pline and  thoughtfulnessmay  become 
truly  humble,  who  is  by  no  means  of 
a  lowly  disposition  naturally.  Humi- 
lity resembles  modesty ;  but  it  implies 
rather  a  readiness  to  yield  what  is  due 
to  us  than  a  shrinking  from  notice. 
Humility,  it  has  been  well  observed, 
does  not  consist  in  a  disposition 
falsely  to  underrate  ourselves,  but 
"  in  being  willing  to  waive  our  rights, 
and  descend  to  a  lower  place  than 
might  be  our  due  ;  in  being  ready  to 
admit  our  liability  to  error,  and  lis- 
tening patiently  to  ohifctions,  even 
when  they  thwart  our  views ;  in  freely 
owning  our  faults  when  conscious  of 
having  been  wrong ;  and,  in  short, 
in  not  being  over-careful  of  our  own 
dignity." 

Modesty  (Lat.  mMestia)  does  not 
imply  self-distrust,  but  an  unwilling- 
ness to  put  ourselves  forward,  and 
the  absence  of  over-confidence  in  our 
own  powers.  The  modest  man  is  not 
ignorant  of  his  powers,  but  does  not 
vaunt  or  assume  upon  them. 

A  Diffident  man,  on  the  other 
hand  (Lat.  difftdere,  to  distrust)  is 
over-distrustful  of  his  own  powers, 
and,  whether  from  an  exaggerated 
dread  of  failure,  or  from  any  othei 
cause,  shrinks  from  undertaking  what 
he  may  be  quite  competent  to  perform. 
Modesty  and  humility  are  virtues; 
diffidence  is  not  in  itself  a  virtue,  and 
may  amount  to  a  defect.  The  oppo- 
site to  diffidence  is  confidence;  to 
modesty,  impudence  or  assurance ;  to 
humility,prideorconceit.  Diffidence, 
however,  unlike  the  rest,  bears  the 
additional  sense  of  distrust  of  others. 
In  short,  diffidence  is  distrust.  This, 
when  entertained  of  others,  is  a  kind 
of  suspicion ;  when  of  ourselves,  a 
kind  of  modesty,  or,  in  excess,  a  kind 
of  fear. 

"  As  lofty  pines  o'ertop  the  lowly  reed. 
So  did  her  graceful  height  all  nymphs  ex- 
ceed." CONGREVE. 

"  I  will  invite  all  manner  of  persons,  of 
what  manners  or  dispositionssoever, whether 
the  ambitious  or  Au?7ifiZe-minded,  the  proud 
or  pitiful,  ingenuous  or  base-minded." — 
Spectator, 

"  Modesty  is  a  kind  of  shame  or  bashful- 
ness  proceeding  fr®m  the  sense  a  man  has 


[madness] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


555 


of  his  own  defects  comparetl  with  the  per- 
fections of  him  whom  he  comes  before  " — 
South. 

"To  rely  at  all  times  upon  the  care  and 
protection  of  God,  without  unreasonable 
anxiety,  diffidence,  and  distrust." — Clarke. 

LUXURIANT.     Exuberant. 

Luxuriant  (Lat.  /«x(imre,  to  imu' 
ton^  to  grow  in  size,  luxmy)  applies 
only  to  vegetation  and  what  is  analo- 
gous to  growth ;  as  luxuriant  crops,  a 
luxuriant  imagination. 

Exuberant  (Lat.  exiibh-are,  to  be  in 
grtat  abundance  ;  iiher,  the  ndder)  is  to 
the  production  what  luxuriant  is  to 
the  growth ;  the  foraaer  denotes  a 
flourishing  life,  the  latter  a  copious, 
and  sometimes  excessive,  produce. 
Hence  Exuberance  is  sometimes  em- 
ployed to  imply  that  kind  of  abun- 
dance which  needs  to  be  restrained, 
as  exuberant  grief,  exuberant  joy  ; 
while  Luxuriant  is  never  used  but  in 
a  happy  and  favourable  sense. 

'*  Poets  no  less  celebrated  for  the  luocu- 
rinvcy  than  for  the  elegance  of  their  ge- 
nius."—  Observer. 

"  So  that  allowing  me  in  my  exuberance 
one  way,  for  my  deficiencies  in  the  other, 
yon  will  find  me  not  unreasonable."— 
Burke. 


M. 

MACHINE.    Engini.. 

A  Machine  (Fr.  machine^  Lat. 
wacKina)  is  a  combination  of  bodies 
adapted  to  ti-ansmit  force  and  apply  it 
to  the  production  of  some  specific  work 
or  effect. 

Engine  (Fr.  engin,  Lat.  ingtnium, 
in  the  sense  of  a  machine,  a  war  engine) 
is  more  commonly  applied  to  machines 
of  the  more  massive  kind  which  pro- 
duce some  difficult  result  by  the  em- 
ployment of  a  high  degi'ee  of  power. 
Locomotive  machines,  for  instance, 
are  called  engines. 

MADNESS.  Derangement.  In- 
sanity. Mania.  Frenzy.  Aberra- 
tion.    Alienation.     Craziness. 

Madness  (A.  S.  gemM,  mad)  ex- 
presses any  kind  or  degree  of  disorder 
of  the  intellect,  whether  permanent 
or  transient,  casual  or  congenital ;  as, 


hereditary  madness,  the  madness  of 
rage,  or  any  other  passion. 

Insanity  (Lat.  insanitatem,  unheal- 
thiness)  is  a  more  philosophical  or 
technical  term  for  madness,  and  is 
popularly  used  for  all  such  diseases. 
It  is  not  employed,  like  Madness,  of 
passing  derangement. 

Lunacy  has  now  nearly  the  same 
extent  of  meaning,  though  once  used 
to  denote  periodical  insanity  (Lat.  lu 
ndt'iciis,  one  affected  bij  the  moon). 

Derangement,  Alien  .\TiON,  Aber- 
ration are  not  scientific  but  colloouial 
terms  expressive  of  the  aspects  or  the 
disease. 

Mania,  Delirium,  and  Frenzy 
denote  excited  states  of  the  disease ; 
INIania  (Gr.  fxuvia,  madness),  as  de- 
noting simply  its  violence;  Delirium 
(Lat.  diririum,  madness;  diHruSj 
from  de,from,  and  lira,  a  furrow,  one 
who  goes  out  of  his  tvati  in  ploughing),  a 
wandering,  inconsecutive  state  of 
mind.  Frenzy  (Gr.  4>^ivi:ri^,  inflamma- 
tion of  the  brain)  is  applied  to  more 
ordinary  and  temporary  kinds  of  men- 
tal excitement ;  as,  a  frenzy  of  rage ; 
the  frenzy  of  the  prophet  or  the  poet. 
See  Idiot. 

"  Festus,  said  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thy- 
self, much  learning  doth  make  thee  mad." 
—Eng.  Bible. 

"  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  improbable, 
and  I  know  not  whether  it  hath  ever  been 
the  fact,  that  the  same  deravgement  of  the 
mental  organs  should  seize  different  person* 
at  the  same  time,  a  derangement  I  mean  so 
much  the  same  as  to  represent  to  their 
imagination  the  same  objects." — Palet. 

"There  is  a  partial  insanity  of  mind  and 
a  total  insanity.  The  partial  insanity &eema 
not  to  excuse  them  in  the  committing  of 
any  offence  for  its  matter  capital." — Halk. 

"  Manie 
Engendred  of  humours  melancolike." 

Chaucer. 
"Who  deem  religion /renry." 

COWPEK. 
"  The  aberration  of  youth." — Hall. 
Craziness  (from  craze,  connected 
with  Fr.  ecraser,  io  break)  is  the  imbe- 
cility of  a  broken-down  intellect,  and 
as  it  were,  a  decrepit  state  of  mind. 
,  It  is  commonly  the  result  of  age  or 
severe  mental  pressure  or  trial,  and  is 
often  accompanied  by  hallucination  in 


656 


connexion  with  personal  life  and  his- 
tory. 

•'  Grief  hath  crazed  my  wits." 

Shakespeare. 

MAGICIAN.  Necromancer. 
Sorcerer.    Wizard.     Enchanter. 

The  Magician  (Fr.  magicien,  Gr. 
fxayof),  was  one  skilled  in  magic  or 
the  black  art. 

The  Sosrcerer  (Lat.  sortiarins,  lit. 
one  uiio  told  fortunes  by  lot,  sortem) 
is  literally  a  diviner  by  lots.  The 
magician  is  looked  upon  as  a  benign, 
the  sorcerer  as  a  dangerous  being. 

Necromancer  (Gr.  vsKpofjcavreU, 
vecromancy)  pretended  revelations 
from  the  dead.  The  Wizard  was  at 
first  the  wise  man,  afterwards  the 
magician  or  sorcerer.  As  the  magi- 
cian had  it  in  his  power  to  produce 
blessings  by  his  supernatural  skill, 
and  the  necromancer  divined  by  his 
communications  with  the  dead,  the 
sorcerer  had  the  power  of  hurting  by 
evil  spells  and  channs,  while  the 
wizard  was  able  by  an  unearthly 
trickery,  to  add  to  or  extricate  from 
the  misfortunes  and  embarrassments 
oflife. 

It  was  the  oflSce  of  the  Enchanter 
(Lat.  incantdtorem)  to  bind  by  a  spell 
and  to  enchain  by  illusion. 

MAINTAIN.     Sustain. 

(Fr.  maintenir,  and  soutenir,  the  Lat. 
mdnu  thiere  and  sustmere).  To  main- 
tain is  to  keep  in  the  same  state,  to 
sustain  is  to  keep  in  the  same  place. 
The  thing  which  is  not  maintained 
will  change,  deteriorate,  or  lapse  ;  the 
thing  which  is  not  sustained  will  fall. 
Vigilance  maintains,  power  sustains. 
Power  sustains  the  laws.  The  magis- 
trates maintain  their  execution.  We 
sustain  what  is  weak,  and  maintain 
what  is  variable.  You  sustain  assaults, 
eflfects;  you  maintain  order,  claims, 
and  things  generally  in  their  proper 
course,  place,  and  condition.  1  he 
term  Sustain  is  applicable  physically; 
Maintain  is  only  applicable  morally, 
or  to  speak  generally,  the  object  main- 
tained lies  more  remote,  and  is  more 
abstract  than  the  object  sustained. 
Food  sustains  life.  It  is,  as  it  were, 
an  advance  on  this  to  say  that  health 


SYNONYMS  [magician] 

is  maintained  by  temperance.  The 
law  will  maintain  you  in  your  rights 
and  sustain  you  in  your  eiForts  to  se- 
cure them.  An  establishment  cannot 
be  maintained  when  the  diminished 
income  of  the  proprietor  is  insufficient 
to  sustain  its  expenses. 

MAJESTY.     Dignity. 

Majesty  (Lat.  mqjestdtem)is  purely 
external,  belonging  as  a  personal  at- 
tribute to  the  highest  persons  in  the 
community. 

Dignity  (Lat.  dignitatem)  mani- 
fests itself  externally,  but  is  also  re- 
lated to  internal  and  essential  quali- 
ties, and  may  exist  in  all  ranks. 
Virtue,  respectability  of  character,  in- 
nocence under  unjust  suspicion,  may 
maintain  a  native  dignity.  Some  noble 
qualities  belong  to  dignity.  Where 
it  is  only  in  external  bearing  it  indi- 
cates a  sense  of  what  is  due  to  one's 
self  or  the  station  which  one  holds. 
It  is  the  mean  between  pomposity  and 
insignificance.  On  the  other  hand,  an 
imposing  person  and  gorgeous  dress 
may  invest  the  meanest  tyrant  with 
an  air  of  majesty. 

MAIM.     Mutii-ate.     Mangle. 

To  Maim  (Fr.  subst.  mahain,  con- 
nected with  Lat.  mancus,  maimed,  ff«- 
/ecfii;e,LATHAM)is  to  deprive  of  the  use 
of  a  member  or  limb  of  the  body,  so  as  to 
render  a  person  less  able  to  attack  or 
defend  himself  in  fighting,  or,  by 
an  extension  of  the  term,  less  com- 
petent to  physical  action  and  move- 
ment generally. 

To  Mutilate  (Lat.  mYMlare,  to 
maim),  is  to  deprive,  not  only  of  the 
use  of  the  limb  or  member,  but  of 
the  limb  or  member  itself,  or  of  any 
portion  of  the  body. 

To  Mangle  (^Low  Lat.  mitciildre,  to 
disfigure  by  wounds;  mangtUare,  to  in- 
jure, Wedgewood)  is  to  cut  or  bruise 
with  repeated  strokes  or  injuries  in  an 
iiregular  manner,  producing  ruptures 
and  laceration. 

"  By  the  actient  law  of  England  he  that 
maimed  any  man,  whereby  he  lost  any  part 
of  his  body,  was  sentenced  to  lose  the  like 
part. "— Blackstone. 

"  The  rhapsodies  of  Homer  were  ntic-es- 
sarily  in  a  very  mutilated  state,  or  recorded 


[manful] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


557 


in  men's  meniories  after  aa  imperfect  man- 
ner and  by  piecemeal  only." — Observer. 

'*  Concise  manglers  of  the  human  face 
divine  "  (said  of  painters).— TiCKELL. 

MAINTAIN.  Assert.  Vinui- 
CATE.     Hold.     Support.     Uphold. 

Maintain  (Fr.  maintenir,  Lat, 
manus,  the  hand,  and  ten'cre,  to  hold), 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  synony- 
mous with  the  other  terms  here  given, 
denotes  the  holding  firmly  or  with 
vigour  and  constancy;  while  Hold 
(A.  S.  healdan)  denotes  simply  enter- 
taining with  any  degree  ot  firmness 
in  argumentative  defence,  and  even 
without  argument  at  all.  We  hold 
views,  opinions,  or  belief;  we  main- 
tain, besides  these,  positions,  argu- 
ments, rights,  claims. 

To  Assert  (Lat.  asscrere,  lay  hold  of, 
claim)  is  to  lay  down  a  statement  or 
advance  a  claim  in  a  positive  manner, 
as  if  identifying  one's  self  with  it,  and 
being  ready  to  accept  its  consequences. 
Asserting  commonly  precedes  main- 
taining; the  former  being  positive 
declaration,  the  latter  persistent  up- 
holding afterwards.  We  assert  facts 
and  claims. 

To  Vindicate  (Lat.  viiidicare,  to 
claim)  is  to  defend  with  an  implied 
degree  of  success.  Maintain,  Assert, 
and  Hold  apply  to  things.  Vindicate 
and  Support  also  to  persons.  It  stands 
to  justice  as  Assert  and  Maintain  to 
truth.  Hold  is  always  used  of  per- 
sons ;  Support,  also  of  evidence.  We 
hold  truths  or  convictions ;  we  sup- 
port the  forms  in  which  they  are  ex- 
pressed as  propositions.  To  hold  is 
moral  or  intellectual;  to  support  is 
operative  or  technical.  We  support 
resolution,  plans,  movements,  or  per- 
sons in  their  efforts. 

"Judge  Anderson,  who  sate  at  the  assizes 
in  ^he  county  of  Suffolk,  did  adjudge  it  not 
maintainable,  because  it  was  not  spoken 
maliciously." — WoOD,  Athena  Oxonienses. 

"  Now  nothing  is  more  shameful  and  un- 
worthy a  natural  philosopher  than  to  assert 
anything  to  be  done  without  a  cause,  or  to 
gire  no  reason  of  it." — Ray. 

"  For  God, 
Nothing  more  certain,  will  not  long  defer 
To  vindicate  the  glory  of  His  name 
Against  all  competition."  Milton. 

'  This  is   the    unity   of   the    Christian 


Church,  the  holding  of  Christ  for  the  head, 
and  not,  tis  the  present  Church  of  Rome 
teaches,  the  holding  of  the  Pope  for  the 
visible  head  of  it." — Pearck,  Sermons. 

"The  question  is  not  whether  a  thing  be 
mysterious,  for  all  things  are  mysterious, 
but  whether  the  mystery  be  supported  by 
evidence." — GiLPlN. 

Uphold  (up  and  A.  S.  healdan,  to 
hold)  is  to  maintain  in  a  state  of 
power,  dignity,  sti*ength  ;  to  prevent 
from  falling  into  the  contraries  of 
these,whether  persons,  cases,  feelings, 
principles,  statements,  views,  posi- 
tions, sentiments,  or  opinion.  We 
are  induced  to  uphold  by  a  sense  of 
justice,  truth,  usefulness,  and  some- 
times, it  must  be  added,  self-interest. 

"  Honour  shall  uphold  the  bomble  iu 
spirit." — Eng.  Bible, 

MALICIOUS.  Malevolent.  Ma- 
lignant. 

Malicious  denotes  the  character 
which  delights  in  doing  harm  for 
hai-m's  sake.  It  may,  however,  be 
applied  to  parts  of  the  character,  or 
to  manifestations  of  it ;  as  to  take  a 
malicious  pleasure  in  anything. 

Malevolent  (Lat.  mdlh)6lus)  is 
more  strictly  personal  against  others. 

Malignant  (Lat.mrf/i^?«nteTO,  part. 
o£  mitlignHre  or  dri,  to  do  maliciously) 
is  that  which  is  virulently  bent  upon 
harm  or  evil,  and  lends  itaelf  more 
readily  to  express  the  character  of 
inanimate  influences,  where  the  harm 
is  contemplated  without  the  intention; 
as  a  malignant  ulcer  or  fever.  Mali- 
cious carries  the  idea  of  designing ; 
Malevolence,  that  of  impulse  of  na- 
ture; Malignant,  intrinsic  vice  or 
hannfulness. 

"Malicious  slander  is  the  relating  of 
either  truth  or  falsehood  for  the  purpose  of 
creating  misery." — Paley. 

"  Emulation  is  indeed  frequently  accom- 
panied with  ill-will  toward  our  rivals  ;  but 
it  is  the  desire  of  superiority  which  is  the 
active  principle,  and  the  malevolent  affec- 
tion is  only  a  concomitant  circumstance." 
—Stewart. 

"  In  some  connections  malignity  seems 
rather  more  pertinently  applied  to  a  radi 
cal  depravity  of  nature  and  malignancy  to 
indications  of  this  depravity  in  temper  and 
conduct  in  particular  instances."- CoGAN. 

MANFUL.    Manly.    Mannish. 
Manful   is  commonly  applied  t« 


558 


SYNONYMS  L^ARINEJ 


conduct;  Manly,  to  character.  Man- 
ful opposition;  manly  bravery.  Man- 
ful is  in  accordance  with  the  strength 
of  a  man;  Manly,  with  the  moral  ex- 
cellence of  a  man.  Manful  is  what  a 
man  would,  as  such,  be  likely  to  do ; 
Manly,  what  he  ought  to  do,  and  to 
feel  as  well.     Mannish  expresses  the 
unseemly  imitation  or  likeness  to  tlja    1 
characteVof  a  man,  in  those  who  have 
some  other  character  to  support ;  and 
so  is  applicable  to  the  coarseness  of 
women,  or  the  assumption  and  preco- 
city of  children. 
"  Manly  virtue,  like  the  sun. 
His  course  of  glorious  toil  should  run. 
Alike  diffusing  in  his  flight 
Congenial  joy,  and  life,  and  light." 

Swift. 
"  I  kill'd  a  man,  whose  death  I  much  re- 
pent ; 
But  yet  I  slew  him  manfully  in  fight. 
Without  false  vantage  or  base  treachery." 
Shakespeaee. 
"  But,  alas !  the  painted  faces  and  7nanish- 
nesse,  and  monstrous  disguisedness  of  one 
sex." — Bishop  Haxl. 

MARINE.  Mauitime.  Naval. 
Nautical. 

Marine  (Lat.  mlirinus,  belonging 
to  the  sea),  and  Maritime  (Lat. 
mdrtttmus,  meaning  the  same),  both 
mean  belonging  to  the  sea,  but  under 
different  aspects ;  Marine,  to  the  sea 
in  its  simplest  aspect  or  natural  state, 
as  marine  productions  or  deposits; 
Maritime  to  the  sea  as  it  is  employed 
by  man,  or  in  relation  to  the  life  of 
man  ;  as  a  maritime  people,  maritime 
trade  or  occupations.  An  analogous 
difference  may  be  observed  in  the  use 
of  the  terms  Naval  and  Nautical. 

Naval  (Lat.  ndvdlis)  is  simply  be- 
longing to  ships;  Nautical  (Lat. 
nauttcus,  belonging  to  sailors)  belong;ing 
to  anything  with  which  ships  are  spe- 
cially connected,  or  for  which  they 
are  employed.  A  naval  life,  the  naval 
profession,  a  naval  armament ;  nauti- 
cal discoveries,  a  nautical  almanac. 

"  The  code  of  maritime  laws,  which  are 
called  the  laws  of  Oleron,  and  are  receive:! 
by  all  nations  in  Europe  as  the  ground  and 
substructure  of  all  their  marine  constitu- 
tions, was  confessedly  compiled  by  our  King 
Richard  the  First,  at  the  Isle  of  Oleron."— 
BXiACKSTONK. 

"  The  victory  uf  Duilius,  as  it  was  ho- 


noured at  Eome  with  the  first  nav«^  triumph 
that  was  ever  seen  in  that  city,  so  gave  it 
unto  the  Romans  a  gi'eat  enconragement 
to  proceed  in  their  wars  by  sea." — Ra- 
legh. 

"  The  nauticall  compasse." — Camdew. 

MARINER.     Sailor.    Seaman. 

Mariner  {see  Marine)  is  one 
w  uose  occupation  is  connected  with 
the  navigation  of  ships.  A  Sailor, 
as  at  present  employed,  designates 
one  who  serves  especially  in  the 
navy;  while  Seaman  is  common  to 
the  navy  and  the  merchant  service. 

MARK.     Indicate.     Designate. 

The  proper  force  of  the  verb  to 
Mark  (Fr,  marquer)  is  to  distinguish, 
to  enable  us  to  discern  an  object  by 
peculiar  characters,  so  that  one  cannot 
misunderstand  or  confound  them. 

The  proper  force  of  Indicate  (Lat. 
indtcare)  is  to  give  knowledge  and  in- 
formation about  a  subject  which  one 
does  not  know,  or  of  which  one  is  in 
search,  so  as  to  direct  one's  view, 
one's  steps,  or  one's  thoughts  to  see, 
remark,  or  discover  it. 

The  proper  force  of  Designate 
(Lat.  disigndre)  is  to  set  forth  the 
thing  hidden  by  means  of  the  relation 
of  certain  signs  to  it,  so  that  without 
actually  subjecting  the  thing  to  the 
sight  we  may  know  it  and  be  sure  of 
it.  Marks, such  as  impressions,  spots, 
stains,  Avhether  natural  or  artificial, 
enable  us  to  know  and  recognize  a 
thing  amid  a  multitude  of  others  of 
the  same  kind  by  some  distinctive  pro- 
perty or  exclusive  feature.  Indica- 
TioNs,suchas  gestures,  sign-posts,con- 
ventional  pointers,  show  us  by  giving 
us  information,  the  object  of  our  search 
or  the  line  of  procedure  ;  and  by  di 
recting  us  to  it,  help  us  to  reach  it. 
Signs,  such  as  a  signature,  signals  of 
flags,  telegraphs,  or  beacons,  by  their 
significance  or  demonstrative  force 
founded  upon  the  nature  of  things  or 
arbitrarily  established,  inform  us  that 
a  thing  is,  where  it  is,  or  what  it  is. 
The  hand  of  the  clock  marks  the  hour, 
the  index  of  a  book  indicates  the  page 
on  which  a  certain  article  is  printed. 
The  flag  of  a  ship  designates  the  nation 
I   to  which  it  belongs. 


[marvel] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


559 


MARRIAGE.  Wedding.  Nup- 
tials.    Mathimony.     Wedlock. 

MAnRiAGE(Fr.77wrwo^e)  is  properly 
the  act  which  unites  man  ana  wife ; 

Matrimony  (Lat.  maUHmbiiium, 
uedlock;  mdtrem,  a  mother)^  the  state 
of  such  union,  with  all  its  relation- 
ehips,  rights,  and  obligations.  Al- 
though man-iage  is  sometimes  used 
for  the  state,  matrimonj  is  never 
used  for  the  act.  Wedlock  is  the 
old  Saxon  term  for  matrimouy,  and 
is  a  term  of  legal  associations;  as 
lawful  wedlock. 

Wedding  (A.  S.  loeddian,  to  cove- 
nant, promise)  is  employed  only  of  the 
ceremony  of  the  marriage. 

Nuptials  (Lat.  nuptidlis,  belonging 
to  a  marriage,  nupticB.  pi.)  is  little  more 
than  the  Latin  equivalent  of  the  Saxon 
Wedding.  Like  most  Latin  equiva- 
lents, however,  it  has  a  more  dignified 
meaning.  We  should  naturally  speak 
of  a  village  wedding,  and  the  nuptials 
of  a  prince. 

"  Mai'riage  Love's  object  is,  at  whose  bright 

eyes 
He  lights  his  torches,  and  calls  them  his 

skies  ; 
For  her  he  wings  his  shoulders  and  doth 

fly 
To  her  white  bosom  as  his  sanctuary." 
Ben  Joxson. 
"  The  misinterpreting  of  the  Scripture 
directed  mainly  against  the  abuses  of  the 
law  for    divorce    given    by    Moses,    hath 
changed  the   blessing   of  inatrimony    not 
seldom   into  a  familiar  and  co-inhabiting 
mischief." — Miltox. 

"  Is  mirth  seasonable  on  the  day  oi  mar- 
riage ?  Behold,  the  greatest  tvedding  that 
ever  was  is  this  day  solemnized ;  heaven 
and  earth  are  contracted;  divinity  is  es- 
poused to  humanity;  a  sacred,  an  indis- 
soluble knot  is  tied  between  God  and  man." 
—Barrow. 

"  The  relation  between  Christ  and  His 
Church,  it  is  evident,  must  be  of  a  nature 
not  to  be  adequately  tj-pified  by  anything 
in  the  material  woi-ld ;  and  nothing  could 
be  found  in  human  life  which  might  so 
aptly  represent  it  as  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife  in  the  holy  state  of  wedlock." — 
Bishop  Horsley-. 
"  He  (Earl  Athelwold)  then  besought  me 

for  some  little  space 
"he  nuptials  might  be  secret."    Mason. 

MARSH.    Swamp.    Bog.    Quag- 
mire.    Morabs.     Fen. 
A  Marsh  (Fr.  maraiSf  Low  Lat. 


mariscus),  is  a  considerable  tiact  ol 
low  swampy  land,  sometimes  cohered 
with  water. 

A.  Swamp  (old  Norse,  squampOf  tc 
splash;  Wedgewood)  is  a  piece  of 
flat  spongy  land  not  coveied  with 
water,  and  of  no  considerable  extent. 
Swamp  indicates  the  character  of 
patches  of  land.  Marshes  are  some- 
times so  extensive  as  to  form  geo- 
graphical features  of  a  country.  A 
Bog  is  a  soft  and  treacherous  swamp 
covered  with  vegetation,  yet  not  com- 
pact enough  to  bear  more  than  a 
slight  weight  upon  its  surface.  It 
is  this  incomj)leteness  and  shifting 
character  of  the  ground  which  is 
more  distinctively  expressed  by  quag- 
mire, as  it  were  "  quakemire.* 
Morass,  which  is  another  form  ol 
Marsh,  is  an  extensive  marsh,  sterile 
and  too  wet  for  pasturage ; 

While  Fen  (A.  S.  fen)  is  a  marsh 
I    producing  reeds,  sedge,  coai'se  grass, 
and  a  variety  of  aquatic  vegetation. 

MARTIAL.  Warlike.  Military. 
Soldier-like. 

Martial  (Lat.  martUtU$,  belonging 
to  Mars,  the  God  of  War)  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  equivalent  to  Warlike;  as, 
a  martial  or  warlike  people  ;  a  martial 
or  warlike  appearance.  However, 
AVarlike  lends  itself  better  to  express 
what  belongs  to  war  in  action.  So  a 
martial,  not  a  Avarlike,  sentence  or 
tribunal ;  martial,  not  warlike,  law. 

Military  (Lat.  m'ltitdris,  belonging 
to  a  soUiier)  is  directly  pertaining  to 
soldiers,  and  so  indirectly  pertaining 
to  war ;  as  military  disci])line,  which 
includes  much  besides  what  is  peculiar 
to  war,  as,  for  instance,  punctual 
routine,  provisions,  honours,  ammu- 
nition, roads.  "The  town  wore  a 
very  military  appearance ;"  that  is, 
there  were  many  soldiers  going  about. 
Soldier-like  expresses  what  is  ap- 
propriately belonging  to  the  charac- 
ter, conduct,  and  appearance  of  a 
soldier,  and  is  individually,  not  ab- 
stractedly, applied. 

MAR\'EL.     Prodigy.     Wondsb. 

Miracle.    Monster,   Phenomenon. 

Marvel  (Fr.  inerveille,  Lat.  mi'd 


660 


SYNONYMS  [mass] 


talis,  wonderful)  is  commonly  a  re- 
lated wonder.  But  it  has  also  the 
wider  sense  of  a  production  which 
strikes  us  with  admiration  as  a  work 
in  its  kind  of  surprising  excellence. 

Prodigy  (Lat.  prdd(gium)  is  an 
unusual  portent  of  Nature. 

Wonders  (A.  S.  wunder,  wundor) 
are  natural  and  true,  and  owe  their 
character  to  our  inexperience. 

Miracles  (Lat.  niiruciilum,  a  mar- 
vel, mirdri,  to  wonder)  are  deviations 
from  the  known  and  established  con- 
stitution and  course  of  things,  being 
supernatural,  as  wonders  are  natural, 
and  marvels,  for  the  most  part,  ficti- 
tious. 

Monster  (  Fr.  monstre,  monstrum,  a 
divine  omen,  from  monere,  to  warn,  ad- 
vise) is  a  marvellous  deviation  from 
the  ordinary  type,  being  some  speci- 
fic form,  wonderful  for  enormity  or 
shapelessness.  A  marvel  or  a  won- 
der is  complex,  as  a  prodigy  is  simple. 
The  former  are  occurrences,  the  latter 
phenomena.  What  is  wonderful  takes 
our  senses,  what  is  marvellous  takes 
our  reason,  by  surprise ;  what  is  pro- 
digious is  opposed  to  our  experience. 
The  wonderful  is  opposed  to  the  com- 
mon, the  marvellous  to  the  probable. 
Nature  is  full  of  wonders.  The  com- 
mon production  of  an  oak  from  an 
acorn  is  a  wonder.  The  old  romances 
abounded  in  the  marvellous.  Miracles 
attest  the  prophet.  Prodigies  were 
of  frequent  occurrence,  according  to 
Livy,  in  the  earlier  Roman  history, 
as  when  a  statue  sweated,  or  a  cow 
spoke  with  the  human  voice.  A  mon- 
ster may  be  a  creation  of  the  imagina- 
tion or  a  fi'eak  of  Nature,  as  the  hydra 
in  one  case,  or  a  calf  with  six  legs  in 
the  other.  Wonder  may  be  regarded 
also  as  the  generic  term  which  com- 

? rises  the  rest.  Universal  eflforts  of 
Jature  produce  prodigies.  Super- 
natural power  works  miracles  ;  a  rare 
industry  and  artistic  skill,  or  boldness, 
or  genius  works  marvels.  A  marvel  of 
painting  or  of  architecture,  for  instance. 
In  proportion  as  the  laws  and  forces 
of  N  ature  have  become  known,  natural 
phenomena,  as  eclipses  or  electric 
fires,  have  ceased  to  be  prodigies. 
As  tHe  Chi'istian  religion  has  become 


established,  the  original  need  of  mira- 
cles has  ceased.  In  proportion  as  art 
spreads,  its  marvels  lose  their  cha- 
racter by  becoming  more  common. 

A  Phenomenon  (Gr.  (poAySfXivov,  a 
thing  shown)  is  literally  no  more  than 
an  appearance — hence  a  striking  or 
unexpected  exhibition.  In  a  scientific 
sense  it  denotes  the  outward  result  or 
illustration  of  a  law,  that  part  of  a 
thing  which  presents  itself  to  our 
observation  as  distinguished  from  the 
ground,  substance,  or  unknown  consti- 
tution which  underlies  it  and  puts  it 
forth,  as  the  phenomena  of  heat,  elec- 
tricity, or  of  the  human  mind. 

"Among  the  various  phenomena,  which 
the  humaa  mind  presents  to  our  view, 
there  is  none  more  calculated  te  excite  our 
curiosity  and  our  wonder  than  the  commu- 
nication which  is  carried  on  between  the 
sentient  thinking  and  active  principle  within 
us,  and  the  material  objects  with  which  we 
are  surrounded." — D.  Stewart. 
"  With  which  they  wrought  such  wondrous 

marvels  there."  Spenser. 

"  And  yesterday  the  bird  of  night  did  sit, 
Ev'n  at  noonday,  upon  the  market-place. 
Hooting  and  shrieking.     When  these  pro- 
digies 
Do  so  conjointly  meet,  let  not  men  say 
These  are  their  reason,  they  are  natural." 

Shakespeare. 
"Behold  a   wonder!  they  but  now  who 

seemed 
In  bigness  to  surpass  earth's  giant  sons. 
Now  less  than  smallest  dwarfs  in  nan-ow 

room 
Throng  numberless."  MiLTON. 

"A  miracle,  then,  is  the  extraordinary 
effect  of  some  unknown  power  in  Nature 
limited  by  divine  ordination  and  authority 
to  its  circumstances,  for  a  suitable  end." — 
Grew. 

"  A  monster  which  hath  not  the  shape  of 
mankind,  but  in  any  part  evidently  bears 
the  resemblance  of  the  brute  creation,  hath 
no  inheritable  blood,  and  cannot  be  heir  in 
any  land,  albeit  it  be  brought  forth  in  mar- 
riage."—Blackstone. 

MASS.  VoLUMK.  Dimensions. 
Quantity. 

The  Mass  (Fr,  7nas.se)  is  the  quan- 
tity of  matter  belonging  to  a  boay. 

The  Volume  (Lat.  vUumen,  volvere, 
to  roll)  is  its  extent  in  length,  width, 
and  depth.  One  judges  of  the  mass 
of  a  body  by  its  weight,  the  weight  of 
all  bodies  being  proportioTiate  to  the 
quantity  of  matter  which  they  contain. 


[materials] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


561 


Dimension  (Lat.  dimensidnem)  is 
me&sure  in  a  single  line,  as  length, 
breadth,  height,  thickness,  circumfe- 
rence. When  the  aggregate  of  these 
is  expressed  by  the  plural  dimensions, 
it  is  equiv^alent  to  extent  or  size. 

QuAT^TiTY  (Lat.  quantitdtem)  is  the 
abstract  quality  of  amount,  the  being 
80  much  and  neither  more  nor  less.  It 
is  that  attribute  of  a  thing  whioh 
makes  it  capable  of  measurement. 

MASSACRE.  Carnage. 
Butchery.     Slaughter. 

Massacre  (Fr.  vuissacre)  denoted 
originally  the  killing  of  victims  for 
sacrifice.  It  now  denotes  the  pro- 
miscuous slaughter  of  many,  and  is 
more  commonly  applied  to  the  de- 
struction of  human  than  of  merely 
animal  life.  It  is  a  term  of  direct 
reproach,  being  the  act  of  treachery 
or  indiscriminate  barbarity. 

Carnage  (L.  Lat.  caniaffcum,  Lat. 
carnem,  Jiesh)  is  such  slaughter  as 
produces  a  mass  of  animal  remains. 
It  expresses  the  same  result  as  Mas- 
sacre, but  not  the  same  intention. 
After  a  great  battle  there  may  be 
ten-ible  carnage,  yet  no  massacre. 
Barbarity,  ferocity,  atrocity  in  all 
their  horrors  dictate 

Butch  er v  (Fr.  houcherie^  a  slaughter 
house),  which  points  more  directly  to 
the  character  of  the  person  or  persons 
committing  acts  of  slaughter  upon 
men,  as  if  they  Avere  no  better  than 
animals. 

Slaughter  ( A.  S.  sledn,  to  smite,  to 
slay)  points  not  so  directly  to  the 
character  of  the  person  as  of  the  deed, 
and  commonly  denotes  extensive,  in- 
discriminate, or  superfluous  taking 
away  of  life,  whether  human  or  other- 
wise. It  bears,  however,  no  neces- 
sary meaning  of  wantonness  or 
cruelty,  but  only  extensive  destruc- 
tion of  life,  or  the  killing  of  a  large 
carcase,  when  it  is  employed  of  the 
inferior  animals. 

MASTER.  Possessor.  Owner, 
Proprietor. 

As  a  synonym  with  the  following, 
Master  (Lat.  mdgister)  relates  pri- 
marily to  beings  gifted  with  life ;  the 


master  of  a  house  is  t^a  master  of  the 
persons  inhabiting  it.  The  other 
terms  apply  to  mere  goods  as  such. 
Master,  however,  denotes  an  active 
power;  otherwise,  though  one  might 
be  Possessor,  he  would  not  be  master. 

Owner  (A.  S.  dgnian,  to  possess) 
and  Proprietor  (Fr.  proprietaire, 
Lat.  proprius,  one's  own)  are  essen- 
tially the  same ;  but  the  former  is 
more  familiar  and  employed  of  less 
important  as  well  as  more  important 
possessions.  The  owner  of  a  book  or 
an  estate  ;  the  proprietor  of  an  estate, 
not  of  a  hook.  Unlike  Master,  these 
three  tenns  indicate  not  of  necessity 
active  control.  So  a  minor  is,  in  the 
eye  of  the  law,  owner,  proprietor, 
and  possessor  of  his  estate  ;  but  he  is 
not  master  of  it  until  he  comes  of 
age.  So  insane  persons  possess  that 
over  which  they  are  not  permitted  to 
exercise  control.  Both  Owner  and 
Proprietor  convey,  as  Possessor  does 
not  necessarily,  the  idea  of  right. 
The  possessor  may  have  hecome  such 
by  fraud  or  force  as  against  the  right- 
ful owner  or  proprietor. 

"When  I  have  made  myseU master  of  a 
hundred  thousand  drachmas." — AddiSON. 

"  Think  of  the  happiness  of  the  Prophet* 
and  Apostles,  Saints  and  Martyrs,  posses- 
sors of  eternal  glory." — Law. 

"  It  is  evident  that  though  the  things  of 
nature  are  given  in  common,  yet  man  by 
being  master  of  himself,  and  proprietor  of 
his  own  person,  and  the  actions  or  labour  of 
it,  had  still  in  himself  the  great  foundation 
of  property. "—  Locks. 

MATERIALS.      Matter.      Sub 
ject. 

Materials  (Lat.  mnttrialis,  belong- 
ing to  matter)  is  Matter  so  selected 
or  prepared  as  to  serve  the  purpose  of 
artificial  production;  while  Matter 
denotes,  in  the  aggregate,  all  that  con- 
stitutes the  palpable  and  visible,  as 
distinct  from  the  world  of  mind,  and 
spiritual  conception  or  being.  The 
productions  of  Nature  are  composed 
of  matter ;  those  of  art,  of  materials 
In  their  metaphorical  application  to 
things  intellectual  and  literary,  the 
matter  of  a  work  is  the  whole  sub- 
stance of  it,  as  composed  by  the 
author  :  the  materials  are  the  exter- 


562 


SYNONYMS 


[mature] 


nal  elements  which  he  imports  and 
assimilates  in  tho  production  of  his 
work. 

The  Subject  (Lat.  subjectum,  the 
thing  placed  under,  the  subject),  in  this 
case,  is  that  concerning  which  state- 
ments are  made,  or  which  is  generally 
brought  into  view  by  discussion  and 
illustration.  In  philosophy  we  meet 
with  the  compound  term  subject- 
matter  ;  this  is  distinguished  from  ob- 
iect-matter.  The  former  is  that  with 
which  the  science  is  directly,  the 
latter  that  with  which  it  is  neces- 
sarily, but  indirectly,  concerned.  For 
instance,  of  philosophy  at  large,  it 
might  be  said,  that  its  subject-matter 
is  truth  ;  its  object-matter,  happiness. 
It  is  important  to  distinguish  specially 
between  the  matter  and  the  subject. 
The  matter  is  the  class  of  objects  of 
which  one  ti-eats.  The  subject  is  the 
specific  object  of  which  one  treats. 
The  varieties  of  the  Gospel  are  the 
matter  of  sermons.  A  particular  ser- 
mon has,  for  instance.  Charity  for  its 
subject. 

"  Materials  for  sacrifice." — Draytok. 
"As  thee,  O  Queen,  the  matter   of  my 


"  This  subject  for  heroic  song 
Pleased  me  long  choosing,  and  beginning 
late."  Milton. 

MATURE.     Ripe. 

These  words  illustrate  the  tendency 
so  often  observable  of  Saxon  words 
to  adhere  to  the  physical  and  literal, 
and  of  Latin  words,  to  the  moral  and 
metaphorical. 

Ripe  (A.  S.  ripe,  rip,  hai-vest)  is 
in  Saxon  what  Mature  {maturus, 
ripe)  is  in  Latin.  Ripe  denotes  com- 
plete natural  development,  or  what  is 
simply  analogous  to  it ;  as  a  fruit  is 
ripe,  or  a  plan  of  action  is  ripe.  Con- 
sideration, judgment,  thougnt,  when 
carried  out  to  the  full,  are  said  to  be 
Mature.  Ripe  belongs  to  what  is 
ready  to  be  dealt  with  practically ;  Ma- 
ture to  what  Las  had  sufficient  time 
bestowed  upcr  it.  A  scheme  is  mature 
as  being  well  digested,  ripe  as  being 
fit  for  carrying  out. 

"  When  they  (the  acts  of  men)  be  done 
•;th  such  moderation  that  nothing  in  the 
jing  may  seem  superfluous  or  indigent. 


we  say  that  they  be  maturely  done."— Sir 
T.  Eltot,  The  Governour. 

"Should  they  submit  ere  our  designs  are 

ripe, 
We    both    must    perish    in   the  common 

wreck. 
Lost  in  a  general  nndistinguish'd  ruin." 
Addison,  Cato. 
MAY.     Can. 

Can  denotes  power ;  May,  proba- 
bility, possibility,  and  permission.  1 
can,  or  cannot,  walk ;  that  is,  I  have, 
or  have  not,  the  power  to  walk.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  negative  Cannot 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  extreme  im- 
probability;  as,  "  Surely  it  cannot  be 
raining  with  this  bright  sun ; "  in 
which  cases  it  seems  to  take  the  place 
of  May  NOT.  So  we  should  say,  "  I 
think,  with  the  wind  from  the  south, 
it  may  rain  to-day."  But  we  should 
not  say,  "  Surely,  with  the  wind  from 
the  north,  it  may  not,"  but "  it  cannot 
rain  to-day."  May  not  negatives,  not 
probability,  but  permission. 

MEAN.  Abject.  For  Mean  see 
Base  and  Design. 

The  Abject  (Lat.  abjectus,  cast 
away,  abjictre,  to  cast  away)  represents 
the  extreme  of  lowness  as  produced 
by  mental  causes,  or  social  circum- 
stances. Abject  melancholy;  abject 
poverty.  It  is  not  a  term  of  purely 
moral  import.  Abject  misery ;  abject 
superstition ;  not  abject  vice.  It  be- 
longs to  the  low,  not  as  it  is  base,  but 
as  it  is  disesteemed.  Abject  is  also  cha- 
racteristically employed  of  the  spirit. 
It  is  a  term  of  comprehensive  import. 
It  belongs  to  the  extreme  of  moral 
and  social  humiliation. 

"  And    banish  hence   these  abject,  lowly 
dreams."  Shakespeare. 

MEAT.     Flesh. 

Meat  (A.  S.  mete)  is  not  a  term 
directly  expressive  of  any  natural 
substance  in  particular,  whereas  Flesh 
(A.  &.jic£sc)  is.  In  old  English  Meat 
meant  food.  The  meat-offering  of  the 
Anglican  version  of  the  Book  of  Le- 
viticus is  not  flesh,  but  flour.  Hence 
it  follows  that,  as  applied  to  the  ani- 
mal substance,  meat  is  always  eatable, 
while  the  flesh  of  many  animals  is  no- 


'^meditate] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


563 


MEDITATE.  Contemplate. 
Muse.  Reflect.  Consider.  Re- 
gard.    Ponder.     Revolve. 

To  Contemplate  (Lat.  contemplari, 
part,  contemplatus)  is  a  more  direct 
act  of  the  mind  than  Meditate  (mi- 
dttdri,  part,  mtditdtus)  or  Muse  (Fr. 
muse'^,  to  loiter  or  trifle)^  as  is  seen  in 
the  difference  of  their  grammatical 
use ;  Contemplate  being  essentially  a 
transitive  verb  ;  Meditate  and  Muse, 
except  where  Meditate  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  intend,  being  followed  by  the 
preposition  upon.  Meditation  is  in- 
ternal ;  contemplation  external.  The 
poet,  for  instance,  meditates ;  the 
astronomer  contemplates.  Not  but 
that  we  may  mentally  contemplate  a 
mental  subject ;  yet,  in  that  case,  we 
still  take,  as  it  were,  an  external  view 
of  it,  and  consider  it  in  itself,  and  in 
its  totality ;  when  we  meditate  upon 
it,  we  regard  its  internal  nature,  pro- 
perties, bearings,  relations,  or  issues. 
Contemplation  takes  in  the  whole  at 
once ;  meditation  takes  it  to  pieces. 
Contemplation  is  fixed  and  sustained 
attention ;  meditation  implies  analy- 
sis, and  the  viewing  of  a  subject  in 
many  different  ways.  We  contem- 
plate what  is  before  us,  or  present  in 
imagination,  in  fact,  or  in  anticipa- 
tion. We  meditate  on  what  is  absent, 
past,  or  future.  Hence  the  terms  Con- 
template and  Meditate  sometimes 
bespeak  practical  purpose  or  intention 
to  act.  To  muse  is  to  meditate  with 
less  effort  of  mind,  and  is  incompatible 
with  its  painful  exercise.  We  may 
meditate  on  a  matter  which  has  caused 
us  profound  sorrow ;  we  should 
hardly  be  said  to  muse  upon  it.  Yet 
Muse  seems  to  denote  more  decided 
absence  of  mind  than  Meditate. 
Musing  belongs  to  the  past,  and,  in 
this  respect,  unlike  Contemplate  and 
Meditate,  is  inapplicable  to  the  fu- 
ture. 

"  He  that  accustoms  himself  to  meditate 
upon  the  greatness  of  God,  finds  these  ques- 
tions continually  rising  and  stirring  in  his 
heart."— South. 

♦*  To  Contemplation's  sober  eye^ 

Such  is  the  race  of  man  ; 
And  they  that  creep  and  they  that  fly. 

Shall  end  where  they  began." 


"  There  flow'ry  hill,  Hymettng    with  th« 

sound 
Of  bees'  industrious  murmur  oft  invites 
To  studious  musing."  MiLTON. 

Reflect  (Lat.  refitcttre^  to  bind 
backwards)  applies  solely  to  the  past. 
It  is  the  turning  back  of  the  mind  to 
meditate  upon  itself,  its  own  acts  and 
states,  or  what  has  occupied  it,  or 
been  presented  to  it  as  external  facts. 
Reflexion  is  commonly  said  of  matters 
of  speculation  or  moral  action ;  Con- 
sider (Lat.  considirdre),  of  mattei-a 
practical,  requiring  the  use  of  obser- 
vation and  judgment.  We  reflect  upon 
what  we  are  or  shall  be,  have  done  or 
ought  to  do.  We  consider  facts  or 
cases  presented  to  us,  our  present 
condition,  position,  and  resources,  and 
what  steps  we  ought  to  take  for  right 
action.  Meditation  is  more  involun- 
tary than  reflexion.  We  ponder  and 
take  to  pieces  and  view  in  all  its 
lights  that  which  lies  near  our  hearts ; 
but  we  need  often  to  be  stopped  in 
our  career  of  heedlessness,  and  to 
have  our  minds  drawn  off  from  more 
attractive  and  less  important  things, 
in  order  that  we  may  give  serious  re- 
flexion to  what  we  should  otherwise 
disregard. 

"  Forced  by  reflective  reason,  I  confess 
That  human  science  is  uncertain  guess." 
Prior. 
"But  mercy,  lady  bright,  that  knowest 

well 
My  thoughts,  and  seest  what  harmes  that 

I  feel. 
Consider  all  this,  and  rue  upon  my  sore." 
Chaucer. 

To  Regard  (Fr.  regarder,  to  look) 
is  to  look  at  with  attention  or  inte- 
rest ;  hence  to  consider  in  such  a  way 
as  to  form  a  judgment.  This  force 
it  shares  with  consider ;  as,  "  I  con- 
sider or  regard  him  as  a  friend."  In 
this  sense  Consider  implies  more  pre- 
vious thought  than  Regard.  "  I  con- 
sider that  he  has  acted  wisely,"  would 
involve  a  more  deliberate  judgment 
to  that  effect,  than  "  I  regard  his  ac- 
tion as  a  wise  one."  The  latter  is  to 
look  upon  in  a  certain  light;  the 
former  is  to  do  this  upon  certain 
grounds. 

Ponder  (Lat.  ponder  are,  to  weight 
denotes  a  long-sustained  meditation 
on  what  is  of  deep  personal  coDPPra. 


564 


SYNONYMS 


[mEDLEYj 


•*  He  valned  his  reJigion  beyond  his  own 
safety,  and  regarded  not  all  the  calumnies 
and  reproaches  of  his  enemies,  as  long  as 
he  made  this  his  constant  exercise — to  keep 
a  conscience  void  of  offence,  both  towards 
God  and  towards  men." — Stillinqflkkt. 
"  The  modest  queen  awhile,  with  down-  j 
cast  eyes,  1 

Pondered  the  speech,  then  briefly  thus  re- 
plies." Dryden,  Virgil. 

Revolve  (Lat.  rh^olvcre,  to  roll  back, 
to  reflect  upon)  is  au  analogous  term. 
It  is  to  turn  a  thing  over  and  over 
repeatedly  in  the  mind,  as  a  material 
substance  is  turned  over  in  the  hand, 
for  the  purpose  of  viewing  under  all 
aspects  and  lights.  It  had  formerly  a 
peculiar  application  to  books  and  read- 
ing, from  the  oldest  books  being  parch- 
ment rolls,  -whence  the  word  "  vo- 
lume." 

"This  having  heard  straight  I  again  re- 
volved 
The  Law  and  Prophets."  MiLTON. 

MEDLEY.  Mixture.  Miscel- 
lany. 

Medley  (Fr.  melee,  nielevf  to  mix, 
formerly  mesler)  is  such  a  compound 
as  involves  a  mass  of  ill-assorted,  un- 
related, or  confused  ingredients. 

Miscellany  (Lat.  misceUdneus, 
mixed)  is  a  compound  of  things  which 
are  so  various  as  not  to  stand  strictly 
connected,  yet  may  be  brought  to- 
gether for  a  purpose  and  with  method. 
A  miscellany  has  the  diversity  without 
the  incongruity  of  a  medley. 

Mixture  (Lat.  mixtiira,  a  mixing) 
is  the  more  general  term,  denotipo-  a 
combination  or  interfusion  of  particles 
or  ingredients,  which  may  be  either 
congruous  or  incongruous,  propor- 
tionate or  disproportionate,  judicious 
or  injudicious.  A  mixture  may  be  of 
two  ;  a  medley  is  of  more  than  two. 
"  More  oft  in  fools'  and  madmen's  hands 

than  sages'. 
She  seems  a  medlej/  of  all  ages." 

SvriFT. 

"  In  great  villainies  there  is  often  such 
a  mixture  of  the  fool  as  quite  spoils  the 
whole  project  of  the  knave."— South. 

"  The  miscellaneous  matter  I  propose  to 
give  in  these  sheets,  naturally  coincides 
with  the  method  I  have  taken  of  disposing 
them  into  distinct  papers."— Oiscrrer. 

Meet.     Fit.     Apt. 

Meet  (A.S.  gem£t,fit,  •proper,  and 


this  from  metan,  to  meet  with ;  thus 
answering  strictly  to  the  Lat.  con- 
veniens, and  the  older  English  conve- 
nient, in  the  sense  of  ^t)  is  a  moral 
term,  as  Fit  is  both  natural  and  arti- 
ficial or  acquired,  and  Apt  natural 
only. 

"  It  is  meet  and  right  so  to  do."— ^»^/j- 
Cfin  Liturgy. 

"  That  which  ordinary  men  are  fit  for,  I 
am  qualified  in." — ShakksPEARE. 

"  They  have  not  always  apt  instrn 
ments." — BuRKE. 

MELODY.  PIahmony.  Accor 
DANCE.     Concord.     Unison. 

Melody  (Gr.  (ji.t\xlict,  a  sinking 
is  the  rhythmical  succession  of  siag^ 
notes  in  music,  so  as  to  form  a  who' 
or  musical  thought. 

Harmony  (Gr.  a^fxovla,  a  fitting  to 
gether,  harmonii)  is  the  concord  of  tw 
or  more  musical  strains  differing  ii 
pitch. 

Concord  (Lat.  concordia,  con-,  to 
gether,  and  cor,  cordis,  the  hearty  r 
the  fitness  of  two  or  more  sounds  k 
be  heard  simultaneously,  not  being 
Unisons  (Lat.  unishius,  having  one 
and  the  same  sound),  i.e.  similar  notes, 
in  different  octaves,  sounded  together. 
Accordance  expresses  the  abstract 
Quality  of  which  any  given  concord  ie 
tne  specific  illustration.  The  first, 
third,  and  fifth  notes  of  a  key,  being 
in  accordance,  form  a  concord  when 
struck  together. 

"  The  melody  of  birds."  Milton. 
"  These  accessory  sounds,  which  are 
caused  by  the  aliquots  of  a  sonorous  body 
vibrating  at  once,  are  called  harmonies, 
and  the  whole  system  of  modern  harmony 
depends  on  them."— Sir  W.  Jones. 
"  While   kindred   notes,  with  undulation 

sweet, 
^ccorda7ii  wake  from  all  thy  vocal  strings." 

Mason. 
"  If  the  true  concord  of  well-tuned  sounds 
By  unions  married  do  offend  thine  ear. 
They  do  but  singly  chide  thfe,  who  con- 
founds 
In  singleness  the  parts  that  thou  shonld'st 
bear."  Shakespeare. 

"  They  say  of  two  strings  that  are  perfect 
unisons,  touch  the  one,  the  other  also 
sounds." — Lkiohton. 

MEMORABLE.    Signal. 

These  terms  are  applied  to  facts  or 
exemplifications  of  principle,  proper- 


[memory] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


565 


ties,  or  character,  but  with  some  little 
difference  of  subject-matter. 

Signal  (Lat.  signdlis,  belonging  to 
«  sign,  signum)  is  used  of  events  in 
regard  both  to  their  moral  and  their 
historical  value  or  importance.  Thus 
we  might  say,  "a  signal  bravery;" 
"a  memorable  exploit;"  "signal," 
not  "memorable,  "benevolence." 
It  may  be  added,  that  Signal  expresses 
an  already  existent  notoriety ;  Memo- 
rable, that  such  notoriety  is  due.  As 
they  relate  to  actual  occurrences,  that 
is  signal  which  is  conspicuously  re- 
markable as  well  as  memorable.  That 
is  memorable  which,  whether  exter- 
nally striking  or  not,  is  to  be  had  in 
remembrance,  for  its  intrinsic  impor- 
tance. That  which  is  signal  is  strik- 
ing, conspicuous,  produces  a  marked 
effect  and  sensation,  having  the  cha- 
racter which  is  best  expressed  by  the 
French  eclat. 

"  These  knowing  no  other  Europeans  but 
Spaniards,  it  might  be  expected  they  would 
treat  all  strangei-s  with  the  same  cruelty 
which  they  had  so  often  and  so  signally 
exerted  against  their  Spanish  neighboui-a." 
— Anson's  Voyages. 
"  Yet  registers  of  memorable  things 
Would  help,  great  prince,  to  make  thy 

judgment  sound. 
Which  to  the  eye  a  perfect  mirror  brings, 
Where   all   should  glass   themselves    who 
would  be  crowned."        SxiKLiNG. 

MEMORIAL.  Monument.  Re- 
minder. 

Memorial  (Lat.  mcmh-iale,  neut. 
of  mem'6ridlis,belo7iging  to  memory)  and 
Monument  (Lat.  m'dnumentumf  a  me- 
morial) have,  etymologically,  the 
meaning  in  common,  of  something 
which  puts  in  mind,  or  aids  the 
memory.  They  differ  in  their  appli- 
cations. A  monument  is  public,  and 
purposely  set  up  to  keep  in  general 
remembrance.  A  memorial  may  be 
private,  and  may  keep  in  remembrance 
not  by  the  nature  of  the  thing,  but  by 
circumstance  and  association. 

Reminder  is  a  casual  and  tempo- 
rary memorial,  and  applies,  as  the 
other  two  do  not,  more  especially  to 
the  future,  in  connexion  with  ob- 
ligations and  intentions  incurred  or 
formed  in  the  past.  Memorial  be- 
longs more  to  the  feelings  of  indivi- 


duals; Monument,  to  the  cherished 
remembrance  of  illustrious  deeds  by 
the  public.  A  memorial  is  the  more 
affectionate ;  monument,  the  more 
laudatory. 

"  And  was  it  not  worthy  his  being  hated 
of  his  brethren,  and  being  sold  out  of  his 
country,  to  give  such  a  noble  example  of 
fidelity  and  chastity,  as  to  stand  a  monu- 
ment of  it  in  Holy  Writ  for  the  admiration 
and  imitation  of  all  following  ages?" — 
South. 

A  memorial  or  a  reminder  may  consist 
in  woi-ds.  Not  so  a  monument,  though 
it  may  bear  them. 

"  Though  of  their  names  in  heavenly  re- 
cords now 
Be  no  memorial,  blotted  out  and  razed 
By  their  rebellion  from  the  Book  of  Life." 
Milton. 
"There  is  an  active  and  actual   know 
ledge   in  a   man   of  which  these  outward 
objects  are  rather  the  reminders  than  the 
fii-st  begetters  or  implanters."— MoRK 

IMEMORY.  Recollection.  Re- 
membrance.    Reminiscence. 

Memory  (see  above)  is  the  generic 
term,  expressive  of  that  capacity  of 
the  mind  by  which  we  retain  the 
knowledge  of  past  thoughts  or  events. 

Remembrance  (Lat.  rememiiran,  to 
call  to  mind)  and  Recollection  (Lat. 
rlcoltigtre,  part.  rccolUctus,  to  gather 
again)  express,  the  former  the  simple 
action,  the  latter  the  exercise  of  the 
memory.  "  Do  you  remember  me  ?  " 
"  1  do."  This  implies  no  more  than 
a  state ;  an  impression  has  not  been 
effaced.  Recollect  denotes  an  effort 
often  of  a  complex  character.  "I 
cannot  recollect  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  story,  but  I  remember  it  gene 
rally." 

Reminiscence  (Lat.  reminisci,tore' 
memher)y  like  Recollection,  involves 
a  more  decidedly  conscious,  and  less 
spontaneous,  exercise  of  the  memory 
than  Remember  ;  but  reminiscence  is 
the  recovery  of  single  traces  or  cir- 
cumstances ;  recollection  is  a  combi- 
nation of  several.  What  sensibility  is 
to  sensation,  memory  is  to  remem- 
brance. 

"  This  laying  up  of  our  ideas  in  the  repo- 
sitory of  the  memory,  signifies  no  more  but 
this,  that  the  mind  has  a  power  in  many 
cases  to  revive  perceptions  which  it  has  once 
had,   with   this  additional  perception   an- 


566 


SYNONYMS 


[mention] 


oexed  to  them,  that  it  has  had  them 
before." — LoCKK. 

"  In  other  cases,  the  various  particulars 
which  compose  our  stock  of  knowledge  are 
recalled  in  consequence  of  an  effort  of  our 
will.  This  latter  operation,  too,  is  often 
called  by  the  same  name,  memory,  but  is 
more  properly  distinguished  by  the  word 
recollection." — Stewart. 

"  P'-tto  imagined,  after  more  ancient 
philosophers,  that  every  man  is  born  with 
a  certain  reminiscence,  and  that  when  we 
seem  to  be  taught,  we  are  only  put  in 
mind  of  what  we  knew  in  a  former  state." 

— BOLINQBROKK. 

"  And  so  likewise,  though  not  so  fre- 
quently, religion  is  expressed  by  the  re- 
membrance of  God.  Now,  remembrance  is 
the  actual  thought  of  what  we  do  habi- 
tually know.  To  remember  God  is  to  have 
him  actually  in  our  minds,  and  upon  all 
proper  occasions  to  revive  the  thoughts  of 
Him." — TiLLOTSON. 

Reminiscence  ia  intermediate  between 
remembrance  and  recollection,  being 
more  conscious  and  energetic  than 
remembrance,  but  less  particular  and 
detailed  than  recollection.  Reminis- 
cence is  commonly  used  in  the  sense 
of  a  faint,  and,  as  it  were,  shadowy 
remembrance. 

MENTION.     Notice. 

A  Mention  (Lat.  mentionem)  is 
more  explicit  than  Notice  (Lat.  no- 
ttiia,  knowledge),  in  one  sense  of  the 
term  Notice,  and  less  so  in  another. 
Mention  commonly  means  the  simple 
direction  of  attention  to  an  object  in 
words,  without  further  account  or 
treatment  of  it.  Notice,  as  it  is  purely 
mental  and  is  synonymous  with  obser- 
vation, falls  short  of  tliis.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  synonymous  with  an- 
nouncement, Notice  is  more  explicit 
than  Mention,  being  the  formal  men- 
tion of  something  by  way  of  informa- 
tion. In  both  senses,  however,  there 
is  in  Notice  a  more  active  excitement 
of  attention  in  our  own  mind  or  in 
that  of  another.  We  mention  a  fact  as 
such  ;  we  give  notice  of  it,  as  being  a 
matter  of  interest  to  others.  So  much 
less  lively  is  the  sense  ofMENTiON  than 
that  of  Notice,  that  the  word  some- 
times means  little  more  than  the 
utterance  of  the  name  of  a  person 
or  an  object,  as  in  the  following  ex- 
ample:— 
"  New  tbf  mntton  (of  God's  name)  israin 


when  it  is  useless,  and  it  is  useless  when  it 
is  neither  likely  nor  intended  to  serve  any 
good  purpose." — Paley. 
"  But  they  persisted  deaf  and  would  aot 

seem 
To  count  them  things  worth  notice." 

Milton. 
Yet  Notice  is  never  a  wordofsti'ong 
meaning :  we  may  be  said  to  notice 
with  our  minds  anything  which  we 
do  not  overlook,  and  with  our  lips  any- 
thing which  we  do  not  pass  over  in 
silence. 

MERCILESS.     Unmerciful. 

The  former  is  actively,  the  latter 
passively,  deficient  in  mercy.  The 
man  who  is  bent  upon  retaliation  or 
reti-ibution,  and  will  not  listen  to  any 
pleading  or  possible  extenuation  of 
the  offence  is  Unmerciful.  If,  when 
the  time  of  vengeance  is  come,  he 
sanctions  or  inflicts  excessive  pain 
upon  the  offender,  he  is  Merciless. 

"  Merciless  to  dying  sinners  in  stopping 
up  the  passages  of  repentance  and  salvation 
against  them." — South. 

"  The  temple  is  of  no  use  without  an 
altar,  and  the  man  cannot  pray  without 
mercy.  God  never  can  hear  the  prayers  of 
an  unmerciful  man." — Bp.  Taylor, 

MERCY.  Clemency.  Leniency. 
Compassion.  Pity.  Commisera- 
tion.    Condolence.     Sympathy. 

Mercy (Fr.mercf,  Lat.  merct:dem)has 
relation  to  the  infliction  of  retaliation 
or  punishment,  and  denotes  in  general 
a  disposition  on  the  part  of  superiors 
in  power  whether  by  authority  or  by 
circumstances  not  to  exact  all  the  suf- 
fering from  an  offender  which  would  be 
due  on  the  score  of  his  offence ;  or,  in 
a  wider  sense,  not  to  exact  die  whole 
amount  of  what  is  due  on  the  score  of 
any  obligation  when  the  rendering  of 
it  would  inflict  pain  or  privation. 
Mercy  is  judicial  in  its  character, 
without  sentiment,  and  laying  hold  of 
external  circumstances  which  may 
wan-ant  a  diminution  of  punishment. 
1 1  is  a  moral  and  especially  a  Christian 
duty  in  all.  On  the  other  hand  it 
must  not  interfere  with  the  efficient 
administi-ation  of  justice. 

Pii  Y,  on  the  other  hand  (Fr.  piti^, 
Lat.  pietdtem)  is  more  purely  personal 
and  emotional,  not  discriminating 
calmly^  as  mercy  does,  between  cir- 


[mercy] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


567 


cumstances  which  do  and  do  not  di- 
minish the  culpability  of  the  indivi- 
dual, or  are  aflFected  by  his  moral 
character.  Moreover,  mercy  is  felt 
or  exercised  toward  those  who  are  in 
our  power ;  pity,  to  such  as  may  not 
be  so.  The  judge  may  have  mercy 
upon  the  criminal  or  not.  The  crowd 
may  pity  him  or  not.  We  pity  others 
as  sufferers.  We  are  merciiul  to  them 
as  offenders. 

Compassion  (Lat.  compassidiiem,fel- 
low-feeling)  and  pity  are  much  alike ; 
but  compassion  is  such  fellow-feeling 
in  trouble  as  comes  from  an  equal ; 
pity,  such  as  comes  from  one  who  in 
some  sense  is  a  superior.  We  should 
feel,  for  instance,  pity,  not  compas- 
sion, for  a  dumb  animal  overburdened, 
or  in  any  way  ill-treated.  Pity  often 
implies  an  approach  to  contempt, 
which  compassion  never  does,  having 
in  it  more  of  tenderness,  and  less  of 
weakness.  We  compassionate  those 
into  whose  state  or  feelings  we  may 
conceive  ourselves  as  entering.  We 
may  pity  those  with  whom  we  feel  at 
the  time  nothing  in  common,  as  the 
reckless  or  the  silly^.  Hence  a  high- 
spirited  person  will  feel  it  a  degra- 
dation to  be  an  object  of  pity.  The 
martyr  or  the  dying  hero  are  not 
objects  of  pity.  The  object  of  pity, 
according  to  Aristotle,  is  suffering  not 
wholly  unmerited,  but  the  result  of 
faults  rather  than  crimes,  as  shown  in 
characters  of  common  stamp.  Pity  is 
a  quality  belonging  to  rational  beings 
in  virtue  of  theii-  common  nature,  the 
feeling  extending  to  inferior  creatures 
so  far  as,  like  themselves,  they  are  ca- 
pable of  suffering.  It  sleeps  in  the 
human  heai-t  till  awaked  by  the  sight 
of  agony  or  misery,  or  the  cry  of  pain. 
He  who  is  without  pity  is  cruel.  The 
love  of  the  divine  Father,  Christianity 
teaches  us,  is  infinite  pity,  the  love 
of  the  incarnate  Son  is  infinite  com- 
passion. 

"  The  Lord  is  long-suffering,  and  of  great 
mercy,  forgi\'ing  iniquity  and  transgression, 
and  by  no  means  clearing  the  guilty." — 
Bible. 

"  His  fate  compassion  in  the  victor  bred. 
Stern  as  he  was,  be  yet  revered  the  dead." 
POPB. 
'  Oni^htest,  thou  not  to  have  had  compat' 


sion  on  thy  fellow-servant,  evet  as  I   h&d 
pity  on  thee  ?  " — Bible. 

Clemency  (Lat.  ahnentm]  and  Le- 
niency (Lat.  linire,  to  ioften)^  like 
Mercy,  are  employed  not  of  suffering 
generally,  as  Pity  and  Compassion. 
but  in  regard  to  offenders  or  merited 
punishment.  Clemency  lies  rather  in 
the  disposition  of  the  person ;  leniency, 
in  the  character  of  the  act.  We  speak 
of  lenient,  but  could  not  speak  of  cle- 
ment, punishment.  Clemency  is  a 
magisterial  quality,  a  virtue  or  not 
according  to  circumstances.  It  lies  in 
the  discretion  of  individuals,  and  so 
may  be  exercised  in  a  mistaken 
manner. 

Sympathy  (Gr.  a-ufXTriditaf  fellow- 
feeling)  is  literally  a  fellow-feeling 
with  others,  whether  in  joy  or  grief. 
It  is  now  commonly  restincted  to  such 
a  feeling  under  pain  or  trouble,  and 
so  nearly  resembles  Commiseration 
(Lat.  commisirare,  to  pity,  to  excite  com- 
passion) ;  but  sympathy  involves 
equality,  while  commiseration  may, 
and  most  commonly  does,  imply  in- 
feriority in  some  sense  on  the  part  of 
the  suffering  party.  Commiseration 
may  be  regarded  as  standing  midway 
between  pity  and  compassion,  having 
less  contempt  than  pity,  and  less 
generosity  than  compassion.  Yet 
commiseration  is  a  softer  emotion  than 
compassion,  We  speak  of  a  barren 
compassion  more  often  than  of  a  barren 
commiseration,  as  if  the  former  were 
more  easily  assumed  than  the  latter. 
May  we  not  say  that  where  both  are 
equally  sincere,  compassion  is  the 
more  noble,  commiseration  the  more 
tender?  Clemency  is  used  analogously 
of  other  forces  than  human  action ;  as 
the  clemency  of  the  seasons.  It  de- 
notes no  more  than  an  indisposition 
to  employ  rigorous  measures,  where 
it  is  used  of  persons.  I^emency  ex- 
presses the  fact  of  such  absence  of 
rigoui-,  and  is  applicable  to  the  judg- 
ment as  well  as  the  conduct.  We 
may  judge  as  well  as  treat  leniently. 
In  some  such  cases  the  leniency  may 
come  of  other  kinds  of  disposition  be- 
sides compassion;  and  accordingly 
leniency  is  not  so  purely  moral  as  cle- 
mency. Prejudice,  weakness,  or  eveo 
guilt  in  ourselves,  may  induce  us  to 


668 


SYNONYMS  [merit] 


regard  the  character  or  conduct  of 

others  with  leniency. 

"  I  know  you  are  more  clement  than  wild 

men. 
Who  of  their  broken  debtors  take  a  third, 
A  Bixth,  a  tenth,  letting  them  thrive  again 
On    their    abatement.       That's    not    my 

desire."  Shakespeare. 

"  Say  that  my  lenity  shall  grant  your  prayer. 
How  for  the  future  shall  I  rest  assured 
Of  your  allegiance  ?  "  Smollktt. 

"  Common  experience  is  my  guide,  and 
that  must  have  informed  everybody  how 
much  we  continually  sympathize  with  the 
sentiments  and  affections  of  the  company 
among  whom  we  converse."  —  Search, 
Light  of  Nature. 

"  There  is  one  kind  of  virtue  which  is  in- 
born in  the  nobility,  and  indeed,  in  most  of 
the  ancient  families  of  this  nation  ;— they 
are  not  apt  to  insult  on  the  misfortunes  of 
their  countrymen.  But  you,  sir — I  may 
tell  it  you  without  flattery — have  grafted 
on  this  natural  commiseration,  and  raised  it 
to  a  nobler  virtue." — Deydex. 

Condolence  (Lat.  condiilere,  to 
suffer  with)  is  to  sympathy  as  the  ex- 
pression of  feeling  to  the  feeling  it- 
self. 

•'  I  come  not,  Samson,  to  condole  thy  chance. 
As  these,  perhaps  ;  yet  wish  it  had  not  been. 
Though  for  no  friendly  intent." 

MlLTOJf. 

MERIT.    Desert.    Worth. 

Of  these,  Desert  (O.  Fr.  deserte, 
from  deservir,  to  deserve)  and  Merit 
(Lat.  TOcrYtam, from  mereri,to  deserve) 
have  the  twofold  meaning  of  the 
moral  quality  or  relationship  of  good 
and  of  evil  deserving;  though  the 
noun  when  used  without  qualification 
is  assumed  in  a  favourable  sense  and 
without  the  uncertainty  which  belongs 
to  the  verb,  while  Worth  (A.  S. 
loeordh)  is  employed  only  in  a  favour- 
able sense.  Worth  is  the  intrinsic 
and  permanent  value  of  moral  cha- 
racter, and  belongs  to  the  per- 
sons. Merit  belongs  to  the  action 
and  particular  case.  The  verb  IMerit 
is  stronger  than  the  verb  Deserve. 
*'  He  deserves  a  reward,"  would  imply 
no  more  than  that  there  is  a  fitness  in 
the  case  for  such  reward.  "  He  merits 
a  reward,"  that  there  would  be  an 
injustice  m  withholding  it.  Worth 
describes  the  qualities;  merit,  the 
actions  of  a  man.  Merit  and  Desert 
are  well-nigh  identical  in  meaning; 


but  Merit  is  used  more  abstractedly ; 
as,  "  the  merits  of  the  case;"  "  the 
merits  of  a  literary  production."  I* 
represents  excellency  less  strictly  in 
connexion  with  its  dues  than  doee 
Desert,  which  always  takes  into  ac- 
count some  correspondent  treatment 
of  persons. 

Worth  belongs  directly  to  moral 
character.  Merit  may  accrue  from 
what  is  excellent  in  other  ways,  aa 
literary  merit. 

"  High  words  that  bore 
Semblance  of  worth,  not  substance." 

Milton. 
"All  power 
I  give  thee.     Reign  for  ever,  and  assume 
Thy  merits."  Milton. 

"  Fame  due  to  vast  desert  is  kept  in  store, 
Unpaid  till  the  deserver  is  no  more." 

CONQRBVE. 

METAMORPHOSE.  Transfi- 
gure.   Transform.     Transmute. 

We  speak  of  a  thing  as  Metamor- 
phosed (Gr.  fjt,iTafA,6^<p(joa-ii,  transfor- 
mation) when,  the  identity  being 
preserved,  the  form,  or  particles  com- 
posing it  are  entirely  changed. 

TRANSFiGURATiON(Lat.  transfigiira- 
tlonem)  is  such  a  marked  change  as 
still,  however,  leaves  the  original 
figure  or  form  plainly  discernible. 

Transformahon  (l.at.  transformd- 
tionem)  is  the  normal  or  ^rmaaent 
change  in  the  form  of  bodies,  which 
is  the  result  of  internal  laws  of  growth ; 
as  the  transformation  of  a  caterpillar 
into  a  butterfly. 

Transmutation  (Lat.  transmutU' 
iionemy  a  transposition)  is  employed 
more  commonly,  not  of  the  whole,  but 
of  the  particles  which  constitute  it. 
Transformation  usually  does  not  go 
beyond  a  change  of  visible  appearance; 
a3  the  transformation  of  an  actor  by  a 
change  of  dress.  Metamorphosis  is 
change  of  internal  structure  also. 
Narcissus  was  not  only  transformed 
into  tlie  likeness,  but  metamorphosed 
into  the  substance,  of  a  flower, 
Transfiguration  and  Transmuta 
TiON  denote  the  highest  decree,  thf 
former  of  spiritual,  the  latter  ot 
material,  change.  Our  Saviour  was 
transfigured  upon  the  mount.  It  was 
supposed  that  the  philosopher's  stone. 


[mighty] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


569 


if  found,  would  transmute  other  sub- 
stances into  gold.  Metamorphose  is 
a  term  which  belongs  peculiarly  to 
the  region  of  mythology  and  fable ; 
Transfoumation  to  the  natural  order 
of  things.  A  metamorphosis  is  com- 
monly a  marvellous,  unexpected,  pro- 
digious, complete  change  of  form. 
Transformation  is  the  only  one  of  the 
terras  which  lends  itself  to  express  a 
purely  moral  change  of  character,  as  if 
a  sinuer  should  be  transformed  into  a 
saint.  There  was  a  mystical  and  theo- 
logical use  of  this  term.  By  sustained 
and  intense  contemplation  of  God,  the 
soul  might  be  transformed  into  the 
Deity. 

"  Thus  men  my  Lord  he  metamorphosed 
From  seemely  shape   to   byrds  and   ugly 
beasts."  Gascoigkk. 

"He  was  transfigured  before  them."— 
English  Bible. 

"Thus  it  must  be  in  our  transformation 
onwards.  The  Spirit  of  God  doth  thus  alter 
us  through  grace,  whiles  we  are  yet  for 
essence  the  same." — Bp.  Hall. 

'I  That  perpetual  course  oi  tra-nsmutation 
which  the  matter  of  human  bodies  runs." — 
Scott's  Christian  Life. 

METAPHOR.  Figure.  Simili- 
tude.    Simile. 

Figure  (Lat. /zgura,  shape,  figure 
of  speech),  as  here  referred  to,  is  a  rhe- 
torical mode  of  expressing  abstract 
ideas  in  words,  suggesting  pictures 
drawn  from  the  -world  of  sensible 
images. 

Metaphor  (Gr.  fx£Ta.<po^a)  is  a 
Similitude  (Lat.  simJlttudinem,  like- 
ness, a  simile)  conveyed  in  a  word,  as 
a  similitude  is  a  comparison  by  an 
image  conveyed  in  more  than  one 
term.  As  "  a  torrent  of  eloquence," 
is  a  metaphor.  "  His  words  flow  like 
a  stream, '  is  a  similitude.  The  Simile 
is  the  root  idea  of  which  the  similitude 
is  the  rlietorical  amplification.  The 
simile  is  a  matter  of  thought ;  the  simi- 
litude, a  feature  of  style. 

"  In  all  languages  the  series  of  physical 
causes  and  effects  is  metaphorically  likened 
to  a  chain,  the  links  of  which  are  supposed 
to  be  indissolubly  and  necessarily  connec- 
ted."—D.  Stewart. 

"  The  Temple  of  Jerusalem  was  reallie 
the  materiall  temple,  and  figurativelie  it 
was  the  bodie  of  Christ,"— Fox,  Martyrs. 

"  Such  is  the  similitude  between  Jtidaism 


the  ancient  stock,  and  Christianity  which 
was  engrafted  upon  it." — GiLPiN,  Sermont. 
"  Similes  always  fail  in  some  part."— 
Locke. 

MIGHTY.    Strong.    Powerful. 

P-vfENT. 

Mighty  (  A.  S.  miht,  might)  denotes 
the  possession  ot  force  or  power  of 
any  kind,  whether  bodilj'  or  mental ; 
and,  in  an  extended  sense,  the  posses- 
sion of  ample  resources  for  effective 
action  ;  as,  a  mighty  nation. 

Strong  (A.  S.  Strang)  is  a  term  of 
great  simplicity  and  breadth,  denoting 
physical  power  in  action,in  endurance, 
or  in  resistance,  the  possession  of 
ample  resources  of  action ;  denoting 
also  that  which  is  morally  or  logically 
cogent  or  influential,  efficacious,  sti- 
mulating, well-established,  vigorous 
by  nature,  or  energetic  on  a  specific 
occasion. 

Powerful,  according  to  its  deriva- 
tion (Fr.  pouvoir),  denotes  the  capabi- 
lity of  producing  great  effects  of  any 
kind,  which  is  also  the  definition  ot 
Potent  (Lat.  patens,  part,  of  posse,  to 
be  able)  ;  but  Potent  is  not  so  com- 
monly employed  of  directly  physical 
force,  but  of  physical  and  moral  in- 
fluence, or  of  influence  alone.  A  power- 
ful arm  or  blow.  A  potent  remedy  ; 
a  potent  prince.  Mighty  expresses 
the  union  of  majesty  with  strength, 
and  belongs  peculiarly  to  living 
beings.  It  would  be  only  by  an  effort 
of  the  imagination,  attributing  to  it  a 
kind  of  personality,  that  a  machine 
could  be  called  mighty.  Nor  in  this 
case  should  we  say  strong,  but  power- 
ful, unless  we  meant  that  it  was  firmly 
constructed.  Strong  and  Powerful 
are  both  used  of  physical  force ;  the 
latter,  both  of  that  which  is  mechani- 
cal and  that  which  is  muscular ;  the  for- 
mer, only  of  that  which  is  muscular.  In 
their  application  to  persons,  a  power- 
ful man  is  strong  ;  but  a  strong  man 
is  not  necessarily  powerful.  Strong 
is  more  appropriately  used  of  those 
who  are  of  sound  constitution  and 
firmness  of  body,  and  are  capable  of 
bearing  much  fatigue;  Powerful,  of 
those  who  can  put  forth  great  force 
at  the  moment.  Power  is  active  in  its 
signification ;    strength,    active    and 


570 


passive.  A  strong  mind  is  firm,  and 
not  easily  shaken  by  adverse  circum- 
stances. A  powerftil  mind  exerts 
strong  influence  over  others. 
"  Great  Gormond,  having  with  huge  migh- 
tiness 
Ireland  subdned,   and    therein    fixed    his 

throne."  Spenser. 

"  He  ceased ;  and  next  him  Moloch,  sceptr'd 

king. 
Stood  up,   the  strongest  and  the  fiercest 

spii'it 
That  fought  in  heaA'en,  now  fiercer  by  de- 
spair." Milton. 
"  Strong  and  substantial,  it  hath  stood 
against  all  the  storms  of  factions,  both  of 
belief  and  ambition,  which  so  powerfully 
beat  upon  it." — Daniel. 

"  His  founder's  merit  was  the  merit  of  a 
gentleman  raised  by  the  arts  of  a  court  and 
the  protection  of  a  Wolsey  to  the  eminence 
of  a  great  and  potent  lord." — Burke. 

MIMIC.  Imitate.  Ape.  Mock, 
Simulate. 

To  Mimic  (Lat.  adj.  miniicus)  is  to 
ridicule  by  imitation  of  what  is  per- 
sonally peculiar. 

To  Imitate  (Lat.  imitari,  part,  vmi- 
tdtus)  is  the  generic  term,  of  vphich 
the  rest  are  kinds,  having  the  broad 
sense  of  following  as  an  example  or 
pattern,  or  producing  an  external  sem- 
blance of  anything,  and  is  applicable 
both  to  physical  production,  and  to 
moral  conformity  of  conduct.  To 
Ape  is  servilely  to  imitate,  especially 
in  externals,  commonly  implying  the 
inability  to  imitate  higher  peculiari- 
ties, and  better  worth  imitating.  The 
term  does  not,  like  Mimic,  involve  con- 
temptuous imitation. 

Simulate  (Lat.  ^miildre ;  sVoiV/Zs, 
like)  expresses  that  kind  of  imitation 
which  amounts  to  a  fictitious  exhibi- 
tion of  character,  the  wearing  of  an- 
other's appearance,  the  comporting  of 
one's  self  so  as  to  be  mistaken  for  him. 
It  is  rhetorically  applied  to  things  as 
well  as  persons ;  so  it  is  a  peculiarity 
of  bvsterical  disorder  that  it  simulates 
different  diseases. 

Mock  (Fr.  moquer )  denotes  such 
action  as  manifests  ridicule  or  con- 
tempt. A  derisive  exhibition  of  per- 
sonal peculiarities  is  an  easy  and 
natural  way  of  showing  such  contempt ; 
but,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  the  only 
way,  mockery  includes  the  idea  of  per- 


SYNONYMS  LMIMIC] 

sonal  insult  and  derision  in  any  man- 
ner openly  indicative  of  contempt, 
even  tnough  there  be  no  mimicry  in 
the  mocking.  The  object  of  mockery 
is  to  make  a  man  ridiculous  or  con- 
temptible in  his  own  eyes.  It  indi' 
cates  the  worst  conceivable  disposition 
towards  him,  and  so  is  the  most  irre- 
concilable insult.  It  is  hatred,  out- 
rage, and  contempt  in  one.  Yet  effec- 
tive as  it  is  in  itself,  it  indicates  weak- 
ness of  mind  in  those  who  employ  it. 

"  When  full-grown,  vanity  is  the  worst  of 
vices  and  the  occasional  mimic  of  them  all. 
It  makes  the  whole  man  false."—  BuRKE. 

"  ImitationxB  a  facultie  to  expresse  true- 
lie  and  perfitelie  that  example  which  ye  go 
about  to  folow." — AsCHAM. 

"  The  people  of  England  will  not  ape  the. 
fashions  they  have  never  tried,  nor  go  back 
to  those  which  they  have  found  mischievous 
on  trial."— Burke. 

"  And  many  a  fane  he  reared  that  still  sub- 
lime 
la  massy  pomp  has  mocked  the  stealth  of 

time."  Warton, 

*'  The  first  smooth  Caesar's  art  caressed. 
Merit  and  virtue  simidating  me." 

Thomson. 

MIND.  Intellect.  Spirit. 
Soul. 

Mind  (A.  S.  tnynd)  is  taken  to  de- 
note the  whole  rational  faculty  in 
man,  the  power  of  judgment,  and 
sometimes  a  particular  state  of  the 
judgment ;  a  bias  of  the  intellectual  or 
the  moral  nature;  a  judgment  or 
opinion ;  an  inclination  or  desire. 

The  Intellect  (Lat.  intellectus)  is 
commonly  taken  for  the  faculty  of 
man's  nature,  by  which  he  knows,  as 
distinguished  from  those  by  which  he 

Eerceives  only  or  desires ;  especially 
is  capacity  for  the  higher  forms  of 
knowledge.  The  word  was  formerly 
commonly  used  in  the  plural. 

Spirit  (Lat.  spirttus,  breath),  and 
Soul  ^A.  S.  sdwl)  both  denote  that  in 
a  man  s  nature  which  is  not  his  body  ; 
but  Spirit  is  used  relatively ;  Soul, 
absolutely.  Spirit  is  employed  when 
some  idea  of  the  body  which  it  tenants, 
or  has  tenanted,  is  still  in  the  mind ; 
Soul,  as  denoting  man's  higher,  spiri- 
tual, and  immortal  self.  When  taken 
by  themselves,  Spirit  often  expresses 
energy  of  moral  resolution;    Soul, 


[MISERABLE] 

energy  of  feeling.  A  spiritless  per- 
formance ;  a  soulless  composition. 
Mind  is  opposed  to  matter ;  soul,  to 
body ;  spirit,  to  flesh.  The  intellect 
is  often  coupled,  and  even  contrasted, 
with  the  will. 

"  First,  in  man's  mind  we  find  an  appetite 
To  learn  and  know  the  truth  of  every- 
thing. 
Which  is  co-natural,  and  born  with  it. 
And  from  the  essence  of  the  soul  doth 
spring." 
Davies,  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

"The  privilege  of  a  much  nearer  access 
than  is  allowed  us  to  contemplate  God's  per- 
fections, the  advantage  of  having  incom- 
parably more  illuminated  intellects  to  appre- 
hend them  with."— BoYl£. 

"  Or  unsphere 
The  spirit  of  Plato,  to  unfold 
What  worlds  or  what  vast  regions  hold 
Th'  immortal  mind  that  hath  forsook 
Her  mansion  in  this  fleshy  nook." 

MiLTOir. 
"  Four  different  opinions  have  been  enter- 
tained concerning  the  origin  of  human 
souls :  1.  That  they  are  eternal  and  divine. 
2.  That  they  were  created  in  a  separate 
state  of  existence  before  their  union  with 
the  body.  3.  That  they  have  been  propa- 
gated from  the  original  stock  of  Adam, 
who  contained  in  himself  the  mental  as  well 
as  the  corporeal  seed  of  his  posterity.  4. 
That  each  soul  is  occasionally  created  and 
embodied  in  the  moment  of  conception." — 
Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall. 

MISCONSTRUE.  Misinterpret. 

The  difference  is  slight  between  the 
usages  of  these  terms ;  yet  Miscon- 
strue (prefix  mis-,  the  Fr.  mes-y 
which  is  the  Lat.  minus,  and  con- 
$trucre,  to  construct)  seems  more 
commonly  employed  of  things  of 
which  the  meaning  has  to  be  ga- 
thered by  inference ;  Misinterpret 
(Lat.  interprctem,  an  interpreter),  of 
those  of  which  it  is  directly  expressed. 
Hence  we  should  say,  "  to  misinter- 
pret words  or  actions;  "  "to  miscon- 
sti'ue  motives."  The  simple  verb  Con- 
strue stands  to  sentences  as  Inier- 
PRET  does  to  words.  Misconstrue 
seems  more  general  than  Misin ikr- 
PRET,  which  is  more  direct  and  per- 
sonal. Interpretations  should  be  truth- 
ful. Constmctions  of  conduct  should 
be  charitable.  I  misinterpret  a  man's 
actions  when  I  pass  wrong  judgment. 
I  misconsti-ue  them  when  1  err  in  the 
nature  of  their  intentions. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


571 


*'  When  the  apostle  had  been  speaking  of 
the  righteousness  of  God  displayed  by  the 
wickedness  of  man,  he  was  not  unaware  of 
the  misconstruction  to  which  this  represen- 
tation was  liable" — Paxet. 

"  Mr.  Hume'sgreat  principle  with  respect 
to  the  origin  of  our  ideas,  which  (as  I 
before  hinted)  is  only  that  of  Locke  under 
a  new  form,  asserts  the  same  doctrine 
with  greater  conciseness,  but  in  a  manner 
still  less  liable  to  misinterpretation." — 
Stkwart. 

MISERABLE.  Unhappy. 
VVreiciied. 

Unhappy  (prefix  u«-,  and /lop, /uc/c) 
is  the  least  forcible  of  these  terms. 
A  child  deprived  of  its  toy  is  unhappy. 
It  may  amount  to  little  more  than  the 
absence  of  positive  contentment. 

Miserable  (Lat.  mtseraMlis),  and 
Wretched  (A.  S.  wrec,  ivretched) 
M-e  employed  only  of  the  extreme 
degrees  of  unhappiness  in  feeling 
and  reflexion.  Miserable  seems  to 
denote  rather  the  feeling  or  state; 
Wretched,  the  outward  exhibition 
of  such  unhappiness ;  as  the  beggar 
who  is  in  a  miserable  condition  pre- 
sents a  wretched  appearance. 

'*  Our  language,  by  a  peculiar  signifi- 
cance of  dialect,  calls  the  covetous  man  the 
miserable  man." — South. 

Miserable  and  Wretched  imply  a 
higher  organization  and  faculties 
of  reflexion  than  unhappy.  An 
irrational  animal  might  be  unhappy. 
He  who  loses  hope  is  miserable,  and, 
if  he  fall  into  despair,  is  wretched. 
Great  unhappiness  must  be  supposed 
if  the  condition  of  the  person  is  called 
miserable.  In  that  case  unhappy  ex- 
presses the  state  directly,  miserable 
the  effect  or  impression  produced  by 
it.  A  life  is  unhappy  in  which  some- 
thing occurs  to  mar  the  happiness  of 
it,  a  life  is  miserable  which  is  desti- 
tute of  the  elements  of  happiness. 
MisKRABLE  and  Wretched  very  com- 
monly, and  Unhappy  less  commonly 
and  with  less  force  and  latitude 
of  meaning,  are  employed  to  denote 
the  debasement  rather  than  the  actual 
suffering  of  such  conditions.  The 
proud  and  prosperous  quite  as  much 
as  the  suffering  and  the  poor  are  in 
the  sight  of  an  infinitely  perfect  God 
"miserable  sinners."    It  is  in  this 


572 


SYNONYMS  [mode] 


wdy  that  we  speak  !»f  a  miserable  wri- 
ter, and  his  wretck  d  productions. 

"  No  doubt  there  is  to  every  wrong  and 
Ticions  act  a  suitable  d»  gi-ee  of  unhappiness 
and  punishment  annexiid." — WoOLASTON. 

"  Every  man,  be  he  never  so  extreme  and 
wretched  a  sicner,  may  and  ought  to  hope 
assuredly,  that  albeit  the  majesty  of  God  is 
supereminenf  and  unspeakable  dignity,  yet 
is  He  gracious,  merciful,  and  mild."— 
FuiiLKR. 

MODE.     Mannir. 

While  Mode  (Lat.  triSdus)  is  also 
applicable  to  way  of  being,  Manner 
(Fr.  maniere)  denotes  way  of  action. 
Manner,  too,  is  casual ;  mode,  syste- 
matic. Mode  might  be  defined  regu- 
lar manner.  Hence  manner  of  action 
implies  voluntariness  on  the  part  of 
the  agent ;  mode  of  action,  uniformity 
in  the  thing  acting.  Modes  of  exis- 
tence. Manners  of  conduct  or  opera- 
tion. 

"If  they  find  a  deter "ninate  intellection 
of  any  modes  of  being  which  were  never  in 
the  least  hinted  by  their  external  or  inter- 
nal senses,  I'll  believe  that  snch  can  realize 
chimaeras." — Glakvill. 

"  It  is  not  the  mannei  >f  the  Romans 
to  deliver  any  man  to  die  before  that  he 
which  is  accused  have  the  accusers  face  to 
face." — English  Bible. 

MODERATE.    1  inPER. 

Both  Moderate  (Lat.  nidderare  and 
-ri)  and  Temper  (Lat.  tempcrdre), 
denote  the  reducing  of  that  which  is 
excessive.  But  that  is  moderated 
which  is  i-educed  by  any  force.  That 
is  tempered  which  is  reduced  by  an 
alien  and  contrary  force.  So,  for  in- 
stance, anger  is  moderated  by  pride, 
calculation,  good  mannei  s,  or  regai'd 
for  appearances.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  may  be  tempered  by  compassion, 
by  love,  by  recollection  of  previous 
kindness.  A  man  insulted  by  another 
may  moderate  his  anger  in  order  to 
gather  up  his  strength  and  satisfy  his 
revenge.  Irritated  by  a  child,  liis 
anger  is  tempered  by  a  feeling  of  pity 
for  the  ignorance  and  weakness  of  one 
so  young.  So  again,  great  grief  at  the 
loss  of  a  friend  might  be  moderated 
by  a  feeling  of  the  strong  dutj'  of  sub- 
mission to  the  Divine  will,  or  the  ne- 
cessity which  we  recognize  of  not  ag- 
gravating the  grief  of  others  by  our 
own  lamentations.     It  might  be  tern- 


pered  by  a  certain  joy  that  great  pain 
was  at  an  end,  or  that  the  death  to  us 
so  heavy  a  loss,  was  a  gain  and  a  bless- 
ing to  the  departed,  and  a  hope  of 
reunion  in  another  and  a  better  life. 
To  moderate  is  to  suppress ;  to  tem- 
per is  to  counterbalance.  The  former 
belongs  rather  to  the  manifestation  of 
feeling,  the  latter  to  the  feeling  itself. 
It  is  one  thing  to  moderate  laughter, 
and  another  to  temper  the  sense  of 
ridicule.  Religion  may  be  said  to 
moderate  the  troubles  of  men  so  far  as 
it  leads  to  resignation,  to  temper  them 
so  far  as  it  gives  consolation. 

MODERN.  New.  Novel.  Fresii. 
Recent. 

Modern  (Lat.  m'ddernus,  from  mM'd, 
just  now)  denotes  the  thing  of  to-day, 
as  distinguished  historically  from  tno 
things  of  former  times ;  New  (Lat 
n'dvus)  that  which  hasbeen  just  fonned, 
or  just  submitted  to  our  observation  or 
experience;  Novel  (Lat.  n'dvellus), 
that  which  being  new,  strikes  us  also 
with  a  feeling  of  strangeness  ;  Fresf 
(A.  S.  ferse),  that  of  which  the  in- 
fluence i3  unabated  or  revived,  or 
which,  being  new,  strikes  us  with  a 
sense  of  abundance  in  supply;  Recent 
(Lat.recentem),  that  between  whichand 
the  present  moment  a  short  interval 
only  has  elapsed.  It  may  or  may  not  be 
in  existence  still.  Modern  belongs  at 
least  to  an  order  of  things  which  still 
exists,  and  has  its  influence  on  society. 
Recent  facts  are  fresh  in  our  memory. 
Modern  fashions  are  in  vogue  in  the 
present  day.  What  we  get  in  ex- 
change for  the  old  is  new.  What  has 
never  occurred  before,  or  never  in  the 
same  form,  is  novel.  As  New  is  op- 
posed to  old,  so  is  Novel  to  familiar  or 
expected.  That  which  is  new  pre- 
supposes something  precedent.  That 
which  is  novel  is  abruptly  new.  The 
new  year  follows  the  old.  A  new 
edition  is  one  more  edition.  A  novel 
style  of  writing  is  one  which  is  exhi- 
bited for  the  first  time.  The  novel 
affects  our  understanding,  imagina- 
tion, or  taste ;  the  new  is  only  a  fresh 
item  of  our  experience. 
"  Yet  was  much  taxed,  by  that  age  precise, 

^or    faults    which    modem    timet    not 


strange  have  thought.' 


SxiRUl^e. 


[monarchJ 


DISCHIMINATED. 


573 


"  And  thoa  profoundest  hell. 
Receive  thy  neiv  possessor." 

MiLTOX. 

«  I  must  beg  not  to  have  it  supposed  that 
1  am  setting  op  any  Tiovel  pretensions  for 
the  honour  of  my  own  country." — ^WaIi- 
POLE. 

*'  That  love  which  first  was  set  will  first 

decay  ; 
Mine  of  a.  fresher  date,  will  longer  stay." 
Dryden. 

"  Amphitryon,    recent    from    the    nether 
sphere."  Lewis,  St^tius. 

MODIFY.     Qualify. 

To  Modify  (Lat.  ni6inficare,  to  set 
limits)  is  to  change  the  form  or  exter- 
nal qualities  of  a  thing,  to  vary  hy 
giving  a  new  form  or  shape ;  to  reduce 
to  other  and  often  diminished  limits. 
It  is  not  employed  directly  of  phy- 
sical objects,  but  of  physical  substances 
And  properties.  We  do  not  modify 
vood  or  stone,  but  matter  in  the  ab- 
stract, or  such  properties  or  effects  as 
light  and  sound.  We  modify  what 
has  a  mental  or  subjective  form  and 
totality,  as  a  rule,  by  making  its  re- 
quirements more  or  less  stringent, 
jr  a  contract  by  altering  its  terras  ; 
we  Qualify  (Lat.  qudles,  of  what 
kind,  and  fdctrey  to  make)  when  we 
impart  to  a  thing  requisite  properties 
by  addition  or  diminution.  We 
modify  the  form  and  qualify  the  sub- 
stance of  things.  We  modify  by  re- 
modelling, we  qualify  by  reconsti- 
tuting. We  modify  by  changing  the 
outlines,  we  qualify  by  changing  the 
ingredients.  A  statement  which  is 
too  large  needs  to  be  modified,  one 
which  is  too  strong,  to  be  qualified. 

MOMENT.     Instant. 

Instant  (Lat.  i?i5tare,  part,  instant- 
em,  to  be  at  hand)  is  the  point  of  time 
now  present. 

Moment  (Lat.  momentum,  for  movi- 
tHentum,  from  moveie,  to  move)  is  not 
restricted  to  the  present,  but  is  com- 
mon to  it  and  the  past.  We  say, 
*'  Do  so  this  instant;"  or,  "  He 
thought  so  at  the  moment"  (not  "  at 
the  instant");  or,  "Do  so  this  mo- 
ment." But  they  may  be  used  inter- 
changeably when  they  are  used  ab- 
gti-actedly  from  what  occurs  in  them, 
or  as  simply  equivalent  to  a  point,  or 


the  shortest  possible  or  conceivable 
time.  "  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye ; " 
"  In  a  moment,"  or,  *'  In  an  instant." 
"  It  happened  at  that  moment,"  or 
**  at  that  instant."  Moment  is  not 
employed  to  express  so  strictly  as  In- 
stant a  minute  point  of  time,  has  a 
more  extended  signification,  and  is 
often  equivalent  to  time  when  a  thing 
occurred.  Moment  takes  into  itseli 
other  associations  than  that  of  time, 
while  Instant  is  merely  the  minutest 
period.  So  it  has  made  all  the  diffe- 
rence between  success  and  failure  to 
act  at  the  right  instant  or  an  iastant 
too  late.  The  same  results  have 
turned  upon  seizing  or  letting  slip  the 
favourable  moment.  Every  moment 
is  precious  to  those  who  know  the 
value  of  time.  Instant  is  an  atom  of 
time  in  general.  Moment  is  a  little 
piece  or  our  time.  *'  I  have  not  a 
moment  to  lose ;  I  must  go  this  in- 
stant." So  happy  moments,  not  happy 
instants. 

"  All  these  which  in  a  moment  Then  b«- 
hold'st. 

The  kingdoms  of  the  world,  to  Thee  I 
give."  MiLTOX. 

*'  He  made  him  stoop  perforce  nnto  his  kne*. 

And  do  unwilling  worship  to  the  saint 
That  on  his  shield  depainted  did  he  see : 

Such  homage,  till  that  instant,  never 
learned  he."  Spexskb. 

MONARCH.  Prince.  Sove- 
REIGN.     Potentate. 

Monarch  (Gr.  /xivapxoiy  ruling 
alone)   denotes  the  possessor  of  su- 

fireme  and  peculiar  power  politically, 
t  determines  nothing  of  the  extent 
of  such  power,  but  only  that  it  is  un- 
divided. Hence  the  term  is  employed 
rhetorically  of  what  is  first  of  its  kind 
in  Nature.  "  The  monarch  of  the 
forest  or  of  the  beasts." 

The  term  Prince  {¥t.  prince,  Lat. 
princtpem)  is  also  indefinite  as  to  the 
extent  of  power,  and  commonly  de- 
notes a  secondary  degree  of  it ;  so  that 
a  monarch  or  his  nobles  might  equally 
be  called  princes. 

Sovereign  (Fr.  souverain)  is  an 
hereditary  monarch  viewed  in  his  re- 
lation to  his  own  subjects;  while 
Potentate  (Low  Lat.  p'6tentdtns,  a 
sovereign)  expresses  the  possession  of 
great  power,  authority,  and  extended 


574 


dominion,  as  well  as  his  relation  to 
other  princes  and  nations,  or,  as  they 
are  sometimes  called,  powers. 
"Heaven's  awful  monarch." 

Milton. 
"  The  sisters  I  salle  gyve  a  rich  prince  of 
myght."  R.  BBtJNNE. 

"  Ch&ritee, 
WTiiche  a  the  vertue  soveraine." 

GOWKR. 
"  Exalting  him  not  only  above  earthly 
princes  and  potentates,  but  above  the  high- 
est of  the  celestial  hierarchy."— BoTZK. 

MOOD.    Temper,     Humour. 

Humour  (Lat.  humorem,  moisture) 
and  Mood  (A.  S.  mod,  mind,  disposi- 
ti<m)  agree  in  denoting  a  temporary 
state  of  the  mind  and  feelings ;  but 
Mood  relates  more  directly  to  the 
mind,  Humour  to  the  feelings. 
.  Temper  (Fr.  temperer,  to  temper, 
Lat.  temph-are)  is  the  constitution  of 
the  mind,  particularly  in  regard  to  the 
passions  and  affections,  or  to  some 
one  which  modifies  its  disposition 
generally. 

••  With  pity  calmed,  down  fell  his  angry 
mood."  Shakespeare. 

"  Remember  with  what  mild  and  gi-acious 
temper    he    both    heard    and   judged."— 

MiLTOK. 

•'  Examine  how  your  humour  is  inclined. 
And  what  the  ruling  passion  of  your  mind. " 
Roscommon. 

MORALS.     Morality. 

Morals  (Lat.  mores)  is  a  word  de- 
noting the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
the  duties  of  life.  Morality  is  the 
relation  in  conformity  or  nonconfor- 
mity to  the  principles  of  morals,  but 
often  employed  in  reference  to  the 
former  alone. 

MORBID.     Diseased. 

These  are  etjrmologically  equiva- 
lent, Morbid  being  the  Latin  form 
{morbidus,  sickly;  morbus,  disease)  of 
the  English  Disease,  i.g.  dis-ease, 
violation  of  ease  and  well-being ;  but 
Morbid  has  a  technical  application 
to  cases  of  a  prolonged  nature ;  to  con- 
tinuous derangement  or  deterioration 
without  violent  symptoms,  and  is  as 
often  used  of  the  mental  as  of  the  physi- 
cal constitution  ;  as,  a  morbid  condi- 
tion of  the  nervous  system,  a  morbid 
•ensibility.     It  is  also  employed,  only 


SYNONYMS  [mood] 

abstractedly,  of  states  and  conditions, 
not  of  parts  affected.  We  say  •' » 
diseased,"  but  not  "  a  morbid  limb." 
Morbid  expresses  that  abnormal  in- 
fluence which  tends  to  show  itself  in 
disease. 

""Whilst  the  distempers  of  a  relaxed  fibre 
prognosticate  and  prepare  all  the  morbid 
force  of  convulsion  in  the  body  of  the  state, 
the  steadiness  of  the  physician  is  over- 
powered by  the  very  aspect  of  the  disease." 
Burke. 

"  They  should  choose  such  places  as  were 
open  to  the  most  favourable  aspects  and  in- 
fluence of  the  heavens,  where  there  was  a 
well-tempered  soil,  clear  air,  pure  springs 
of  water,  that  diseased  persons  coming  from 
unhealthy  places  might  obtairi  recovery." 
—Bates. 

MOREOVER.     Besides. 

These  terms  agi-ee  in  expressing  an 
additional  fact  by  way  of  reason  to 
what  may  have  been  stated  already. 
They  seem  to  diflfer,  not  in  them- 
selves, but  in  the  relative  weight  of 
the  reason  which  they  introduce ; 
Moreover  implying  that  what  is 
added  is  of  some  importance  ;  while 
Besides  implies  that  though  stated 
with  a  view  to  add  weight,  the  case 
would  have  been  good  enough  with- 
out it.  "I  cannot  well  go  out  to-day ; 
I  am  much  engaged ;  besides,  it  is 
beginning  to  rain."  "  There  will 
always  be  war  among  men,  so  long 
as  ambition  reigns  in  human  hearts ; 
moreover,  other  causes  are  perpetu- 
ally at  hand." 

MOROSE.     Sullen. 

Moroseness  (Lat.  morosm,  self' 
willed)  and  Sullenness  (formerly 
solein,  Lat.  solus,  alone,  lonely)  are 
states  of  mind  or  temper ;  but  the 
former  manifests  itself  in  those  who 
are  in  influence ;  the  latter,  in  those 
who  are  in  subservience.  "  If  the- 
master  is  morose,  little  wonder  that 
the  servant  is  sullen."  Moroseness 
comes  from  harsh  views  of  human 
nature ;  sullenness,  from  a  feeling  of 
discontent.  The  one  is  wrong  ac- 
tively; the  other,  wrong  passively. 
The  one  is  a  matter  of  treatment;  the 
other,  a  matter  of  endurance.  Mo- 
roseness is  more  purely  mental ;  sul- 
lenness shows  itself  in  the  demeanour. 

"  Many  m  all  ages  have  followed  St.  Jobs 
into  the  wilderness,  and  chosen  retirement, 


[motive] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


675 


not  oat  of  any  moroseness  of  temper  or  mis- 
anthropy."—Bishop  HORITK. 

"  I  found  him  seated  with  so  much  sullen 
and  stupid  gravity,  that,  notwithstanding 
what  had  been  told  me,  I  really  took  him 
for  an  idiot,  whom  the  people,  from  some 
saperstitious  notions,  were  ready  to  wor- 
ship."—Cook's  Voyages. 


Movi 


Loco- 


motion 

MOTION. 

Motion  (Lat.  motibnem,  a  moving) 
is  abstract,  Movement  is  concrete, 
that  is,  bound  up  with  the  thing  itself 
that  moves.  So,  the  laws  of  motion  ; 
the  movements  of  the  planets ;  the 
movements  of  an  army  ;  or  a  body  of 
men  in  motion.  The  motion  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  might  be  spoken  of 
as  well  as  their  movements.  In  that 
case,  the  idea  of  motion  is  opposed  to 
that  of  rest ;  movement  is  definite  and 
specific  motion  in  regard  to  a  parti- 
cular subject.  Hence  Motion  is  a 
more  scientific  or  technical  word  than 
movement.  So  we  use  the  terms, 
"perpetual  motion;"  "composition 
and  resolution  of  motion,"  not  of 
movement.  On  the  other  hand,  where 
personal  action  is  regarded  as  under 
rule,  we  apply  to  such  changes  of  the 
bodily  position  the  term  Movement. 
"  He  made  a  motion  with  his  hand." 
"  Some  animals  are  naturally  grace- 
ful in  their  movements." 

Locomotion  (Lat.  l)iciis,a  place,  and 
m'6vere,  part,  motus,  to  move)  is  the 
particular  motion  from  one  place  to 
another.  In  locomotion  the  whole 
body  moves,  in  motion  either  the 
whole  or  one  or  more  of  the  parts. 
Motion  is  seen  in  plants,  but  not  loco- 
motion. 

"  Devoid  of  sense  and  motion." 

Melton. 
••  In  hnman  works,  though  labor'd  on  with 

pain, 
A  thousand  movements  scarce  one  purpose 

gain; 
In  Gktd's  one  single  can  its  end  produce. 
Yet  serves  to  second  too  some  other  nse." 
Pope. 
"  The  loco-motive  manner  of  an  English- 
man circalates  his  person  and  of  coarse  his 
jash  into  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom." — 
Observer, 

MOTIVE.  Purpose.  Object. 
Inducement.    Reason. 

Motive  (Lat.  mbiivus,  t^at  which 


moves  to  the  doing  of  anything,  Fr.  motif) 
is  the  term  commonly  employed  of  that 
which  excites  to  action  and  determines 
choice. 

The  motive  is  of  the  nature  of  an 
Inducejieni  when  it  leads  us  to  action 
(Lat.  indfictre,  to  lead  on)  by  its  agree- 
ment with  our  inclinations  or  desires 
of  good. 

It  is  a  Reason  (Fr.  raison,  Lat. 
rdtibnem)  when  it  takes  such  a  form 
as  commends  itself  to  our  reason  or 
judgment. 

Object  (Lat.  obftccre,  part,  objectus, 
to  cast  over  against  one)  is  that  to 
which  the  desires  are  directed,  and  on 
which  the  purpose  is  fixed  as  the  end 
of  action  or  effort ;  something  which 
it  is  endeavoured  to  realize  or  bring 
about ;  the  final  cause. 

The  Purpose  (O.  Fr.  pourpos,  ac- 
cording to  some  from  pourpenser,  to  be- 
think one's  self;  with  others,  more 
probably,  the  Lat.  propMtum)  is  the 
operation  of  that  process  of  which  the 
object  is  the  end  and  aim.  The  ob- 
ject is  definite  and  fixed ;  the  purpose 
is  continuous  and  variable  till  the 
object  is  gained.  The  inducement  is 
always  practicable  and  tangible  ;  the 
reason  is  the  definition  of  the  induce- 
ment. The  purpose  may,  however, 
be  regarded  n-om  two  p>ointa  of  view ; 
that  is,  either  as  an  end,  in  which 
case  it  is  identical  with  object,  or  as 
a  plan  for  attaining  it.  But  an  object 
is  external  to  one's  self;  a  purpose 
may  be  internal,  as  a  purpose  to  lead 
a  new  life. 

"  By  motive,  I  mean  the  whole  of  that 
which  moves,  excites,  or  invites  the  mind 
to  volition,  whether  that  be  one  thing 
singly,  or  many  things  conjointly." — ED- 
WARDS, Freedom  of  the  Will. 

"  He  travelled  the  world  on  purpose  to 
converse  with  the  most  learned  men."- 
Guardian. 

"  Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  oi  the 
hope  that  is  in  you." — Eng.  Bible. 

"  Object,  beside  its  proper  signification, 
eame  to  be  abusively  applied  to  denote  mo- 
tive, end,  final  cause.  .  .  .  This  innovation 
was  probably  borrowed  from  the  Ftench." 
— Sir  W.  Hamilton. 

"Let,  then,  the  fortune  or  the  honour 
(for  both  are  included  in  the  magical  word 
•ilver)  which  eminent  worth  may  propose 


676 


SYNONYMS 


[move 


to  itself,  be  among  the  inducements  which 
erect  the  hopes  and  quit-ken  the  application 
of  a  virtuous  man." — Bishop  Hurd. 

MOVE,     Stiu. 

The  verbs  are  used  both  as  transi- 
tives  and  intransitives.  As  transitives, 
to  Move  (Lat.  mdvcre)  is  to  impel 
a  thing  so  as  to  cause  it  to  change 
its  place ;  being  employed  analogously 
of  what  induces  moral  as  well  as 
physical  change. 

To  Stir  (A.  S.  styrian)  is  to  move 
in  such  a  way  that  the  movement  is 
accompanied  by  some  amount  of  in- 
ternal commotion  or  disturbance. 
Again,  Stir  in  the  intransitive  sense, 
expresses  more  distinctively  that  kind 
of  quick,  short  movement  which  is  con- 
fined to  the  individual  or  object,  and 
implies  little  or  no  change  of  locality. 

"The  mind  stirs  not  one  jot  beyond 
those  ideas  which  sense  or  reflection  have 
offered  for  its  contemplation." — LoCKE, 

"  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
heiag."—JEaifflisk  Bible. 

MUTTER.     Murmur. 

To  Mutter,  formed  to  express  the 
kind  of  sound,  is  to  utter  articulate 
words,  but  in  a  confused,  indistinct 
undertone. 

Murmur  (Lat.  murmur)  is  inarticu- 
late, like  the  sound  of  running  water, 
and  the  sign  ofsuTlennessand  discon- 
tent. Mutter  does  not  necessarily 
imply  the  expression  of  any  particular 
feeling,  as  the  magician  may  mutrer 
his  incantation. 

MUTUAL.  Reciprocal.  Corre- 
lative. 

Mutual  (Lat.  mutuus,  interchanged) 
implies  nothing  as  to  time  or  order  of 
action. 

Reciprocal  (Lat.  rtcipr^icus),  in- 
volves an  idea  of  priority  and  succes- 
sion. A  mutual  thing  is  simply  a 
thing  which  exists  between  two  per- 
sons ;  a  reciprocal  thing  so  exists  as 
the  result  of  a  giving  and  returning. 
•'  The  attachment  was  mutual,"  would 
mean  simply  that  it  was  felt  on  both 
sides ;  that  it  was  reciprocal,  that 
what  one  had  given  the  other  also  had 
refurned. 


"  But  as  He  framed  a  whole,  the  whole  t 

bless, 
On  mutual  wants  built  mutual  happiness." 
Pope. 
"  This  atonement  was  the  end  of  the  in 
carnation,  and  the  two  articles  reciprocate 
for  an  incarnation  is  implied  and  presup 
posed  in  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  atone 
ment,  as  the  necessary  means  to  the  end.' 
—Bishop  Horsley. 

That  is  Correlative  (prefix  cor-, 
Lat.  con-,  with,  and  relative)  which 
bears  a  reciprocal  relationship,  but  is 
confined  to  what  has  the  nature  of 
fixed  arrangement  in  nature  or  aii;. 
In  correlatives  the  two  related  things 
go  together,  so  that  the  existence  oi 
one  draws  after  it  of  necessity  the 
existence  of  the  other.  Sometimes 
this  is  in  idea,  sometimes  in  actual 
expression.  "  Spiritual  things  and 
spu'itual  men,"  says  Spelman,  "are 
correlatives,  and  cannot  in  reason  be 
divided."  On  the  other  hand  father 
IS  a  coiTelative  term  an  implies  a  son, 
as  son  a  father ;  so  centre  and  circum- 
ference. 

"  It  is  an  universal  observation  which  we 
may  form  upon  language,  that  where  two 
relative  parts  of  a  whole  bear  any  propor- 
tion to  each  other  in  number,  rank,  or  con- 
sideration, there  are  always  correlative 
terms  invented  which  answer  to  both  the 
parts  and  express  their  mutual  relation." 
—Hume. 

MYSTERIOUS.    Mystical.    Ca- 

BALISTICAL.      MaGICAL. 

Mysterious(  Lat.  7n!/stmHm,a  secret, 
from  Gr.  jUt;(7T>)p»ov)  denotes  that  a 
thing  is  not  only  obscure,  but  that 
there  is  in  the  character  of  that  ob- 
scurity something  which  excites 
curiosity  and  wonder. 

Mystical  (Gr.  (xva-rMo^,  secret,  con- 
nected with  mysteries)  denotes  that 
which  does  not  so  much  excite  emo- 
tion as  baffle  curiosity  and  compre- 
hension, by  secret  meanings  involved 
in  the  subject  as  it  meets  the  ear  or 
the  eye ;  as,  mystic  words  of  prophecy, 
that  is,  words  which  have  a  meaning 
not  limited  to  their  primary  applica- 
tion. Mazes  of  the  mystic  dance ; 
that  is,  whose  movements  are  more 
than  they  seem,  and  are  significant  of 
ideas  and  emotions.  The  mysterious 
opposes  itself  to  inquiry ;  the  mysti- 
cal invites  it.    The  mystical  speaks 


[:name] 


a  double  language,  the  mysterious  is 
darkly  silent. 

"  By  a  silent,  unseen,  rmjsteriotis  process, 
the  fairest  flower  <if  the  garden  springs  from 
a  small,  insignificant  seed," — HoRNE. 

"  Fool,  thon  didst  not  understand 
L  te  mystic  language  of  the  eye,  nor  hand." 
DONKE. 

Cabalis7Tcal  (see  Cabal)  pre- 
serves its  primary  idea,  the  mystic 
value  and  significance  of  signs,  such 
as  letters,  words,  signs,  and  numbers, 
all  ofwhich,asbelonging  to  the  Jewish 
Law,  were  by  the  Cabal ists  invested 
with  a  meaning,  supposed  to  contain 
a  mystery,  and  in  some  cases  to  have 
a  predictive  force.  As  the  cabalistic 
points  to  an  inherent  virtue  of  signs, 
so  the  Magical  (Gr.  /uaymog,  Mayog, 
a  magian)  points  to  the  preternatural 
powers  of  human  agents.  A  magical 
effect  is  produced  when  it  is  such  as 
seems  far  to  exceed  the  time,  oppor- 
tunities, materials,  or  resources  of  him 
who  brings  it  about ;  hence  the  magi- 
cal is  startling  in  itself,  and  imposing 
in  its  effects.  It  is  mysteriously  effec- 
tive, as  if  its  operation  were  aided  by 
something  abf)ve  ordinary  processes 
and  powers. 

"  Some  have  imagined  that  envy  has  a 
certain  magical  force  in  it,  and  that  the 
eyes  of  the  envious  have  by  their  fascination 
blasted  the  enjoyments  of  the  happy." — 
Spectator. 

"  Rabbi  Elias,  from  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,  where  the  letter  aleph  is  six  times 
found,  cabalistically  concludes  that  the 
world  shall  endure  just  six  thousand  years, 
aleph  in  computation  standing  for  a  thou- 
sand."—Sir  '•  Herbert,  Traveh. 


.STAKED.    Bare.     Uncovered. 

Naked  (A.  S.  nacod)  denotes  the 
absence  of  any  covering;  Bare  (A.  S. 
bier),  destitute  of  some  specific  or 
proper  covering.  A  man  is  naked 
when  he  has  no  clothes  upon  him ; 
his  head  is  bare  when  his  hat  or  head 
covering  is  absents  A  tree  which  has 
iost  its  leaves  in  winter  could  only  be 
called  naked  by  analogy,  that  is,  by 
being  regarded  as  destitute  of  a  kind 
of  clou  ing.     It  is,  when  stripped  of 


laSLlfllMINATED. 


577 


its  leaves,  conji..onIy  called  bare. 
When  applied  to  objects  in  general, 
Bare  commonly  conveys  the  idea  of 
destitution  or  privation ;  bare  walls 
means  unfurnished  walls.  While 
Nakld  is  used  sometimes  in  a  favour- 
able sense,  meaning  unobscured,  un- 
encumbered (as  we  speak  of  the 
naked  truth),  Bare  always  denotes 
want,  insufficiency,  or  isolation. 

Uncovered  (prefix  ?m-and  couvrv\ 
Lai.  co'bptrire)  is  entirely  a  colourless 
term,  and  depends  upon  the  context. 
Anything  may  be  uncovered  which  is 
capable  of  being  covered,  whether  in 
the  sense  of  clothed  or  not.  Com- 
monly speaking,  the  naked  is  the  un- 
covered where  it  might  be  covered ; 
the  bare,  the  uncovered  where  it 
oit^ht  to  be,  or  might  be  better  con- 
ceived as,  covej'ed. 

"  Wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and 
blind,  and  naked."— Miglisk  BMe. 
"  For  never-resting  time  leads  summer  oa 
To    hideous   winter,   and    confounds    him 

there ; 
Sap  checked  with  frost,  and  lusty  leaves 

quite  gone ; 
Beauty  o'ersnowed,  and  bareness  every- 
where." Shakespeare. 
"None  of  the  Eastern  people  use  the 
compliment  of  uncovering  their  heads  when 
they  meet,  as  we  do." — Dampier's  Voy. 
ages. 

NAME.  Appellation.  Denomi- 
nation.    Title.     Designation. 

Of  these  Name  (A.S.  nama,  name, 
noun),  connected  with  the  Lat.  nbmen, 
is  the  simplest  and  most  generic,  in- 
dicating simply  the  word  by  which  a 
thing  or  person  is  distinguished.  It 
is  the  cun-ent  representation  of  the 
thing  itself. 

Appellation  (Lat.  appelldtidnem, 
an  entitling)  properly  denotes  a  de- 
scriptive term  where  some  individual 
is  expressed,  or  some  ueculiar  charac- 
teristic ;  as,  "  Alexander  of  Macedon's 
appellation  was  *  the  Great; 
"  S.  Thomas  Aquinas'  appeilati 
'the  Angelic  Doctor.'" 

A  Title  (Lat.  titiilns)  is  a  name  in 
some  way  indicative  of  dignity,  dis- 
tinctiveness, or  prominence,  and  not, 
as  appellatives  may  be,  of  reproach.  It 
is  a  kind  of  honourable  political  appel- 
lation. 


or, 
ation  was 


578 


DENOMiNATiON(Lat.deno/HVTiafio»iem, 
a  naming  after')  is  a  distinctive  name, 
implying  sectional  division  or  classifi- 
cation It  may  be  expressed  by  either 
a  noun  or  an  adjective ;  as,  Pharisee, 
good,  bad.  It  deserves,  hovrever,  to 
be  remarked,  that  the  term  belongs  to 
such  distinctions  as  are  imposed  by 
men,  not  such  as  are  based  upon  the 
differences  of  nature  ;  though  the  de- 
nominations so  imposed  may  agree 
with  natural  distinctions.  We  do  iiot, 
for  instance,  speak  of  plants,  animals, 
or  minerals  of  different  denomina- 
tions. 

Designation  (Lat.  designdtidnem,a 
describing)  is  a  distinctive  title,  point- 
ing out  more  specifically  one  indivi- 
dual from  others.  The  word  carries 
the  mind  beyond  the  fact  of  a  distinc- 
tive name,  to  the  effort  of  those  who 
imposed  it  as  peculiarly  appropriate  or 
characteristic.  Designation  is  to  the 
individual  what  denomination  is  to 
the  class. 
"A  name  which  every  wind  to  heaven  would 

bear. 
Which  men  to  speak,  and  angels  joy  to 
hear."  CowLKY. 

"  Men  must  endeavour  to  palliate  what 
they  cannot  cure.  They  must  institute 
some  persons,  under  the  appellation  of 
magistrates,  whose  peculiar  office  it  is  to 
point  out  the  decrees  of  equity,  to  punish 
transgressors."  — HuME. 

"  If  the  qualities  which  1  have  ranged 
under  the  head  of  the  sublime  be  all  found 
consistent  with  each  other,  and  all  different 
from  those  which  I  place  under  the  head  of 
beauty ;  and  if  those  which  compose  the 
class  of  the  beautiful  ha^-e  the  same  consis- 
tency with  themselves,  and  the  same  oppo- 
sition to  those  which  are  classed  under  the 
denomination  of  sublime,  I  am  in  little  pain 
whether  anybody  chooses  to  follow  the 
name  I  give  them  or  not,  provided  he  allows 
that  what  I  dispose  under  different  heads 
are  in  reality  different  things  in  nature." — 
Burke. 

"  The  ranking  of  things  into  species, 
which  is  nothing  but  sorting  them  under 
several  titles,  is  done  by  us  according  to  the 
ideas  that  we  have  of  them."— Lockk. 

"  This  is  a  plain  designation  of  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough.  One  kind  of  stuff  used  to 
fatten  land  is  called  marl,  and  every  one 
knows  that  borough  is  the  name  of  a  town." 
—Swift. 

NARRATE.     Recount.    Tell. 
Narrate  (Lat.  narrdre)  belongs  to 
the  rhetorical ;  Recount  (Fr.  raconter) 


srNONYMS  [narrate] 

to  the  instructive.  Tell  to  the  popu- 
lar and  familial .  One  narrates  with 
study , by  rule,  and  with  due  attention  to 
atyle,  and  with  a  view  to  engaging  and 
interesting  the  auditory  or  the  public. 
One  recounts  with  care,  as  anxious 
that  all  important  facts  should  be 
taken  count  of.  One  tells  plainly, 
simply,  intelligibly,  agreeably,  amus- 
ingly. 

NARROW.  Contracted.  Con- 
fined. 

Narrow  (A.  S.  nearu,  nearo,  con- 
nected with  near)  denotes  no  more 
than  the  being  of  little  breadth,  with- 
out of  necessity  implying  either  £hat 
it  is  the  result  of  any  artificial  pro- 
cess, or  any  disparaging  force ;  as,  a 
narrow  stream.  A  narrow  escape  is 
one  in  which  the  interval  between 
the  point  of  danger  and  the  person 
avoiding  it  is  near  or  narrow. 

Contracted  (Lat.  contrithcre,  part. 
contractus,  to  draw  i?i)  implies  an  arti- 
ficial process,  or  the  result  of  narrow- 
ing influences.  Metaphorically,  a 
narrow  mind  is  so  by  nature ;  a  con- 
tracted mind  is  so  by  association, 
training,  or  prejudice. 

Confined  (Fr.  confiner,  to  confine, 
Lat.  confinis,  bordering  upon)  implies 
more  strongly  than  Contracted  the 
operation  ot  external  forces.  A  stream 
is  contracted  within  its  ordinary 
course  by  the  drought  of  summer ;  it 
is  confined  to  a  narrow  bed  by  arti- 
ficial embankments. 

"  Men  should  accustom  themselves  by  the 
light  of  particulars  to  enlarge  their  minds 
to  the  amplitude  of  the  world,  and  not  re- 
duce the  world  to  the  narrowness  of  their 
minds." — Bacon. 

"  The  more  effectual  contraction  of  the 
wind-pipe  in  any  strong  or  violent  expira- 
tion or  coughing." — Ray. 

"  That  man  can  do  wrong  arises  from  a 
weakness  and  not  a  superior  strength  in 
him,  from  the  imperfection  of  his -vnews,  and 
the  conjinedness  of  his  powers." — Hoadlky. 

NATIVE.     Natal.     Natural. 

Native  (Lat.  natwiu)  indicates  a 
relation  to  an  object  on  the  score  of 
origin  ;  pertaining  to  one's  birth  ;  as, 
native  land  or  language;  conferred 
by  birth,  as  native  genius. 

Natural  (Lat.  naturalis,  belonging 


[necessary] 


to  nature)  pertaining  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  Nature,  or  some  particular 
nature,  as  opposed  to  what  is  uncon- 
nected with  Nature,  artificial,  dis- 
torted, or  the  like. 

Natal  (Lat.  ndtalis,  belonging  to 
one's  birth)  means  belonging  to  the 
event  or  circumstances  of  a  man's 
birth  ;  as  a  natal  day,  hour,  star. 

NAUSEA.     Loathing.     Disgust. 

As  employed  of  repugnance  of  feel- 
ing towards  objects.  Nausea  (literally 
Sea-Sickness,  Gr. vava-ia',  vreD?,  a  ship) 
is  commonly  employed  of  that  dislike 
which  is  the  result  of  over-much 
supply,  involving  tediousness  and 
satiety ;  Loathing  (see  Loathe),  of  a 
strong  constitutional  dislike,  whether 
physical  or  of  tlie  moral  taste ;  Dis- 
gust (O.Fr.  desgouster^  to  loathe;  goiist, 
Lat.  gustus,  taste)  of  what  strongly 
offends  the  moral  sense  rather  than 
the  physical ;  as,  disgust  at  the  conduct 
of  another. 

NEAR.     Nigh.    Close. 

As  adverbs,  Near  (A.  S.  nedra^ 
comparative  of  ?ic<i/i,  nigh),  Nigh,  and 
Close  (Fr.  clos,  part,  of  c lore,  to  shut) 
may  be  thus  in  usage  distinguished. 
We  commonly  now  employ  Near  both 
of  time  and  space,  while  we  restrict 
NiGii to  space.  Nigh  at  hand.  "The 
time  draweth  nigh,"  would  be  now 
expressed  by  the  "  Time  draws  near." 
We  seldom  employ  Nigh  but  with 
amplification ;  as,  nigh  at  hand. 
Near  is  by  no  means  so  strong  and 
definite  as  Close.  Houses  are  near  to 
each  other  which  are  separated  by 
what  the  speaker  may  consider  a 
moderate  interval ;  they  are  close 
when  they  almost  touch.  Near  is 
employed  as  an  adjective,  an  adverb, 
and  a  preposition  ;  Nigh,  as  an  ad- 
iective  and  an  adverb,  but  not  as  a 
preposition  ;  in  that  case,  it  requires 
the  addition  of  To.  Near  is  only, 
however,  used  as  an  adjective  when 
it  is  separated  by  the  verb  from  its 
substantive  ;  as, "  The  house  is  near  ;  " 
but  not  "A  near  house."  Both  Near 
and  Close  have  a  metaphorical  sense 
of  parsimonious,  which  is  not  to  the 
uresent  purpose. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


579 


NEAREST.     N'.Ji.. 

Nearest  denotes  the  closest  proxi- 
mity of  space,  Next  the  proximate 
place  in  order.  The  nearest  house  is 
that  to  which  the  distance  is  the 
shortest,  the  next  house  is  that  to 
which  one  comes  after  the  present  in 
course  or  computation. 

NECESSARY.  Essential.  Re- 
quisite.    Needful. 

Necessary  (Lat.  necessdriits)  is  an 
indefinite  term.  Necessity  may  relate 
to  the  order  and  course  of  Nature, 
or  the  projects  and  designs  of  men, 
or  the  laws  of  thought  and  argumen- 
tation. That  is  necessary  wliich  is  of 
essential  and  indispensable  obligation. 
Requisite  (Lat.  rcquisitum,  a  ivant, 
a  requirement)  relates  to  some  end, 
whether  of  thought  or  action,  which 
the  requisite  indispensably  subserves. 
Essential  (Lat.  essentia,  essence; 
esse,  to  be)  denotes  what  is  needful  to 
make  a  thing  what  it  is  or  professes 
to  be — being  regarded  as  vitally  part 
and  parcel  of  the  thing  itself.  Neces- 
sary relates  to  the  course  of  things; 
Essential,  to  the  constitution  of 
things,  and  our  conceptions  of  them  ; 
Requisite,  to  human  deliberation  and 
choice.  Needful  is  less  abstract  than 
Necessary,  and  applies  to  personal  re- 
quisites specifically  and  in  aetail.  "  To 
cross  the  water  is  necessary  in  order 
to  travel  in  France;  but  money  is 
needful  to  travel  at  all."  Necessary 
is  a  term  primarily  of  logic ;  Ess  entia  l 
of  metaphysics ;  Requisite,  of  practi- 
cal life.  That  is  necessary  to  a  thing 
which  the  very  notion  of  it  seems  to 
draw  after  it.  That  is  essential  with- 
out which  it  would  not  fulfil  its  defi- 
nition or  be  what  it  is.  That  is  re- 
quisite without  which  it  would  be  in 
a  condition  of  deficiency  or  want. 

"  A  certain  kind  of  temper  is  necessary 
to  the  pleasure  and  <iuiet  of  our  minds." — 
TillotS(jk. 

"  Judgment  is  more  essential  to  a  general 
than  courage." — Dknham. 

"All  truth  requisite  for  men  to  know." 
Milton. 
It  may  be  observed  that  nothing  ib 
more  common  than  the  employment 
of  Essential  in  the  sense  of  strongly 
desirable  or  necessary.     Hence  such 


580 


intolerable  vulgarisms  as  that  "  It  is 
very  essential  to  wrap  up  one's  self  in 
col^  weather."  It  should  have  been 
either  Requisite  or  Necessahy  ;  the 
latter  representing-  the  act  as  induced 
by  circumstances ;  the  former,  by  our 
own  wants  and  feelings. 
"  All  things  needful  for  defence  ahonnd." 
Dryden. 

The  needful  is,  generally  speaking, 
tliat  form  of  the  jjecessary  which  in- 
volves a  double  object — the  imme- 
diate and  the  remote.  The  necessary 
is  wanted  for  itself,  except  so  far  as 
abstract  ends  are  additionally  con- 
sidered, as  happiness,  comfort,  and 
the  like ;  the  needful,  for  something 
also  to  which  it  conduces. 

NEEDY.     Necessitous. 

Nekdy  (A.  S.  nead^  want,  compul- 
sion) and  Necessitous  (see  Necessary) 
are  both  employed  of  persons  lacking 
the  common  necessaries  of  life,  or  of 
their  station  in  it ;  but  Needy  is  em- 
ployed more  directly  of  the  person, 
and  Necessitous  of  the  condition. 
Hence  necessitous  may  imply  a  casual 
state  ;  while  Needy  implies  one  more 
permanent,  as  being  characteristic  of 
tlie  individual  or  class. 

NEFARIOUS.     Iniquitous. 

These  terms  both  express  the 
strongest  disapprobation  of  human 
conduct  or  trarxsactions ;  but  Ne- 
rARious(Lat.  ntfdrms,  execra We) points 
more  directly  to  the  intrinsic  badness 
of  the  deed ;  Iniquitous  (Lat.  'iniquus, 
unfair,  unjust),  to  the  detriment  done 
to  others,  who  are  involved  in  the 
object  or  consequences  of  the  act. 
Iniquitous,  however,  is  quite  applic- 
able also  to  deeds  or  conduct  regarded 
intrinsically.  In  that  case  that  is  ini- 
quitous which  is  flagi-antly  immoral, 
that  is  nefarious  which  is  regarded  as 
violating  sacred  obligations,  deeds  of 
unhallowed  wrong. 

"  That  for  their  own  nefarious  ends 

Tread  upon  Freedom  and  her  friends." 
Cunningham. 

"  In  thiscity  (Athens)  there  were  parties, 
tnd  avowed  ones  too,  for  the  Persians, 
Spartans,  and  Macedonians,  supported  each 
of  theaa  by  one  or  more  demagogues  pen- 
sioned and  bribed  to  this  iniquitous  ser- 
vice."—B  URKK. 


STNONYMS  [needy] 

NEGLECT.  Disregard.   Slight. 

These  may  be  all  regarded  as  both 
nouns  and  verbs.  Neglect  (Lat. 
negligcre,  to  neglect,  part,  neglectus)  ii 
not  so  positive  as  Slight  (old  Ger. 
sleht,  smooth,  simple).  Neglect  may  be 
the  cor.sequence  of  inattention  or  pre- 
occupation. Slight  of  persons  is  alwaj^s 
an  act  of  dislike  and  contem})t.  It  is 
not  absolutely  confined  to  persons  as 
its  object.  We  may  slight  as  well  as 
neglect  an  opportunity.  To  neglect 
it  is  to  overlook  it ;  to  slight  it,  is  to 
think  little  of  it,  and  so  undervalue 
it.  Disregard  relates  more  specifi- 
cally to  what  is  brought  into  per- 
sonal relation  to  one's  self,  and  has 
commonly  a  positive  and  deliberate 
force,  amounting  to  intentional  neg- 
lect, or  the  setting  a  small  value 
on  a  thing,  or  a  voluntary  overlooking 
of  it ;  as,  to  disregard  an  insult,  or  an 
attempt,  on  the  part  of  another,  to  do 
one  an  injury.  We  should  speak  of 
slighting  rather  then  disregarding  the 
good  offices  of  others.  Some  exex'ciseof 
judgment,  whether  wisely  or  not,  is 
involved  in  Disregard;  while  Slight 
may  be  the  result  of  prejudice,  and 
neglect,  of  ignorance  or  inattention. 

"Thus  said,  he  turned,  and  Satan,  bowing 

low. 
As  to  superior  spirits  is  wont  in  Heaven, 
Where  honour  due  and  reverence    none 

neglects. 
Took  leave."  MiLTON. 

"It  is  too  common  for  those  who  have 
been  bred  to  scholastic  professions,  and 
passed  much  of  their  time  in  academies, 
where  nothing  but  learning  confers  ho- 
nours, to  disregard  every  other  qualifica- 
tion."— liambler. 

"  Hear  your  own  dignity  so  much  pro- 
faned. 
See  your  most    dreadful  laws  so  loosely 

slighted. 
Behold  yourself  so  by  a  son  disdained." 
Shakespkakk. 


NEIGHBOURHOOD.  Vicinity. 
Proximity.     Propinquity. 

Neighbourhood  (A.  S.  ncdhgebiir, 
is  Saxon,  Vicinity  ( Lat.  vtclnttdtem, 
viclniis,  a  neighbour)  is  Latin.  Hence, 
as  commonly  happens,  the  Saxon  term 
is  the  more  comprehensive.  Neigh- 
bourhood is,  in  the  first  place,  em- 
ployed both  of  the  place  or  places  in 
the  vicinity,   and  of  the  persons  iii- 


^niggardly]         discriminated. 


581 


habiting  them ;  Vicinh  y,  only  of  the 
place.  Again,  Neighbourhood  is  em- 
ployed to  designate  the  general  near- 
ness or  collectiveness  of  persons  or 
objects  among  one  anotlier ;  Vicinity, 
only  of  the  nearness  of  one  thing  to 
another,  or  a  person  to  a  place.  Hence 
a  difference  in  the  form  of  expression  ; 
as,  to  live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sea, 
rather  than  the  neighbourhood,  no- 
thing mwe  being  meant  than  physical 
proximity. 
"  Till,  towards  night,   they  came  unto  a 

plain, 
I5y  which  a  little  hermitage  there  lay, 
Vnr  from  all  neighbourhood  the  which  annoy 
it  may."  SPEXSER. 

"  The  weather  was  pleasant,  and  we  daily 
saw  some  of  those  birds  which  are  looked 
npon  as  signs  of  the  vicinity  of  land,  such 
as  boobies,  men-of-war,  tropic  birds,  and 
gannets." — CooK's  Voyages. 

Proximity  (Lat.  proximus,  nearest) 
is  the  closest  degree  of  nearness,  as 

Fropisqvity  (Lat.  pr(ipinquus,neav) 
expresses  only  nearness,  in  general 
and  irrespectively  of  degree ;  while 
neighbourhood  is  social  nearness, 
vicinity  topographical  neai*ness,  and 
proximity  close  nearness.  As  Neigh- 
BouRiioooand  Vicinity  are  confined  to 
physical  nearness,  Proximiiy  and 
JPropinquity  are  applicable  to  moral 
nearness,  as  of  ideas,  time,  kindred. 

"  If  he  plead  proximity  of  blood. 
That  empty  title  is  with  ease  withstood." 
Dkyden. 

*'  The  ligaments  in  the  inside  of  the  scle- 
rotic tunicles  of  the  eye  draw  the  retina 
nearer  to  the  crystalline  humour,  and  by 
their  relaxation  suffer  it  to  return  to  its 
natural  distance  according  to  the  exigency 
of  the  object  in  respect  of  distance  or  pro- 
pinquity." — Eay. 

NEWS.   Tidings.    Inteliigence. 

Nevts  denotes  what  is  generally 
new  in  the  way  of  intelligence  from 
any  or  all  quarters.  This  may  be  in- 
teresting to  ourselves  in  common  with 
others,  or  it  may  be  wholly  uninteres*^ 
ing. 

Tidings  are  news  of  what  has  tidpd 
or  betided  (A.  S.  tid ;  tide,  tiine),  more 
or  less  expected  from  a  particular  quar- 
ter, and  always  personally  interesting. 
As  we  may  have  news  of  a  foreign 
war,  and  tidings  of  our  friends  en- 
gaged in  it.     News  may  be  good  or 


bad ;    but    we  speak   ol   good   more 
often  than  of  evil  or  bad  tidings. 

Intelligence  (Lat.  inteltigere,  to 
understand)  is  a  more  formal  word, 
denoting  public  or  official  communi- 
cation of  news,  and  is  always  of  gene- 
ral interest,  whether  good  or  bad,  and 
commonly  on  definite  subjects. 

"  I  wonder  that,  in  the  present  situation 
of  affairs,  you  cai^  take  pleasure  in  writing 
anything  but  news." — Spectator. 

"  When  presumptuous  Spain 
Baptized  her  fleet  invincible  in  vain. 
Her  gloomy  monarch,   doubtful,  uad   re- 
signed 
To  every  pang  that  racks  an  anxious  .nind. 
Asked  of  the  waves  that  broke  upon  his 

coast 
'  What  tidings  /'  and  the  surge  replied,  'All 
lost ! '  "  COWPER. 

"My  lion,  whose  jaws  are  at  all  hours 
open  to  intelligence,  informs  me  that  there 
are  a  few  enormous  weapons  still  in  being." 
— Stkele. 

NIGGARDLY.  Miserly.  Ava- 
ricious.    Covetous.     Sordid. 

All  these  terms  describe  excess  of 
selfishness  in  the  use  or  ac<juisition  of 
money  or  valuable  possessions.  The 
Nig(j;-.rdly  man  (Icel.  hnoggr,  nig- 
gard, sparing)  is  hard  upon  others; 
the  Miserly  man  (Lat.  miser,  miser' 
able),  upon  himself  as  well.  He  lives 
only  for  his  hoard. 

The  Avaricious  (Lat.  Hvdi^tia,  ava- 
rice,) is  simply  ra])acious  for  himself; 
the  Covetous  (O.  Fr.  covoiter,  to  covet, 
Lat.  cUp^idus,  desirous  of)  is  so  at  the 
';xpense  of  others.  The  quality  of  the 
miser  stai-ving  in  the  midst  of  plenty 
is  more  ridiculous  than  pitiable ;  that 
of  the  niggardly  man,  the  more  pitiable 
and  hateful ;  for  he  would  profit 
though  others  should  starve,  that  of 
the  avaricious  and  covetous,  the  more 
formidable.  Avarice  is  greediness; 
but  covetousness  would  snatch  the 
food  from  another's  mouth.  The  ava- 
ricious man  is  a  man  of  cares  and  de- 
siios;  the  covetous  man,  one  of  envy 
a.i.d  design. 

Sordid  (Lat.  sordidus,  foul)  ex- 
presses the  sacrifice  or  loss  of  what  is 
noble,  and  the  adoption  of  what  is 
mean  in  feeling  and  conduct  in  refe- 
rence to  the  acquisition  of  gain.  As 
the  covetous  man  is  desirous  of  ap- 
propriating the  wealth  of  others,  so 


582 


the  avaricious  man  is  simply  inordi- 
nately desirDus  of  gain.  The  ava- 
ricious are  eager  to  get,  and  hug  it 
when  got.  The  covetous  are  also 
eager  to  obtain,  but  not  so  desirous  of 
keeping.  The  avaricious  are  never 
profuse,  but  the  covetous  may  be,  and 
may  even  be  spendthrifts,  desiring 
the  wealth  of  others  that  they  may 
squander  it  or  keep  it.  As  the  cha- 
racter of  the  avaricious  and  covetous 
are  more  concerned  with  acquiring, 
so  the  niggard!}'  is  more  concerned 
with  retaining.  The  niggardly  man 
finds  it  hard  to  part  with  his  money, 
and  would  cheapen  as  far  as  possible 
the  just  claims  of  others  upon  him; 
while  with  the  miser  all  thoughts, 
either  directly  or  indirectly  affecting 
either  himself  or  others,  are  second  to 
the  dominant  idea  of  mere  hoarding, 
to  which  the  claim  of  hunger  itself  is 
often  made  to  give  way. 

"  On  the  other  side  there  is  not  in  Na- 
ture anything  so  remotely  distant  from  God, 
or  so  extremely  opposite  to  Him,  as  a 
greedy,  griping  7iiggard."—BAiiB.o\r. 

"  For  the  sake  of  collecting  what  is  never 
to  be  used,  and  adding  to  his  beloved  heap, 
the  miser  will  forego  the  comforts,  the  con- 
veniences, and  almost  the  necessaries  of  ex- 
istence, and  voluntarily  submit  all  his  days 
to  the  penuries  and  austerities  of  a  mendi- 
cant."— HoRNE. 

"  Still,  however  (said  Asem),  the  inha- 
bitants must  be  happy.  Each  is  contented 
with  his  own  possessions,  nor  avariciously 
endeavours  to  heap  up  moi'e  than  is  neces- 
sary for  his  own  subsistence  ;  and  each 
has  therefore  leisure  for  pitying  those  that 
stand  in  need  of  compassion." — Gold- 
smith. 

"  The  difierence  between  avarice  and  co- 
veitice  is  this,  coveitice  is  for  to  coveit 
swiche  things  as  ihou  hast  not,  and  ava- 
rice is  to  withholde  and  keep  swiche  things 
as  thou  hast  without  rightful  uede." — 
Chaucer. 

**  Sordid,  unfeeling,  reprobate,  degraded. 
Spiritless  outcast." 

SouTHEY,  Anti-Jacobin. 

"  The  miser  will  forego  the  comforts,  the 
conveniences,  and  almost  the  necessaries  of 
existence." — HoRNE. 

NIGHTLY.     NocTunNAL. 

Nightly  is  derived  directly  from 
the  English  word  nig]t t ;  Nocj  u hn a l, 
from  the  Lat.  noctem,  night,  whence 
noctiaiius.  Vet  they  are  somewhat 
difitrently  employed.     The  former  is 


SYNONYMS  [nightly] 

a  term  of  more  familiar  character 
than  the  latter ;  but  a  further  differ- 
ence is  discernible,  flowing,  however, 
from  the  same  difference  of  oiigin. 
Nightly  means  simply,  at  time  of 
night,  or  every  night;  while  Noctur- 
nal means,  connected  with  the  nature 
of  the  night.  A  nightly  visit.  Thenoc- 
tm-nal  habits  of  some  birds,  insects, 
and  quadrupeds. 

NOMINATE.     Appoint. 

As  applied  to  the  Appointment  to 
certain  offices,  the  Nomination  (Lat. 
nomuiare,  to  name)  commonly  stands 
to  the  Appointment  (O.  Fr.  apointery 
to  appoint ;  Low  Lat.  appunctare)  A9 
the  first  step  to  the  completion.  The 
appointment  consists  in  the  formal 
confeiTing  of  office  in  a  regular 
method ;  the  nomination,  in  the  right 
of  naming  the  individual  to  be  so  ap- 
pointed. Where  there  is  no  discre- 
tion left,  the  nomination  is  virtually, 
but  not  fonnally  or  legally,  the  ap- 
pointment. But  there  are  cases  in 
which  the  two  are  distinct  •,  as  where 
a  person  or  a  corporate  body  has  the 
right  of  nominating  more  than  one 
person  to  an  office,  out  of  which  one 
is  selected  by  a  higher  power  for  the 
appointment. 

"The  nomination  of  persons  to  places 
being  a  pi-erogative  of  the  king."— Claren- 
don. 

"The  accusations  against  Columbus 
gained  such  credit  in  a  jealous  court,  that 
a  commissioner  was  appointed  to  repair  to 
Hispaniola,  and  to  inspect  into  his  con- 
duct."—Robertson. 

NOTE.  Annotation.  Comment. 
Commentary.  Observation.  Re- 
mark. 

In  the  sense  in  which  it  is  syno- 
nymous with  the  other  terms  here 
given,  Note  (Lat.  nota,  a  mark)  is 
always  written,  being  either  a  brief 
wi-iting  to  assist  the  memory,  or  a 
marginal  comment  or  explanation.  It 
is  this  latter  aspect  of  the  word  which 
is  more  fully  expressed  by  Annota- 
tion, especially  in  illustration  of  the 
meaning  of  a  text. 

CoMMENT(Lat.co7?»«misri,part.com- 
mentns,  to  rejiect  upon)  has  a  less  sys- 
tematic meaning,  and  denotes  the 
expression  of  anything  which   may 


[NOTES 


casually  suggest  itself  as  worth  mak- 
ing: in  relation  to  what  is  said  or 
written,  and  may  be  itself  either 
written  or  said.  The  purpose  of  com- 
ment is  elucidation.  When  the  com- 
ment is  only  spoken  as  well  as  casual, 
and  has  relation  rather  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  than  to  its  inter- 
pretation, it  may  be  called  an  Ouser- 
VATioN  or  Remark.  This  last  (Fr. 
remarquer,  to  remark)  is  of  more  gene- 
ral meaning  still,  and  may  be  em- 
ployed of  anything  by  way  of  ob- 
servation, even  where  no  explanation 
or  illustration  is  intended,  and  by 
way  of  reference  to  any  subject  which 
may  be  thought  worthy  of  it,  or  to 
aftord  an  opportunity  for  it. 

Observation  (Lat.  observdtidnem,  a 
watchiiig,  a  remark)  is  not  only  not 
explanatoiy,  but  presupposes  a  com- 
plete understanding  of  the  matter 
upon  which  the  observation  is 
founded. 

Commentary  (Lat.  commentarii,  and 
-ria,  note-books,  memoirs)  is  a  systema- 
tic collection  of  comments  in  a  literary 
form,  and  by  way  of  explanation  and 
illustration.  In  the  title  "  Cajsar's 
Commentaries,"  the  term  bears  the 
meaning  of  memoirs  of  particular 
transactions.  Its  more  ordinary  mean- 
ing is  that  of  a  book  of  expositions  on 
the  work  of  an  author.  Certain  dif- 
ferences are  specially  worthy  of  no- 
tice between  the  verbs  to  Observe  and 
to  Remark.  To  remark  is  slighter  than 
to  observe,  and  a  remark  slighter 
than  an  observation.  1  may  make  a 
casual  remark  which  is  very  remotely 
connected  with  the  subject  under 
consideration ;  hence  such  phrases 
as,  "  I  may  as  well  remark  in  pass- 
ing." To  remark  is  to  note  down 
casually;  to  observe  is  to  note  down 
more  carefully.  A  phenomenon  in 
the  heavens  may  be  remarked  by  a 
casual  spectator,  and  if  it  be  con- 
spicuous can  hardly  escape  remark. 
It  will  be  observed  by  an  astronomer. 
Observation  oi'teu  follows  upon  re- 
mark, and  is  the  analysis  or  expan- 
sion of  it.  "  Did  you  remark  the 
level  of  the  thermometer  yesterday 
at  mid-day? "  "  No,  I  did  not;  but  I 
will  observe  it  moi-e  carefiilly  to-day," 


DISCRIMINATED. 


58^. 


The  careful  general  remarks  those 
individuals  who  behave  with  bravery, 
while  he  observes  the  operations  of 
the  enemy.  Observe  is  commonly 
more  general,  remark  more  specific. 
Some  persons  observe  the  conduct 
and  behaviour  of  others  for  the  pur- 
pose of  remarking  upon  their  faults 

NOTES.     Remarks.    Considera- 
tions.   Observations.    Reflexions. 

Taking  these  terms  in  their  literary 
connexion.  Notes  contain  .something 
short  and  precise.  Remarks  show 
that  a  distinction  or  selection  of  one 
or  more  points  has  been  made.  Ob- 
servations designate  some  matter  of 
criticism  and  research.  Reflexions 
are  thoughts  added  to  those  of  tlie 
autlior.  Notes  are  often  necessary. 
Remarks  are  sometimes  useful.  Ob- 
j  servations  ought  to  be  erudite,  and 
!  reflexions  just.  Notes  ai-e  commonly 
{  explanatory.  They  are  called  for  by 
;  obscurity  of  expression  or  recondite- 
{  ness  of  allusion,  or  unfamiliarity  of 
subject-matter ;  as  when  manners  and 
customs  have  much  changed  from 
those  of  the  period,  or  are  dissimilar 
to  those  of  the  country  of  the  author. 
Remarks  may  serve  to  set  the  sub- 
ject of  the  text  in  a  stronger  light, 
as  turning  on  some  particular  point 
Avorthy  of  notice.  Historical  observa- 
tions tend  to  clear  up  some  historical 
allusions,  while  an  observation  on  a 
peculiarity  of  style  or  expression  will 
prevent  its  being  overlooked.  Re- 
flexions, being  of  a  gratuitous  charac- 
ter, need  to  be  very  pertinent,  or  they 
may  supplant  and  obscure  the  origi- 
nal thoughts  of  the  author.  Notes 
should  be  short  and  clear,  for  their 
object  is  to  explain,  and  if  extended 
they  become  commentaries.  Remarks 
should  be  new,  useful,  critical.  The 
two  defects  of  a  remark  are  triteness 
and  uninterestingness ;  i.e.  saying  in 
the  first  instance  what  the  world 
knows,  and  in  the  second  what  it  does 
not  care  to  know.  Observations 
should  be  luminous,  curious;  for  their 
object  is  to  draw  forth  what  is  fine, 
to  elucidate  what  is  obscure,  to  draw 
attention  to  what  is  interesting,  to 
give  prominence  to  what  is  concealed. 
Considerations  ought  to  have  the  op- 


■584 


SYNONYMS 


[nOx'IFY] 


posite  cliaracter  to  notes.  They  should 
DO  full  and  profound,  and  only  on 
matters  in  themselves  considerable. 
Reflexions  should  be  natural  and  easy 
without  being-  trivial,  expressed  in  a 
manner  new  and  pointed,  solid  and 
judicious  rather  than  subtle  and  in- 
genious, flowing-  naturally  out  of  the 
subject,  and  imprinting  themselves 
upon  the  mind. 

NOTIFY.    SiGMFV.     Ceutify. 

To  Notify  (hat.  not'ificdre,  to  make 
known)  is  to  Signify  (Lat.  signiftcare) 
in  a  formal,  perspicuous,  and  authen- 
tic manner,  so  that  the  thing  shall  be 
not  only  known  but  indubitable,  cer- 
tain, notorious.  That  which  is  signi- 
fied to  us  we  cannot  be  ignorant  of. 
'J'hat  which  is  notified  to  us  we  cannot 
elude.  One  generally  signifies  inten- 
tions, and  notifies  orders  or  desires. 
'J'he  word  Notify  is  sometimes  used, 
after  the  analogy  of  Certify,  directly 
upon  the  person ;  as,  to  notify  the 
meeting.  Signify  is  not  so  employed, 
but  has  an  impersonal  use  of  its  own ; 
it  does  uot  signify  that  it  is  of  no  con- 
sequence. Certify  is  the  most  for- 
mal ;  "  I  certify  "  some  fact,  and  the 
certijicate  will  be  used  in  some  matter 
of  business ;  it  may  even  be  necessary 
that  I  shall  have  first  sworn  to  its 
truth  before  a  magistrate. 

NOTORIOUS.     Noted. 

While  Noted  is  reserved  for  that 
which  is  well  known,  favourably  or 
eminently.  Notorious  (Lat.  jiotoHa, a 
notice^  ?/eii;s is  employed  toexpress  what 
is  publicly  known,  and  universally  in 
men's  mouths,  commonly,  though 
not  invariably,  with  an  unfavourable 
meaning.  But  this  is  only  a  rough 
distinction.  The  case  seems  to  be 
afliected  by  the  question  whether  the 
matter  is  one  of  facts  or  persons.  At 
least.  Notorious  is  never  used  of  what 
is  known  purely  for  good.  We  speak 
indiscriminately  of  a  notorious  or  a 
noted  fact,  but  not  person;  nor  aie 
virtue  and  excellence  ever  said  to  be 
notorious.  Notorious  is  that  which 
is  so  well  known  that  the  extensive 
knowledge  of  it  is  taken  as  an  evi- 
dence of  iti  certainty.  It  is  a  term 
of  ancient  cirii  law. 


NOXIOUS.  Hurtful.  Pueju- 
irciAL.  Pernicious.  Detrimental. 
Deleterious.     Injuuious. 

Of  these,  the  most  general  in  theii 
application  are  Hurtful  (see  Hurt) 
and  Injurious,  of  which  the  others 
may  be  regarded  as  modifications. 

Noxious  (Lat.  noxius,  from  noxa, 
hurt)  is  applied  physically  and  ana- 
logously to  physical  influences,  and 
to  what  is  like  them  in  morals,  as  a 
noxious  air  or  climate ;  noxious  prin- 
ciples or  practices. 

Prejudicial  (Lat.  prcejudicidlis,  be- 
longing  to  a  preceding  judgment,  with 
an  implied  unfavourable  character, 
formed  beforehand)  bears  specific  re- 
lation to  some  particular  nature,  action, 
or  operation  as  prejudicial  to  charac- 
ter, interest,  health,  life. 

Pernicious  (Lat.  perntciosus  ;  per- 
nlciesj  destruction)  denotes  that  which 
tends,  by  ita  injurious  quality,  to  the 
destruction  of  its  subject. 

Detrimental  (Lat.  detrhnentum, 
loss,  harm,  from  detercre,  to  wear  away 
or  impair)  is  less  strong  than  Perni- 
cious, and  denotes  a  tendency,  not  tc 
destroy,  but  to  impaii*  and  diminisl 
in  force  or  value. 

Deleterious  (Lat.  delere,  to  abolish, 
annihilate)  brings  out  more  strongly 
the  purely  physical  side  of  Pernicious, 
as  "deleterious  medicines,"  and  is 
most  commonly  employed  in  con- 
nexion with  the  life  and  health  of 
men. 

"  Again  it  is  urged  that  Nature  has  not 
only  produced  many  noxious  and  poisonous 
herbs,  but  also  destructive  and  devoui-ing 
animals,  whose  strength  surpasseth  that  of 
men. " — C  udworth. 

"  Charles  II.  had  great  vices,  but  scarce 
any  virtues  to  correct  them  ;  he  had  in 
him  some  vices  which  were  less  hurtful, 
which  corrected  his  more  hurtful  ones." — 
Burnet. 

"  That  which  in  the  first  instance  is  pre- 
judicial may  be  excellent  in  its  remoter 
operation ;  and  its  excellence  may  arise 
even  fi-om  the  ill  effects  it  produces  in  the 
beginning.  "—B  CJBKE. 

"  He  who  has  vented  a  pernicious  doc 
trine,  or  published  an  ill  book,  must  know 
that  his  guilt  and  his  life  determine  not 
together.  — South. 

"  Though  every  man  hath  a  property  in 
his  goods,  he  must  uot  use  them  iu  detrir 
meat  of  the  commonwealth  ^'—StaUTrial*, 


[obdurate] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


685 


"  In  some  places  those  plaute  which  are 
entirely  poisonous  at  Lome  lose  iheir  dele- 
terious quality  by  being  carried  abroad." — 
Goldsmith. 

"We  naturally  love  excellence  wherever 
we  see  it  J  but  the  envious  man  hates  it, 
and  wishes  to  be  superior  to  othej"s,  p->t  by 
raising  himself  by  honest  means,  hut  by 
injuriously  pulling  them  down." — BkattIK. 

NUMBER.     Count. 

These  terms  Kumueu  (being  de- 
rived from  Lat.  niiina-dre,  niimerus,  a 
number)  and  Count  (from  Fr.  comp- 
tefy  and  coaler ,  the  Lat.  comyidare,  to 
compute)  may  often  be  employed 
strictly  in  the  place  of  Count,  as  to 
number  the  sand  ot  the  sea-shore  (or 
to  count  it)  ;  but  Number  (to  say  no- 
thing of  such  a  phrase  as,  "To  num- 
ber houses  in  a  street,"  meaning,  to 
fix  numbers  upon  them)  has  also  the 
force  of  presenting  as  the  result  of 
computation;  as,  *'The  army  num- 
bered fifty  thousand."  It  has  also  a 
more  rhetorical  and  solemn  character 
than  Count  in  the  sense  of  to  pass  into 
a  previously  existing  number ;  as, 
*'Hewas  numbered  with  the  dead." 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  devoid  of  that 
force  of  reckoning,  in  the  sense  of 
moral  estimation,  which  belongs  to 
Count,  as  in  such  a  phrase  as,  "  I 
count  it  simple  folly ;  "  and  expresses 
no  more  than  arithmetical  computa- 
tion or  addition.  1  number  denotes 
the  saire  t}>'ng  as  1  tell  off,  not,  I  es- 
timate. 

NUMERAL.    NuMEuicAi.. 

Numeral  means  of  or  belonging  to 
numbers,  and  is  applied  to  terms, 
especially  of  grammar ;  as  a  numeral 
adjective.  Numerical  is  of  or  be- 
longing to  number  in  the  abstract; 
as  a  numerical  difference — a  difference 
of  number,  as  distinguished,  for  in- 
stance, from  one  of  quality.  The  dif- 
ference between  six  oranges  and  eight, 
where  all  are  o[  equal  size  and  good- 
ness, would  be  numerical. 


0. 

OATH.     Vow. 

Oath  (A.  S.  d^)  belongs  to  engage- 
Dneuts  with  men ; 


Vow  (Fr.  v(£u)  to  engagements 
made  directly  with  God.  In  the  oath 
one  takes  God  to  witness  to  one's  en- 
gagement with  our  willingness  to 
submit  to  the  effects  of  His  vengeance 
if  one  should  violate  one's  undertak- 
ing. But  in  a  vow  one  voluntarily 
enters  upon  an  engagement  with  God, 
and  employs  the  vow  to  make  the  ob- 
ligation more  binding,  and  the  neglect 
or  violation  of  it  more  criminal.  The 
oath  is  an  ascititious  bond  by  which 
one  renders  men  more  sure  of  one's 
good  faith.  Jephthah  kept  religiously 
the  rashest  of  all  vows.  Joshua  kept 
his  promise  to  the  Gibeonites  with  all 
the  strictness  of  an  oath.  Yet  the 
oath  should  be  only  in  relation  to 
things  lawful  between  man  and  man 
and  the  vow  Avhich  violates  a  law  o* 
nature  is   a  sacrilege  rather  than  a 

Y»W. 

OBDURATE.  Hardened,  Cal- 
lous. Obstinate.  Pertinacious. 
Contumacious. 

While  Hardened  is  the  most 
general  term,  the  others,  Avith  the 
exception  of  Obstinate,  may  be  re- 
garded as  modifications  of  it.  We 
speak  of  persons  or  their  feelings  as 
hardened  when  we  mean  to  express 
the  result  of  habituation,  and  this 
actively  or  passively;  as,  hardened  in 
vice ;  hardened  against  impressions, 
as,  for  instance,  scenes  of  suffering. 

Callous  {¥r.  calleux ;  L%t.  callbsus, 
thick-skhmed,  from  callum,  callus,  the 
thick  skin  of  animal  bodies)  commonly 
denotes  rather  insensibility  through 
nature  or  habituation,  than  any  blunt- 
ing of  the  moral  feelings.  This  latter 
use,  however,  is  not  excluded,  as  in 
the  phrase,  *'  A  callous  conscience." 

Obdurate  (Lat.  obdurdre,  part,  ob- 
durdtus,  to  harden),  on  the  other  hand, 
denotes  the  state  of  being  hardened 
against  moral  influences.  They  rise 
in  meaning  in  the  following  order: 
Ca  llous  denotes  a  deadening  of  the 
sensibilities;  Hardened,  a  settled  dis- 
regard of  and  habit  of  resistance 
against  the  claims  of  persuasion,  duty, 
and  sympathy;  Obdurate,  a  moral  de- 
termination in  opposition  to  both 
moral  principle  and  natural  fseiing. 


586 


Obstinate  (Lat.  obstvidtus,  resolute, 
in  a  good  or  bad  sense)  is  more  purely 
mental  than  moral,  and  denotes  such 
inflexible  conduct  as  consists  in  stand- 
ing out  against  persuasion,  instruc- 
tion, entreaty,  and,  by  an  extension 
of  the  use  of  the  tenn,  against  attack. 
Pertinacious  (Lat.  ferfindcenifVery 
tenacious)  represents  obstinacy,  as  it 
were,  from  the  other  or  opposite 
point  of  view.  As  obstinacy  consists 
m  holding  out,  so  pertinacity  consists 
in  holding  on.  The  man  who  reite- 
rates and  clings  to  his  own  purpose  or 
opinion  is  pertinacious ;  the  man  who 
does  so  in  direct  opposition  to  external 
influence  is  obstinate. 

Contumacious  (Lat.  contiimdcem, 
haughty  J  stubborn)  expresses  the  resis- 
tance to  the  demands  of  constitutec' 
authority. 

"  The  ear  is  wanton  and  ungoverned,  and 
the  heart  insolent  and  obdurate,  till  the  one 
is  pierced ,  and  the  other  made  tender  by- 
affliction." — South. 

"  Tell  such  people  of  a  world  after  this, 
of  their  being  accountable  for  their  actions, 
and  of  the  Gospel  denunciations  of  damna- 
tion upon  all  who  lead  such  ungodly  lives 
without  repentance  ;  they  are  hardened  to 
everything  of  this  kind."— Gilpin,  Ser- 
mons. 

"Licentiousness  has  so  long  passed  for 
sharpness  of  wit  and  greatness  of  mind,  that 
the  conscience  is  grown  callous." — L'Es- 
TRANGE. 

"  So  was  both  sides  with  obstinate  despite. 
With   like    revenge,  and    neither    party 
bowed."  Daniel. 

"  Disputes  with  men  pertinaciously  obsti- 
nate in  their  principles  are,  of  all  others, 
the  most  irksome." — Hume. 

"  Now,  these  courts  being  thus  esta- 
blished in  the  Church,  when  any  offender  is 
presented  into  any  of  them,  he  is  cited  to 
appear  there,  which  if  he  neglect  or  refuse 
to  do,  he  is  pronounced  contumacious." — 
Beveridqe. 

OBEDIENCE.     Submission. 

Obedience  (Lat.  ^bidientia)  is  an 
action.  SuBMissiON(Lat.  submissionem) 
is  a  result  of  the  will.  It  may  be 
passive  while  obedience  is  necessarily 
active.  One  submits  to  an  evil  which 
there  seems  no  possibility  of  removing. 
One  obeys  a  law  in  aoin^  what  it 
commands,  or  in  avoiding  what  it  for- 
bids. Obedience  is  to  will,  authority, 
law,  submission  is  to  power.    Obe- 


SYNONYMS  [oBEDIENCEJ 

dience  may  be  absolutely  forced.  Sub- 
mission must  always  be  to  some  extent 
involuntary,  though  the  submission 
may  be  coeixed,  and  so  repugnant  to 
one's  feelings.  Obedience  may  be  invo- 
luntary, or  even  contrary  to  one's  will. 
Real  obedience  to  an  order  may  be 
the  result  of  a  feigned  submission  to 
the  authority  which  gives  it.  Obe- 
dience is  from  time  to  time  in  the  de- 
tails of  action.  Submission  is  once 
for  all.  A  child  may  obey  to-day  and 
disobey  to-morrow.  Such  an  one  is 
not  strictly  in  submission  to  his  pa- 
rents. Submission  commonly  proceeds 
from  the  character  and  disposition, 
obedience  from  duty  or  principle. 
Obedience  does  not  imply  to  so  great 
an  extent  as  submission,  the  surren- 
der of  the  will  to  another.  One  obeys 
the  jirecepts  of  religion.  Men  some- 
times submit  their  reason  to  faith. 
Where  submission  is  mentioned  it  is 
in  its  humility;  where  obedience  is 
mentioned  it  is  in  the  recognition  of 
and  co-operative  with  right. 

OBEDIENT.  Compliant.  Yield- 
ing. Submissive.  Dutiful.  Ob- 
sequious. 

Obedient  (Lat.  '6bcdientem,  part, 
of  ^bidire,  to  obeif)  involves  a  relation- 
ship of  inferiority  to  another,  and  a 
recognized  physical  or  moral  subser- 
viency; but  the  moral  power  is  the 
primary,  the  physical  the  secondary, 
application.  We  obey  God,  men,  and 
laws,  commands,  and  the  like,  as  the 
media  through  which  their  will  is  ex- 
pressed and  made  known  to  us.  It  is 
only  by  analogy  that  the  ship  is  said 
to  obey  the  helm,  or  a  body  to  fall  in 
obedience  to  the  law  of  gravitation. 

CoxMPLiANT  (verb  comply,  not  con- 
nected with  ply  and  pliant,  but  orig. 
from  Lat.  compltre,  to  complete)  indi- 
cates more  equality  between  the  par- 
ties, than  Obedient.  As  obedience 
stands  to  law,  command,  injunction, 
or  jirecept,  so  compliance  stands  to 
wishes,  desires,  demands,  requests, 
proposals,  and  the  like. 

Yielding  (A.  S.  geldan^  to  pay)  is' 
a  term  expressive  of  the  natural  dis- 
position or  tendency  to  comply,  and, 
involves  commonly  some  weakness  of 


[observance]  DISCKIMINATED. 


587 


nature  and  incapacity  of  resistance  to 
the  will  of  another,  where  such  resis- 
tance is  lawful  or  needful. 

Submissive  (Lat.  submitttrej  tolower, 
to  lower  ones  self)  is  a  stronger  term 
than  Obedient,  and  carries  the  mean- 
ing- of  prospective  obedience  or  com- 
pliance with  possible  as  well  as  actual 
commands  or  desires  of  another. 

Dutiful  (duty,  that  which  is  due, 
Fr.  du)  denotes  that  character  of  act, 
conduct,  or  disposition  which  allows 
itself  to  be  swayed  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  moral  relationship,  involv- 
ing the  right  of  the  one  party  to  sub- 
mission, obedience,  or  deference,  and 
the  obligation  of  the  other  party  to 
render  it  without  coercion,  but  by 
the  understood,  rather  than  expressed, 
power  of  control. 

Obsequious  (Lat.  obstquiosus,  com- 
plaisant) has  now  lost  its  original  use, 
in  which  it  was  equivalent  to  Com- 
pliant, and  has  lapsed  into  the  unfa- 
vourable meaning  of  over-compliant, 
or  demonstratively,  over-courteously, 
and  almost  servilely  attentive  to  the 
wishes  of  another. 
"  Yet  to  whate'er  above  was  fated. 

Obediently  he  bowed  his  soul ; 
For  what  all-bounteons  Heaven  created. 

He  thought  Heaven  only  should  control." 
COWPEK. 

"  The  Earl  of  Surrey,  afterwards  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  to  show  how  compliant  he  was 
to  the  humours  of  the  princes  which  he 
served,  did  as  dexterously  comply  with  his 
prodigality  as  he  had  formerly  with  his 
father's  sparingness." — BuKXET, 

"  That  yieldingness,  whatever  founda- 
tions it  might  lay  to  the  disadvantage  of 
posterity,  was  a  specific  to  preserve  us  in 
peace  in  his  own  time." — Lord  Halifax. 

"  He  in  delight 
Both  of  her  beauty  and  submissive  charms. 
Smiled  with  superior  love,  as  Jupiter 
On   Juno  smiles  when  he  impregns    the 

clouds 
That  shed  May  flowers."  Milton. 

"  I  advised  him  to  persevere  in  dutifully 
bearing  with  his  mother's  ill-humour." — 
Anecdotes  of  Bishop  Watson. 

"The  common  people  have  not  yet  con- 
tracted that  obsequiotisness  and  submission 
which  the  rigour  of  their  government,  if  no 
revolution  occurs  to  redress  it,  must  in  time 
reduce  them  to." — Observer, 

OBLOQUY.     Contumely. 

The  contemptuous  sneaking  against 


another  is  commdn  to  these  words; 
but  while  Obloquy  denotes  disparage- 
ment generally  (Lat.  obloqni,  to  speak 
against),  Contumely  (Lat.  contH- 
milia)  involves  the  unmerited  treat- 
ment of  another,  accompanied  with 
disrespect.  A  person  may  be  pub- 
licly spoken  against  out  of  his  ovra 
hearing,  in  which  case  he  still  incurs 
obloquy  ;  but  contumely  is  shown  to 
his  face,  and  is  not  confined  to  words. 

"  That  particular  sort  of  obloquy  which 
is  called  detraction  or  backbiting." — Bar- 
Row. 

"  Nothing  aggravates  tyranny  so  much 
as  contumely  "—BuviKB., 

OBSEQUIES.     Funeral. 

These  terms  express  different  as- 
pects of  the  same  thing 

Funeral  (L.  Lat.  fimtrdlia,  pi., 
things  belonging  to  a  funeralj  fiinus, 
-^ris)  represents  the  interment  of  the 
dead  as  accompanied  by  its  proper 
rites,  ceremonies,  and  attendance. 

Obsequies  (Lat.  obs^quicB)  is  the 
same  funeral  solemnity  regarded  as 
the  last  duty  performed  to  a  deceased 
person.  The  idea  of  obsequies  is  that 
of  respectful  valediction;  that  of  fune- 
ral is  mournful  ceremony, 

"  Bat  you  must  know,  your  father  lost  a 

father. 
That  father  lost,  lost  his  ;  and  his  survivor 

bound 
In  filial  obligation  for  some  term 
To  do  obsequious  sorrow."  ^ 

Shakespeark. 
"The  funeral  bake-meats  coldly  furnish'd 

forth 
The  marriage  table."  Ibid. 

OBSERVANCE.     Observation. 

Observance  (Lat.  observantia,  ob- 
se)-vance  of  duties,  respect)  is  the  due 
rendering  to  rule,  law,  custom,  or 
occasion,  a  formal  or  practical  recog- 
nition. The  observance  of  sacred  days; 
the  observance  of  the  principles  of 
truth,  justice,  or  the  laws. 

Observation  (Lat.  observationem) 
is  simply  the  act  of  close  and  attentive 
contemplation,  with  the  view  of  be- 
coming closely  acquainted  with  the 
object;  as,  the  observation  o£  the 
heavens.  The  intention  of  an  obser- 
vance is  the  fulfilment  of  a  moral  or 
religious  duty ;  the  intention  of  ob« 


588 


SYNONYMS  LOBSEUVEJ 


servation  is  to  acquire  or  retain  ex- 
actly some  additional  fact  for  the  in- 
formation of  ourselves  or  the  instruc- 
tion of  others. 

"  Since  the  obligation  upon  Christians  to 
comply  vrith  the  religious  observance  of 
Sunday  arises  from  the  public  uses  of  the 
institution,  and  the  authority  of  toe  apos- 
tolic practice,  the  manner  of  observing  it 
ought  to  be  that  which  best  fulfils  these 
uses,  and  conforms  the  nearest  to  this  prac- 
tice."—Paley. 

"  The  difference  between  experiment  and 
obsei-vation  consists  merely  in  the  compara- 
tive I'apidity  with  which  they  accomplish 
their  discoveries,  or  rather  in  the  compara- 
tive command  we  possess  over  them  as  in- 
struments for  the  investigation  of  truth." 
— Stswart. 

OBSERVE.     Keep.     Fulfil. 

These  words  are  synonymous  as 
they  express  in  common  the  practical 
regard  of  a  commandment,  rule,  or 
law.  The  literal  sense  of  Observe 
(Lat.  observare)  is  to  keep  before  one's 
eyes,  to  pay  attention  to. 

To  Keep  (0.  Eng.  kepen,  A.  S. 
cipan)  is  to  hold  in  one's  hand  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving,  maintaining,  or 
defending  unimpaii'ed. 

The  idea  of  Fulfilling  is  that  of 
filling  up,  completing,  consummating. 
You  observe  the  law  by  your  atten- 
tion in  executing  that  which  it  pre- 
scribes. You  keep  it  by  the  continual 
care  you  exercise  that  it  shall  not  be 
violated  in  any  point.  You  fulfil  it 
by  exactness  in  entirely  supplying  all 
that  it  supposes,  and  affording  all  the 
action  which  it  requires. 

To  observe  a  rule  or  law  marks 
generally  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of 
one's  duty.  To  keep  it  marks  perseve- 
rance and  sustained  regard.  To  fulfil 
it  points  to  the  completeness  of  the  re- 
sult. 

We  observe  customs,  traditions, 
casual  precepts,  as  e.g.  the  ordinance  of 
keeping  certain  days  holy.  We  keep 
laws  or  obligations  which  are  perpe- 
tually binding,  and  so  might  be  at  any 
moment  violated,  as  the  marriage  vow : 
we  keep  the  obligation  to  accomplish 
an  engagement,  or  to  fulfil  a  task. 
One  keeps  silence  by  persistently 
avoiding  the  breaking  of  it.  One 
observes  silence  when  it  is  imposed 
by  injuaction  oi  analogously  by  cir- 


cumstances. The  former  may  have 
in  it  more  of  obstinacy  than  right. 
The  latter  is  at  least  in  obedience  to 
principle,  or  allegiance  to  another. 
Fulfil  belongs  rather  to  moral,  as 
Keep  and  Observe  to  legal  require- 
ments. 

OBSTACLE.     Impediment, 

The  following  remarks  may  be 
added  to  what  has  already  been  said 
under  the  head  of  Difficulty. 

The  Obstacle  (o&siac(i/um)  is  some- 
thing before  you,  which  stops  your 
progress. 

The  Impediment  (Lat.  imptd'imen- 
tu,m)ishere  and  there, around  and  about 
you,  to  detain  you  in  your  movements. 
In  order  to  advance,  the  former  must  be 
surmounted,  the  latter  removed.  An 
obstacle  implies  to  some  extent  the 
ideas  of  greatness,  importance,  power 
of  resistance.  Hence  efforts  are  needed 
to  surmount  it,  or  to  destroy  it  in  order 
to  pass  over  it.  The  impediment  im- 
plies something  inconvenient,  annoy- 
ing, embarrassing,  hence  it  must  be 
got  rid  of  and  taken  away ;  like  an 
ample  garment  which  prevents  free- 
dom of  action,  or  a  cljain  which  fetters 
the  limbs.  The  obstacle  belongs  to 
important  matters  and  great  enter- 
prises and  difiiculties.  The  impedi- 
ment belongs  rather  to  common  mat- 
ters and  ordinary  difficulties.  An  im- 
pediment is  vexatious.  An  obstacle 
may  even  provoke  to  courage  and  ad- 
ditional effort.  The  timid,  unenter- 
prising person  sees  many  obstacles. 
The  indifferent  person,  \yho  wants 
heart,  will  see  many  impediments. 

OCCASION.  Occurrence.  Con 
juncture.     Case.     Circumstance. 

Occasion  (Lat.  occdsionem)  is  em- 
ployed of  any  new  event,  whethei*  it 
present  itself  or  is  purposely  sought, 
and  in  a  sense  quit«^  indefinite  as  to 
time  or  object. 

Occurrence  (Lat.  occurrtre,  to  rim 
ugainst)is  employed  only  of  that  which 
comes  without  our  seeking,  and  in 
fixed  relation  to  the  present  time. 

Conjuncture(  Lat.  co?i;u/Jctura;co/t- 
Juiigire,  to  join  togelher)  marks  a 
situation  which  has  resulted  from  a 


[offend] 


JMSCRIMINATED. 


589 


concourse  of  events,  matters  of  busi- 
ness, or  matters  of  interest. 

Case  (Lat.  cams,  cMtre,  to  fad)  ia 
employed  to  express  the  foundation 
of  the  affair,  with  a  particular  refe- 
rence to  the  nature  and  speciality  of 
the  thing^. 

Circumstance  (Lat.  circumstantial 
a  surrounding,  an  attribute)  denotes 
s'.mething  which  stands  related  to 
another,  as  an  accessory  to  the  main 
transaction.  Occasions  are,  generally 
speaking,  common  or  uncommon, 
usual  or  unusual,  ordinary  or  extra- 
ordinary. Occurrences  are  expected 
or  unexpected,  singular  or  unremark- 
able, welcome  or  unwelcome.  Con- 
junctures are  advantageous  or  unto- 
ward. A^case  is  important  or  un- 
important, simple  or  complicated, 
common  or  uncommon,  good  or  bad. 
A  circumstance  is  trivial  or  grave, 
important  or  unimportant,  pressing 
or  immaterial,  relevant  or  in*elevant 
to  the  matter  in  hand.  An  occasion 
is  a  time  for  action.  An  occurreuce 
for  speculation.  A  conjuncture  for 
prudent  management.  A  case  a  thing 
for  study  and  comprehension.  Cir- 
cumstances for  attentive  consideration, 
as  being  the  signs  and  distinctive  in- 
dications of  cases. 

OCCASION.     Opportunity. 

Occasion  (Lat.  occdsionem,  a  befall- 
ing, an  opportunity)  is  no  more  tb.an 
something  which  falls  in  our  way,  or 
presents  itself  in  the  course  of  cir- 
cumstances or  events. 

An  Opportunity  (Lat.  opportunt- 
tatem)  is  an  occasion  regarded  in  its 
relation  to  ourselves  and  our  own  in- 
tentions, as  an  available  source  or 
season  of  action  by  reason  of  fitness 
and  convenience.  The  occasion  com- 
monly controls  us ;  but  we  avail  our- 
selves of  the  opportunity.  We  may 
have  frequent  occasion  to  meet  a  cer- 
tain person,  but  no  op])ortunity  of 
talcing  him  apart  to  converse  with 
him  privately.  An  occasion  is  some- 
times nearly  of  the  nature  of  a  cause, 
^hen  an  internal  motive  finds  excite- 
ment in  external  circumstances;  but 
an  opportunity  is  nothing  unless  we 
are  to  seize  it. 


"  Every  man  is  obliged  by  the  Supreme 
Maker  of  the  universe  to  improve  all  the 
opportunities  of  good  which  are  afforded 
him."— JOHXSON. 

"  Sin,  taking  occasion  by  the  command- 
ment, deceived  me." — English  JBible. 

OCCUPANCY      Occupation. 

The  differepce  between  these  two 
words  flows  frtwO  the  different  forces 
of  the  verb  occupy — to  take  posses- 
sion, and  to  hold  possession. 

Occupancy  (Lat.  occiipdre,  to  take 
possession  of)  is  the  taking  or  having 
possession  in  relation  to  rights,  claims, 
or  privileges;  Occupation,  in  relation 
to  no  more  than  the  fact  of  possessing 
and  holding.  We  speak  of  the  occu- 
pancy of  an  estate  ;  and  the  occupa- 
tion, not  occupancy,  of  a  country  by 
an  army.  Occupancy  has  a  passive, 
occupation  also  an  active  sense. 

"As  we  before  observed  that  ocaipancy 
gave  the  right  to  the  temporary  use  of  the 
soil,  so  it  is  agreed  upon  all  hands  that 
occupancy  gave  also  the  original  right  to 
the  permanent  property  in  the  substance  ol 
the  earth  itself,  which  excludes  eveu'y  one 
else  but  the  owner  from  the  use  of  it." — 
Blackstoxe. 

"  Whereas  of  late  yeares  a  great  com- 
passe  hath  yeelded  but  small  profit,  and 
this  onelie  through  the  idle  and  negligent 
occupation  of  such  as  dailie  manured  and 
herd  the  same  in  occupying." — HoLINSHED. 

OFFEND.  Displease.  Vex. 
Mortify. 

Offend  (Lat.  offendere,  to  strike 
against)  relates  always  to  the  conduct 
of  one  person  towards  another,  and 
implies,  therefore,  conscious  amenta 
on  both  sides,  and  a  condition  of  real 
or  supposed  slight  on  one  side.  It 
belongs  to  superiors  and  equals  rather 
than  to  inferiors  to  be  offended.  In 
the  case  of  equals,  it  still  implies  an 
alleged  deficiency  of  regard  or  con- 
sideration. In  its  more  general  force 
Offend  denotes  an  abrupt  collision  of 
anything  against  the  feelings  or  taste, 
and  so  is  applicable  to  inanimate  in- 
fluences, as  an  ugly  drawing  offends 
the  eye.  This  force  is  more  prominent 
in  the  adjective  Offensive. 

Displease  (Lat.  dispUcire,  to  dis- 
please) is  less  strong,  and  belongs  not 
so  much  to  personal  offence  received 
at  the  hands  of  another  as  the  feel- 


590 


6rNONYMS 


[offender] 


ing  of  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  a 
superior,  where  the  measure  of  re- 
quirement or  duty  has  not  been  ful- 
filled by  the  other.  Displease  is  more 
directly  applicable  to  the  conduct  of 
the  person ;  G^  fend,  to  the  person  him- 
self. 

Vex  (Lat.  veidre)  is  to  make  angry, 
or  irritated  by  petty  provocations  or 
annoyances,  especially  if  repeated. 
We  commonly  use  the  term  Vex  to 
express  an  abuse  of  power,  annoyance 
by  a  sort  of  persecution. 

Mortify  (Lat.  mortif^cdre,  to  cause 
death  to)  differs  from  all  in  being  ab- 
Eolutely  referable  to  occurrences  in-e- 
spective  of  actions  or  agents  ;  and 
expresses  a  strong  feeling  of  personal 
disapproval  mixed  with  disappoint- 
ment in  what  has  occun-ed  or  been 
done,  where  the  question  is  of  persons. 
That  is  mortifvirjiJ  which  disturbs  a 
6t<ate  of  complacency  of  mind. 

"  The  emperor  himself  came  ranning  to 
the  place  in  his  armonr,  severely  reproving 
them  of  cowardice  who  had  forsaken  the 
place,  and  grievously  offended  with  those 
who  had  kept  such  negligent  watch." — 
Knolles. 

"When  Thou  wert  so  wrathfully  dis- 
pleased at  us." — English  Bible. 

"Sorrow  may  degenerate  into  vexation 
and  chagrin."— -CoGAN. 

"  I  am  morticed  by  those  compliments 
which  were  designed  to  encourage  me," — 
Pope. 

OFFENDER.     Delinquent. 

The  one  is  an  active  and  positive, 
the  other  a  passive  and  negative, 
transgressor.  He  who  violates  law  or 
social  rule  is  an  Offender  ;  he  who 
neglects  to  comply  with  its  require- 
ments is  a  Delinquent  (Lat.  drtin- 
qaire,  to  fail,  offend).  It  may  be  ob- 
served that,  as  every  citizen  is  bound 
positively  to  obey  the  laws  of  his 
country,  as  well  as  negatively  not  to 
slight  or  fall  short  of  them,  so  a  de- 
linquency, though  by  the  force  of  the 
terra  it  implies  omission,  may,  in  some 
cases,  be  a  commission.  So  in  the 
following — 

"  A  delinquent  ought  to  be  cited  in  the 
place  or  jurisdiction  where  the  delinquenaj 
WHS  committed." — Ayliffe. 

In  thia  broader  sense,  a  delinquent  is 


one  whose  acts  fail  of  his  obligations 
to  the  State.     So  again — 

"  He  that  politicly  intendeth  good  to  a 
common  weal  may  be  called  a  just  man  ; 
but  he  that  praetiseth  either  for  his  own 
profit,  or  any  other  sinister  ends,  may  be 
well  termed  a  delinquent  person." — State 
Trials. 

Delinquent  is  a  more  limited  term 
than  Offender  .  The  delinquent  offenda 
against  the  majesty  and  justice  of  law. 
The  offender  may  run  counter  to  any 
law,  rule,  custom,  or  even  to  taste. 
"  The   proud  he  tamed,  the   penitent   he 

cheered. 
Nor  to  rebuke  the  rich  offender  feared," 
Dryden. 

OFFER.  Give.  Present.  Prof- 
fer. 

All  these  words  describe  forms  of 
donation.  To  Give  {see  Give)  is  the 
simplest,  and  expresses  plain,  direct, 
and  unqualified  bestowal,  but  is  ap- 
plicable to  what  is  injurious  as  well 
as  desirable,  as  to  give  a  blow  or  an 
offence,  as  well  as  what  is  distinc- 
tively termed  a  gift. 

Present  (Lat.  prcesentare,  to  place 
before)  is  a  more  formal  word  than 
Give,  and  is  therefore  employed  of 
the  gift  from  an  inferior  to  a  supe- 
rior. 

Offer  (Lat.  offerre)  is  of  a  more 
contingent  nature,  and  involves  the 
question  of  acceptance  on  the  other 
side.  We  offer  a  gift,  and  then  pre- 
sent it  if  accepted.  Where'there  is  no 
qualification.  Gift  is  generally  taken 
to  imply  something  of  considerable 
value ;  Present,  something  of  no  great 
value;  and  Offering,  what  is  given  to 
a  superior  in  some  formal  manner  in 
token  of  such  superiority  or  to  con- 
ciliate favour.  A  present  has  for  its 
motive  some  feeling  of  regard ;  a  gift 
may  be  without  any.  Any  benefit 
conferred,  without  compliment  to  its 
object,  may  be  called  a  gift.  Hence 
the  gifts,  not  the  presents,  of  Nature 
or  of  fortune.  We  offer  remarks. 
Thoughts  and  opportunities  present 
themselves.  We  only  present  what 
we  have  actually  by  us,  so  as  to  give 
it  from  hand  to  hand.  We  offer  that 
which  we  desire  to  give  or  even  to  do. 
You  present  your  compliments  by 
what  you  actually  say  or  write.    You 


[old] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


591 


offer  your  services  by  proposing  to 
give  them  when  occasion  shall  re- 
quire. You  present  what  you  have 
in  your  hand,  you  offer  what  you  have 
in  your  power.  One  offers  to  pay. 
The  tradesman  presents  the  bill  for 
payment. 

Proffer  (Lat.  prq/erre)  is  less  posi- 
tive than  Offer.  It  has  tlie  sense  of 
proposing  to  ofler  or  of  offering,  and 
at  the  same  time  leaving  it  to  the  feel- 
ing and  judgment  of  the  other  to 
accept.  It  is  a  more  foi-mal,  delibe- 
rate, and  oflScial  act  than  to  offer. 

•'  He  made  a  proffer  to  lay  down  his 
commission  of  command  in  the  army." — 
Clarkxdox. 

••  When  offers  are  disdained,  and  love  de- 
nied." Pope. 

"  And  when  they  had  opened  their  trea- 
sures, they  presented  unto  Him  gifts,  gold, 
and  frankincense,  and  myrrh." — English 
Bible. 

"Mrs.  Johnson  used  to  define  ^present, 
that  it  was  a  gift  to  a  friend  of  something 
he  wanted  or  was  fond  of,  and  which  could 
not  be  easily  gotten  for  money." — Swift. 

OFFICE.     Function.     Duty. 

Office  (Lat.  offtcium)  has  more 
than  one  sense,  as  a  special  duty  con- 
ferred by  public  authority  for  a  public 
purpose ;  and  so  any  special  duty, 
trust,  or  charge.  By  an  extension  of 
meaning,  it  is  employed  of  what  is 
analogous  to  duty  in  reasoning  beings, 
that  is,  a  definite  operation ;  as  the 
oflSce  of  the  gastric  juice  in  digestion, 
or  of  a  particular  piece  in  machinery. 

Function  (Lat./w7ictwnem,  a  dis- 
charging; fungi,  to  discharge)  is,  pro- 
perly, tne  discharge  of  the  office  or 
Duty,  and  follows  the  application  of 
those  terms  to  both  conscious  and  un- 
conscious action.  There  is  connected 
with  Function  the  idea  of  continuous 
action,  and  of  belonging  to  an  or- 
ganized body,  or  to  what  is  analogous 
to  it-  Duties  are  performed,  offices 
filled,  functions  discharged.  Office  is 
set  and  appointed  work  arising  out  of 
a  relative  connexion  with  system, 
whether  natural  or  conventional.  The 
function  is  the  carrying  out  of  the 
office.  The  duty  is  the  function  re- 
garded in  connexion  with  the  obliga- 
tion to  discharge  it,  and  so  belongs 
not,  except  by  a  strained  analogy,  *o 


any  but  beings  of  intelligence  and  re- 
sponsibility. 

"  All  members  have  not  the  same  q/Kce," 
—  Eiiglish  Bible. 

"Everv  soldier  was  able  to  do  all  the 
functimis  of  an  officer." — Burnet. 

"  The  hardest  and  most  imperative  dufy." 
— Hallam. 

OFFSPRING.  Issue.  Progeny. 
Offspring  (literally,  that  which 
spnngs  off  from  another)  and  Progeny 
(Lat.  progenies)  are  applicable  to  the 
young  of  all  animals;  while  Issue 
(Fr.  issu,  part,  of  iuer,  Lat.  erire,  to 
go  forth)  is  applicable  only  to  the 
human  race.  Offspring  applies  more 
commonly  to  the  first,  Prog  eny  also 
to  succeeding,  generations ;  Issue  is  a 
term  not  so  much  of  nature  as  of 
genealogy,  and  is  employed  where  a 
record  ^r  any  purpose  is  kept  of  the 
individual  members  of  a  family.  It  is 
more  commonly  after  a  man's  death 
that  we  speak  of  his  issue.  Offspring 
and  Issue  relate  directly  to  the  pa- 
rents; Progeny  to  ancestors  gene- 
rally, even  though  not  in  the  direct 
line  of  parentage.  Perhaps,  too,  we 
more  commonly  use  the  term  Off- 
spring in  connexion  with  physical 
(qualities  or  characteristics ;  progeny, 
in  connexion  with  moral.  The  de- 
generate progeny  of  noble  ancestors. 
A  numerous  and  healthy  offspring. 

"  From  whence  it  follows  that  these  were 
notions  not  descending  from  us,  not  onr  (^ 
spring,  but  our  brethren." — South. 
"  Next  him  King  Leyr  in  happy  peace  long 
reigned. 
But  had  no  issue  male  him  to  succeed. 
But  three  fair  daughters,  which  were  all 
nptraiued 
In  all  that  seemed  fit  for  kingly  seed." 
SPENSKB. 
"  What  idle  progeny  succeed 
To  chase  the  rolling  circle's  speed. 
Or  urge  the  flying  ball."  Gray. 

OLD.  Ancient.  Antique.  Anti- 
quated. Aged.  Elderly.  Obso- 
lkte. 

Old  (A.  S.  eald)  denotes  what  has 
existed  for  a  long  time,  and,  in  some 
cases,  exists  still,  as  an  old  man;  in 
others  does  not  exist  still,  as  the  old 
Romans.  It  has  also  the  force  of 
standing  for  a  simple  expression  of 
duration  of  existence,  without  imply- 


592 


SYNONYMS  [omen] 


ing  that  this  duration  is  of  great  ex- 
tent, as  an  infant  a  week  old. 

Ancient  (Fr.  ancien,  Low  Lat.  an- 
tiajius,  (rom  ante,  before)  has  the  same 
application  to  that  which  is  past,  and 
that  which  still  continues  to  exist. 
The  Ancient  Britons  have  ceased  to 
exist.  An  ancient  forest  exists  still. 
It  is  opposed  to  modern,  and  has  the 
force  of  historically  old,  or  of  age  in 
what  has  been  long  recognized  by 
men. 

Antique  (Lat.  anliquus,  ani:ient) 
now  conveys  the  idea  of  what  is 
curiously  old,  and  is  peculiar  to  the 
age  to  which  it  belongs,  or  exhibits 
peculiarities  in  consequence  of  its 
age ;  as,  "  An  antique  carving ;  " 
"  Antique  root  of  an  oak." 

Antiquated  (Lat.  antiqudri,  pass, 
in  a  late  sense  of  to  decay)  describes 
that  which,  by  lapse  of  time,  has 
passed  out  of  fashion  or  use. 

Ageb  (Fr.  age,  Lat.  (Btdtem;  for  the 
intermediate  forms,  see  Brachet)  car- 
ries with  it  the  progress  of  years  in 
life  and  growth,  whether  human  or 
any  other  life ;  as,  an  aged  man ;  an 
aged  tree.  It  is  a  term  of  more  dig- 
nity than  old,  connecting  the  subject 
with  times  and  events  which  have 
successively  passed  over  it. 

Elderly  is  never  used  but  of  men 
and  women,  and  denotes  the  approach 
of  old  age. 

Obsolete  (Lat.  obsolesccre,  sup.  ob- 
s^lctumy  to  grow  out  of  tise)  expresses 
that  of  which  the  life  or  force  has 
fallen  into  desuetude.  It  is  applied 
chiefly  to  terms,  documents,  customs, 
and  observances,  and  is  never  used  of 
persons. 
*•  So  must  thou  live,  till  like  ripe  fruit  thou 

drop 
luto  thy  mother's  lap,  or  be  with  ease 
Gathered,  not  harshly  plucked,  for  death 

nuature  ; 
f  his  is  old  age."  MiLTON. 

'•  Had  ancient  times  conspired  to  disallow 
What  then  was  new,  what  had  been  ancient 
now  ?"    Pope,  Epistles  of  Horace. 

Ancient  is  generic;  Antique,  specific. 
Ancient  qualifies  anything  which  be- 
longs to  the  nations  of  antiquity,  ex- 
cept the  style  of  their  art,  which  is 
lied  Antique.  Hence,  in  some  cases, 


the  antique  is  not,  in  fact,  ancient, 
but  modern.  Ancient  architecture  is 
the  science  of  building  as  practised 
by  the  ancients ;  antique  architecture 
exhibits  the  style  of  long-past  ages. 
This  may  be  in  a  recently-erected 
building. 

"  The  melancholy  news  that  we  grow  old. 
Young. 
"His  antickc  sword 
Kt'Sellions  te  .iis  arm  lies  where  it  falls, 
Rei'ugnant  to  command." 

Shakes  PE  ARK. 
"And  if  we  do  chance  to  think  upon  the 
serious  resolutions  we  then  entertained,  we 
look  upon  them  as  the  weak  results  of  our 
infirmity,  useful  indeed  for  that  time,  but 
now  antiqicated  and  grown  unreasonable." 
—Hale. 
"  His  house  was  known  to  all  the  vagrant 

train. 
He  chid  their  wand'rings,  but  relieved  their 

pain ; 
The  long-remembered  beggar  was  his  guest. 
Whose   beard  descending  swept  his  aged 

breast."  GOLDSMITH. 

"  A  squire  of  the  house  fell  in  love  with 
me.  Somewhat  an  elderly  man,  big-bearded 
and  personable," — Shelton,  Don  Quixote. 

"  Obsolete  or  obsolescent." — Johnson. 

OMEN.     Prognostic.     Presage. 

OiMEN  (Lat.  omen)  and  Prognostic 
(Gr.  'TTPoyvoocrrixog,  foreknowing)  are 
both  indications  observed  in  external 
objects  ;  but  the  omen  rests  on  fanci- 
ful or  superstitious  association  ;  prog- 
nostic, on  the  laws  of  nature,  being 
based  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  se- 
quence of  phenomena.  The  term 
Omen  is,  however,  used  conversation- 
ally in  the  sense  of  a  possible  or  pro- 
bable prognostic ;  something  which 
renders  the  occurrence  of  another 
thing  probable,  or  to  be  hoped,  or 
dreaded.  It  is,  however,  more  com- 
monly referred  to  the  former  than  the 
latter.  In  our  elder  literature.  Prog- 
nostic often  occu;-s  in  the  sense  of 
divination. 

A  Presage  (Fr.  presage,  Lat.  pr«- 
sdgium)  is  subjective,  and  commonly 
expresses  something  anticipated  for 
good  or  ill,  of  wliich  it  seems  impos- 
sible to  give  the  gi'ounds,  but  of 
which  one  feels  the  strong  proba- 
bility. Such  being  its  indefinite 
character,  it  is  of  course  often  to  be 
resclved  into  tiie  mere  effect  of  emo- 


[onset] 


DISCRIMINATED, 


593 


tion   or  of  fancy.     The   omen   may 
belong  to  the  present  and  its  under- 
takings ;  the  presage  and  prognostic 
belong  to  what  13  future. 
"  The  chief  sabjoins.  Oft  have  these  eyes 

beheld 
Dire  omens,  and  my  skill  the  cause  re- 
vealed ; 
Yet  never  felt  I  this  excess  of  fear. 
Or  did  the  stars  more  ominous  appear." 
Lewis,  Statins. 
"  The  consequences  are  before  us,  not  in 
remote  history,  not  in  future  prognostica- 
tion ;  they  are  about  us,  they  are  upon  us." 
—Burke. 

When  a  presage  is  founded  upon  some 
external  fact  or  appearance,  it  is  then 
identical  with  an  omen  or  prognostic  ; 
but  it  differs  from  them  in  being 
capable  of  denoting  a  mere  feeling 
of  anticipation  without  assignable 
grounds.  In  that  case  it  is  more 
commonly,  like  foreboding,  used  of 
the  calamitous  than  the  fortunate;  as 
Pope  says,  "  With  sad,  presaging 
heart." 

"The  enthusiastic  love  of  Nature,  8im- 
plicity,  and  truth  in  evei-y  department  both 
of  art  and  of  science,  is  the  best  and  surest 
presage  of  genius." — Stewart. 

OMIT.     Neglect. 

The  act  of  letting  pass  is  common 
to  these  two  words  ;  but  Osirr  (Lat. 
^miiih-e,  to  let  go)  is  entirely  neutral 
in  its  meanmg,  and  expresses  no 
more  than  the  negation  of  action  or 
attention.  This  may  be  laudable,  cul- 
pable, or  indifferent,  according  to  the 
nature  and  circumstances  of  the  case. 
We  may  omit  purposely,  or  through 
oversight  and  forgetfulness  ;  and  that 
where  action  would  be  wise,  prudent, 
and  right,  or  altogether  the  contrary 
of  these. 

Neglect  (Lat.  negtigtre,  part,  neg- 
lectus)  is  alwaijs  imprudent  or  cul- 
pable, implying  omission  where  the 
contrary  was  a  matter  of  duty,  wis- 
dom, or  obligation.  The  term  Omit  is 
in  some  cases  applied  to  things  with- 
out life  ;  while  Neglect  is  never  ap- 
plied but  to  creatures  of  consciousness 
and  will.  "The  text  of  a  certain 
manuscript  omits  the  passage  in  ques- 
tion." So  in  law,  casus  Omissus,  a  case 
not  provided  for. 

"  Our  Saviour  likewise  tells  us  that  men 


shall  not  only  be  proceeded  against  for  tdob 
of  commission,  but  for  the  bare  omission 
and  neglect  of  their  duty,  especially  in  the 
works  of  mercy  and  charity." — TiLLOTSON. 

"  In  heaven. 
Where  honour   due  and  reverence   none 
7ieglects."  Milton. 

ONLY.     Single. 

As  one  (A.  S.  an)  expresses  simple 
unity,  so  Only  (whicli  is  onely  or 
one-like)  and  Single  (Lat.  singhlus; 
more  frequently  plural,  singiiU)  ex- 
press modifications  of  unity.  Only 
denotes  unity  in  reference  to  a  class ; 
Single,  one  as  distinguished  from 
many  others.  Single  has  often  the 
sense  of  one  where  more  might  be 
expected  or  wanted,and  is  thus  joined, 
as  Only  cannot  be,  with  a  negative ; 
as,  not  a  single  drop,  which  is  tanta- 
mount to,  not  even  one  drop.  It  may 
be  observed  that,  while  Single  is  an 
adjective,  Only  is,  generally  speak- 
ing, an  adverb. 

ONSET.  Attack.  Assault.  En- 
counter. 

Onset  (literally,  a  setting  on)  is 
commonly  applied  to  such  an  attack 
or  charge  as  betokens  the  commence- 
ment of  a  sustained  effort.  It  is  only 
employed  where  there  are  two  parties 
to  the  conflict,  the  one  attacking,  and 
the  other  resisting.  We  may  speak 
of  an  onset  upon  the  walls  of  a  castle, 
but  only  as  implying  living  defenders. 
Nor  is  the  term  commonly  used  of 
individual,  but  of  collective,  attacks  ; 
an  army  or  a  detachment,  not  an  in- 
dividual combatant,  makes  an  onset. 

Attack  (Fr.  attaquer)  amd  Assavlt 
(O.  Fr.  assalt,  Lat.  ad,  to,  saltus,  a 
leap)  may  be  made  upon  unresisting 
objects,  as  a  fortification;  assault 
being  more  direct  and  violent  than 
attack,  which  may  be  impei-sonal ;  as, 
to  attack  the  enemy  or  the  enemy's 
camp,  a  man,  or  his  opinions.  Both 
these  are  applicable  to  individuals. 
An  attack  is  a  term  of  varied  force. 
An  attack  may  be  furious  or  mild, 
impetuous  or  cautious,  while  both 
onset  and  assault  indicate  energetic 
movement. 

Encounter  (O.  Fr.  encontrer,  to 
encounter,  Lat.  in-  and  contra,  agatn$t) 
is  a  hostile  meeting  face  to  face  be- 


594 


tweeii  two  persons  oi  parties,  often 
the  result  of  a  chance  meeting,  and  is 
never  em})loyed  of  unresisting  or  in- 
animate material,  as  the  walls  of  a  for- 
ti  fication  But  in  the  sense  of  coming 
upon  something  by  chance,  we  employ 
the  term  of  inanimate  things  ;  as,  to 
encounter  a  difficulty.  In  this  appli- 
catioa  the  term  is  seldom  used  but  of 
the  abstract — that  is,  the  difficulty, 
not  that  which  constitutes  it.  So  a 
ditch  being  a  possible  obstruction, 
we  might  speak  of  encountering  an 
obstacle  in  the  form  of  a  ditch,  but 
hardly  of  encountering  the  ditch  it- 
self. 

"  As  when  iu  Indian  forests  wild. 
Barbaric  armies  suddenly  retu-e 
•  After  some  furious  onset." 

Grainger. 
"  Satan,  who  that  day 
Prodigious  power  had  shown,  and  met  m 

arms 
No  equal  ranging  through  the  dire  attack 
Of  fighting  seraphim."  Milton. 

"At  length  a  universal  hubbub  wild 
Of  stunning  sounds  and  Aoices  all  confused, 
Borne  through  the  hollow  dark,  assaults  his 

ear 
With  loudest  vehemence."  Ibid. 

An  exception  to  this  is  in  a  legal  use 
of  the  term  Assault,  which  implies 
no  attack  or  stroke,  but  even  excludes 
them. 

"  Assault  is  an  attempt  or  offer  to  beat 
another,  without  touching  him  ;  as  if  one 
lifts  up  his  cane  or  his  fist  in  a  threatening 
manner  at  another,  or  strikes  at  him  but 
misses  him."— Blackstonk. 

OPENING.     Apertuue. 
Opening    means,    generally,    any 

{ilace  naturally  made,  or  purposely 
eft,  open  (A.  S.  openian,  to  open). 

Aperture  (Lat.  iipertura,  an  open- 
ing) is  the  same  thing,  but  used  in  an 
exacter  and,  as  it  were,  more  scien- 
tific sense.  To  say  nothing  of  Open- 
ing in  the  sense  of  beginning  or  in- 
troduction, nor  of  the  fact  ihtrh  Open- 
ing may  express  the  process  or  art  of 
opening,while  aperture  expresses  only 
the  result  or  fact,  Opening  may  be  very 
loosely  employed ;  as,  "  An  opening 
in  the  mountains,  with  nothing  but 
•ky  beyond."  An  aperture  is  com- 
monly an  opening  of  the  nature  of  a 
perforation,  being  surrounded  by  the 
substance  which  exhibits   it,  as  an 


Si'NONYMS  [OPENIJNG] 

aperture  to  admit  light  into  a  hut. 
An  opening  may  be  extremely  slight ; 
an  aperture  is  of  some  considerable 
size.  We  occasionally  see  openings 
in  bad  masonry  or  ill-seasoned  wood- 
work, which  we  should  not  call  Apeu- 
TUUES.  An  opening  is  called  an  aper- 
ture when  it  answers  a  natural  pur- 
pose. Yet  it  seems  that  art  makes 
openings  and  nature  makes  apertures 
in  smaller  objects,  'ilie  surgeon  who 
opens  a  vein  would  hardly  be  said  to 
make  an  aperture,  yet  it  might  natu- 
rally be  said  that  blood  discharged  it- 
self through  the  aperture. 

"  A  pei-son  that  is  short-sighted  in  look- 
ing at  distant  objects,  gets  the  habit  of  con- 
tracting the  aperture  of  his  eyes  by  almost 
closing  his  eye-lids." — Reid. 
"  Large  was  the  cave,  but  scarce  at  noon  of 

day 
The  winding  mouth  received  a  feeble  ray. 
Yet  from  an  opening  to  the  right  appeared 
A  beam  of  sunshine  that    the    dwelling 

cheered ." 

HooxE,  Orlando  Furioso. 

OPERATE.    Work.     Act. 

Work  (A.  S.  weorcan)  is  employed 
of  the  systematic  and  regular  exhibi- 
tion of  force,  whether  conscious  or 
mechanical. 

Operate  (Lat.  b/jerdre,  to  workf 
labour)  is  a  term  more  definitely  in- 
volving rule  and  purpose  or  effect 
than  work.  A  fermenting  fluid  might 
be  said  to  work,  or  the  muscles  of  tlie 
face  under  agitation;  but  Operate,  for 
the  most  part,  includes  moral  in- 
fluences or  abstract  forces,^  a  law 
may  be  said  to  operate  for  the  harm 
or  benefit  of  society,  or  a  system  oi 
institution  is  in  full  or  partial  opera- 
tion. 

Act  (Lat.  tigci-e,  to  do,  part,  actus), 
when  not  employed  of  the  result  of 
moral  motives,  but  in  a  physical 
sense,  is  ordinarily  used  to  denote 
the  mechanical  operation  of  that  which 
is  working  as  it  ought,  or  so  as  to  pro- 
duce the  required  result ;  as  a  part  of 
a  machine  which  has  been  obstructed, 
when  the  obstruction  is  removed,  be- 
gins to  act.  Action  is  uniform  move- 
ment according  to  appointment  and 
design.  A  diseased  joint,  when  healea, 
might  be  said  to  work  or  to  act,  not 
to  operate.     Act  commonly  refers  to 


OPPOSEj 


DISCRIMINATED. 


5m 


structural  working  or  freedom  of  play 
in  a  complex  or  organized  subject. 
Work  is  applied  to  the  whole,  Act  to 
the  parts.  A  machine  is  said  to  work- 
well  when  all  its  parts  act  properly. 

"Nature  and  grace  must  operate  nni- 
forinly,  even  as  gi'a%'itation  operates  uni- 
formly upon  matter." — JoKTIX, 
*  Oh,  thou  hast  read  me  right,  hast  seen 

me  well ; 
To  thee  I   have   thrown  off  that  mask  I 

wore  ; 
And  now  the  secret  workings  of  my  brain 
Stand  all  revealed  to  thee."  RowE. 

"An  increase  of  the  electrical  matter 
Rtlds  much  to  the  progi'ess  of  vegetation. 
It  probably  acts  there  in  the  same  manner 
as  In  the  animal  body." — Bryuoxe. 

OPINION.  Sentiment.  Notion. 
As  the  sensations  stand  to  the  ideas 
of  men,  so  are  their  Sentiments  (Fr. 
ientiment,  Lat.  senttre,  toj'eel)  to  their 
Opinions  (Lat.  tpinionem) .  Each  in- 
volves the  exercise  of  judgment ;  the 
former  concerning  sensations  and  ex- 
ternal, the  latter  concerning  ideas  and 
internal,  phenomena.  An  opinion  is 
maintained  by  the  pure  intellect  on 
the  subjects  of  science,  argument, 
principles,  or  facts  and  occurrences. 
The  sentiments  are  opinions  enter- 
tained in  matters  of  feeling  and  taste. 
A  sentiment  may  therefore  be  either 
an  erroneous  opinion,  or  an  unformed 
one,  according  as  it  is  not  or  is  veri- 
fied by  the  pure  judgment.  Judg- 
ments formed  of  the  truth  or  false- 
hood ofreligious  doctrine  are  opinions; 
judgments  formed  of  the  spirit  of  its 
precepts,  and  of  practices  flowing  out 
of  them,  are  sentiments.  Sentiments 
depend  upon  the  moral  constitution 
and  habits;  opinions  are  of  the  na- 
ture of  inferences  and  deductions, 
which  fall  short  of  absolute  know- 
ledge. Sentiments  ai'e  things  of  the 
heart  and  mind ;  opinions,  of  the  mind 
alone.  There  is  more  of  instinct  in 
gentiment;  more  of  definition  in  opi- 
nion. "  I  conteniplate  a  work  of  art, 
and  myself  feel  the  admiration  to 
which  I  consider  it  to  be  generally 
entitled."  Tliis  is  a  sentiment.  *''l 
see  in  it  a  style  of  art  wlrtch  seems  to 
betoken  a  foreign  artist.  1  refer  it  to 
an  Italian  school  of  sculpture."  This 
IS  an  opinion. 
**  Opinion  ia  the  resalt  of  obsenre  and  ia> 


termediate  perception.  That  the  planets 
revolve  about  the  sun  is  a  branch  of  know- 
ledge; that  they  are  inhabited  hy  beings 
similar  to  men  is  only  an  opiviun.'' — BeIc 
8HAM. 

"  I  am  apt  to  suspect  that  reason  and 
sentiment  concur  in  almost  all  moral  deter- 
•  minations  and  conclusions." — HuME. 

Notion  (Lat.  notionem,  a  taking 
cognizance,  a  conception'),  in  this  sense, 
denotes  the  uninformed  or  immature 
decision  of  the  mind,  resulting  rather 
from  the  appearances  of  things,  and 
such  opinion  as  the  existent  state  of 
our  knowledge  inclines  us  to  enter- 
tain. Metaphysically,  a  notion  is 
that  which  is  expressed  by  a  logical 
proposition,  as  idea  is  that  which  is 
expressed  by  a  logical  term.  It  is 
sometimes  extended  to  the  process  of 
forming  the  judgment  Avhich  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  proposition. 

"  iVofion,  again,  signifies  either  the  act 
of  apprehending,  signalising,  that  is,  the 
remarking  or  tiikijig  note  of  the  various 
notes,  marks,  or  charactei-s  of  an  object 
which  its  qualities  afford,  or  the  result  of 
that  act."— Sir  W.  Hamilton. 

OPPOSE.  Resist.  Withstand. 
Thwart. 

To  Oppose  (Lat.  opponhe,  part. 
oppositiis)  is  always  active,  and  im- 
plies a  direct  object. 

Resist  (Lat.  rcsistcre,  to  sta}id 
against)  is  both  active  and  passive, 
and  may  have  an  indirect  object.  The 
former  is  the  exertion  of  conscious 
force;  the  latter  is  employed  of  in- 
animate objects,  as  water  of  itself 
might  be  said  to  resist  the  action  or 
progress  of  fire,  while  its  progress 
might  be  said  to  be  opposed  by  those 
who  are  engaged  in  extinguishing  it. 
Opposition  consists  in  bringing  to 
bear  an  adverse  force  of  our  own  ;  re- 
sistance, merely  in  neutralizing  an 
advei*se  force.  With-  in  Withstand 
is  equivalent  to  the  re-  in  Resist.  The 
term  has  a  purely  negative  sense.  We 
oppose  by  activeyb»r«.  We  resist  by 
inherent  power.  We  withstand  by 
inherent  Jinnness. 

To  Thwart  (A.  S.  thiceor,  oblique, 
transverse,  verb  thweorian)  denotes, 
not  in  particular  any  kind  or  degi^e 
of  force,  and  denotes  such  action  as 
defeats  a  purpose,  design,  or  scheme 


596 


SYNONYMS 


[oral] 


It  relates,  therefore,  exclusively  to 
the  opposition  to  mental  power  ex- 
erted towards  the  accomplishment  of 
an  object,  which  it  is  the  interest  of 
the  opposing  party  to  defeat,  or 
which  it  is  in  the  nature  of  circum- 
Btances  to  counteract. 

"  I  am  too  weak  to  oppose  your  cunning." 
Shakespeare. 

"  That  mortal  dint. 
Save  He  who  reigns  above,  none  can  re- 
sist." MiLTOK. 

"Some  village  Hampden,  that  with  daunt- 
less breast 
The  little  tyrant  of  his  fields  ivithstood." 
Gray. 

"E'en  at  thy  altars  while  I  took  my  stand. 
The  pen  of  truth  and  honour  in  my  hand, 
Fate,   meditating   wrath   'gainst  me   and 

mine. 
Chid  my  fond  zeal,  and  thwarted  my  design." 
Churchill. 

ORAL.     Verbal.     Vocal. 

Oral  (Fr.  oral,  Lat.  os,  oris,  the 
mouth)  means  spoken  by  word  of 
mouth;  Verbal  (verbum,  a  word), 
the  same  thing ;  Vocal  (Lat.  vocdlis), 
belonging  to  the  voice  (Lat.  vocem). 
The  difference  is  in  the  application. 
They  stand  each  in  opposition  to 
other  ideas.  Oral  is  opposed  to  written 
or  printed  in  volumes  and  documents, 
and  stands  related  to  history,  records, 
and  tradition  ;  verbal,  to  common  and 
brief  communications;  vocal,  to  in- 
strumental in  music,  or  to  sounds 
produced  in  other  ways,  or  to  silence. 

"Before  the  invention  of  the  arts  of 
writing,  carving,  and  painting,  oral  tradi- 
tion must  have  been  the  only  vehicle  of 
historical  knowledge ;  and  with  respect  to 
this,  it  is  well  worth  our  notice  that  the 
wisdom  of  Providence  has  made  provision 
for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  disposi- 
tions and  circumstances  of  their  aged 
parents."— Priestley. 

"  These  verbal  signs  they  (children)  some- 
times borrow  from  others,  and  sometimes 
make  themselves,  as  one  may  observe 
among  the  new  and  unusual  names  chil- 
dren often  give  to  things  in  their  first  use 
of  language."— Locke. 

"  Nothing  can  be  said  to  be  dumb  but  what 
naturallyspeaks;  nothing  canspeak  naturally 
but  what  hath  the  instruments  of  speech, 
which,  because  spirits  want,  they  can  no 
otherwise  speak  vocally  than  as  they  take 
voices  to  themselves  in  taking  bodies," — 
Bishop  Hall. 


ORBIT.  Circuit.  Circle,  Com- 
pass.    Cycle. 

The  Orbit  (Lat.  orbita)  is  the  path 
desci'ibed  by  the  orb  or  heavenly 
sphere.  It  may  be  spherical  or  ellip- 
tical. 

"  Only  there  is  this  difference,  that  the 
bodies  of  the  great  system  were  projected 
at  great  distances  from  each  other,  and  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  planets  revolve  in 
orbits  almost  circular,  so  as  not  to  come  too 
near  to  the  sun,  or  to  be  carried  too  far 
from  him  in  their  revolutions." — Mac- 
LAURIN. 

The  Circle  (Lat.  ctrcftZus)  is  pri- 
marily a  mathematical  figure,  being  a 
curved  line  at  all  points  equidistant 
from  the  centre.  It  has  its  secondary 
application  denoting  a  company  bound 
together  and  associating  by  some  com- 
mon tie  ;  the  domestic  circle,  a  large 
circle  of  acquaintance. 

"  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  they 
who  are  in  the  centre  of  a  circle  should  ap- 
pear directly  opposed  to  those  who  viewed 
them  from  any  part  of  the  circumference." 
— BURKK. 

Circuit  (Lat.  circiCitus)  is  move- 
ment round  some  tract  or  circum- 
scribed district.  It  is  employed  of  the 
act,  the  space,  and  the  outline  of  the 
revolution;  as,  a  planet's  circuit,  to 
complete  the  circuit,  and  the  like. 
To  make  a  circuit  of  a  district  is  ana- 
logous to  the  drawing  of  a  circle  not 
in  geometrical  exactitude,  but  in  the 
fact  of  returning  finally  to  the  starting 
point.  A  circuit  is  made  for  some 
systematic  purpose,  as  of  survey, 
measurement,  inspection,  and  is  pre- 
scribed as  well  as  circumscribed. 

Compass  (Fr.  compas,  L.  Lat.  com- 
passus)  combines  the  idea  of  circularity 
with  that  of  enclosure.  The  verb  to 
compass  has  the  senses  of  to  environ,  to  ( 
go  round,  and  metaphorically  to  bring 
about  as  a  design.  In  old  English  the 
verb  to  compass  had  the  meaning  of 
get  the  better  of,  in  which  it  resembles 
that  of  the  present  word  circumvent, 
though  witli  a  less  unfavourable 
meaning  morally.  When  we  have 
fetched  a  colnpass  we  have  enclosed 
something  in  a  circuit.  This  need  not 
be  mathematically  a  complete  circular 
movement. 

"  So  th'j  circuit  or  comj'ass  of  Ireland  u; 


fORIGINALj 


DISCRIMINATED. 


597 


I.gOO  miles,  ^t hich  is  200  less  than  Csesar 
doth  reckon  or  accotint." — Stow. 

Cycle  (Lat.  cyclns,  Gr.  xuxXo?,  a 
ring  or  circle)  is  subjective.  It  is  a 
conceived  circle  or  imaginary  orbit ; 
a  conception  of  periodic  movement 
and  recurrence.  If,  for  instance,  it 
were  believed  that  all  things  happen 
by  a  chain  of  necessity  in  fixed  and 
immutable  sequence,  it  would  be  con- 
ceivable that  the  same  things  should 
occur  and  the  same  forms  reappear, 
each  in  its  own  place  and  order, 
though  the  cycles  should  be  of  enor- 
mous circumference,  that  is,  consist  of 
enormous  intervals  of  time  between 
the  exhibition  and  re-exhibition  of  the 
same  phenomena.  In  common  lan- 
guage we  sometimes  speak  of  a  cycle 
of  fashion;  as,  if  what  is  in  vogue  at 
©ne  time  may  after  many  changes  be 
expected  to  become  so  again.  The 
aycle  of  the  seasons. 

"  The  last  bad  q/cle  of  twenty  years."— 
fiURKE. 

ORDER.     Dispose. 

To  Dispose  (Fr.  disposer)  involves 
ao  aaore  than  an  orderly  or  harmo- 
nious jcia^ing  of  things. 

To  Order  (Fr.  ordre,  subst. ;  Lat. 
ordtnem)  is  applicable  to  the  cov- 
ti7iiious  exercise  of  a  controlling 
power.  Dispose  belongs  rather  to 
things  external ;  Order,  to  things 
moral. 

"  To  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation 
right  will  I  show  the  salvation  of  God." — 
Evg.  Bible. 

"  The  rest  themselves  in  troops  did  else 
dispose."  SpKXSKR. 

ORDER.     Rule. 

A  wise  and  harmonious  disposition 
of  things  is  expressed  by  these  word.'', 
but  the  Rule  (Lat.  regiila)  is  prior  in 
the  order  of  thought.  It  relates 
closely  to  the  authority  and  the  form 
of  such  disposition,  while  Order 
belongs  to  its  result.  The  rule  is  the 
principle,  the  order  is  the  application 
of  the  principle.  Where  we  see 
order,  we  may  have  the  operation 
of  rule.  One  observes  order,  and  fol- 
lows a  rule ;  and  to  do  the  latter  is 
the  surest  way  of  effecting  the  former. 
An  institution  is  obviously  in  excel- 
Wi<  order.     If  the  cause  were  inves- 


tigated, it  would  be  found  that  its  rules 
were  carefully  attended  to. 

ORIGINAL.  Primary.  Pristine. 
Primitive.     Primordial. 

Original  (Lat.  orlg^nem,  an  origin) 
denotes  that  which  is  connected  with 
the  origin  or  beginning  of  a  thing. 
The  original  meaning  of  a  word  is  that 
which  it  bore  at  or  near  its  first  em- 
ployment, without  of  necessity  in- 
volving the  ideas  of  priority  or  suc- 
cession. 

Primary  (Lat.  pr'imariiis,  of  the 
Jirst  rank)  essentially  involves  succes- 
sion ;  as  the  primary  meaning  of  a 
word  implies  other  derived  or  secon- 
dary senses ;  while  its  original  mean- 
ing may  be  that  which  it  retains  still ; 
so  a  primary  consideration  comes  first 
in  order  of  importance.  That  which 
is  primary  is  first  morally ;  that  which 
is  original  is  first  historically.  The 
former  denotes  gradation  of  force,  the 
latter  native  association. 

Primordial  (Lat.  primordidli.'i,  be- 
longing  to  Jirst  beginniitgs,  primordia) 
is  applied  only  to  such  matters  as  have 
a  history  or  a  development.  So  in 
botany  a  primordial  leaf  is  that  which 
is  immediately  developed  from  the 
cotyledon ;  in  geology  the  term  is 
sometimes  applied  to  the  lowest  beds 
of  the  Silurian  period  ;  in  history  or 
physiology  we  speak  of  the  primordial 
condition  of  man ;  and  in  metaphy- 
sics of  the  "  primordial  facts  of  an  in- 
telligent nature"  (Su-W.  Hamilton). 

Pristine  (Lat.  pristinus)  has  rela- 
tion to  the  morals,  manners,  and  cus- 
toms of  men. 

Primitive  ( Lat.  /)rim^tit>u5)conveyg 
the  idea  of  what  is  original  in  mode, 
fashion,  or  form ;  so  we  speak  of  the 
primary  meaning,  and  the  primitive 
form,  of  a  word  ;  primitive  manners  ; 
primitive  simplicity. 

•'  His  form  had  not  yet  lost 
All  its  original  brightness."       MiLTOX. 

"  Those  I  call  original  or  primary  qnali- 
ties  of  body,  which  I  think  we  may  observe 
to  produce  simple  ideas  in  ns,  namely,  sol- 
idity, extension,  figure,  motion  or  rest, 
and  number." — LoCKE. 

"  Parliaments  never  recover  their  pri* 
tine  dignity,  honour,  power,  privileges,  iJ 
this  should  miscarry."— PRYifNK. 


598 


"  This  is  that  that  will  restore  to  the 
world  the  golden  age  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, when  the  love  and  unity  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  was  so  conspicuous  and  re- 
markable that  it  became  a  proverb,  '  See 
how  the  Christians  love  one  another.'" — 
Sharp. 

OSrENSIBLE.  Colourable. 
Specious.     Plausible. 

Ostensible  (Lat.  ostendare,  to  shoio 
or  hold  out)  is,  literally,  that  which 
may  be  (and  so  is)  held  out ;  1,  by 
way  of  true  account ;  and  2,  by  way 
of  fictitious  account.  I'he  latter  is 
now  its  more  frequent  application. 
That  which  is  ostensible  presents 
such  an  appearance  as  affords  a  pre- 
sumption of  reality.  Colourable 
denotes  that  which  is  so  artificially 
treated  as  to  conceal  the  truth  and 
lull  suspicion,  giving  an  appearance 
or  right  or  justice. 

Specious  (Lat.  sp^cidsiiSj  fair)  is 
superficially  fair,  just,  or  correct,  ap- 
pearing well  at  first  view,  but  in 
reality  unsound. 

Plausible  (Lat.  plausWilis,  desei-v- 
in^  applunse)  is  said  of  those  things 
which  please  the  ear  and  do  not  satisfy 
the  judgment ;  while  Specious  relates, 
etymologically,  to  what  pleases  the 
eye,  yet  is  not  truly  what  it  seems  to 
be.  Ostensible  causes,  pretexts,  mo- 
tives. Colourable  views,  statements, 
arguments,  interpretations.  Specious 
argument,  talk.  Plausible  represen- 
tations, accounts,  stories. 

"  It  is  certain  that  he  (D'OuA'illy)  ingra- 
tiated himself  much  with  that  favourite, 
and  attended  him  into  Spain,  where  he  was 
even  employed  in  the  treaty  of  marriage, 
though  ostensibly  acting  only  in  the  cha- 
racter of  a  painter." — Walpole. 

"  Those  colourable  and  subtle  crimes  that 
seldom  are  taken  within  the  walk  of  human 
justice." — Hooker. 

'•  I  propose  next  to  describe  the  specious 
or  decent  man.  By  the  decent  man,  I 
mean  him  who  governs  all  his  actions  by 
appearances." — GiLPlN. 

"  Covetousness  is  apt  to  insinuate  itself 
by  the  plausibility  of  its  pleas." — South. 

OSTENTATION.  Parade.  Show. 

Of  these,  the  simplest  is  Show  (A. 
S.  sceawe,  a  show),  which  expresses 
the  purposed  exhibition  of  what  might 
be  kept  cncealed,  or  less  demonstra- 
tively displayed.    It    has    also    the 


SYNONYMS  [ostensible] 

peculiar  force  ot  appearance,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  reality. 

Ostentation  (Lat.  ostentationem^ 
display)  is  studied  display  without  the 
exteriKil  eflfect  of  show,  but  with  a 
stronger  implication  of  motives.  A 
man  may  make  a  show  of  his  Avealth 
in  equipages,  plate,  and  the  like,  and 
make  large  subscriptions  for  pur  ^)0se3 
of  ostentation  ;  that  is,  producing  the 
same  inference  of  his  wealth  through 
something  not  so  striking  to  the  eye. 
Parade  (Vr.  parade)  is,  like  Show, 
essentially  external.  As  ostentation 
is  a  parade  of  virtues  or  other  quali- 
ties, so  parade  is  ostentation  of  any- 
thing calculated  to  impress  the  minds 
of  others  in  relation  to  one's  own 
capacities,  powers,  possessions,  or 
superiority  and  excellences  of  any 
kind.  Parade  is  not  only  ostenta- 
tious, but  continuous  and  complex 
show,  seeking  to  produce  its  effect  by 
many  objects,  and  not  only  one.  Pa- 
rade is  formal,  artificial,  and  studied 
show  of  what  is  intended  to  captivate 
the  eye  or  the  understanding.  When 
one  views  thesubjectinamoral  point 
of  view.  Parade  designates  rather  the 
action  and  the  purpose  of  it.  Ostenta- 
tion the  principle  or  cause  of  the  ac- 
tion and  the  way  of  doing  it.  One 
makes  a  parade  of  a  thing,  not  an 
ostentation  of  it.  One  does  a  thing 
with  ostentation,  and  for  the  sake  of 
parade.  It  is  ostentation  that  makes 
a  parade  of  things. 

"  I  mention  this,  not  ostentatiously,  as 
taking  credit  on  the  score  of  industry  and 
discovery,  but  hoping  that  the  labour  of  the 
task  will  be  some  apology  on  my  behalf." — 
Observer. 

"  It  was  not  in  the  mere  parade  ot 
royalty  that  the  Mexican  potentates  ex- 
hibited their  power." — Robertson, 

"A  crown. 
Golden  in  show,  is  but  a  wreath  of  thorns  ' 
Milton. 

OVER.  Above.  Beyond.  On. 
Upon. 

That  is  Over  (A.  S.  ofer,  ever) 
another  thing  which  is  higher  verti- 
cally or  in  a  perpendicular  line,  either 
with  or  without  intervening  space ; 
as,  a  bird  may  hover  over  its  prey ;  to 
spread  a  cloth  over  a  table.  It  is  em- 
ployed to  express,  not  oaly  position, 


[OTERSIGnT] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


599 


but  a  movement  over  ;  as  to  leap  over 
a  stream.  Its  other  senses  are  analo- 
gical, a  mode  of  employment  which  it 
shares  with  the  rest,ancl  with  which  wc 
are  not  now  concerned;  as, for  instance, 
in  cases  of  measurement  or  supe- 
riority. When  trees  or  branches  are 
said  to  hang  over  a  wall,  there  seems 
to  be  implied  a  double  force  of  verti- 
cality  and  passage  over  it. 

Above  (A.  S.  dbufan,  i.e.  an,  on  ; 
he,  by,  and  ufan,  upward:  Skeat, 
Etym.  Diet.)  denotes  excess  of  height. 

Beyond  (A.  S.  begeonJan,  be'  and 
geond,  across,  beyond)  betokens  that 
which  surpasses  a  given  point  in  dis- 
tance from  the  spectator ;  but  this 
measurement,  thougli  primarily  taken 
horizontally,  is  not  so  confined.  In 
speaking  of  ivy,  for  instance,  as  grow- 
ing up  the  side  of  a  house,  we  might 
say,  that  it  had  already  gi-own  beyond 
the  first  story,  the  idea  being  that  of 
space  measured  vertically. 

On  and  Upon  .  A.  S.  on,  in,  or  on; 
npp,  vp)  require  to  be  distinguished. 
On  denotes  that  the  thing  is  placed  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  other,  and  of 
course  m  contact  with  it ;  Upon  de- 
notes that  the  position  is  one  of  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  elevation.  We  place  a 
book  upon  a  shelf;  but  it  is  idle  and 
contradictory  to  say  that  we  place 
it  upon,  instead  of  simply  on,  the 
ground. 

OVERBEAR.  Overpower.  Over- 
whelm. 

That  which  Overbears  is  inherent 
weight  or  power  ;  that  which  Over- 
powers is  strength  put  forth  against 
resisting  strength;  that  which  Over- 
whelms (over,  and  Du.  uemelen,  to 
whirl,  turnronnd:  Wedgwood) covers 
and,  as  it  were,  drowns  in  incapacity. 
A  domineering  manner  overbears. 
Weight  of  superior  argument  or  su- 
perior muscle  overpowers.  Masses 
of  matter  or  adverse  circumstances 
overwhelm.  In  Overpower  the  idea 
is  conveyed  of  reduction  to  the  power 
of  another.  This  is  less  strongly 
implied  in  Overbear,  and  not  at  all 
in  Overwhelm.  Overbear  and 
Overpower  are  never  used  but  in  an 
idvei^e  sense;  OvEuwHEi  MED  is  some- 


times differently  emplo3^ed  ;  as,  per- 
sons are  said  to  be  overwhelmed  with 
compliments,  attentions,  benefits,  and 
the  like,  as  well  as  by  grief,  busineRs, 
or  difficulties,  or  troubles. 

"The  judgment  being  the  hegemonical 
power  and  director  of  action,  if  it  be  led  hj 
the  overbeariiigs  of  psission,  and  stored  hy 
lubricous  opinions  instead  of  clearly  coa- 
ceived  truths,  and  be  peremptorily  resolred 
in  them,  the  practice  will  be  as  irregular  as 
the  conceptions  erroneous." — Glanvill. 

"  They  spoke  like  men  conquered  with  an 
overpowering  force  and  evidence  of  the  most 
concerning  truths."— SouTH. 

"  The  story  was  proved  hy  overwhelming 
testimony  to  be  false." — Macaulat. 

OVERRUN.  Overspread. 
To  Overrun  is  said  of  many  indivi- 
duals, and  commonly  in  a  hostile  or 
offensive  sense;  Overspread,  either 
of  many  individuals,  or  a  common 
substance,  and  commonly  in  a  neutral 
sense.  It  is  the  necessity  of  implying 
intervals  in  the  subject,  instead  of 
continuous  expansion,  which  has  origi- 
nated such  an  expression  as  "  ground 
overrun  with  weeds." 
"  Then  did  her  glorious  flowers  wax  dead 

and  wan. 
Despised  and  trodden  down  of  all  that  over- 
ran." Spenser. 
"  Undoubted  signs  of  such  a  soil  are  found. 
For  here  wild  olive-shoots  overspread  the 

ground. 
And    heaps    of   berries    strew    the    fields 
around."  Drydkn. 

OVERSIGHT.  Superinten- 
dence.    Supervision. 

A  reference  to  the  word  Over  will 
show  how  Oversight  has  acquired 
two  apparently  opposite  meanings — 
that  of  control  or  supervision,  and 
that  of  inadvertency.  The  former 
flows  from  the  stationary,  the  latter 
from  the  motive,  force  of  the  word 
Over  {see  Inadvertency).  It  differs 
from  Inadvertency  in  being  purely 
negative,  while  Inadvertency  may 
denote  active  eiTor.  We  do  wrong  things 
through  inadvertency.  W^e  omit  to  do 
right  or  needful  things  through  over- 
sight. It  diflers  from  superintendence 
in  that  it  relates  only  to  persons.  The 
superintendence  of  an  institution,  and 
the  oversight  of  its  inmates.  TL« 
object  of  superintendence  is  official 
control,    that  of  Supervision   (Lat. 


600 


iupevy  over,  and  vidire,  sup.  visut, 
to  see)  is  conformity.  Supervision 
of  persons  is  to  ensure  the  regu- 
larity of  demeanour,  superrision  of 
■works  or  productions  to  ensure  cor- 
rectness of  performance.  He  who 
superintends  other  men  is  vested 
with  considerable  authority  in  his  own 
person;  he  who  has  the  supervision 
of  them  is  himself  responsible  to  a 
superior  power.  The  chief  super- 
intends, the  delegate  supervises. 

"  Taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by 
constraint,  but  willingly." — Eng.  Jiible. 

"  In  a  word,  he  is  Sbt  forth  as  operator 
and  manager,  director  and  supervisor  over 
all  the  works  of  God." — Waterland. 

"  It  is  He  that  gave  the  sun  its  light, 
and  who  directs  the  courses  of  the  stars  ; 
■who  is  superintendent  everywhere,  and 
steers  the  whole  world,"— Waterland, 
ii.  3. 

"  The  mistress  of  the  family  always  swper- 
intends  the  doingof  it."— Cook,  First  Voy 
age,  i.  18. 

OUTLIVE.  Survive. 
Although  these  terms  are  nearly 
the  same  in  foi-m.  Survive  (Lat.  siiper- 
vivere,  to  outlive)  being  the  Latin 
equivalent  of  the  Saxon  word  Out- 
live, yet  Outlive  is  commonly  em- 
ployed of  the  correspondent  lifetime 
of  other  persons ;  while  Survive  is 
employed  generally  of  any  point  of 
time,  and  even  of  influences  antago- 
nistic to  life.  We  outlive  persons  and 
periods.  We  survive  efforts  or  effects, 
as  a  severe  accident. 

"Conscience  accompanies  a  man  to  his 
grave ;  he  never  outlives  it ;  and  that  for 
this  cause  only,  because  he  cannot  outlive 
himself  " — South. 

"  Christ's  soul  survived  the  death  of  His 
body,  therefore  shall  the  soul  of  every  be- 
liever survive  the  body's  death." — BiSHOP 
Horsley. 

Outlive  expresses  the  superiority  of 
life  in  duration;  Survive,  its  inherent 
power  also.  It  is  often  the  difference 
between  length  and  strength  of  exis- 
tence. 

OUTWEIGH.  Preponderate. 
Predominate. 

The  former  is  used  directly  as  a 
transitive  verb;  the  latter  requires 
the  addition  of  a  preposition.  In 
that  way  they  are  synonymous.  Out- 


STNONYMS  [OUTLIVE  J 

WEIGH,  however,  is  used  of  intrinsic, 
PiiEPONDERATE  (Lat.  prtEpondcrdre, 
p>'(B,  before,  and  pandas,  ponderis,  a 
weight)  of  extrinsic,  objects  of  com- 
parison. Thus  we  say,  "  one  advan- 
tage outweighs  another ; "  but  of 
several  advantages  considered  collec- 
tively, one  preponderates.  Outweigh 
being  the  Saxon  form,  directly  ex- 
presses the  material  influence;  Pre- 
ponderate better  expresses  the  intel- 
lectual or  moral.  That  which  pre- 
ponderates has  special  tceivht;  that 
which  Predominates  (Lat.  prce,  and 
d^minari,  to  bear  rule)  has  special 
force ;  the  one  influences,  the  other 
impels  us.  That  which  preponderates 
makes  itself  felt ;  that  which  predomi- 
nates does  so  by  the  suppression  of 
other  agents  or  powers.  One  con- 
sideration preponderates  over  others, 
as  a  motive  to  action;  a  predominating 
passion  neutralizes  other  impulses. 

"  It  is  really  no  small  argtuaent  of  the 
predominance  of  conscience  over  interest 
that  there  are  yet  parents  who  can  be  wil- 
ling to  breed  up  any  of  their  sons  if  hope 
fully  endowed  to  so  discouraged  and  diS'- 
couraging  a  profession."—  South. 
*•  Since  evil  outiveighs  good,  and  sways  man- 
kind. 
True  fortitude  assumes  the  patient  mind." 
Savage. 

"  This  only  may  be  said  in  general,  that 
as  the  arguments  and  proofs  pro  and  con, 
upon  due  examination,  nicely  weighing 
every  particular  circumstance,  shall  to  any 
one  appear  upon  the  whole  matter  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  to  preponderate  on 
either  side,  so  they  are  fitted  to  produce  in 
the  mind  such  different  entertainment  us 
we  call  belief,  conjecture,  guess,  doubt, 
wavering,  distrust,  disbelief,  &c." — Locke. 


PACE.     SrEP. 

A  Pace  (Lat.  passus)  is  either  a 
measured  Step,  consisting  generally 
of  three  feet,  or  it  is  an  abstract  term, 
denoting  the  aggregate  of  steps,  and 
the  mode  in  whicJi  they  are  taken, 
especially  in  relation  to  the  rapidity  of 
movement. 

A  S-i  Ep  (A.  S.  steppan,  to  step,  stride) 
is  employed  in  the  sense  of  an  un- 
measured pace,  an  advance  made  bv 


[pale] 

one  removal  of  the  foot;  or,  objec- 
tively, that  which  aids  the  foot  to  do 
this,  as  the  steps  of  a  staircase ;  or, 
yet  further  by  analogy,  any  grada- 
tion ;  as,  to  do  a  thing  step  by  step ;  or 
a  movement  morally  considered,  as  to 
take  a  bold  step.  Both  Step  and  Pace 
are  used  in  the  absti-act  of  the  manner 
of  progressive  movement  by  the  feet; 
but  in  this  use  Pace  is  employed,  as 
has  been  observed,  as  distinguishing 
one  mode  or  rate  of  progress  from 
another,  as  a  walk  from  a  trot ;  Step 
as  being  peculiar  to  the  individual ;  as, 
to  know  a  person  by  his  step.  A  per- 
son may  move  at  a  rapid  pace  without 
taking  quick  steps. 

PAIN.  Agonv.  Anguish.  Suf- 
fering.    Pang. 

Pain  (Fr.  peine,  Lat.  pccna),  first, 
penal  infliction,  and  then,  suffering  of 
body  or  mind,  is  still  used  in  this 
double  sense;  as,  to  be  in  great  pain,  to 
act  under  pain  of  another's  displea- 
sure. Pain  is  the  energetic  opposite 
to  pleasure — the  state,  whether  phy- 
sical or  mental,  which  is  most  repug- 
nant to  conscious  and  sensible  beings. 
J  t  is  indefinite  as  to  degree,  and  may 
be  slight  or  severe. 

Pang  (etym.  uncertain)  is  severe 
and  transient,  as  Agony  (Fr.  agonie, 
Gr.  ayiovia,  a  struggle,  agony)  is  severe 
and  permanent  pain. 

Anguish  (Fr.  angoisse,  Lat.  an- 
gnstia,  narrowTiess,  poverty ;  angere,  to 
choke)  is  employed  to  denote  the  dis- 
traction, as  agony  denotes  the  strug- 
gles, of  pain.  "The  mind  or  body  in  an- 
guish is  enslaved  by  physical  or  mental 
pain,  so  wrung  or  distressed  as  to  be 
incapacitated  by  it.  Suffering  is 
strictly  the  state  of  which  pain  is  the 
cause  and  account.  I  see  a  person  in  an 
evident  state  of  suffering.  I  do  not 
know  the  cause  or  nature  of  his  suflfer- 
ing  till  he  has  told  me  that  he  is  under 
the  influence  of  physical  or  mental 
pain,  as  the  case  may  be. 

"  What  pleasure  and  pain  are  we  learn 
by  experience,  and  they  are  feeUngs  the  idea 
of  wmch  cannot  be  communicated  by  defini- 
tion."—Bklsham. 

"  The  virtue  and  good  intentions  of  Cato 
and  Brutus  are  highly  laudable ;  but  to  what 
purpose  did  their  zeal  serve  ?  Only  to  hasten 
ttia  fatal  period  of  the  Roman  goAernment, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


601 


and  render  its  conmlsions  and  dying  agonies 
more  violent  and  painful." — HuMB. 

"  The  death  of  Wolsey  would  make  a  fine 
moral  picture,  if  the  hand  of  any  master 
could  give  the  palHd  features  df  the  dying 
statesman  that  chagrin,  that  remorse, 
those  pangs  of  anguish  which  in  those  last 
bitter  moments  of  his  life  possessad  him." 
—  Gilpin. 

"  Who  best 
Can  suffer  best  can  do;   best  reign  who 

first 
Well  hath  obeyed."  Miltos. 

"  Oh,  sharp  conTulsive  pangs  of  agonizing 

pride  l  "  Drydex. 

PAINTING.     Picture. 

Painting,  asits  name  plainly  enough 
expresses,  is  a  representation  of  ob- 
jects by  coloured  pigment8(Fr.peindre, 
peint). 

Picture  (which  comes  directly  from 
the  Latin  pictiora,  from  ping  ere,  pict  its , 
as  Painting  comes  indirectly  through 
the  French)  is  a  similar  representation 
in  light  and  shade,  but  not  necessarily 
in  colour,  as  by  crayon,  pencil,  In- 
dian ink,  or  photography.  The  his- 
torian (in  the  secondary  sense)  draws 
a  lovely  picture  ;  the  poet  paints  in 
glowing  colours. 

PALE.     Pallid.     Wan. 

The  comparative  absence  of  colour 
constitutes  paleness  from  whatever 
cause  the  fact  may  spring.  A  Pale 
cheek  (Fr.  pale,  Lat.  pallidas)  indi- 
cates sickness  or  delicacy.  A  pale 
blue  may  be  the  natural  colour  of  a 
flower.  It  is  also  applied  to  the  com- 
parative absence  of  light,  as  a  pale 
star. 

Pallid  (Lat.  paltidus)  denotes  an 
abnormal  condition  of  paleness. 

Wan  (A.  S.  wann)  denotes  a  lurid, 
livid,  or  sickly  paleness  in  the  human 
countenance,  but  is  employed  analo- 
gously, as  we  speak  of  the  wan  light 
of  the  moon  ;  that  is,  one  imparting  a 
paleness  which  is  like  to  wanness  to 
the  objects  on  which  it  rests. 
"  And  now  the  ^afc-faced  empress  of  the 

night 
Nine  times  had  filled  her  orb  with  bor- 
rowed light."  Drydkn,  Ovid. 
"  There    the  red  anger  dared   the  pallid 
fear."  Drydkjt. 

"  Moreover,  in  the  wars  of  Antony  the 
sun  continued  almost  a  year  long  with  ft 
pale  and  wan  colour."— HoLItAKD,  FUrKy. 


602 


PALPABLE.  Pehceptible. 
Taxoible. 

There  is  an  affinity  between  Pal- 
pable (Lat.  palpaKlis,  palpdre  and-?-i, 
to  stroke,  touch  softly)  and  Tangible 
(Lat.  tangihilis)  as  there  is  between 
visible  (Lat.  vmb'dis)  and  Perceptible 
(Lat.  perceptilnlis).  Visiule  is  a 
stronger  term  than  Perceptible. 
Visible  is  that  which  you  may  see, 
Perceptible  that  which  you  can  see. 
Accordingly  Perceptible  commonly 
means  that  which  it  is  barely  possible 
to  see  or  perceive.  It  is  obvious  that 
P  ERC  EPTi  RLE  belongs  to  all  the  senses, 
Visible  only  to  sight.  The  sun  in  its 
meridian  splendour  may  be  spoken  of 
as  visible.  It  is  preceptible  through 
a  mist.  Owing  to  the  much  wider 
sense  of  perceive  than  see,  Percep- 
tirle  has  a  manifold  application  as  to 
subtle  and  invisible  influences,  and  to 
matters  the  existence  or  presence  of 
which  is  recognized  by  the  combined 
operations  of  sense  and  reflexion.  Pal- 
pa  ui.e  and  Tangible  diflfer,  not  so 
much  in  their  ideas  as  in  their  applica- 
tions. Palpable  regards  the  faculties 
of  perception,  observation,  judgment, 
understanding.  Tangible  regards  the 
solid  or  substantial  properties  of  the 
object  itself.  A  palpable  trutii  or 
absurdity  is  one  which  the  commonest 
nnderstauding  can  take  hold  of.  A 
tangible  result  or  benefit  is  opposed 
to  a  nominal,  unsubstantial,  and  as  it 
were  shadowy  one. 

•'  Clodius  was  acquitted  by  a  corrupt  jury 
that  had  palpably  taken  shares  of  money." 
—Bacon. 

"  The  woman  decays  perceptibly  every 
week."— SoUTHEY. 

"  Direct  and  tangible  benefit  to  your- 
selves and  others."— SouTHEY. 

PALPITATE.  Flutteb.  Pant. 
Throb. 

To  Palpitate  (Lat.  pdpitare,  to 
throb)  is  to  pulsate  with  strong,  quick, 
and  regular  beats. 

To  Flutper  (Low  Germ.  Jluttern) 
is  to  pulsate  with  weak  and  irregular 
beats. 

Panting  (connected  with  old  Fr. 
pantois,  out  of  breath)  is  with  regard 
to  the  breath  what  palpitation  is  with 
regard  to  the  heart;  while Tn rob de- 


8YN0NYMS  PALPABLE  j 

notes  a  pulsation  from  the  inside  to  the 
outside  of  any  part  of  the  frame,  the 
action  appearing  to  be  outwards  to- 
wards the  surface. 
"  The  shining  moisture  swells    .nto    her 

eyes 
In  brighter  flow ;  her  wishmg bosom  heaves 
With  palpitations  wild."  THOMSON. 

"  Set  the  grave  councils  up  upon  their 

shelves  again,  and  string  them  hard,  lest 

their  various   and  jangling   opinions   put 

their  leaves  into  aflutter." — Milton. 

I    "  His  breath  in  quick  short  pantinc/s  comes 

and  goes."  Pope. 

"  When  with  tumultuous  throbs  our  pulses 

beat 
And  dnbioas  Reason  totters  on  her  seat." 
Thomson. 

PANEGYRIC.  Encomium.  Eu- 
logy. 

The  idea  of  praise  is  common  to 
these  words.  Encomium  (Gr.  httx- 
fxiov,  a  laudatory  ode  to  a  conqueror)  de- 
notes no  more  than  warm  praise. 

Eulogy  (Gr.  BuXoyia,  praise)  is  more 
formal,  and  is  applied  only  to  per 
sons. 

Panegyric  (Gr.  Trawyv^iM?,  i.e. 
Xo'yo?,  a  festival  oration)  is  an  elaborate 
oration ;  a  laudatory  discouree.  En 
coMiuM  is  employed  of  things  as  well 
as  persons ;  but  in  that  case  the  thing 
is  always  the  result  of  human  action, 
though  not  directly  the  object  of  per- 
sonal praise ;  as,  to  pass  encomiums  on 
the  Constitution  of  Great  Britain, 
Eulogy  commonly  relates  to  merito- 
rious actions ;  panegyrics,  to  per- 
sonal character.  The  panegyric  should 
be  public;  the  encomium,  warm;  the 
euhjgy,  eloquent.  The  eulogy  may 
be  tempered  with  criticism,  the  scope 
of  panegyric  is  only  praise.  The 
panegyric  too,  unlike  the  others,  al- 
ways bears  reference  to  the  whole 
character,  and  not  to  a  performance 
or  an  act.  The  panegyric  can  hardly 
be  otherwise  than  partial  and  strained. 
It  needs  an  orator  eloquent  yet  dis- 
creet. 

"  I  think  I  am  not  inclined  by  nature  or 
policy  to  make  a.  pnnetjyrick  upon  Sinylhing 
which  is  a  just  and  natural  object  of  cen- 
sure."— Burke, 

"Thus  Plutarch  assures  us  that  our 
author  (Cicero),  having  made  a  speech  in 
public  full  of  the  highest  encomiums  on 
Crassus,   he  did  not   scruple,   a  few  days 


[partake] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


603 


afterwards,  to  reverse  the  panegyric,  and 
represent  him  before  the  same  aadience  in 
all  the  darkest  colours  of  his  invective." — 
MSLMDTH,  Cicero. 

"  Take  away  this  love,  and  the  whole 
earth  is  but  a  desert.  And  though  there 
were  nothing  more  worthy  eulogies  than 
virginity,  it  is  yet  but  the  result  of  love, 
since  those  that  shall  people  paradise,  and 
fill  heaven  with  saints,  are  such  as  have 
been  subject  to  this  passion,  and  were  the 
products  of  it." — Boyle. 

PARE.     Peel. 

Peel  (Fr.  peler,  to  skin,  O.  Fr.  pel, 
the  skin,  Lat.  petlein')  denotes  a  natu- 
ral, as  Pare  {Fr.parer,  Lat.  pitrare, 
to  prepare)  an  artificial  process.  That 
is  pared  which  is  ahraded  into  spe- 
cific shape;  that  is  peeled  which  is 
deprived  of  a  natural  layer  or  integTi- 
ment  spread  over  it.  Peel  is  used 
only  in  a  material  sense  ;  Patie,  in  a 
moral  sense. 

"  The  king  began  to  pare  a  little  the  pri- 
vilege of  clergy." — Bacon. 
Peel  is  used  metaphorically  by  Mil- 
ton when  he  says  : — 
"  But  govern  ill  the  nations  under  yoke. 
Peeling  their  provinces." 

PART.  Division.  Portion. 
Share. 

Of  these  terms,  V  aut  (J. at.  partem) 
is  the  most  general  in  signification. 
It  is  equal  or  unequal,  being  that 
which  is  less  than  the  whole,  in  num- 
ber, quantity,  or  bulk.  Hence,  spe- 
cifically, an  equal  or  proportionate 
division  of  quantity  ;  as,  "  an  homer 
is  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah."  It  may 
he  organic  or  inorganic,  physical  or 
conceptional,  or  even  metaphorical, 
in  the  sense  of  portion  allotted  or  in- 
terest possessed. 

Division  (Lat.  divhiovem)  always 
implies  action  or  design,  which  has 
been  exercised  in  limitation  and  sepa- 
ration. A  division  always  retains 
connexion  with  that  which  is  divided. 
We  might  say,  "  a  disintegrated  part 
or  portion;"  but  "a  disintegrated 
division "  would  be  a  contradiction 
of  terms. 

Portion  (Lat.  portibnem)  has  com- 
monly the  meaning  of  such  a  division 
as  bears  refei-ence  to  an  individual  or 
to  the  whole  of  which  it  is  a  part,  as 
riewed  or  treated  by  an  individual. 


So  a  portion  of  land  is  a  quantity  in 
which  some  person  or  persons  are 
interested.  A  portion  of  Scripture  ia 
such  as  comes  under  review,  a.s  a  di- 
vision made,  not  in  reference  to  the 
subject  matter,  but  the  person  dealing 
with  it. 

Share  (A.  S.  scear,  a  division)  ia 
especially  a  portion  allotted  by  pur- 
pose or  accident,  and  so  is  much  more 
subjective  than  PoRTioN,which  is  more 
objective.  A  share  is  a  portion  in 
which  an  individual  has  a  right.  In 
reference  to  the  testamentary  allot- 
ment in  itself  of  property,  for  in- 
stance, we  should  use  the  term  I'or- 
TioN.  In  reference  to  the  claim  or 
possession  of  such  portion  by  an  in- 
dividual inheritor,  we  should  use  the 
term  Share. 

It  is  a  custom  in  Normandy  that 
the  daughters  who  receive  of  an  in- 
heritance cannot  receive  more  than  a 
third  part  of  the  inheritance  for  their 
share,  which  they  divide  into  equal 
portions. 

"All  the  par^."!  were  formed  in  his  mind 
into  one  harmonious  whole." — LoCKE. 

"  The  communities  and  divisions  of  men." 
—Addison. 

"In  the  primitive  ages  women  were 
married  without  portions  from  their  rela- 
tions, being  purchased  by  their  husbands, 
whose  presents  to  the  woman's  relations 
were  called  her  dowry." — Potter,  Anti- 
quities of  Greece. 

"When  they  trade  upon  a  joint  stock, 
each  member  sharing  in  the  common  prodt 
or  loss  in  proportion  to  his  share  in  thii 
stock,  they  are  called  joint-stock  compa- 
nies."—Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

PARTAKE.  Participate.  Share. 

To  Partake  is  literally  to  take  a 
pari,  share,  or  portion  (and  is  followed 
by  "  of,"  sometimes  by  "  in  ")  in  com- 
mon with  others.  This  is  also  the 
etymological  force  of  Partu:ipatk 
{Lat. pa rficipare,  i.e.  partem  ciipere,  to 
take  part),  which  is  the  Latin  equiva- 
lent of  it.  But  in  Participate  there  is 
implied  a  more  perfect  unity  and  com- 
munity of  feeling  or  possession.  Hence 
it  is  followed,  not  by  "  of,"  but  "  in." 
Two  persons  may  partake  of  the  same 
dish ;  but  they  participate  in  each 
otner's  feelings,  convictions,  joys,  or 
Bon-ows.     To  Share  (use  Part)  is  ^ 


604 


SYNONYMS  [particle] 


partake  or  participate  according  to 
an  allotted  or  regulated  method. 
Share  is  more  easily  and  naturally 
applicable  to  such  things  as  are  desi- 
rable, but  is  also  by  a  kind  of  analogy 
employed  of  a  proportionate  amount 
of  what  is  undesirable ;  as  to  have 
one's  share  of  the  goods  and  ills  of 
life ;  to  share  another's  joys  and  sor- 
rows. PARTAKE  is  sometimes  em- 
ployed in  ihe  sense  of  taking  a  part  of 
something.  So  we  partake  of  a  dish  by 
helping-  ourselves  to  a  portion  of  it. 
Participate  would  imply  that  others 
share  it  with  us.  In  the  sense  of 
having  a  part  of  a  thing,  Partake  is 
employed  of  inanimate  things  in  re- 
gard to  their  substance,  qualities,  or 
nature.  Instinct  in  some  animals 
seems  to  partake  of  the  nature  of 
reason. 
"  From  court  retired,  and  pomp's  fastidious 

pride. 
The  hero  dared  to  throw  the  king  aside. 
And  in  the  rustic  cot,  well  pleased,  par- 
took 
Of  labour's  mean  repast  and  cheerful  look." 
Lloyd. 

"  Of  all  this  I    have  not  only  had  know- 
ledge, 
Bat  great  participation  in  yonr  joys." 

DiGBY,  Elvira. 

"  It  redresses  the  old  Manichaean  impiety, 
so  derogatory  to  it  (God's  glory),  which 
makes  an  evil  principle  a  sJiarer  with  Him 
in  the  direction  of  the  universe." — War- 
BURTOX. 

PARTICLE.    Atom.    Molecule. 

Particle  (Lat.  parttciila)  is  no 
more  than  a  minute  piece  of  a  material 
■ubstance — e.g.  a  particle  of  bread. 
Sometimes  the  particle,  as  such,  pos- 
sesses a  name  of  its  own  indicative  of 
its  nature,  as  a  particle  of  dust,  which 
does  not  exist  except  in  particles. 

Atom  (Gr.  aro^of,  indivisible)  is 
literally  a  particle  so  small  as  to  be 
indivisible.  But  as  a  term  of  physical 
science  it  has  the  sense  of  (1)  an  ul- 
timate particle  of  matter  presumed  to 
be  indivisible,  and  (2)  an  ultimate 
particle  of  matter  not  necessarily  in- 
divisible. These  are  distinctions  of 
theory  in  regard  to  the  nature  of 
matter. 

The  particle  under  the  second  of 
these  divisions  is  the  Molecule  (Lat. 


moleciila,  the  diminutive  of  moles,  a 
mass).  It  is  not  asserted  of  the  mole- 
cule that  it  is  indivisible  so  much  as 
that  it  is  not  contemplated,  like  the 
old  philosophic  question  of  atoms, 
from  a  mechanical  point  of  view,  but 
maintained  as  a  hypothesis. 

PARTY.     Factiox. 

Party.  See  Cabal  for  the  special 
use  of  this  word,  which  is  common  to 
all  the  synonyms  there  given.  In  its 
common  sense  it  denotes  a  number  of 
persons  united  in  opinion  or  action, 
or  both,  with  a  desire  to  influence  the 
remainder  of  the  body ;  or,  in  a  de- 
gree less  marked,  a  number  taking 
part  in  the  same  thing. 

Both  Faction  {see  Faction)  and 
Party  (Fr.  parti)  denote  the  union 
of  several  persons  distinguished  from 
others  holding  diiferent  views;  but 
Faction  implies  activity  and  secret 
plotting.  Party  implies  no  more  than 
a  sharing  of  the  same  opinions.  Party 
by  itself  has  not  the  odious  associa- 
tion of  Faction.  Anyone  who  receives 
support  from  a  number  has  a  party  in 
his  favour,  though  he  may  not  be  the 
head  of  a  party  as  an  agitator.  When 
a  faction  has  gained  influence  it  is 
likely  to  become  a  recognized  party 
in  the  state. 

PASSAGE.    Course. 

Both  these  terms  have  the  twofold 
signification  of  the  act  and  the  way  of 
movement. 

Passage  (Fr.  passage)  is  more  me- 
chanical; Course  (Fr.  course)  is  less 
mechanical,  though  not  necessarily 
implying  actual  volition.  A  man 
finds  a  passage,  but  pursues  a  course. 
Any  transit  from  one  point  to  another 
is  a  passage.  A  line  of  movement 
chosen,  directed,  or  circumscribed  is 
a  course.  We  speak  of  the  course, 
not  the  passage,  of  the  stars  generally, 
and  of  the  passage  of  a  planet,  if  we 
mean  no  more  than  its  transit  from 
one  definite  point  to  another  in  the 
heavens. 
"  The  sickly  young  sat  shiv'ring  on   the 

shore, 
Abhorr'd  salt  water,  never  seen  before. 
And  prayed  their  tender  mothers  to  delay 
The  passage,  and  expect  a  better  day," 
Drydeh. 


[passive] 


In  theii'  secondary  meanings,  the  word 
Passage  is  commonly  internal  and 
mental  or  conceptional,  Course  exter- 
nal. The  passage  of  the  mind  fi'om 
one  point  of  consideration  to  another  ; 
the  course  of  events,  history,  law,  or 
the  world. 
"  Therefore  this  sm  of  kind  not  personal. 

But  real  and  hereditary  was  ; 
The  guilt  thereof,  and  punishment  to  all 

By  anirse  of  nature  and  of   law  doth 
pass." 
Davtes,  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

PASSIONATE.    Angry.    Hasty. 

Passionate  (Fr.  ■passion^  L.ht.  -pas- 
$ionem,  a  feeling,  suffering)  denotes  a 
constitutional  temperament  of  readily 
excited  passion,  and  often  in  the  spe- 
cifically restricted  sense  of  irascibility. 
The  passionate  man  is  easily  roused  by 
injury  or  insult,  or  the  supposition  of 
them,  but  is  not  commonly  resentful 
or  malicious. 

Anguy  denotes  rather  a  state  than 
a  disposition  (Lat.  angorem,  a  strung- 
ling  ;  Gr.  tt}/;if£iv,  to  choke).  Anger  has 
less  of  the  vehement  and  impetuous, 
more  of  deep  disturbance  of  feeling. 
To  be  passionate  is  always  inexcus- 
able. To  be  angry  may  be  even  laud- 
able and  rightful,  if  the  feeling  do 
not  pass  into  selfish  vindictiveness, 
but  be  excited  simply  by  the  wrong, 
and  not  by  the  personal  provocation 
of  the  action. 

Hasv  (I).',  haste,  to  haste;  cf. 
Ger.  hasten)  denotes  that  eagerness 
of  temperament  which  is  combined 
with  want  of  reflexion,  and  which 
therefore  shows  itself  in  other  ways 
besides  anger,  as  in  unreflecting 
speech,  or  hasty  conclusions.  The 
hasty  man  is  soon  offended,  but  not 
generally  ready  to  offend  in  return. 
The  passionate  person  shows  his  feel- 
ing by  excited  looks  and  utterances, 
and  indications  of  violence  under  a 
loss  of  self-control,  without  of  neces- 
sity any  sense  of  injury,  but  more 
commonly  feeling  provocation  or  an- 
tto/ance.  A  feeling  of  injury,  or  of  an- 
noyance so  great  as  to  seem  to  amount 
to  it,  produces  anger  and  resentment. 

*•  It  la  a  very  common  expression  that 
»uch  a  one  is  very  good-natured,  but  very 
p,inxin>iofp.  The  expression,  indeed,  is  very 
good-natured  to  allow  passionate  people  to 


DISCRIMINATED. 


605 


much  quarter ;  bat  I  t'oink  a  passionate 
man  deserves  the  least  indulgence  imagin- 
able."-^/jecf^t^w. 

"They  have  their  several  sounds  and 
notes  of  expression,  whereby  they  can  sig- 
nify their  dislike  and  anger  ;  but  only  maa 
can  clothe  his  angry  thoughts  with  words 
of  offence,  so  as  that  faculty  which  was 
given  him  for  an  advantage  is  depraved  to 
a  further  mischief." — BiSHOP  Haix, 

**  *  As  for  that  heat  and  hastiness,'  quoth 
he, '  which  was  in  him  misliked  and  offen- 
sive, age  and  time  would  daily  diminish 
and  bereave  him  of  it;  gi-ave  and  sage 
counsel,  which  now  was  wanting,  would 
come  on  apace  every  day  more  than  other.' ' 
— HoLLAXD,  Livy. 

PASSIVE.       Patient.      Sibmis- 

SIVE. 

Passive  (Lat.  passivus,  suffering, 
capable  of  suffering)  relates  simply  to 
matters  of  action,  and  is  opposed  to 
active,  or  in  some  cases  to  a  state  of 
non-resistance,  resistance  being,  how- 
ever, a  species- of  action.  It  follows 
therefore  that,  except  where  the  state 
of  being  passive  is  purposely  assumed, 
there  is  nothing  of  moral  force  in  the 
term ;  while 

Pah  ent,  another  foi-m  of  the  same 
verb  (Lat.  pHtientem,  participle  of 
pdti,  to  suffer),  is  essentially  a  moral 
term.  It  may  be  remarked,  however, 
that  this  moral  force  is  by  no  means 
so  strong  in  the  adjective  Patient  as 
in  the  noun  patience.  Patient  may 
mean  bearing  what  is  painful  or  dis- 
agreeable, without  any  expression  of 
suffering  or  discontent,  as  a  patient 
animal  under  its  burden.  It  is,  how- 
ever, applicable  only  to  conscious 
agents,  while  Passive  may  be  em- 
ployed of  that  which  makes  no  phy- 
sical resistance,  whether  conscious  or 
unconscious. 

Submissive  (Lat.  submitth-e,  part. 
submissus,  to  submit)  denotes  that 
which  by  self-surrender  shows  pa- 
tience in  a  specific  relation,  that  is, 
to  some  particular  exercise  of  will  in 
a  superior,  or  one  stronger  than  one's 
self. 

"  The  primary  idea  attached  to  the  word 
is  that  of  passiveness,  or  being  impulsively 
acted  upon." — COGAK. 

*'  In  medical  language  a  person  op- 
pressed with  disease  is  called  a.  patient,  of 
an  involuntary  sufferer^  and  the  calmness 
with  which  he  sabmitfi  is  termed  patience: 


606 


SYNONYMS 


[pathetic] 


that  is,  the  mind  yields  with  tranquillity  to 

the  pains  and  indispositions  of  the  body." 

—Ibid. 

"  If  thou  sin  in  wine  and  wantonness, 

Boast  not  thereof,  nor  make  thy  shame  thy 

glory : 
Frailty  gets  pardon  by  submiss^veness." 
Herbert. 

PATHETIC.  Affecting.  Mov- 
ing.   Tragic. 

Of  these  terms,  the  mo»t  general  is 
Moving,  which,  tliough  its  etymology 
indicates  no  more  than  raising  feelings 
or  passion,  is  by  usage  restricted  to 
tender  or  mournful  feeling ;  the  ten- 
dency to  excite  feelings  of  other  kinds 
being  commonly  expressed  by  the 
kindred  word  stirring. 

The  Affecting  and  the  Pathetic 
are  of  necessity  nearly  allied,  the 
Greek  iraBoq  nearly  expressing  the 
Latin  affectus,  a  state  or  disposition,  or 
mood;  but  Pathetic  expresses  more 
the  effect  of  the  person  and  the  narra- 
tion ;  Affecting,  the  simple  nature  of 
the  facts  of  the  case.  A  sad  tale  may 
be  aflfecting  when  read  as  a  mere 
account  of  facts.  A  pathetic  narra- 
tive is  one  which,  besides  the  moving 
nature  of  the  cii'cumstances,  is  told  in 
a  moving  manner.  Hence  the  story 
is  pathetic,  thecu'cumstances  affecting 
the  appeal  moving.  The  pathetic  acts 
through  words,  the  afiecting  through 
the  senses  generally. 

Teaoic  (Gr.  Tp«ytxcf)  is  a  term 
which  serves  to  combine  the  idea  of 
the  pathetic  with  a  certain  degree  of 
dignity  in  the  sufferer.  The  suffer- 
ing of  a  child  might  be  very  affecting, 
but  would  hardly  be  spoken  of  as 
tragic  in  itself.  The  tragic  requires 
the  element  sf  personal  history  com- 
bined with  a  certain  considerableness 
of  personal  character.  That  is  more 
forcibly  tragic  which  involves  the 
misery  of  many  at  once.  The  violent 
death  of  the  father,  by  which  the 
wliole  family  are  reduce(l  to  want  and 
wretchedness,  is  essentially  tragic. 

"Had  the  words,  'emcept  these  boiwls,' 
been  placed  anywhere  else,  the  pathetical- 
ness,  grace,  and  dignity  of  the  sentence 
had  been  much  abated."— Blackwall, 
Sacred  Classics. 

It  is  only  bv  usage  that  Akfkcting  is 
conticed  to  the  sense  of  exciting,  not 


this  or  that  feeling  generally,  but 
the  feeling  of  pi^  or  commiseration 
in  particular.  Burke  used  the  term 
in  Its  wider  sense  when  he  wrote — 

"  It  is  one  thing  to  make  an  idea  clear, 
and  another  to  make  it  affecting  to  the 
imagination." 

"  I  would  have  had  them  writ  more  mo- 
vingly." Shakespeare. 

"  Sith  that  the  greatest  often  are  opprest, 
And  uaav.'ares  doe  into  danger  fall; 
And  ye  that  read  these  verses  tragicall 
Learne  by  their  losse  to  love  the  low  de- 
gree." SPENSEK. 

PAUSE.     Hesitate. 

These  terms  are  applicable  to  speech 
and  action.  We  Pause  (Fr.  pause, 
L.  Lat.  paiisa,  a  cessation)  on  purpose, 
as  in  speaking,  in  order  to  give  effect 
to  what  we  say,  or  in  action  to  give 
time  for  reflexion. 

We  Hesitate  (Lat.  hcEsttare,  to  re- 
main^xed)  involuntarily,  as  not  having 
sufficient  conversance  with  our  sub- 
ject, or  from  natural  defect,  or  as  not 
sure  of  our  ground,  or  as  not  having 
determined  or  judged. 
"  Constant  rotation  of  th'  unwearied  wheel 
That  Nature  rides   upon,   maintains   her 

health. 
Her  beauty,  her  fertility.    She  dreads 
An  instant's  pause,  and  lives  but  while  she 
moves."  COWPER. 

"  Upon  these  grounds,  as  they  professed, 
they  did  without  any  mincing,  hesitaiicy,  or 
reservation,  in  the  most  full,  clear,  down- 
right, and  peremptory  manner,  with  firm 
eonfldence  and  alacrity,  concui'rently  aver 
the  fact." — Barrow. 

PAY.  Wages.  Stipend.  Salary. 
Payment. 

Of  these,  the  simplest  is  Pay  (Fr. 
payer,  the  Lat.  pacdre,  to  appease).  It 
applies  to  money  regularly  or  sj'-ste- 
matically  given,  as  compensation  for 
fixed  services — in  this  way  differing 
from  Pa  yment,  which  is  specific  com- 
pensation on  some  one  account.  The 
soldier  receives  pay ;  the  tradesman 
payment. 

Wages  (Fr.  gage,  pledge,  stake, 
L.  Lat.  vMiuvfi)  conveys  the  idea  of 
pledged  pay  for  services  agreed  upon, 
the  services  being  manual  or  of  an 
inferior  sort ;  in  this  way  differing 
from  Salary  and  Stipend,  which  are 
for  serrices  of  a  higher  than  manual 


PEASANT  J 


DISCKIMINATED. 


607 


Ciiaracter.  The  servant  receives 
wages ;  the  master,  for  work  of 
another  kind,  receives  stipend  or 
salary.  The  difference  between 
Stipend  (Lat.  stipendium,  pay)  and 
Salauy  (Lat.  sKldnum,  originally  a 
Roman  soldier's  allowance  for  salt, 
from  sal,  salt)  is  as  follows:  the 
salary  flows  out  of  the  appointment ; 
the  stipend,  out  of  the  duties  per- 
formed. Thus  a  fixed  stipend  would 
he  equivalent  to  a  salary.  Yet, 
though  the  salary  is  more  continuous 
and  regular  than  the  stipend,  the 
stipend,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  more 
sure  than  the  salary ;  for  the  stipend 
implies  a  contract  between  the  par- 
ties, which  could  not  be  set  aside 
without  mutual  consent;  while  a 
salary  may  be  contingent  upon  the 
will  or  liberality  of  him  who  pays  it. 
Stipend  and  Salary  being  for  more 
than  menial  offices  are  mostly  for  life. 
I'hey  belong  to  the  tenure  of  some- 
thing that  may  be  called  an  office. 

"  Fi'om  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Veii,  the 
armies  of  Rome  received  jmy  for  their  ser- 
vice during  the  time  which  they  remained 
m  the  field."— Smith,  Wcallh  oflNations. 

"  Both  temporal  prosperity  and  eternal 
felicity  are  the  wages  of  the  labour  which 
we  take,"— Baerow. 

"The  stipends  of  the  most  useful  part  of 
the  clergy — those  who  officiate— are  often 
not  greater  than  the  earnings  of  a  hii'eling 
mechanic." — Ky  ox . 

"  As  to  my  salary,  he  told  me  I  should 
have  twenty-four  dollars  per  month,  which 
was  as  much  as  he  gave  to  the  old  gunner." 
-Dampikr's  Voyages. 

PEACEABLE.  Peaceful.  Pa- 
cific. 

These  terms,  though  belonging  to 
the  same  root,  are  variously  applied. 

Peaceable  (O.  Fr. pais,  Lat.  pdcem, 
peace)  refers  more  directly  to  the  cha- 
racter or  disposition  of  men;  Pacific 
(Lat.  paci/Yc us,  peace-imiking)  to  the 
designs  and  intentions  of  men ;  while 
Peaceful  refers  to  the  state  or  con- 
dition both  of  men  and  things.  A 
peaceable  disposition ;  pacific  mea- 
sures ;  a  peaceful  attitude  of  affaii*s, 
or  a  peaceful  scene. 

' '  What  do  these  worthies 
Bat  rub  and  «ix)il,burn,  slaughter,  and  en- 
slave 
Peaceable  nation*."  MiLTOK 


"  Thus    Belial,    with    words    clothed    is 

reason's  garb, 
Counsel'd  ignoble  ease  and  peaceful  sloth. 
Not  peace."  Milton. 

"  Slow  from  his  seat  the  reverend  Priam 

rose. 
His  god-like  aspect  deep  attention  drew. 
He  paused,  and  these  pacific  words  ensue." 
Pope. 

PEASANT.  Clown.  Country- 
MAN.     Hind.     Swain.     Rustic. 

The  first  three  of  these  terms  owe 
their  distinctive  character  to  that  to 
which  by  implication  each  stands  op- 
posed. 

So  a  Peasant  (  Fr.  paysan,  a  villager y 
Lat.  pdgus,  a  village)  is  a  counti-yman, 
as  distinguished  irom  the  lords  or 
tenants  of  the  soil;  a  Clown  (Icel. 
kluiini,  a  boor)  is  a  countryman,  as 
distinguished  from  one  trained  and 
educated  in  cities;  and  a  Countht- 
MAN,  one  who  lives  and  works  in  the 
country  (Fr.  contrte,  L.  Lat.  contrulOj 
the  ti'act  which  lies  over  against  the 
spectator),  as  distinouished  from  a 
citizen.  Hind  and  Swain  are  now 
seldom  used,  except  in  poetry.  As 
the  clown  is  the  boorish  countryman, 
so  the  hind  (A.  S.  ma7i  of  the  'dovies- 
tics,  see Sk EAT,  Elii7n.  Diet.;  hina-man, 
a  farmer)  is  the  simple-minded  and  il- 
literate, as  the  swain  (A.  S.  swdn)  is 
the  innocent  and  homely  countryman, 
who  appears  in  Arcadian  pictures  of 
rural  life  and  loves. 

The  Rustic  (Lat.  rusficus,  of  the 
cou7itrif,  rus)  is  the  countrvman  re- 
garded under  the  combined  view  of 
his  unlettered  simplicity  of  mind  and 
manners,  and  as  a  type  and  represen- 
tative of  the  life  which  he  leads,  and 
the  manners  by  which  he  is  sur- 
rounded. Hence,  as  an  epithet,  Rusnc 
seems  to  oscillate  between  the  two 
ideas  of  the  word  rude,  that  is,  sim- 
plicity and  coarsenefes. 

"By  an  easy  extension  of  the  word, 
pagan  and  rural  became  almost  synony* 
mous,  and  the  meaner  rustics  acquired  that 
name  which  has  been  corrupted  into  pea- 
sants in  the  modern  languages  of  Europe." 
—Gibbon. 

"A  clownish  mien,  a  voice  with  rustic  sound 
And    stupid    eyes    that    ever    loved    (he 

ground."  Drydkn. 

"  A  simple  countryman  that  brought  he* 
figs."  Shakkspkaub. 


608 


*'  Let  him  use  his  harsh 
Unsavoury  reprehensions  upon  those 
That  are  his  hinds,  and  not  on  me." 

Beaumont  and  Fuetcher. 

"  Remote  from  cities  lived  a  swain." 

Gay. 

"  Let  bashfuJness,  that  rustic  virtue,  by; 

To  manly  confidence  thy  thoughts  apply." 

Dryden,  Ovid. 

On  the  other  hand,  Spenser  has — 

*'  And  gentle  sprite  deform  with  rude  rus- 
ticity.'" 

PEEL.     Rind. 

We  commonly  use  Peel  ( Fr.  peUrj 
to  skill,  O.  Fr.  pelf  skin,  Lat.  pellem) 
only  of  the  separable  external  integu- 
ments of  natural  productions;  Rind 
(A.  S.  riiid),  of  the  harder,  harsher 
integuments  of  artificial  productions, 
though,  rarely,  of  natural  also.  Com- 
parative hardness  and  difficulty  of 
separation  seem  involved  in  Rind  ; 
comparative  softness  and  ease  of  se- 
paration, in  Peel.  The  stiucture  in 
the  case  of  the  peel  assists,  of  the  rind 
resiMs  the  operation. 

PENETRATE.     Pierce. 

To  Penetrate  (Lat.  paietrare,  to 
olace  within,  to  pierce  into)  is  to  make 
a  way  into  a  thing,  with  commonly 
the  implied  notion  of  some  degi'ee  of 
difficulty,  and,  therefore,  a  gradual 
operation ;  nor  is  the  nature  of  the 
means  or  instrument  of  penetration  of 
any  definite  character. 

To  Pierce,  on  tlie  other  hand  (  Fr. 
percer),  denotes  a  quick  penetration 
with  a  sharp  instrument.  In  most 
cases.  Penetrate  denotes  a  natural, 
Pierce  i\n  artificial,  process.  The  same 
distinction  is  preserved  in  their  secon- 
dary or  moral  meanings.  It  is  genius 
or  intuition  that  pierces ;  it  is  saga- 
city and  labour  ot  investigation  that 
penetrates. 
"  The  world  may  search  in  vain  with    all 

their  eyes. 
Nor  ever  penetrate  through  this  disguise." 
Drvdkn. 

'*  We  have  enough  to  fill  us  with  admira- 
tion of  the  munificence,  power,  and  wis- 
dom of  the  infinite  Creator,  when  we 
contemplate  the  noble  faculties  of  this  our 
superior  part,  the  vast  reach'and  compass 
of  our  understanding,  th('  prodigious  quick- 
Bess  and  piercingnest  of  its  thought*."— 
Derham. 


SYNONYMS  [peel] 

PEOPLE.    Nation. 

People  (Lat.  poptiuis)  is  a  term 
denoting,  primarily,  a  community 
under  the  mere  aspect  of  number,  and 
so  is  often  used  of  the  multitude  of 
the  governed,  as  distinguished  from 
their  rulers.  As  People  is  a  geographi- 
cal, so  Nation  (Lat.  ndtionem)  is  a 
political  term,  implying  some  ethno- 
logical unity,  though  not  necessarily 
one  and  the  same  government ;  as,  the 
German  nation.  In  this  sense,  we 
might  speak  of  the  Irish  nation,  as 
being  descended  from  one  stock,  and 
subject  to  one  government,  though 
the  government  were  foreign  to  the 
stock.  The  nation  is  a  great  family, 
the  people  is  a  great  assembly.  The 
same  language  m  the  mouths  of  two 
widely-separated  peoples  shows  that 
they  were  originally  one  nation.  A 
diversity  of  languages  in  the  speech 
of  one  nation,  like  the  English,  shows 
that  the  nation  is  a  mixed  people.  If 
the  state  be  conquered  or  subjected 
by  revolution  to  another  order  of 
things,  the  nation,  strictly  speaking, 
is  destroyed,  though  the  people  re- 
mains. This  comes  of  the  political 
distinction  that  the  nation  is  the  body 
of  citizens,  the  people  the  mass  of  in- 
habitants. 

"  Thou  must  prophesy  again  before  many 

peoples. "—  English'  Bible. 

"  Mountains  interposed 
Make  enemies  of  nations,  who  had  else. 
Like   kindred    drops,    been   mingled  into 
one."  CowPKR. 


PERCOLATE.  Permeate.  Per- 

VADE. 

That  Percolates  (Lat.  percoldre) 
which  filters  through  small  interstices, 
that  Permeates  (Lat.  ;>ermea;-g)  which 
finds  its  way  along  intricate  passages  ; 
that  Pervades  (Lat.  pervddtre) ■wliich 
goes  through  a  thing.  The  charac- 
teristic idea  of  Permeate  is  intricate 
peneti-ation,  of  Percolate  diffusive 
penetration,  and  of  Pervade  complete 
penetration.  All  three  have  their 
secondary  applications.  The  political 
theorist  and  reformer  will  often  ti'ust 
to  time  for  the  success  of  his  doctrine. 
He  hopes  that,  though  he  may  not 
live  to  see  the  end,  the  idea  may  jier- 
eolate  into  the  minds  of  men,  per- 


[perplex] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


699 


meate  through  the  different  classes  of 
society,  and  finally  pervade  its  entire 
structure. 

PERDITION.     Destruction. 

There  is  a  growing  tendency  in 
English  to  restrict  the  former  more 
and  more  to  a  moral  application,  so 
that,  while  Destuuctk  n  (Lat.  ae- 
structionem)  is  used  of  the  discerption 
of  the  material  particles  constituting 
an  organized  or  constructed  body. 
Perdition  (Lat.  ferditibnem)  shall 
mean  the  destruction  of  the  immate- 
rial part — the  life  or  the  soul  of  men. 
This  seems  to  flow  rightly  from  the 
words.  That  goes  to  perdition  which 
gwes  to  absolute  loss — which  is,  as  it 
were,  lost  to  life  and  view.  That  is 
destroyed  which  is  broken  up. 

PEREMPTORY.     Dogmatical. 

Peremptory  (Lat.  ph-emptorius — 
(1)  deadly,  (2)  with  jurists,  destroy- 
ing all  controversy,  decisive)  is,  lite- 
rally, destructive,  but,  specifically, 
destructive  of  debate  or  remonstrance. 
A  peremptory  command  is  one  which 
leaves  no  alternative  but  to  obey.  It 
thus  belongs  more  to  the  will  and 
temper  of  the  individual  than  to  the 
subject-matter  of  what  he  says  or 
thinks.     It  is  a  wider  term  than 

Dogmatical  (Gr.  Joy/xaTJxo?,  di- 
dactic), which  represents  a  particular 
kind  of  peremptoriness,  namely,  the 
insisting  on  the  acceptance  of  one's 
own  opinion  by  another,  or  the  sub- 
mission to  it,  as  laid  down  in  an  arro- 
gant or  magisterial  way.  As  Dogma- 
tical belongs  to  matters  of  belief  and 
opinion,  it  is  only  connected  with 
beings  capable  of  entertaining  these  ; 
while  Peremptory,  expressing,  pri- 
marily, force  of  dema::j,  and,  secon- 
darily, of  persDnal  demand,  is  appli- 
cable to  the  requirements  or  exactions 
of  unintelligent  force,  as,  for  instance, 
ot  circuinstarces,  obligations,  and  the 
like. 

"Peremptoriness  is  of  two  sorts,  the  one 
a  magisterialness  in  matters  of  opinion,  the 
other  a  positiveness  in  relating  matters  of 
fact," — Government  of  the  Tongue. 

"And  in  their  particular  opinions  they 
are  as  assertive  and  dogmatical  as  if  they 
were  omniscient," — GI.A.HT  JJU 


Pr:RFORMANCE.    Production. 

Both  these  temis  represent  the  idea 
of  a  work  that  is  the  product  of  opera- 
tion in  skilled  labour  of  an  artistic 
kind.  In  the  case  of  Production, 
the  idea  may  be  one  of  analogy,  aa 
when  we  speak  of  the  productions  of 
Nature. 

In  the  case  of  Performance  (O.  Fr. 
parfournir,  to  accomplish),  the  idea  in 
restricted  to  conscious  agency  or  ope- 
ration. In  this  last  way,  Performance 
is  more  external  than  Production,  in- 
asmuch as  it  denotes  that  which  is 
done  by  the  exercise  of  skill ;  while 
Production  involves  the  idea  of  men- 
tal power.  A  recitation  is  a  perfor- 
mance ;  a  poem  is  a  production.  In 
the  performance  the  manner  is  every- 
thing, and  the  result  next  to  nothing; 
in  the  production  the  result  is  every- 
thing, and  the  manner  next  to  nothing 
In  production,  the  purpose  of  the 
operation  is  the  thing  produced ;  in 
performance,  the  thing  is  done  for  the 
sake  of  doing  it. 

"His  musical  performances,  indeed,  were 
not  to  the  taste  of  the  Italians."— MacatT- 
LAY. 

"It  8  ft  great  mortification  to  the  vanitjr 
of  man,  that  his  ntmost  art  and  industry 
can  never  equal  the  meanest  of  Nature'f 
productions,  either  for  beauty  or  value." — 
H  UME. 

PERPLEX.  Embarrass.  Puzzle. 
Pose.     Entangle. 

We  are  Puzzled  (puzsfe,  said  to  be 
corr.  of  the  word  opposal)  when  our 
faculties  are  confuse^  bv  what  we  can- 
not understand,  by  moral  or  pu^sical 
antagonisms  or  contradictions,  which 
we  cannot  reconcile  or  clear. 

We  are  Posed  (pose,  said  to  be  a  corr. 
of  the  word  oppose)  when  we  are  arres- 
ted by  a  mental  difficulty,  or  meet  with 
a  problem  which  we  cannot  solve. 

We  are  Perplexed  (Lat.  perplexus, 
interwoven),  when  we  are  unable, 
under  contending  feelings  or  views, 
to  determine  an  opinion  or  to  pursue 
a  definite  line  of  conduct. 

We  are  Embarrassed  (Fr.  embar- 
■>-asser;  barre,  a  bar)  in  matters  of 
action,  thought,  or  speech,  b/  any- 
thing that  interferes  with  their  free 
action.     The  perplexed  person  does 


610 


not  know  wliicli  way  to  turn.     The 
embarrassed  person  moves,  but  witb 
difficulty.  We  areENTANGLED(?toio;/e, 
gaid  to  be  another  form  of  twaiigie,  to 
have  a  jingling  sound:   Wedgwood) 
when  we  find  ourselves  in  verbal  or 
practical  difficulties,  either  by  our  own 
error  or  oversight,  or  by  the  designs 
of  others.     We  are  puzzled  by  cal- 
culations or  riddles;   perplexed  by 
casuistry ;  embarrassed,  in  some  cases, 
before  our  superiors,  or  in  speaking 
foreign  language, 
express  ourselves 
"  Till,  by  their  own  perplexities  involved, 
They  ravel  more,  still  less  resolved. 
But  never  find  self-satisfying  solution." 
Milton. 
"  Awkward,  embarrassed,  stifT,  without  the 

skill 
Of  moving  gracefully,  or  standing  still ; 
One  leg,  as  if  suspicious  of  his  brother. 
Desirous  seems  to  run  away  from  t'other." 

Churchill. 
"  Hebrew,    the    general    puzzler    of   old 

heads. 
Which   the  gray  dunce   with  pricks   and 

comments  reads. 
And  dubs  himself  a  scholar,  by  it  grew 
As  natural  t*  him  as  if  he'd  been  a  Jew." 
3ro>ie. 

"  This  text  is  produced  by  our  Saviour 
out  of  Moses  his  law,  in  ap«wer  to  a  ques- 
tion wherewith  a  learned  Pharisee  thought 
to  pose  and  puzzle  him."  -Barrow. 

"  It  (integrity)  is  much  plainer  and 
easier,  much  the  safer  and  more  secure 
way  of  dealing  in  the  world ;  it  has  less  of 
trouble  and  difficulty,  of  entanglement  and 
perplexity,  of  danger  and  hazard  in  it." — 
Spectator. 

PERSON.     Individual. 

Person  (Lat.  persona,  a  character, 
personage)  is  always  an  individual 
human  being  except  in  theological 
language,  in  which  it  stands  related 
to  substance,  the  person  being  the 
living  manifestation,  in  this  sense,  of 
the  common  nature  in  the  individual. 

"  There  is  one  person  of  the  Father, 
another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

Individual  (Lat.  individmis,  indi- 
visible) represents  that  which,  being 
one,  subsists  as  a  distinct  being,  es- 
pecially as  distinct  from  other  mem- 
bers of  the  same  class,  genus,  or 
species.  Hence,  though  the  indi- 
vidual may  be  both  personal  and 
human,  it  is  not  of  necessity  either, 


SYNONYMS  [person] 

but  may  be  an  inanimate  object.  So 
a  botanist,  speaking  of  some  mark 
upon  a  leaf,  or  petal  of  a  flower,  and 
regarding  it  as  accidental,  might  say 
of  it  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the 
species,  but  was  a  peculiarity  of  the 
individual. 


PERSEVERE.  Persist.  Con- 
tinue. 

Continue  is  the  generic  term, 
denoting  no  more  than  to  do  as  one 
has  done  hitherto. 

To  Persevere  (Lat.  perseverdre, 
perstvcrus,  to  pursue  a  matter  ivith 
constancy)  is  to  continue  in  a  given 
course  in  spite  of  discouragements. 
While  continuance  is  neutral,  inas- 
much as  it  may  be  from  habit  or  no 
very  definite  cause,  and  is  applicable 
to  unintelligent  operations,  persever- 
ance has  commonly  a  favourable  sense, 
as  coming  from  reflexion  and  judg- 
ment, and  as  indicative  of  moral 
energy. 

Persistence  (Lat.  persistcre,  to  con- 
tinue steadfastly)  has  commonly  an 
unfavourable  force,  as  coming  of 
dogged  desire  to  gain  one's  point,  or 
reluctance  to  surrender  it.  But  this 
need  not  be  blameworthy.  It  may  be 
the  contrary.  Persevere  carries  with 
it  more  weight,  and  is  employed  ot 
graver  matters  than  Persist.  A  boy 
may  persevere  in  his  studies,  or  per- 
sist in  playing  and  trifling.  Persis- 
tence may  be  inactive  and  mental; 
perseverance  is  active  and  practical. 
Persevere  has  to  do  more  with  the 
doing  a  thing  ;  Persist,  with  the  mo- 
tive. We  persevere  in  study;  we 
sometimes,  in  spite  of  sound  argument 
to  the  contrary,  persist  in  the  same 
opinion.  We  persevere  in  spite  of 
discouragement,  we  persist  in  spite  of 
opposition.  We  persist  in  resolutely 
abiding  by  the  resolutions  we  have 
taken.  Persevere  applies  more  pro- 
perly to  actions  and  conduct.  Persist 
to  the  will  and  opinions.  It  is  in 
matters  of  efibrt  and  practice  that  we 
persevere,  in  matters  of  sentiment  that 
we  persist.  By  persevering  we  reach 
our  end,  by  persisting  we  maintain 
our  position. 

"  Anotber  usual  concomitant  of  infidelity 
is  its  obstinacy  and  pertinacious  per^istini) 


[perverse] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


611 


in  error.  This,  likewise,  was  the  temper  of 
the  Jews,  not  to  be  convinced  by  any  evi- 
dence that  conld  be  offered  to  them." — TiL- 
LOTSON. 

**  He  might  nave  learnt 
Less  overweening,  since  he  failed  in  Job, 
Whose  constant  perseverance  overcame 
Whate'er  his  cruel  malice  could  invent." 
Milton. 

Continue  is  more  applicable  than  even 
Persist  to  purely  inactive  states,  and 
has  sometimes  the  sense  of  mere  ab- 
sence of  movement  or  change. 

"  Continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou 
hast  learned,  and  hast  been  assured  of, 
knowing  of  whom  thou  hast  learned  them." 
— English  Bible. 

PERSONS.     People. 

In  colloiuial  language,  these  terms 
are  synonymous:  as,  many  Persons 
say  so ;  many  People  do  it.  The  dif- 
ference seems  to  be,  that  in  the  term 
Persons  the  individuals  are  more 
thought  of,  and  with  more  deference, 
while  in  the  term  People,  the  indi- 
viduals are  merged  in  the  aggregate. 
"At  the  dinner  yesterday  there  were 
five  people,"  would  be,  if  not  inele- 
gant, expressive  ofcontemptuousness. 
"  People  of  that  sort."  "  Persons 
of  distinction."  "  People  say."  "It 
is  said  by  many  respectable  persons." 
It  may  be  observed  that  Persons  in 
this  general  sense  does  not  appear  in 
the  objective  case.  "  This  often 
pleases  people"  (not  persons). 

PERSPICUITY.     Clearness. 

As  applied  to  what  is  spoken  or 
written.  Clearness  (Lat.  cldrus, 
clear)  is  the  more  general  term,  de- 
noting the  capability  of  being  well 
understood,  which  comes  from  plain- 
ness and  directness  of  thought  or  par- 
ticular expressions;  while  Perspi- 
cuity (hat. perspicuitatem,  clearness)  is 
employed  of  the  style  of  expression 
rather  than  the  mode  of  thought.  It 
may  be  said  that  that  which  is  well 
and  thoroughly  conceived  will  be 
clearly  expressed.  Clearness  comes 
of  exact  acquaintance  with  the  sub- 
ject. Pure  idiom,  and  propriety  of 
language,neatness  of  construction,  and 
a  good  selection  of  terms,  will  go  far 
to  ensure  perspicuity  of  style. 

"  I  shall,  Mrith  as  much  impartiality  and 
perspicuity  as  I  may  like  a  faithful  advo- 


cate to  my  country,  and  cordial  indifferent 

well-wisher  both  to  king  and  parliament, 

truly  state  and  debate  this  ccntrover«y."— 

Prynne. 

"O  prophet  of  glad  tidings,  finisher 

Of  utmost  hope  I  now  clear  I  unaerstand 

What    oft    my    steadiest    thoughts    have 

searfhed  in  vain. 
Why  our  great  expectation  should  be  called 
The  Seed  of  woman."  Milton. 

PERUSE.    Read. 

To  Read  (A.S.  rcedan)  is  to  inter- 
pret characters  into  their  words 
whether  mentally  only  or  audibly  also; 
and,  more  generally,  to  gather  tlie 
meaning  by  observation  of  anything 
which  expresses  itself  by  outward 
effects  or  indications ;  as  to'read  a  cha- 
racter in  a-  face.  Peruse,  the  etym. 
of  which  is  quite  uncertain,  meant  for- 
merly to  observe  closely  and  in  detail. 
This  might  be  the  matter  of  some 
book  or  not.     So  Milton — 

"  Who  first  with  curious  eye 
Perused  him." 

So  now  to  peruse  is  to  read  thought- 
fully. One  peruses  at  length  a  work 
in  which  one  is  interested ;  one  reads, 
it  may  be  a  name  upon  a  sign-post. 

PERVERSE.     Froward. 

P  ER  verse  (Lat.  j^ervcrt^rc,  part,  per- 
versus,  to  overthrow)  is,  literally,  turn- 
ed the  wi'ong  way,  hence  disposed, 
more  or  less,  to  be  obstinately  wrong. 
Froward  {from,  and  the  termination 
of  direction,  -ward)  is  nearly  the  Eng- 
lish equivalent ;  a  person  who  is,  from- 
ward  being  one  who  swerves  from  the 
line  of  regularity  or  government.  In 
usage,  Froward  denotes  the  disposi- 
tion which  is  reluctant  to  obey  or 
submit ;  hence  it  has  a  direct  relation 
to  the  will  of  others.  Perverse  de- 
notes a  settled  contradiction  to  the 
will  of  others,  and  a  tendency  to  do 
the  distasteful  to  others  for  its  own 
sake.  Frowardness  is  a  fault  of  chil- 
dren; perversity  of  all  who  are  old 
enough  to  form  contradictory  judg- 
ments and  determinations,  and  t^j 
adhere  to  them  out  of  a  settled  crook- 
edness of  heart. 

'•  To  worship  the  God  of  Israel  and  him 
only  to  serve  ;  yet  such  was  the  perverse- 
ness  of  the  people  that  this  was  the  com- 
mandment that  of  all  others  they  could 
never  be  made  to  keep." — Sharp 


612 


SYNONYMS  [pestilent] 


*'ltis  nothing  but  a  little  sally  of  anger 
like  the  frowardness  of  peevish  children, 
who,  when  they  cannot  get  all  they  would 
have,  are  resolved  to  take  nothing." — 
Burke. 

PESTILENT.  Pestilential. 

Pestiferous. 

These  words  are  all  formed  from 
the  Latin  root  -pestis,  the  plagiiey  taken 
generally  for  a  contao'ious  disorder. 
Pestilent  denotes  what  belongs  to 
the  plague  or  to  the  character  of  the 
plague,  that  which  is  contagious. 
Pestilential  denotes  that  which  is 
infected  by  the  plague  and  has  a  ten- 
dency to  spread  the  contagion. 

Pestiferous  (L&t.  pest^'er,  bnnging 
pestilence)  that  which  actually  com- 
municates or  carries  it.  A  pestilent 
thing  has  harm,  poison,  evil,  and  the 
like,  in  itself,  whether  physical  or 
moral ;  a  pestilent  viper,  pestilent 
writings.  Pestilential  is  belonging 
to  pestilence,  and  pestilence  marks  the 
actual  spread  and  reign  of  the  pest  or 
plague.  Pestilent  things  may  be  dor- 
mant, pestilential  things  are  exercis- 
ing noxious  influences  with  danger  to 
those  subjects  which  may  come  within 
their  influence.  Pestilent  is  opposed 
to  innocuous,  Pestilential  to  sUu- 
brious. 

PETITION.  Prayer.  Entre/^tv. 
Suit.     Request. 

Petition  (h^t. pttltionenif  ptth'e,  to 
seek  or  ask)  and  Prayer  (Ft.  prier, 
Lat.  pricdri,  to  pray)  dilFer  in  that  the 
prayer  is  commonly  for  greater  gifts 
or  blessings  of  supreme  importance  ; 
while  petition  relates  to  the  more  or- 
dinary wants  of  our  nature  or  circum- 
stances. From  this  flows  the  further 
difference,  that  prayer  involves  a  more 
decided  superiority  in  him  who  is  the 
object  of  prayer;  while  petition  may 
be  to  a  superior  or  an  equal.  The 
characteristic  idea  of  Peiition  is  the 
formal  recognition  of  power  or  autho- 
rity in  auowier;  of  Prayer,  earnest- 
ness and  submission  in  one's  self. 

Ei>iTREAT  (O.  Fr.  entraiter,  to  en- 
tieat  of)  involves  a  certain  equality 
between  the  parties  ;  it  is  a  request 
of  an  urgent  character  dictated  by  the 
feelings,  and  having  reference  to  some 
specific  act  in  tJie  power  of  the  other 


to  perform,  or,  in  some  cases,  to  ab- 
stain from.  The  prayer  and  the  peti- 
tion may  be  personal  or  collective, 
the  entreaty  is  personal  or  individual. 

Request  (O.  Fr.  re  vies, b,  jow  re- 
quete)  is  a  more  simple  anQ  iess  for- 
cible expression,  and  may  come  from 
a  superior,  an  equal,  or  (with  due  de- 
ference) an  inferior.  Its  subject  is 
action  in  another. 

The  Suit  (Fr.  suite,  a  following)  is 
a  petition  often  prolonged,  for  some 
favour  towai'd  one's  self,  and  so  is  only 
made  to  those  who  have  it  in  theii 
power  to  grant  favours ;  as,  a  gentle- 
man pays  his  suit  to  a  lady,  a  courtier 
to  a  prince.  It  indicates  not  neces- 
sarily the  general  superiority  of  an- 
other ;  but  a  superiority  on  the  point 
with  which  the  request  is  concerned, 
and  the  possession  of  that  which  he 
may  grant  to  another. 

"  If  there  should  happen  any  uncommon 
injury  or  infringement  of  the  right*  before 
mentioned,  which  the  ordinary  course  of 
law  is  too  defective  to  reach,  there  still  re- 
mains a  fourth  subordinate  right  appertain- 
ing to  every  individual,  namely,  the  right 
of  petitioning  the  king,  or  either  house  of 
parliament,  for  the  redress  of  grievances." 
—  Blackstonk. 

"  For  some  I  sought 
By  prayer  th'  offended  Deity  to  appease. 
Kneeled,  and  before  Him  humbled  all  my 

heart. 
Methought  I  saw  him  placable  and  mild 
Bending  His  ear."  Milton. 

*'  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  nor  to 
return  from  following  after  thee." — English. 
Bible. 

"  When  a  person  hath  received  an  injury, 
and  thinks  it  worth  his  while  to  demand  a 
satisfaction  for  it,  he  is  to  consider  with 
himself,  or  take  advice,  what  redress  the 
law  has  given  for  that  injury,  and  there- 
upon is  to  make  application  or  suit  to  the 
Crown,  the  fountain  of  all  justice,  for  that 
particular  specific  remedy  which  he  is  de- 
termined or  advised  to  pursue."— Black- 
stonk. 

"At  the  approach  of  evening  he  took 
leave  ;  but  not  till  he  had  requested  per- 
mission  to  renew  his  visit." — ROLDSMITH. 

PHRASE.  Sentence.  Expres- 
sion. Proposition.  Period.  Paha- 
GRAPH.     Clause. 

A  Phrase  (Gr.  <|>pac-tf,  a  way  oj 
speaking,  <ppal^nv,  to  speak)  is  a  portion 
of  a  sentence  consisting  of  two  or 
mor»  words,  and  is  imj>resBed  with  a 


[phraseology]     discriminated. 


613 


character  of  its  own,-  though  it  ig  not 
grammatically  independent. 

A  Sentence  (Lat.  senientia)  is 
grammatically  complete,  and  stands 
for  any  short  saying  of  that  character. 

An  Expression  (Lat.  erpressimem, 
a  wording)  is  a  distinctive  form  of  ut- 
terance, regarded  in  a  technical  or 
rhetorical  point  of  view,  and  may 
therefore  consist  of  either  one  or  more 
words. 

A  Period  (Gr.  wifwSoc,  a  circuit,  a 
well-rounded  sentence)  is  a  sentence 
wholly  divested  of  the  idea  of  its 
meaning,  and  regarded  only  in  its 
material  construction  as  a  matter  of 
grammar. 

A  Paragraph  (Gi*.  7rec^a.y^a.<pri) 
meant,  at  first,  a  marginal  writing, 
but  has  come  to  signify  a  group  of 
sentences  or  periods  limited  by  the 
common  point  to  which  they  reier. 

A  F Roposn ION  (Lat. propMtionem) 
is  a  sentence  regarded  in  a  logical 
point  of  view,  that  is,  as  stating  the 
connexion  or  disconnexion  between 
the  subject  and  predicate,  by  an  affir- 
mative or  negative  copula;  as,  "Men 
are,  or  are  not,  responsible  for  their 
actions." 

A  Clause  (Fr.  clause^  Lat.  claum) 
is  grammatically  a  portion  of  a  sen- 
tence containing  a  subject  and  predi- 
cate, and  in  its  legal  sense  an  article, 
stipulation,  or  proviso.  It  is,  generally 
speaking,  some  sentence  or  paragraph 
having  a  force  of  its  own,  in  which  it 
stands  related  to  the  rest  of  the  docu- 
ment, and  by  which  the  rest  is  modi- 
fied and  governed. 

"  Exclusion  of  all  popish  members  to  sit 
in  either  house  of  parliament,  with  a  clause 
in  favour  of  the  Duke  of  York. " — Baker, 
C/iarles  11. 

"  So  bravely  set  forth,   so  eqoipt,  and  so 

shod, 
That,  as  Homer  has  phrased  it,  he  looked 

like  a  god."  Byron. 

"A  sentence  is  an  assemblage  of  words 
expressed  in  proper  form,  and  ranged  in 
proper  order,   and  concurring  to  make  a 
eomplete  sense." — LowTH. 
"  Eternal  God,  for  whom  whoever  dare 
Seek  new  ejqpressions,  do  the  circle  square. 
And  thrust  into  strait  corners  of  poor  wit 
Thee  who  art  cornerless  and  infinite, 
I  woald  bat  praise  Thy  name,  not  name 

Thee  now,"  Donkk, 


"  Logicians  use  to  clap  a  proposition, 
As  justices  do  criminals,  m  prison. 
And  in  as  learned  authentic  nonsense,  writ 
The  names  of  all  their  moods  and  figures 
fit."  Butler, 

"  A  period  is  the  distinction  of  a  sentence 
in  all  i-espects  perfect,  and  is  marked  with 
one  full  prick  over  against  the  lower  part 
of  the  last  letter,  thus  (.)."— Ben  Jonson. 

"  The  king's  secretaries  must  first  allow 
and  paragraph  them,  and  then  they  are 
allowed. "— E  yel  YN. 

PHRASEOLOGY.  Diction. 
Style, 

In  the  order  in  which  these  words 
here  stand,  they  advance  from  the 
more  particular  to  the  more  general. 

Phraseology  {see  Phrase)  is  the 
employment  of  particular  expressions 
in  such  a  way  as  to  be  distinctive, 
but  not  as  a  matter  of  critical  praise 
or  blame.  We  do  not  speak  of  good 
or  bad  phraseology. 

Diction  (Lat.  dictionem,  deliverii, 
an  expression)  is  the  construction,  dis- 
position, and  application  of  words. 
The  term  is  employed  in  cases  where 
clearness  and  accuracy  are  at  stake ; 
while  Style  (Lat.  stylus,  siilus,  a 
pointed  style,  usually  of  iron,  for 
writing  on  waxen  tablets)  is  em- 
ployed of  the  characteristics  of  pro- 
ductions and  performances  w  hich  lay 
claim  to  an  artistic  character,  as 
writing,  oratory,  painting,  and  the 
like.  Diction  belongs  more  to  the 
matter,  style  to  the  author.  PJiraseo- 
logy  belongs  to  speaking  and  writing, 
diction  to  written  compositions.  The 
style  of  an  orator  would  include  his 
diction.  The  component  requisites 
of  diction  are  clearness  and  correct- 
ness. Style  is  more  subtle,  and  be- 
longs to  the  personal  peculiarities 
which  mark  the  talent  or  genius  of 
the  writer  or  speaker,  such  as  pro- 
priety, elegance,  ease,  precision,  ele- 
vation, pointedness,  expressiveness, 
rapidity,  or  deliberateness,  flippancy, 
sententiousness,  pungency,  and  so  on. 
"  The  Book  of  Sophisms  (of  Aristotle) 
still  supplies  a  very  convenient  phraseology 
for  marking  concisely  some  of  the  prinoipai 
fallacies  which  are  apt  to  impose  on  the 
understanding  in  the  heat  of  a  viv^  voce 
dispute,"— Stewart. 

"  Though  he  (Dryden)  wrote  hastily,  aai 
often  incorrectly,  and  his  style  is  not  fre» 


614 


Trom  faults,  yet  there  is  a  richness  in  his 
diction,  a  copiousness,  ease,  and  variety  in 
his  expression,  which  have  not  been  sur- 
passed by  any  that  have  come  after  him." 
— Blaib. 

"  Though  our  author's  plan  should  be 
faultless,  and  his  story  ever  so  -well  con- 
ducted, yet  if  he  be  feeble  or  flat  in  style, 
destitute  of  afiecting  scenes,  and  deficient 
in  poetical  colouring,  he  can  have  no  suc- 
eess." — Ibid, 

PIECE.     Part. 

Piece  (Fr.  piece)  is  a  part  actually 
separated ;  while  Paut  (Lat.  partem) 
may  be  separated  or  divided  only  con- 
ceptionally.  So  we  speak  of  a  part  of 
a  joint  before  it  is  cut  off,  a  piece 
afterwards.  Piece  involves  the  idea 
of  comparative  smallness ;  part,  of 
comparative  magnitude.  A  certain 
part  of  a  volume  might  comprise 
pages  ;  choice  pieces  would  naturally 
mean  small  extracts. 

PILLAGE.  Plundkr.  Rapine. 
Booty.     Spoil.     Prey. 

The  idea  of  property  violently  taken 
from  others  is  common  to  these  terms. 

Pillage  (Fr.  pillage,  from  piller,  to 
pillage)  points  more  directly  to  the 
stripping  undergone  by  those  who  are 
deprived  of  their  goods ;  Rapine  (Lat. 
rttpina,  rKptre,  to  seize),  to  the  snatch- 
ing away  on  the  part  of  the  robbei's 
themselves  of  whatever  valuables 
come  within  their  reach;  Plunder 
(Germ,  pidndern,  to  plunder),  to  the 
quantity  and  value  of  the  things  car- 
ried off.  Plunder  and  Booty  (Icel. 
byte,  exchange,  barter ;  and  this  from 
byia,  to  distribute,  the  original  idea  of 
*^ booty  "  being  share.  Skeat,  Etym. 
Diet.)  differ  in  the  comparative  law- 
fulness of  the  latter.  Booty  is  spoil 
taken  in  war;  but  the  term  Spoil 
(Lat.  spoliiim)  is  more  pertinent  to 
individuals,  booty  to  the  army,  or  to  a 
band  of  brigands,  in  which  case  there 
is,  of  course,  no  idea  of  lawfulness, 
but  only  of  professional  gain  from 
others.  An  army  carries  off  booty  ; 
spoil  is  the  gain  of  combatants.  Like 
Pillage,  it  implies  emphatically  the 
stripping  of  others  of  their  personal 
property  and  goods. 

Prey  (0.  Fr.  praie.  Mod.  Fr.  pyie, 
]jSLt    prteda)  is  that  which  is  seized 


SYNONYMS  [PTECeJ 

for  purposes  of  possession  under  the 
impulse  of  animal  appetite. 

'•  Whereupon  I  went  myself,  and  took 
away  from  our  men   whatever  they  had 
pillaged,  and  gave   it  to  the   owners." — 
Hakluyt's  Voyages. 
"  Let  that  go  heap  a  mass  of  wretched 

wealth, 
Purchas'd  by  rapine  worse  than  stealth. 
And  brooding  o'er  it  sit."     Bkn  Jonson. 

"  For  the  phmdering  of  malignants,  and 
sequestering  their  estates,  I  answer  that  I 
think  the  parliament  never  yet  approved 
the  plundering,  or,  in  plain  English,  robbing 
of  any  man  by  any  of  their  forces,  they 
having  pZwnrfererf  no  places  taken  by  assault, 
for  aught  I  hear,  though  the  king's  forces, 
on  the  contrary,  have  miserably  plundered 
all  the  kingdom  almost."— Prynne. 
Robbing  is  more  specific  than  plun- 
dering. Persons  are  sometimes  robbed 
of  their  purses  or  their  watches.  It 
is  yet  worse  if  they  are  plundered  of 
all  they  possess.  Hence,  Plundering 
as  applied  to  houses  or  localities, 
denotes  a  more  varied  or  promiscuous 
kind  of  robbery;  but  unlike  Plunder, 
whicli  is  sometimes,  nay  commonly, 
done  with  leave,  as  when  a  victorious 
array  plunders  a  city.  Robbery  is  al- 
ways in  violation  of  law  and  right. 
Prey  is  never  employed  but  in  an 
odious  sense.  It  involves  ideas  of 
violence  and  destruction.  It  is  the 
only  one  of  the  terms  which  lends  it- 
self freely  to  a  secondary  sense.  A 
man  falls  a  prey  to  his  own  passions 
when  those  passions  seem  to  seize 
him,  to  keep  hold  of  him,  to  deprive 
him  of  free  action,  and  to  bring  him 
to  destruction. 

*'  So  rich  a  booty  forced  to  forsake. 
To  put  himself  and  prisoner  out  of  pain. 
He  on  the  sudden  stabs  him." 

Drayton. 

•'He  combated  this  strong  one,  this 
mighty  and  dreadful  foe  of  ours,  and 
baffled  him,  and  bound  him,  and  disarmed 
him,  taking  away  the  whole  armour  in 
which  he  trusted,  and  spoiled  him,  rifled  all 
his  baggage,  bare  away  all  his  instruments 
of  mischief."— Barrow. 
"  In  gallant  trim  the  gilded  vessel  goes. 
Youth  on  the  prow,  and  Pleasure  at  the 

helm. 
Regardless   of  the  sweeping  Whirlwind's 

sway, 
That,  hushed,  in  grim  repose,  expects  his 
evening  jorey."  GRAY. 

PILLAR.     Column. 

Pillar  (Fr.  pilier,  L.  F,at.  ptlare, 


[piteous] 

Lat.  p'lla,  a  stone  pier)  comraonly 
conveys  the  idea  of  support ;  Column 
(Lat.  co/umnj)  superadds  those  of  size 
and  ornamentation.  Support  is,  how- 
ever, not  an  essential  idea  of  either. 
Both  words  may  be  used  analogously 
of  what  is  like  a  pillar  or  column  ;  as, 
"  Lot's  wife  became  a  pillar  of  salt;" 
"  The  columns  of  an  army."  In  this 
case,  column  is  a  term  of  greater 
dignity  than  pillar ;  an  architectural 
monument,  though  in  the  form  of  a 
pillar,  is  thus  called  a  column. 

PINCH.  Squeeze.  Gripe. 
Press.     Clench. 

Pinch  (Fr.  vincer)  denotes  ter- 
minal compression,  as  between  two 
substances  closing  upon  their  ex- 
tremities ;  as  to  pinch  with  pincers 
or  the  fingers ;  the  shoe  pinches 
when  the  two  sides,  or  the  upper 
leather  and  sole,  have  the  effect  of 
meeting  too  closely  or  tightly  upon 
the  foot ;  a  pinch  of  snuflp  is  so  much 
as  is  compressed  between  the  ends  of 
the  fingers.  Objects  animate  or  in- 
animate, acting  mechanically,  may 
be  said  to  pinch,  Squeeze,  or  Press  ; 
while  Gripe  denotes  a  voluntary  ac- 
tion. 

Press  (Lat.  preintre,  part,  pressus, 
to  press)  denotes  no  more  than  the 
effect  of  forcible  action   persistently 

Eassing  from  one  body  to  another ; 
ence,  as  pinching  involves  two  direc- 
tions or  applications  of  force,  pressing 
may  be  applied  to  one  or  many.  In 
pressing  pap)er  the  active  force  is  em- 
ployed only  on  one  side  or  direction. 

Squeeze  (A.  S.  cwysan,  to  crush 
or  squeeze)  denotes  a  compression  of 
larger  surfaces  or  more  points  of  con- 
tact than  pinch,  while  it  implies,  un- 
like press,  more  than  one  side  for  the 
application  of  the  force. 

Gripe  (A.  S.  gripa,  a  gripe,  a 
handful)  denotes  movement  which 
results  in  tight,  sharp  holding,  and 
is  a  voluntary  action. 

Clench  or  clinch  is  connected  with 
cling,  and  has  the  force  of  complete 
union  or  consolidation  of  two  or  more 
parts  into  a  compact  mass  by  an  ex- 
ternal grasp  or  cJ  itch.  In  its  meta- 
phorical sense,  t)  Clench  is  to  esta- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


615 


blish  finally  and  unalterably  by  a 
decisive  word  or  act,  so  as  to  pre- 
clude both  the  necessity  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  after  modification,  contra- 
diction, or  alteration ;  an  argument 
clenched  is  finally  determined  and 
closed. 

PINION.     Wing. 

The  Pinion  (Fr.  pigyion)  is  a  fea- 
thered wing;  while  Wing  (Dan. 
and  Swed.  vinee)  is  more  e-enerallv  a 


and  Swed.  vinge)  is  more  generally  a 
lateral  appendage  of  comparatively 
light  material,  moved  with  a  vibratory 
motion,  and  supporting  the  flying 
body  by  its  pressure  upon  the  atmo- 
sphere. Hence  insects,  for  instance, 
have  wings,  but  not  pinions. 

PITEOUS.  Pitiful.  Pitiable. 
Despicable.     Contemptible. 

The  former  three  ^rms,  though 
drawn  from  the  same  word  pity  (Fr. 
pilie,  Lat.  pielatem,  and  so  a  doublet 
of  piety),  have  different  shades  of 
meaning.  Piti a  ble  means  deserving 
of  pity,  that  is,  it  relates  to  what  is  a 
fit  object  of  pity.  Piteous  is  moving 
or  exciting  pUy;  Pitiful,  full  of 
what  awakens  pity,  as  a  cliaracteristic 
of  disposition,  but  afterwards  trans- 
ferred from  the  subject  feeling  or  ex- 
hibiting to  the  object  awakening  pity. 
Piteous  is  sometimes,  however,  used 
in  the  sense  of  feeling  pity.  When 
Pitiful  is  used  in  the  sense  of  morally 
deserving  of  pity,  the  term  involves 
a  feeling  very  different  from  compas- 
sion. The  object  of  pity  is  alwaj'S 
weak  :  where  this  is  a  reprehensible 
moral  want,  the  word  involves  a 
mixture  of  disapprobation  and  con- 
tempt. 

Despicable  (Lat.  despicdbtlis)  and 
Contemptible  (Lat.  contemptibilis) 
are  only  partially  synonymous  with 
the  above,  that  is,  so  far  as  pity 
and  contempt  are  akin,  or  as  that 
which  would  awaken  contempt  in 
one  mind  might  excite  pity  in 
another.  Crime  and  error  may  be 
viewed  under  the  light  of  unhappi- 
ness  and  misfortune,  though  vice, 
which  merits  more  than  pity  and 
misfortune,  is  no  fit  object  of  con- 
tempt. Despicable  is  commonly  em- 
ployed in  reference  to  the  energetic 


616 


SYNONYMS  [plan] 


and  the  positive;  Contemptible,  of  the 
inactive  and  negative.  Man's  con- 
duct is  despicable  when  it  proceeds 
from  motives,  or  exhibits  a  character 
which  we  despise  on  account  of  mean- 
ness or  vice ;  whereas  we  use  tlie  term 
Contemptible  of  characters  or  efforts 
wliich  we  disregard  on  the  simple 
ground  of  weakness. .  "  He  exhibited 
a  despicable  ingratitude  and  selfish- 
ness. "  His  opponent  seems  to  have 
regarded  his  opposition  as  contempti- 
ble." Vanity  is  contemptible ;  malice 
is  despicable. 

*'  She  sitting  by  him  as  on  ground  he  lay. 
Her   mournful    notes    full    piteously    did 

frame. 
And  thereof  made  a  lamentable  lay." 

Spenser. 

On  the  other  hand,  Thomson,  in  his 
advice  to  the  angler : — 
"  But  if  too  young  and  easily  deceived, 
A  worthless  prey  scarce  bends  the  pliant 

rod; 
Him,  piteous  of  his  youth,  and  the  short 

space 
He  has  enjoyed  the  vital  light  of  heaven. 
Soft  disenoage,  and  back  into  the  stream 
The  speckled  captive  throw." 

So  in  the  case  of  pitiful : — 

"  And  as  they  went,  they  heard  a  rueful 

cry 
Of  one  that  wailed  and  pitifully  wept." 

SpEXSER. 
On  the  other  hand: — 

"  Miles  Smith  was  hurtful  to  none  but 
himself;  he  was  pitiful  to  the  poor,  and 
hospitable  to  his  neighbours." — Wood, 
Athen.  Oxon. 

"  Samson  possesses  all  the  terrific  majesty 
of  Prometheus  chained,  the  mysterious  dis- 
tress of  ffidipus,  and  the  pitiable  wretched- 
ness of  Philoctetes." — Observer. 

"  '  And,'  as  he  says  rarely  well,  '  though 
some  creatures  seem  to  be  made  of  much 
coarser  stuff"  than  others,  yet  even  in 
the  vilest  the  Maker's  art  shines  through 
the    despicableness    of    the    matter.' " — 

BOYLK. 

*' A  Nazarite  ii?  f-lace  abominable. 

Vaunting  my  strength  in  honour  to  their 
Dagon  ? 

Besides,  how  vile,  contemptible,  ridi- 
culous. 

What  act  more  execrably  unclean,  pro- 
fane ! "  Milton. 

PLAN.  Design.  Scheme.  Pro- 
ject. 

Pi  AN(Fr.  vlati^  is,  liteially,  some- 
thing drawn  on  a  pUtne;  hence,  a 
mrlhod  of  action  or  construction  in 


any  way.  The  plan  has  reference  to 
the  means  to  be  adopted  for  an  end 
rather  than  the  end  itself;  as  the  plan 
of  a  campaign  has  victory  over  the 
enemy  for  its  final  object.  A  plan  is 
well  or  ill  arranged  or  devised,  effec- 
tual or  ineffectual,  practicable  or  im- 
practicable. 

A  Design  (Fr.  designer,  Lat.  desig- 
nare,  to  mark  out,  design)  is  the  concep- 
tion of  the  final  object  or  purpose,  and 
is,morally,  good  or  bad,  or,  artistically, 
worthy  or  unworthy.  The  plan  often 
precedes  the  design,  and  is  the  mode 
by  which  the  design  is  effected.  The 
design  is  the  thing  which  we  wish  to 
execute,"  the  plan  is  the  method  of 
executing  it.  One  proposes  an  end, 
one  has  views,  one  forms  a  design. 
'I'he  good  Christian  has  no  other  end 
than  heaven,  nor  any  other  view  than 
to  please  God,  nor  any  design' but  to 
work  out  his  salvation. 

Scheme  (Gr.  a"xr)y.a.j  form,  manner) 
and  Project  (Lat.  prdjectum,a  thing 
stretched  forth)  includes  both  end  and 
means.  A  Scheme  carries  the  ideas 
of  ingenuity  and  contrivance,  it  ex- 
cludes largeness  and  grandeur  of  aim, 
and  is  often  selfish ;  Puoj  kct,  the  com- 
bination of  whatever  faculties  or 
eflforts  are  needed  for  carrying  out  de- 
signs of  importance,  being  a  word  of 
greater  dignity  than  Scheme,  which 
is  often  employed  of  mean  and  petty 
designs.  A  man  has  a  project  in  view  ; 
he  constructs  a  scheme ;  he  acts  upon 
a  plan  which  he  considers  may  enable 
him  to  realize  his  design.  I'lan, 
Sen  EME,  and  Proj  ect  may  be  confined 
to  one's  self  and  one's  own  afifairs; 
Design  operates  upon  some  thing  or 
person  beyond  them.  Project  is  more 
general  than  Design,  which  is  more 
specific.  "  1  have  a  project  for  making 
money."  "  I  have  a  scheme  for  doing 
so  at  other  people's  expense."  Schemk 
and  Project  are  speculative  and  ex- 
ceptional. Plan  and  Design  enter,  io 
some  measure,  into  the  business  of 
every  day.  A  tendency  to  idealize 
leads  men  to  conceive  designs ;  a  cer« 
tain  inquietude  induces  them  to  start 
projects.  It  may  be  added  that  Pro- 
ject is  more  undefined  than  Design, 
which  is   clearer  and  more  specific 


[pledge] 

He  who  forms  a  project  has  sketched 
out  bis  intentions,  he  who  has  a  de- 
sign has  realized  them  in  detail.  De- 
sign is  not  so  purely  personal  as 
scheme,  but  more  so  than  Project. 
The  design  of  the  avaricious  man  is  to 
et  money,  his  project  is  to  become 
rich.  The  design  is  more  immediate, 
the  project  more  remote.  One's  own 
interests  are  always  more  or  less 
closely  connected  with  one's  designs, 
but  one  may  have  a  project  for  the 
benefit  of  another.  A  good  general  is 
as  anxious  to  conceal  his  own  designs 
as  to  discover  those  of  the  enemy.  A 
good  minister  of  state  ought  to  be  full 
of  projects  for  the  honour  of  the  sove- 
reign and  the  amelioration  of  the 
I  <»ople. 

"  The  vigour  of  a  boundless  imagination 
told  him  how  a  phm  might  be  disposed  that 
would  embellish  Nature  and  restore  Art  to 
its  proper  office — the  just  improvement  or 
imitation  of  \t."—^ KX.V01M,  Anecdotes  of 
Painting. 

"  The  machine  which  we  are  inspecting 
demonstrates  by  its  construction,  contri- 
vance, and  design.  Contrivance  must 
have  had  a  contriver,  design  a  designer, 
whether  the  machine  immediately  pro- 
ceeded fi'ora  another  machine  or  not." — 
Paley. 

"  The  idea  of  the  possibility  of  multiply- 
ing paper  money  to  almost  any  extent  was 
the  real  foundation  of  what  is  called  the 
Mississippi  scheme,  the  most  extravagant 
project,  both  of  banking  and  stock-jobbing, 
that  perhaps  the  world  ever  saw."— SMITH, 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

PLEADER.  Advocate.  De- 
fender. 

Taking  these  terms,  not  in  their 
technical,  but  their  ordinary  and  con- 
versational use,  a  Defender  (Lat. 
dejeiidtre,  to  defend)  assists  him  who 
or  that  which  is  attacked  ;  a  Pleader 
{see  Pi.ea)  is  one  who  urges  a  require- 
ment in  favour  of  another  or  him- 
self. 

Advocate  (Lat.  advocdre,  part,  ad- 
v'UcdtuSf  to  call  to  the  side  for  support) 
is  employed  of  any  who  promotes  by 
words  ;  as,  to  advocate  certain  prin- 
ciples. We  defend  persons ;  plead 
for  their  necessities;  advocate  their 
caiiso. 

'*  No  culprit  ought  to  plead  in  irons. " — 

OrRKK. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


017 


**  The  advocates  thereof  to  be  brandea 
for  incendiaries." — Milton. 

"  It  would  be  ridiculous  to  suppose  that 
the  defendant  comes  and  defends,  or  in  the 
vulgar  acceptation,  justifles." — BlacK- 
STONE. 

PLEASURE.  Comfort.  Enjoy- 
ment.     Fruition. 

Pleasure  (Fr.  plaisir,  Lat.  yilit- 
cere,  to  please)  is  a  very  extensive 
word,  embracing  almost  every  feeling 
or  sensation  which  is  not  painful,  from 
its  lowest  to  its  highest  degree 

Enjoyment  {Fr.joie,joy,  Lat.  gau 
dia,  pi.)  is  keen  pleasure  specificallii 
derived  from  a  particular  source. 

Comfort  (L.  Lat.  confortdre,  to 
rlrengthen)  has  acquired  a  twofold 
meaning:  1,  a  state  of  quiet  enjoy- 
ment flowing  from  a  sense  of  complete 
supply  of  every  want ;  and  2,  relative 
ease  afforded  under  mental  trouble, 
in  which  sense  it  is  nearly  the  same 
as  consolation  ;  but  consolation  is  more 
active.  We  give  consolation,  ana 
take  comfort.  Comfort,  in  this  case, 
applies  to  the  mitigation  of  lesser 
evils. 

Fruition  (L.a,t.  frui,  pdivt.  fniit us, 
to  enjoy)  is  a  term  of  the  elevated 
spiritual  or  rhetorical  st^-le.  It  ex- 
presses the  pleasure  and  full  satisfac- 
tion that  issues  from  possession. 

"Where  I  mayhave/rwiYtonofher  love." 
—Shakespeare. 

PLEDGE.  Deposit.  Security. 
Earnest.     Gage. 

These  tei-ms  vary  according  to  the 
different  interests  which  are  consulted 
or  secured.  A  Pledge  (O.  Yv.pl^ge, 
]Mod.  Fr.  pleige,  a  pledge,  snretu)  is 
something  deposited  with  another  a.s 
a  security  for  a  debt  or  engagement, 
enabling  that  person  to  verify  and 
claim  the  issue  of  it.  It  is  commonly 
given  in  return  for  a  favour  received 
or  a  claim  recognized.  It  is  a  specific 
article. 

Deposit  (Lat.  depontre,  part.  dlj))i- 
sitxis,  to  put  down)  is  very  general, 
and  expresses  any  case  in  which  a 
part  is  lodged  with  another  as  a  re- 
sponsible keeper,  in  relation  to  the 
whole  as  forthcoming  It  may  be 
anything  of  value,  as  a  sum  of  monev. 


618 


Sl:«ONYMS 


[PLIABLEJ 


A  Security  (Lat.  securus,  se  nnd 
cura,  without  care  or  anxiety)  is 
something  given  to  place  another  be- 
yond risk  of  loss,  and  applies,  techni- 
cally, to  the  document,  transaction, 
or  source  of  this  security.  Pledges 
and  securities  are  commonly  demanded 
as  well  as  given;  a  deposit  is  commonly 
voluntary.  Deposit,  too,  denotes 
something  movable  ;  Security  may 
be  immovable  property,  as  land.  The 
person  himself  may  become  a  security. 
In  an  extended  sense  anything  may 
be  called  a  pledge  which  binds  a  per- 
son after  it  is  given  to  honour,  inter- 
est, or  love.  Children  are  pledges  of 
affection  to  the  parents.  Earnest, 
like  first  fniits,  is  a  part  paid  or 
given,  as  a  warrant  that  more  is  forth- 
coming of  the  same  kind.  In  the  case 
of  Pledge,  the  forthcoming  thing  is  a 
definite  and  specific  article;  in  the 
case  of  Earnest,  it  is  general  and  in- 
definite. It  may  be,  and  generally  is, 
some  act ;  as  a  victory  in  a  youthful 
competition  may  be  an  earnest  of 
future  energy  and  success  in  life. 
A  pledge  binds  us  to  payment,  in- 
demnification, or  compensation  of 
some  kind.  It  has  regard  to  the  ob- 
ligation of  the  person  giving  it ;  an 
earnest  has  rather  relation  to  the  con- 
fidence of  the  person  receiving  it. 

♦*  But  threw  his  gamitlet,  as  a  sacred  pledge 
His  cause  in  combat  the  next  day  to  try." 

Spenser. 

"To  them  were  committed  the  oracles 
of  God,  that  is,  with  them  were  entrusted 
all  the  revelations  of  the  will  of  God,  the 
law  and  the  prophecies,  as  the  people  with 
whom  God  thought  fit  to  deposit  these 
things  for  the  benefit  of  the  world."— 
Clarke. 

"For your  security  from  any  treachery, 
having  no  hostage  worthy  to  countervail 
you,  take  my  word,  which  I  esteem  above 
all  respects."— SiDXEY,  Arcadia. 

"And  when  the  Gospel  is  preached  unto 
us,  we  beleve  the  mercy  of  God,  and  in  be- 
leving  we  receave  the  Spirite  of  God, 
which  is  the  earnest  of  eternal  lyfe.*"— 
Tyndall. 

The  legal  account  of  Earnest  is  thus 
given  by  Blackstone : 

"  If  any  part  of  the  price  is  paid  down,  if 
it  be  but  a  penny,  or  any  portion  of  the 
goods  delivered  as  earnest,  which  the  civil 
law  calls  arrha,  and  interprets  tobeempti- 
•nis   veadrtfonis  contractae   argumentum. 


the   property   of  the   goods  is  absolutely 
bound  by  it." 

A  Gage  (Fr.  gage,  Lat.  vddium)  is 
specifically  a  pledge  or  security  for 
action  or  performance,  to  be  forfeited 
in  case  of  non-performance. 
"  A  moiety  competent 
"Was gaged  by  our  king."   Shakespeare. 

PLIABLE.     Pliant.     Flexible 

Supple. 

Pliable  (Fr.  plier,  Lat.  'pUcare,  to 
fold)  is  stronger  than  Pliant,  which 
has  the  same  derivation.  The  stick 
of  a  driving  whip  may  be  pliant;  the 
lash  is  pliable.  A  stick  of  wax,  which 
would  only  just  bear  bending  with- 
out breaking,  we  should  call  pliant 
rather  than  pliable.  Pliant  may  be 
defined  as  capable  of  bending;  Pli- 
able of  being  bent  about. 

Flexible  (Lat.  JiexWilis)  com- 
monly imparts  the  idea  of  specific 
purpose,  and  might  be  defined  spe- 
cifically pliable,  or  pliable  for  a  par- 
ticular purpose.  As  Pliable  expresses 
the  nature,  so  Flexible  implies  anob- 
iect,  of  the  bending,  and  applies  to 
portions  of  the  body  bent  about  at 
will. 

Supple  (Fr.  so»p/e,  Lat.  snpplex)  is 
primarily  usedof  the  joints  of  the  body, 
and  of  other  substances  analogously. 
It  denotes  an  easy,  active,  or,  as  it 
were,  willing  pliability,  and  would  be 
inapplicable  to  substances  which  bend 
sluggishly  and  by  force,  like  sealing- 
wax.  In  their  metaphorical  applica- 
tion, a  pliant  disposition  means  easy- 
going; pliable,  easily  affected  and 
altered  by  external  influences.  Flexi- 
ble is  employed  of  the  mind  and  pur- 
pose, denoting  one  whose  determina- 
tion may  be  changed,  especially  by 
persuasion  or  entreaty.  Supple  has 
sometimes  the  force  of  moulding  itsell 
to  suit  a  purpose,  especially  the  cha- 
racter and  tastes  of  another;  a  sup- 
ple character,  meaning  one  capable  of 
cringing ;  but  this  is  an  employment 
metaphorical  rather  than  strictly 
analogous. 

"  So  is  the  heart  of  some  men.  When 
smitten  by  God,  it  seems  soft  and  pliable, 
but  taken  off  from  the  fire  of  afliiction,  it 
presently  becomes  horrid,  then  stiff,  and 
then  hard  as  a   rr-:k  of  adamant,  or  ri 


lPOLITEJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


619 


the    gates  of   death   and  hell. 
Taylor. 


-Bishop 


So,  physically,  the  finders  of  those 
who  are  quick-handed  might  be  called 
Pliable;  the  arm  of  the  agile, 
Pliakt. 

"  The  younger  they  are  when  they  begin 
with  that  art  (of  music),  the  more  pliable 
and  nimble  their  fingers  are  touching  the 
instrument." — Sharp. 
"  Who  foremost  now  delight  to  cleave. 
With  pliant  arm,  thy  glassy  wave." 

Gray. 

"  "^hKh  flexibility  (of  the  spine),  we  may 
also  observe,  varies  in  different  parts  of  the 
chain  ;  is  least  in  the  back,  where  strength 
rather  than  flexure  is  wanted ;  greater  in 
the  loins,  which  it  was  necessary  should 
be  more  supple  than  the  back  ;  and  greatest 
of  all  in  the  neck,  for  the  free  motion  of 
the  head."— Paley. 

*'  This  ^ives  the  mind  a  freedom,  and 
the  exercising  the  understanding  in  the 
several  ways  of  inquiry  and  reasoning, 
which  the  most  skilful  have  made  use  of, 
teaches  the  mind  sagacity  and  wariness  ; 
and  a  suppleness  to  apply  itself  more  closely 
and  dexterously  to  the  bents  and  turns  of 
the  matter  in  all  its  researches." — Locke. 

FLIGHT.     Predicament. 

Plight  (A.  S.  pliht,  a  wager,  dan- 
ger), meant  originally  risk ;  and,  as  a 
pledge  is  a  matter  of  risk,  so  it  came 
secondly  to  mean  a  condition  of  risk, 
danger,  or  difficulty. 

Predicament  is  a  term  of  scholastic 
philosophy,  the  Latin  pra:dtcdmenturri 
being  the  translation  of  the  Greek 
xetTnyo^Uy  a  generalized  mode  under 
which  statements  or  propositions 
could  be  made.  According  to  Aris- 
totle, these  were  ten  in  number — 
substance,  quality,  quantity,  relation, 
action,  passion,  time,  place,  situation, 
habit.  Hence  to  be  in  a  predicament 
is  to  be  emphatically  in  a  state  or 
marked  condition,  and,  by  a  peculiar 
restriction,  a  condition  of  awkward- 
ness or  difficulty.  Predicament  is 
commonly  used  of  such  embarrass- 
ments as  are  consequent  on  our  own 
actions,  and  are  of  a  moral  nature  ; 
Plight,  of  such  as  are  accidental,  phy- 
sical, or  external.  A  man  who  by 
oversight,  for  instance,  has  bound 
himself  to  two  diffisrent  engagements 
at  different  places  at  the  same  time,  is 
in  a  predicament.  One  who  has  fallen 
into  a  ditch  .in  full  dress  is  in  a  plight. 


But  the  distinction  is  recent.  In  old 
writers  Plight  has  much  the  meaning 
of  predicament  at  present,  and  was 
afterwards  used  in  no  unfavourable 
sense,  but  in  that  of  condition  gene- 
rally. So  that  "in  good  plight "  w ould 
involve  no  contradiction. 

"  For  never  knight  I  saw  in  such  misseem- 
ing  plight"  SpEKSER. 

"  0  woful  sympathy,  piteous  prerficameJii." 


POISON.    VENOM. 

Poison  (Fr.  poison,  Lat.  pottonem,  a 
draught,  a  poisonous  draught),  is  gene- 
ral, but  commonly  denotes  what  is  re- 
ceived into  the  system  as  such  by  the 
mouth  or  the  respiratory  organs ;  as, 
hemlock  or  noxious  gas. 

Venom  (Lat.  vminum),  what  is  dis- 
charged from  animals,  and  received 
externally,  as  in  the  bite  or  sting  of 
the  serpent  or  the  scorpion.  The  me- 
taphorical uses  of  the  term  corre- 
spond to  this  distinction.  The  in- 
stillation of  false  principles  into  the 
mind  is  poisonous.  The  shafts  of 
malice  are  venomous.  This  distinc- 
tion is  not  absolute ;  for  instance,  "the 
poison  of  asps  is  under  their  lips." 

"  As  souls,  they  say,  by  our  first  touch  take 

in 
The  poisonous  tincture  of  original  sin." 
Donne. 

*'  The  God  of  truth  defend  you  and  all 
other  that  maintain  His  truth  from  the 
venomous  poyson  of  lyars." — Strype. 

POLITE.     Polisued.      Refined. 

For  Polite,  as  expressing  the  ex- 
ternal manner,  see  Civil. 

Polished  (Lat.  pUire,  to  polish) 
may  be  applied  to  anything  which 
exhibits  traces  of  finish  in  training 
or  preparation ;  as  a  polished  man, 
polished  manners,  a  polished  dis- 
course. IlEFiNED(prefix?-e-,  and  Fine, 
which  see)  expresses  anything  which 
shows  that  it  is  purified  from  what  is 
coarse,  low,  vulgar,  or  inelegant. 
As  Poute  is  opposed  to  rude,  so 
Polished  is  opposed  to  rough,  and 
Refined  to  coarse.  Politeness  and 
polish  are  attributes  of  external 
things  ;  refined,  of  the  mind,  thoughts 
and  feelings,  training,  education,  and 
principles,  as  well  as  manners  and 


620 


SYNONYMS 


[poLi  ric] 


speech.  It  may  be  observed  that  in 
Politeness  two  things  are  needed — 
the  feeling  of  respect  according  to  right 
proportion,  and  due  adherence  to 
conventional  modes  of  expressing 
such  respect.  Politeness  is  the  result 
of  a  perfect  sense  of  propriety,  ac- 
quired by  moving  in  the  higher  circles 
of  more  refined  society.  True  polite- 
ness is  not  over-courteous  to  superiors, 
nor  over-affable  to  inferiors,  but  satis- 
fies by  a  behaviour  which  weighs  and 
discriminates  aright.  Polite,  unlike 
PoLiiHED,  which  is  exclusively  ap- 
plied as  a  generic  quality  to  manners 
and  productions,  is  employed  of 
learning  and  literature. 

"What  but  custom  could  make  those 
salutations  polite  in  Muscovy  which  are 
ridiculous  in  France  or  England?  We  call 
ourselves,  indeed,  the  ■politer  nations ;  but 
it  is  we  who  judge  thus  of  ourselves,  and 
fancied  politeness  is  something  more  owing 
to  custom  than  i-eason," — WATTS,  Logic. 
♦Though  graced  with  polished  manners 
and  fine  sense."  Cowper. 


"  This  refined  taste  is  the  consequence  of 
education  and  habit;  we  are  born  only  with 
a  capacity  of  entertaining  this  refinement." 
—Reynolds. 

POLITIC.      PUUDENT. 

Practically,  these  terms  are  often 
nterchangeable ;  but  Puudent  (Lat. 
'jrudens,  for  prdvtdens,  looking  forward) 
"s  a  term  which  conveys  somewhat  of 
3ioral  praise  (see  Prudence)  ;  while 
Politic  (Lat.  pMiticus,  belonging  to 
the  city,  or  civil  polity,  Gr.  mXig)  ex- 
presses only  the  more  selfish  side  of 
pnidence.  As  prudence  is  self-pre- 
servation, so  policy  is  self-seeking.  A 
prudent  action  involves  reflexion  and 
self-conti-ol ;  a  politic  action,  worldly 
wisdom  and  ingenuity.  Politic  had 
originally  the  same  meaning  which 
Political  has  now,  and  which  it  still 
retains  in  such  phrases  as,  *'  body 
politic,"  till  it  came  to  mean  some- 
thing of  the  character  of  personal 
diplomacy. 
"  When  that  comes,  think  not  thou  to  find 

me  slack 
On   my  part  aught  ou'leavouj-mg,  or  to 

need 
Thy  politic  maxims."  MiLTON. 

"  It  is  no  disparagement  to  a  wise  man  to 
learn,  and  by  suspecting  the  fallibility  of 
things,  and  his  own  aptness  to  mistake,  to 
walk  prudently  and  safely  with  an  eye  t» 


God,  and  an  ear  open  to  his  stipenor."— 
Bishop  Taylor. 

POMP.    Magnificence.    Sp;.f,n- 

DOUR. 

Pomp  (Lat.  pompa)  is  derived  from 
the  Greek  tto/attii,  a  sending  or  conduct- 
ing ;  hence,  a  procession.  By  an  ex- 
tension of  meaning,  it  denotes  a  show 
of  magnificence.  But  the  character  of 
pomp  is  always  personal;  and  the 
purpose  of  pomp  is  the  exhibition  of 
what  tends  to  exalt  the  dignity  or  im- 
portance  of  persons.  This  character 
IS  more  marked  in  the  adjective  pom- 
pous, which,  when  said  of  persons, 
denotes  such  a  manner  as  betrays  self- 
importance.  A  pompous  retinue.  A 
pompous  military  display  is  one  of 
which  the  object  is  to  display  the 
power  and  importance  of  the  state, 
the  army,  the  general,  or  the  govern- 
ment. 

Magnificence  and  Splendowk  lie 
more  inherently  in  the  objects  them- 
selves.    Magnificence  (Lat.  magntfi- 
centia)  is  imposing  from  greatness, 
costliness,  and  the  like.     Splendour 
(Lat.  splendorem  ;  splendere,  to  shine, 
glitter)  is  dazzling  from  the  bright- 
ness and  richness  of  the  things  exhi- 
bited. The  grand  and  the  bright  com- 
bined make  up  the  splendid.     A  vast 
and  finely-grown  tree  is  magnificent 
without  being  splendid.     A  magnifi- 
cent army  might  mean  one  of  the 
finest  and  bravest  men;  a  splendid 
army,  one  richly  conditioned  or  ac- 
couti'ed.     Magnificence  is  predicated 
of  objects  of  beauty  on  a  large  scale, 
as   scenery,  animal   forms,    artificial 
productions ;  but  not  of  human  con- 
duct.    The  materially  prominent    is 
needed  to  make  up  the  magnificent. 
'•  The  mighty  potentate,  to  whom  belong 
These  rich  regalia  pompously  displayed." 
Young. 
"  Far  distant,  he  descries. 
Ascending  by  degrees  magnificent 
Up  to  the  wails  of  heaven,  a  structar* 

high."  Milton. 

"  Millions  of  spirits  for  his  fault  amerced 
Of  heaven,  and   from  eternal  splendours 

flung 
For  his  revolt."  Ibid, 

POOR.    Indigent.    Nekdv.    Ne- 
cessitous.    Penurious. 
Of  these  terms,  Poor  (0.  Fr.potre, 


positionJ 


Anire^  Lat,  pawph'etn)  must  be  re- 
i;arded  as  the  simplest  and  most  gene- 
ric ;  the  othere  expressing  some  mode 
or  aspect  of  poverty. 

Indigent  (Lat.  indigentein,  part. 
of  indigere,  to  want)  denotes  a  rela- 
tive poverty ;  poverty  in  respect  to 
su-jh  things  as  are  naturally  or  neces- 
sarily pertinent  to  a  man's  state,  cir- 
cumstances, or  position  in  life,  and  is 
commonly  applied  to  persons  of  some 
standing  in  society.  We  should  not 
speak  of  a  common  beggar  as  indi- 
gent. Needy  is  a  term  which  ex- 
presses not  so  much  the  severe  pres- 
sure, as  the  petty  inconveniences  and 
privations  of  poverty.  The  needy 
man  is  he  who  never  has  quite  enough 
for  his  wants.  Necissitous  has  much 
the  same  meaning,  but  is  capable  of 
application  to  a  specific  condition. 
We  should  say  a  necessitous  rather 
than  needy  condition  ;  a  needy  rather 
than  necessitous  person.  It  is  re- 
markable that,  while  the  substantive 
Penury  (Lat.  penuria,  want,  need) 
expresses  permanent  and  abject  want, 
especially  as  the  result  of  imprudence 
or  misfortune,  as  in  the  phrase,  "  to 
be  brought  to  penury,"  the  adjective 
Penurious  is  well-nigh  restricted  to 
the  meaning  of  exhibiting  penury  to- 
ward others,  or  treating  one's  self  penu- 
riously.  Hence  the  word  is  equiva- 
lent to  niggardly  or  parsimonious. 
Poor  may  be  employed  in  reference 
to  the  want  or  absence  of  anything 
that  has  value,  even  to  impersonal  ob- 
jects. A  thing  is  poor  as  a  production 
of  literature,  science,  or  art.  So  a 
person  may  be  poor  in  some  respects, 
not  in  others. 

*'  Hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this 
world,  rich  in  faith,  and  heirs  of  the  king- 
dom which  He  hath  promised  to  them  that 
love  Him?  But  ye  have  despised  the  poor." 
—English  Bible. 

The  Poor,  unlike  the  rest  designated 
by  the  other  synonyms,  are  a  pei-ma- 
nent  class  of  society,  as  distinguished 
from  the  rich. 

"  Themistocles,  the  great  Athenian  gene- 
ral, being  asked  whether  he  would  choose 
to  marry  his  daughter  to  au  indigent  man 
of  merit,  or  to  a  worthless  man  of  an  estate, 
replied  that  he  should  prefer  a  man  with- 
out an  estate  to  an  estate  without  a  man." 
—Spectator. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


621 


'♦  Spare  the  blnshes  of  needi/  merit." 

DwiQHT. 
"There  are  multitudesof  necessifoMs  heirs 
and  penurious  parents." — Arbuthnot. 

POSITION.  Place.  Situation. 
Station.     Location.     Locality. 

Position  (Lfit.  pMtionem,  a  placing^ 
has  both  a  subjective  and  an  objective 
meaning;  that  is,  it  denotes  the  state 
or  manner  of  being  placed,  and  so  is 
synonymous  with  placement  or  atti- 
tude, or  the  spot  where  something  is 
placed.  Out  of  these,  metaphorical 
or  analogous  senses  naturally  flow. 
Position  is  complex  placement,  that 
is,  it  regards  the  placing  of  a  thing, 
both  in  the  whole  and  in  detail.  If 
Position  be  used  physically,  it  is 
voluntarily  assumed  ;  if  morally,  it  is 
that  in  which  persons  find  themselves 
often  against  their  inclination. 

Place  (Fr.  place,  Lat.  pldtta,  a 
broad  road  or  square)  is  purely  objec- 
tive, denoting  a  separate  or  distinct 
portion  of  space,  and  sometimes  that 
portion  specifically  occupied  by  a 
body.  The  meanings  whicn  the  word 
also  bears  of  rank,  office,  and  the  like, 
are  no  more  than  analogous  applica- 
tions of  this.  Where  Position  is  used 
as  synonymous  with  Place,  it  signifies 
place  as  it  concerns  or  affects  the  per- 
son or  thing  placed.  Hence  to  say  that 
a  house  is  in  this  or  that  place,  is  no 
more  than  to  say  that  it  stands  here  or 
there.  That  it  is  in  this  or  that  posi- 
tion, means  that  it  bears  certain  rela- 
tions more  or  less  advantageous  to  the 
objects  by  which  it  is  surrounded.  In 
this  sense  position  nearly  coincides 
with  Situation  (Lat.  situs,  a  site). 
Situation  may  be  defined  "relative 
position."  It  involves  the  nature  or 
character  of  the  position.  Station  is 
a  fixed  and  definite  place  of  staying  cr 
stopping  (Lat.  stdtionem,  from  stare, 
to  stand),  with  the  idea  of  antecedejH 
and  subsequent  progress  or  movement 
more  or  less  strongly  implied.  It 
sometimes  denotes  habitual  stay.  Sta- 
tion is  only  employed  of  persons  ot 
animate  objects,  or  what  are  consi- 
dered as  such.  It  often  means  social 
position. 

Location  (Lat.  l6cationem,aplacing), 
like  most  words  of  similar  formation^ 


622 


gfNONYMS 


'POSSESSi 


stands  both  for  the  act  and  the  result  * 
of  locating.  The  difference  is  to  be 
observed  between  Locality  and  Loca- 
tion. Locality  is  objective,  location 
subjective.  Locality  is  place  regarded 
externally  to  the  object  located;  loca- 
tion is  place  regarded  relatively  to  it, 
and  in  connexion  with  it,  and  the  as- 
signment of  it.  Hence  the  locality  of 
a  thing  is  that  place  which  belongs  to 
it  by  nature  or  by  accident;  its  location 
that  in  which  it  has  been  fixed  as  an 
act  of  appointment. 

"We  have  different  prospects  of  the  same 
thing,  according  to  our  different  positions  to 
it."— Locke. 

"  What  place  can  be  for  us  within  heaven's 
bound  ?  "  Milton. 

"  The  word  place  has  sometimes  a  more 
confused  sense,  and  stands  for  that  space 
which  any  body  takes  up  ;  and  so  the  uni- 
verse is  a  place." — Locke. 

The  situation  of  a  thing  or  person  is 
the  correlative  of  the  condition  ;  that 
is,  the  situation  is  the  state  in  refe- 
rence to  external  objects  or  influences. 
The  condition  is  the  internal  state  ir-  j 
respectively  of  such  externals. 

"  Nor  did  the  shores  and  woods  appear 
less  destitute  of  wild  fowl,  so  that  we  hoped 
to  enjoy  with  ease  what  in  our  situation 
might  be  called  the  luxuries  of  life." — 
Cook's  Voyages. 

"  Besides,  it  were  a  coward's  part  to  fly 
Now  from  my  hold  that  have  let  out  so 

well; 
It  being  the  station  of  my  life,  where  I 
Am  set  to  serve  and  stand  as  centinel. 

Daniel. 

"  A  lot  of  earth  so  singularly  located  as 
marks  it  out  by  Providence  to  be  the  em- 
porium of  plenty,  and  the  asylum  of  peace." 
—Observer. 

Locality  differs  from  Place  in  pos- 
sessing, besides  the  meaning  of  mate- 
rial placement,  the  abstract  quality  of 
existing  in  place. 

*'  It  is  thought  that  the  soul  and  angels 
are  devoid  of  quantity  and  dimension,  and 
that  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  grosser 
locality."— GIjXNYIUj. 

POSSESS.     Have. 

Have  (,A.  S.  habban,  allied  to  Lat. 
cUptre,  to  take)  is  a  simpler  and  wider 
term  than  Possess  (Lat.  poss^dire), 
possession  being  a  mode  of  having. 
Generally  it  may  be  said  that  one  has 
what  is  p8.rt  or  or  closely  connected 
vith  one  s  self.     One  possesses  what 


is  external  to  one's  self,  but  appropria- 
ted for  certain  purposes.  I  have  or  I 
possess  an  estate ;  but  I  have,  not  I 
possess,  a  bad  cold.  When  Possess  is 
used  of  what  is  internal  to  one's  self, 
the  thing  is  regarded  externally; 
that  is,  in  reference  to  its  use  and 
purpose,  rather  than  the  subject  in 
which  it  resides.  Thus  a  man  has 
legs  by  virtue  of  his  human  organiza- 
tion. He  possesses  legs,  as  being  an 
animal  gifted  with  that  particular 
means  of  locomotion.  So,  in  reference, 
not  to  what  a  man  is,  but  what  he 
does,  or  is  capable  of  dojlng,  we  say, 
that  he  possesses  reason  and  certain 
mental  faculties  or  powers.  To  have 
generally  expresses  a  transitory,  to 
possess  a  more  permanent,  power  or 
control.  To  possess  is  always  there- 
fore to  have  ;  but  to  have  is  not  always 
to  possess.  A  man  is  said  to  have 
money,  which  is,  however,  always 
changing  and  circulating,  and  to  pos- 
sess a  house,  lands,  and  the  like.  We 
are  masters  of  what  we  possess,  not 
always  so  of  what  we  have. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  a  thing  should 
be  actually  in  our  hands,  or  that  we 
should  have  the  power  of  disposing  of 
it  in  order  to  have  it.     It  is  enough 
that  it  belongs  to  us.     But  in  order  to 
possess  a  thing,  it  is  necessary  that 
It  should  be  in  our  hands,  and  that  we 
should  have  the  power  of  enjoying  or 
disposing  of  it.  The  miser  has  money 
in  his  coffers ;  he  can  hardly  be  said 
to  possess  it,  rather  he  himself  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirit  of  avarice. 
"  It  is  held 
That  valour  is  the  chiefest  virtue. 
And  most  dignifies  the  haver." 

Shakespeare. 

"  If  the  soul  is  not  in  the  very  time  of 
the  act  in  the  possession  of  liberty,  it  cannot 
at  that  time/be  in  the  useof  it." — Edwards, 
On  the  Will. 

POSTERIOR.    Subsequent. 

That  is  Posterior  which  comes  later 
(Lat.  posterior)  in  time  or  place.  That 
is.  Subsequent  (Lat.  subs^ui,  to  follow 
upon)  which  succeeds  in  order.  What 
takes  place  at  one  period  of  history 
may  be  erroneously  confounded  with 
a  posterior  event  of  like  character. 
What  is  obscure  in  a  document  may 
be  illusti-ated  by  a  subsequent  clause. 


[praise] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


623 


POUR.     Shed.     Spill. 

Poun  (etymol.  uncertain)  is  to 
cause  to  flow  in  a  profuse  manner. 
The  term  is  indicative  of  design,  or  at 
least  arrangement  as  to  the  source 
and  quantity  in  the  matter ;  as,  "  the 
clouds  pour  down  rain." 

Spill  (A.  S.  spillaiif  to  spill)  is 
more  limited  as  to  quantity,  and  com- 
monly implies  accident,  though  not 
absolutely,  as  the  spilling  of  blood  in 
a  duel.  Yet  even  here  the  action  is 
indirect. 

Sued  (A.  S.  sceddati)  is  to  give  forth 
with  acertain  pro fuseness,  though  not 
necessarily  in  a  liquid  form  (to  which 
Pour  also  is  not  absolutely  restricted), 
of  what  formed  part  of,  or  Avas  inti- 
mately connected  with,  the  body  from 
which  the  matter  is  parted  ;  as,  a  man 
sheds  his  blood  or  the  blood  of  an- 
other. A  tree  sheds  its  leaves;  a 
bird,  its  feathers;  serpents,  their 
skins,  and  the  like. 
"A  multitude,   like   which   the   populous 

North 
Poured  never  from    her  frozen  loins   to 

pass 
Rhene  or  the  Danaw."  Milton. 

"  The  shedding  trees  began  the  ground  to 

strow 
With    yellow   leaves,  and  bitter  blasts  to 
blow."  Dryden. 

"  He  who  would  have  shuddered  to  spill 
a  drop  of  blood  in  a  hostile  contest  as  a  pri- 
vate man,  shall  deluge  whole  provinces  as 
an  absolute  prince."— Kxox. 

POVERTY.  Destitution.  Pau- 
perism. 

Poverty  (Fr.  pauvrete,  Lat.  pau- 
pertdtein)  is  lack  of  wealth.  Desti- 
tution (Lat.  destitutionem,  aforsaking, 
a  desertion)  is  lack  of  resources  of 
living.  Pauperism  is  the  social  or 
political  state  or  treatment  of  the 
poor. 

PRAISE.  Applaud.  Approve. 
Commend.     Extol. 

To  Praise  (O.  Fr.  preis,  value, 
merit,  Lat.  pritium)  is,  literally,  to 
set  a  high  value  upon,  and,  by  a  fur- 
ther extension  of  meaning,  to  express 
.t  in  words,  and  is  the  generic  term. 

Applaud  (Lat.  applaiidcre,  to  clap 
the  hands)  is  to  praise  with  some  de- 
gree of  excited  feeling,  and  in  a  de- 


monsti'ative  way.  As  praise  ought  to 
be  judicious,  and  the  result  of  judg- 
ment, so  applause  is  commonly  the 
result  of  a  satisfaction  or  approval 
quickly  excited,  and  is  given  to  minor 
performances ;  as,  we  might  applaud 
a  rope-dancer  without  praising  him ; 
that  is,  without  any  expression  o* 
moral  feeling ;  we  express  our  admi- 
ration of  his  mere  skill. 

To  Extol  (Lat.  extollcre,  to  raise, 
elevate)  denotes  a  sustained  expression 
of  praise  for  lofty  acts,  or  character, 
and  usually  in  lofty  language. 

Approve  (O.  Fr.  approver,  Lat.  ap- 
probare)  is  a  much  milder  term,  and 
denotes  no  more  than  the  entertain- 
ment of  a  judgment  in  favour  either  of 
persons  or  acts  and  proceedings,  with 
an  understanding  in  many  cases  that 
it  is  expressed ;  but  approval  is  al- 
ways specific,  while  praise  may  be 
general.  We  praise  a  man  generally, 
or  his  character.  We  appro-e  his 
acts  or  his  conduct  in  particular 
cases. 

To  Commend  (Lat.  commenddre) 
means,  in  the  first  place,  to  intrust, 
and  afterwards  to  mention  as  worthy 
of  trust;  that  is,  to  praise.  It  differs 
from  Praise,  in  tliat  praise  may  be  the 
expression  of  the  attributes  of  the  ex- 
cellent for  its  own  sake ;  while  Com- 
mend implies  an  act  of  judgment  on 
our  part,  which  precedes  the  expres- 
sion. Commendation  is  a  moderate 
degree  of  praise.  We  praise,  but  could 
never  presume  to  commend,  the  Al- 
mighty. We  bestow  commendation. 
We  offer  as  well  as  bestow  praise. 
Praise  and  commendation  are  by 
speech ;  applause  may  be  by  act. 
Praise  may  be  general  or  specific; 
commend  is  specific.  We  praise  a 
man's  character  generally,  or  big  con- 
duct on  a  given  occasion.  We  com- 
mend some  act  in  particular.  Com- 
mendation is  the  expression  of  ap- 
proval. 

"  If  these  words  have  any  meaning  at  all, 
by  praise  they  must  mean  the  exercise  or 
testimony  of  some  sort  of  esteem,  respect, 
or  honourable  regard. " — Edwards,  On  the 
Will. 

"  The  Greeks  have  a  name  in  their  Ian 
guage  for  this  sort  of  people,  denoting  tha 
they  are  applauders  by  profession,  and  we 


(124 


stigmatise  them  with  the  opprobrious  title 
of  table-flatterers."— Melmoth,  Pliny. 
As  Praise  and  Applaud  have  refe- 
rence to  liuman  character  and  acts,  so 
Extol  is  sometimes  used  of  what  has 
no  direct  connexion  with  these,  as  vir- 
tue in  the  abstract,  or  some  particular 
virtue,  or  something  which  is  simply 
excellent  or  practically  beneficial,  as 
an  institution,  form  of  government, 
and  the  like.  When  Extol  is  used  of 
persons  it  commonly  indicates  conside- 
rable elevation  in  the  person  extolled. 
Hence  applause  is  of  acts  or  perfor- 
mances regarded  as  acts  accomplished. 
We  may  praise,  approve  of,  or  com- 
mend what  a  man  is  doing,  we  applaud 
■what  he  has  done.  We  applaud  under 
feelings  of  approbation  suddenly  ex- 
cited. We  praise  by  reason.  We 
applaud  by  impulse. 

"  Extollers  of  the  Pope's  supremacy." — 
Barrow. 

*•  Those  very  exceptions  which  our  Saviour 
makes  are  a  proof  that  in  every  other  case 
He  approves  and  sanctions  the  duty  of  rest- 
ing on  the  Sabbath  day."- -Bishop  Por- 
TKUS. 

"  He  had  mean  better  than  his  outward 

show. 
Can  any  way  speak  in  his  just  commend  t 
For  by  his  rusty  outside  he  appears 
To  have   practised  more    the   whip-stool: 

than  the  lance."    Shakespeare. 

PRAY.     Supplicate.     Conjure. 

The  idea  common  to  these  terms  is 
that  of  asking  with  ardour  and  sub- 
mission of  those  who  are  in  a  condi- 
tion to  grant  the  object  of  our  desire. 
As  between  man  and  man,  Suppli- 
cate (Lat.  suppiicare)  is  more  re- 
spectful than  Pray.  It  indicates  a 
more  lively  desire  and  a  more  urgent 
need. 

We  Pray  (¥r.prier)  our  equals  and 
our  friends  to  do  us  some  service.  We 
supplicate  princes  or  persons  in  power 
to  accord  us  some  favour  or  render  us 
justice.  But  ae  between  man  and 
God  we  use  both  terms  :  we  pray  as 
an  act  of  homage,and  supplicate  as  an 
act  of  entreaty. 

To  Conjure  (Lat.  conjurare,  to 
unite  under  an  oath)  is  not  only  to 
pray  earnestly,  but  to  rest  our  prayers 
upon  some  appeal  whicli  gives  them 
additional  weight.     1  conjure  you  by 


SYNONYMS  [pray] 

your  father  or  mother,  your  professed 
friendship  for  myself,  your  sense  of 
duty  or  of  right,  and  the  like.  This 
gives  to  Conjure  an  element  of  supe- 
riority which  does  not  belong  to 
prayer  and  supplication.  There  ia 
mixed  with  the  idea  of  entreaty  that 
of  a  righteous  coercion,  as  if  he  who 
conjured  had  on  the  ground  of  that 
by  which  he  conjures  a  right,  if  not 
to  the  granting  of  his  prayer,  at  least 
to  a  favourable  consideration  of  it.  At 
the  same  time  we  are  not  said  to  con- 
jure in  reference  to  God. 

PRECARIOUS.     Uncertain. 

The  Precarious  (Lat.  precarius^ 
obtained  by  entreaty)  is  a  species  of 
the  Uncertain.  Derived  from  the 
Latin  prtcdri,  to  pray,  it  signified  pri- 
marily that  which  is  contingent  upon 
the  will  of  another  to  grant.  It  retains 
its  etymological  force  so  far  that  it  re- 
lates always  to  matters  of  personal 
interest,  or  aflTecting  the  condition  of 
men.  Matters  of  fact  are  uncertain  ; 
matters  of  possession  or  acquisition  are 
precarious.  A  thing  is  uncertain 
until  it  is  determined.  It  is  precarious 
until  it  is  assured  or  secured  to  our- 
selves. 

"That  consideration  which  carries  the 
mind  the  most  forcibly  to  religion,  which 
convinces  us  that  it  is  indeed  our  proper 
concern,  namely,  the  precariotlsness  of  our 
present  condition." — Paley. 

PRECEDENCE.  Priority.  Pre- 
eminence.    Preference. 

Precedence  (Lat.  j[)?'«cedere,  to  so 
before)  is  matter  of  privilege,  a  dis- 
tinction of  rank  or  priority  of  con- 
sideration. It  also  denotes  priority 
of  time  and  order. 

Priority  (Fr.  priority,  Lat.  prioi  y 
earlier)    denotes    an    anterior    point 
either  of  time  or  order,  without  im 
plying  necessarily  anything  else. 

Pre-kminence  (Lat.  prcB-'emHn- 
entia)  is  absolute  priority  of  nature 
or  quality,  more  commonly,  but  not 
universally,  in  a  good  sense. 

Preference  (0.  Fr.  prijere'^f  Lat. 
preeferre,  to  prefer)  is  the  deliberate 
selection  of  a  thing  or  person,  as 
being  worthy  of  higher  estimation, 


[pkecise] 


or  the  state  of  a  thing  or  person  so 
selected. 

*'  The  younger  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
king,  and  other  branches  of  the  royal  fa- 
mily who  are  not  in  the  immediate  line  of 
BUfcession,  were  therefore  little  farther  re- 
garded by  the  ancient  law  than  to  give 
them,  to  a  certain  degree,  precedence  before 
all  peers  and  public  officers,  as  well  eccle- 
siastical as  temporal." — Blackstone. 

"  In  payment  of  debts  he  must  observe 
the  rules  of  priority,  otherwise,  on  de- 
ficiency of  assets,  if  he  pays  those  of  a  lower 
degree  first,  he  must  answer  those  of  a 
higher  out  of  his  own  estate. "— Black- 
STOXE. 

"The  sense  of  sight,  accordingly,  main- 
tains pre-eminence  over  our  other  senses  in 
furnishing  materials  to  the  power  of  con- 
ception."— Stewart. 

"  I  trust  it  will  be  allowed  by  all,  that  in 

every  act  of  will  there  is  an  act  of  choice, 

that  in  every  volition  there  is  a  preference 

a  prevailing  inclination   of  the  soul." 

-Edwards,  On  the  Will. 

PRECEDING.  Antecedent. 
Anterior.  Foregoing.  Former. 
Previous.     Prior. 

Antecedent  (Lat.  anttcidentem, 
part,  of  antecedire,  to  go  before),  Pre- 
ceding, Foregoing,  and  Previous 
(Lat.  prcevius,  going  before)  are  used  of 
what  goes  before;  Anterior  (Lat. 
comparative  of  ante,  before),  Former 
(A.  S.forma,  early,  former,  and  suffix 
-er),  and  Prior  (Lat.  prior),  of  what 
exists  before.  Antecedent  relates 
onlj  to  the  order  of  time,  denoting 
priority  in  an  established  course  or 
sequence.  Anterior  is  opposed  to 
posterior ;  antecedent  to  subsequent. 
Antecedent  and  Preceding  differ 
in  that  the  former  may  be  separated 
from  the  point  or  object  to  which  it 
relates  by  a  considerable  interval, 
while  the  latter  excludes  this.  Pre- 
vious has  a  less  abstract  force  than 
preceding.  Thus  a  preceding  in- 
quiry is  merely  an  inquu-y  that  went 
before;  a  previous  inquiry  would 
have  in  it  something  of  a  relative 
character,  as  preparatory  or  prelimi- 
nary. Foregoing  is  the  same  as  Pre- 
ceding, but  is  restricted  to  matters 
of  statement,  and  also  implies  a  rela- 
tive character ;  as,  the  foregoing  ar- 
gument. We  do  not  speak  of  fore- 
going efvents. 

Former  is  restricted  to  a  compari- 


DISCRIMINATEU 


625 


son  of  one  object  with  one  other,  na 
opposed  to  latter,  and  connected  with 
no  other  idea  than  that  of  priority  in 
time. 

PRECIOUS.  Valuable.  Costl/. 

Of  these  terms,  Valuable  (Lat. 
vnlire,  to  be  loorth)  is  the  weakest  and 
most  indefinite,  inasmuch  as  it  de- 
notes any  degree  of  value,  and  may 
even  be  opposed  to  valueless. 

Precious  (Lat.  prttiosus,  prttium, 
price)  expresses  the  possession  oi 
great  value.  The  value  of  the  pre- 
cious is  inherent ;  that  of  the  Costly 
(O.  Fr.  coster,  Lat.  constdre,  to  stand 
at,  to  cost)  is  conventional  and  ex- 
trinsic. A  precious  stone  is  synony- 
mous with  a  jewel.  A  costly  stone 
would  be  any  which  had  been  largely 
paid  for.  An  elaborate  work  of  art, 
as  a  carved  mantel-piece,  would  be 
costly  rather  than  precious ;  but  we 
speak  of  valuable,  not  costly,  paint- 
ings, because  they  do  not  present 
criteria  of  marketable  value. 

'♦  In  the  precious  metals,  where  a  small 
difference  in  the  quantity  makes  a  great 
difference  in  the  value,  even  the  business 
of  weighing  with  proper  exactness  requires 
at  least  veiy  accurate  weights  and  scales." 
—Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 
The  precious  is  commonly  not  re- 
markable for  quantity,  but  for  quality. 
A  thing  having  no  commercial  value, 
which  therefore  could,  under  no  cir- 
cumstances of  e,xchange,  be  costly, 
may  nevertheless  be  precious  to  us  by 
reason  of  its  associations,  as,  for  in- 
stance, on  account  of  the  giver. 

"  Besides,  there  lies  a  nearer  way  for 
good  qualities  to  arrive  at  their  valuable- 
Tiess;  for  we  find  the  very  sight  of  them 
raising  an  esteem  in  the  beholder,  without 
staying  for  the  benefits  to  be  received  from 
them."— Search. 

"  Sir  John  Gates,  vice-chamberlain  to  the 
king,  who  was  now  grown  into  great  favour, 
obtained  another  part ;  for  the  king  gave 
him  all  the  duke's  rich  furs,  and  much  of 
his  costlj/  household  stuff." — Strypb. 

PRECISE.     Concise.     Succinct. 

Precise  (Lat.  prxcidh-e,  pracisus, 
to  cut  short)  relates  to  what  one  says, 
Concise  (Lat.  concid^re,  to  cut  up)  to 
the  manner  of  saying  it.  The  one  re- 
gards the  thing  as  its  object,  the 
other  the  expression.  The  speech, 
narrative,  or  style  which  is  precise 


626 


SYNONYMS  [PREDOMINANl j 


does  not  wander  from  the  subject,  re- 
jects ideas  foreign  to  it,  and  disre- 
gards all  that  is  not  directly  to  the 
point  and  purpose.  The  concise  states 
and  explains  much  in  a  few  words, 
and  discards  all  superfluities  of  speech. 
The  opposite  of  the  precise  is  the  dis- 
cursive, the  opposite  of  the  concise  is 
the  diffuse.  The  precise  is  always 
good  ;  the  concise  may  be  too  con- 
tracted for  vulgar  ears,  which  will 
more  easily  take  in  what  is  stated  at 
greater  length.  A  trained  understand- 
ing is  needed  for  the  concise,  lest  what 
is  too  compressed  may  pass  by  un- 
heeded or  unappreciated.  Common 
understandings  can  appreciate  what 
is  precise. 

The  Succinct  (Lat.  succingcre,  to 
gird  from  helow,  to  gird  up)  aims  at 
o^iving  a  faithful  impression,  exclud- 
ing all  useless  ideas,  and  choosing 
those  only  which  are  essential  to  the 
end  in  view.  The  succinct  is  the 
opposite  of  the  amplified  or  expanded. 

PREDOMINANT.  Prevailing. 
Prevalent.     Ruling. 

That  is  said  to  be  Ruling  (Fr. 
regie,  Lat.  rcgiiia,  rule)  which  exer- 
cises a  decided  influence  over  one  or 
more  in  reference  to  moral,  but  not 
physical,  influence.  So  we  should 
not  speak  of  a  i-uling  sickness  or  dis- 
ease, but  of  a  ruling  fashion,  for  in- 
stance. 

Prevailing  and  Prevalent  (Lat. 
"prxvUl'cre,  to  have  great  power),  how- 
ever, are  used  both  of  moral  or  phy- 
sical influences;  butPREVAiLiNG  lends 
itself  more  readily  to  the  former,  Pre- 
valent to  the  latter.  The  prevailing 
feeling  in  a  community  ;  a  prevalent 
disease.  The  noun  prevalence  seems 
equally  applicable  to  both. 

Predominant,  as  the  word  indi- 
cates (Lat.  prcE,  before,  and  diimiiidri, 
to  rule)  is  overruling  or  exercisino-  a 
force  or  influence  to  the  suppression 
of  others.  Prevalent,  however,  ex- 
presses more  of  energy  than  Prevail- 
ing. A  prevailing  belief  is  one  which 
is  widely  spread ;  a  prevalent  opinion, 
one  which  exercises  a  wide  influence. 
Prevailing  and  Prevalent  relate  to 
numbersorarea  of  extension ;  Ruling 
and  Predominant,  to  inherent  ft rce. 


The  ruling  passion  is  that  which  ex- 
ercises the  strongest  sway,  not  neces- 
sarily over  a  number,  but  over  the 
individual. 

"  Ahnost  every  one  has  a  predominant  in- 
clination, to  which  his  other  desires   and 
affections  submit,  and  which  governs  him, 
though  perhaps  with  some  intervals,through 
the  whole  course  of  his  life." — Hume. 
What  generally  prevails  is  prevalent: 
what  actually  prevails  is  prevailing. 
A   ruling  passion  sways  the  life;    a 
predominant  passion  will  not  allow 
others  to  assert  the  mastery ;  a  pre- 
valent passion  is  permanently  influen- 
tial ;  a  prevailing  passion  is  the  pas- 
sion of  the  hour  or  the  day. 
"At  length  that  grounded  maxim, 
So  rife  and  celebrated  in  the  mouths 
Of  wisest  men,  that  to  the  public  good 
Private  respects  must   yield,   with   grave 

authority 
Took  full  possession  of  me,  and  prevailed." 
Milton. 

"Condillac  has  certainly  contributed  more 
than  any  other  individual  to  the  prevalence 
of  the  logical  error  now  under  considera- 
tion,"—Stewart. 

PRE-EMINENCE.  Superiority. 

Pre-eminence  (Lat.  pr(e-emmentia) 
is  superlative,  Superiority  (Lat. 
sYiperiorttdtem,  superior)  is  compara- 
tive. A  man  is  superior  to  one  or 
more  or  all  others ;  he  is  pre-eminent 
above  all  others.  Besides  this,  the 
teimsPRE-EMiNENCE and  Superiority, 
when  used  Avithout  qualifications, 
turn  upon  different  qualities.  Pre- 
eminence is  a  matter  of  dignity,  supe- 
riority of  intrinsic  qualities.  Supe- 
riority, it  has  been  said,  depends  upon 
the  height  of  the  figure,  pre-eminence 
on  the  height  of  the  chair. 

PREFACE.  Prelude.  Intro- 
duction. 

Preface  is  compounded  of  pree, 
before,  and /an",  to  speak  ;  Prelude, 
of  pr<£,  before,  and  ludere,  to  plaxj.  In 
their  common  usage,  this  distinction 
of  ideas  is  preserved. 

A  Preface  is  made  up  of  pre- 
liminary words ;  a  prelude  of  pre- 
liminary acts.  Although  a  Prelude 
is  commonly  used  of  conscious  acts, 
as  ushering  in  subsequent  acts  or 
events,  it  is  also,  by  an  exten- 
sion of  meaning,  sometimes  used  of 


[PRESUMEJ 


DI8C11IMINATED. 


G27 


events  abstractedly,  as  indicating 
others  which  follow  by  relation  or  se- 
cjuence ;  as,  "The  ^rowlin^  of  thunder 
is  a  prelude  to  the  coming  storm." 
On  the  other  hand,  a  preface  is  always 
an  indication  of  design.  It  is  the  lay- 
ing down  of  something  which  shall 
prepare  the  mind  for  subsequent  state- 
ment or  representation. 

Introduction  (Lat.  introdnctre,  to 
bring  in)  has  in  it  more  of  relation  to 
the  condition  of  the  person  whose  re- 
quirements it  meets,  Preface  and 
Trelude  to  the  character  of  the  thing 
which  it  demonstrates  beforehand. 
Preface  hasa  closer  andexacter,PuE- 
LUDE  a  remoter  and  more  general  con- 
nexion with  that  which  it  precedes. 
A  preface  is  intended  for  the  better 
understanding  of  what  follows.  A 
prelude  brings  the  mind  into  a  temper 
and  attitude  to  receive  it.  An  intro- 
duction is  literally  an  arrangement 
which  enables  a  person  the  better  to 
enter  into  a  thing  whether  with  his 
body  or  his  mind. 

"  It  is  a  great  beauty  in  an  introduction 
when  it  can  be  made  to  turn  on  some  one 
thought  fully  brought  out  and  illustrated, 
especially  if  that  thought  has  a  close  con- 
nexion with  the  following  discourse,  and  at 
the  same  time  does  not  anticipate  anything 
that  is  afterwards  to  be  introduced  in  a 
more  proper  place." — Blair. 
••  As  when  of  old  some  orator  renown'd 
In  Athens,  or  free  Rome,  where  eloquence 
Flourished,  since  mute,  to  some  great  cause 

add  rest, 
Stood   in   himself    collected  ;    while   each 

part. 
Motion,  each  act,  won  audience,  ere  the 

tongue ; 
Sometimes  in  height  began,  as  no  delay 
01  preface  brooking,  through   his  zeal  of 

right."  Milton. 

"  The  moving  storm 
Thickens     amain,    and    loud    triumphant 

shouts. 
And  horns,  shrill-warbling  in  each  glade, 

prelude 
To  his  approaching  fate."     Somervile. 

PREPOSSESSION.     Prejudice. 

The  common  distinction  drawn  be- 
tween these  words  is  that  they  both 
express  a  judgment  formed  before- 
hand, and  without  full  inquiry; 
while  in  the  case  of  Prepossession 
(pre-,  and  possession)  it  is  favourable, 
and  in  Prejudice  (Lat.  prajud'icium, 
<  previous  judicial  tnquiri/)  it  is  un- 


favourable. But  a  further  dilFerence 
has  to  be  noted.  Prejudice  relates 
only  to  questions  of  practical,  while 
Prepossession  is  applicable  to  those 
of  purely  theoretical,  judgment.  For 
instance,  a  person  might  commence 
the  study  of  astronomy,  prepos- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  the  moon 
was  larger  than  the  sun.  This, 
though  a  prepossession,  would  not 
be  a  prejudice-  It  deserves  to  be 
remarked  that  falsehood  or  unfair- 
ness is  implied  both  in  Prejudice 
and  Prepossession,  and  that  precon- 
ceived or  premature  judgments  hap- 
pening to  be  right  are  not  provided  for 
in  the  terms.  A  con-ect  prejudice  and 
a  right  prepossession  are,  according 
to  usage,  moral  contradictions,  though 
they  are  not  so  in  fact,  by  rea- 
son of  the  instinctive  tendency  of 
our  minds  to  relegate  to  the  category 
of  the  positively  false  all  mattei-s  of 
mere  anticipation  by  conjecture.  Both 
Prejudice  and  Prepossession  involve 
a  mingled  state  of  feeling  and  opinion 
respecting  a  person  or  other  object ; 
but  feeling  is  the  more  influential  in 
prepossession  ;  opinion,  in  prejudice. 

"  Let  us  suppose  for  a  moment  that  this 
happy  aer?,  were  arrived,  and  that  all  the 
prepossessions  of  childhood  and  youth  were 
directed  to  support  the  pure  and  sublime 
truths  of  an  enlightened  morality."  — 
Stewart. 

"  If,  after  all  his  profession,  he  cannot 
bear  any  opposition  to  his  opinion,  if  he 
cannot  so  much  as  give  a  patient  hearing, 
much  less  examine  and  weigh  the  argu- 
ments on  the  other  side,  does  he  not  plainly 
confess  it  is  prejudice  governs  him  ?  " — 
Locke. 

PRESUME.     Assume. 

These  verbs  are  compounds  of  the 
Lat.  siimtre,  to  take  ;  the  latter  being 
to  take  to  one's  self,  the  former  to 
take  beforehand.  To  assuite  is  to 
take  something  for  proved  or  granted 
which  has  not  been  so.  To  presume 
is  to  believe  beforehand,  to  forestull 
evidence.  I  assume  for  the  purpose 
of  argument.  I  presume  possibly  for 
the  same  purpose,  but  on  the  ground 
of  an  inherent  probability.  This 
comes  out  much  more  strongly  in  the 
nouns.  An  assumption  is  only  an 
arbitrary  statement  or  adoption  of 
opinion.     A  presumption  is  an  item 


628 


SYNONYMS  [pretence] 


in  a  sum  of  probabilities.  Repeated 
assumptions  severally  break  down  the 
argument.  Repeated  presumptions 
may  constitute  moral  certainty.  1 
may  assume  in  argument  what  I  sus- 
pect or  disbelieve,  and  allow  it  to 
pass  to  the  account  of  that  argument 
if  the  question  of  its  truth  is  to  me 
indilFerent.  I  assume  as  a  basis  of 
opinion.  I  presume  the  opinion  itself. 
For  instance,  one  might  say  to  another, 
"  Assuming  that  you  are  rightly  in- 
formed, and  in  earnest,  I  never  heard 
so  extraordinary  an  account."  Here 
the  belief  is  in  abeyance,  because  it  is 
contingent  upon  the  seriousness  and 
veracity  of  the  speaker,  while  there  is 
as  yet  no  proof.  "  I  presume  that  you 
are  serious  and  truthful "  amounts  to 
saying  that  I  nm  inclined  to  believe 
it.  One  cannot  presume  what  is  con- 
trary to  analogy.  It  is  waste  of  time 
to  assume  in  argument  what  your  ad- 
versary would  never  concede.  Pre- 
sumption, though  always  founded 
upon  reason,  being  a  reasonable  fore- 
stalling of  proof,  nevertheless  varies 
widely  in  degree  of  force  or  truth. 
Some  presumptions  are  only  conjec- 
tures. On  the  other  hand  a  strong 
presumption  is  an  instalment  of  the 
proof,  being  the  proof  itself  in  course 
of  transformation  from  probability 
into  certainty. 

"The  consequences  of  assumed  prin- 
ciples."—Whewell. 

"  When  the  fact  itself  cannot  be  demon- 
sti'atively  evinced, that  which  comes  nearest 
to  the  proof  of  the  fact  is  the  proof  of  such 
cii-cumstances  which  either  necessarily  or 
usually  attended  such  facts,  and  these  are 
c&Wed  presumptions."— BIjXCKSTOne. 

PRETENCE.  Pretext.  Excuse. 
Pretension. 

Pretence  and  Prktensiom  (Lat. 
■prcKtendcre,  to  stretch  or  put  forward) 
differ  as  the  false  from  the  real.  A 
pretence  is  a  show  in  act  or  in  word 
of  what  has  no  real  existence  in  one's 
self,  a  justification  of  one's  conduct 
before  others  in  some  fictitious  way, 
or  a  fictitious  assumption  of  what 
does  not  really  belong  to  us.  It  in- 
volves both  the  exhibition  of  some- 
thing unreal,  and  tlie  concealment  of 
something  real.  Pretension,  as  the 
word  is  commonly  taken,  is  the  setting 


forward  or  putting  before  the  public 
something  which  really  belongs  to  us, 
or  at  least  a  claim  which  we  are  pre- 
pared to  vindicate,  and  involves  no 
concealment  whatever,  except  where 
a  public  claim  is  made  to  what  is  in 
itself  untenable.  Pretei.sion  is  active 
and  demonstrative:  pretence  is  de- 
fensive on  account  of  others.  It  is 
commonly  connected  with  personal 
character  or  abilities,  and  Avhere 
ungrounded  is  the  result  of  miscal- 
culation. 

Pretext  (Lat.  prcetexh-e,  to  weave 
before,  or  iii  front)  is  anything  which 
is  put  forward  as  the  ostensible 
ground  of  action,  and  is  relative  to 
something  lying  beyond  it,  and  justi- 
fied by  it.  A  pretext  is  a  false  or 
colourable  vindication  of  action.  Pre- 
text differs  from  Excuse  (Lat.  eicu- 
sare,  to  excuse)  as  the  asserter  from 
the  disclaimer.  A  pretext  declares  a 
thing  to  be  right ;  an  excuse  declares 
it  to  be  only  permissible,  if  not  wrong. 
A  pretext  is  a  ground  of  independent 
action;  an  excuse  involves  a  condi- 
tion of  dependence  on  the  judgment 
of  others.  A  false  excuse  is  a  pre- 
tence. PRETExrand  Pretence  are  also 
different.  The  pretext  deceives  as  to 
facts ;  the  pretence,  as  to  conse- 
quences. The  former  conceals  the 
true;  the  latter  puts  forward  the 
false.  The  pretence  disguises  the 
motive  ;  the  })retext  covers  the  act. 
If  we  say,  "  Religion  has  often  been 
used  as  a  pretext  for  persecution,"  we 
mean  that  it  has  been  employed  to 
compass  the  perpetration  of  certain 
acts  of  cruelty.  When  we  say,  "He 
obtained  money  under  false  pre- 
tences," we  mean,  he  induced  others 
by  his  misrepresentations  to  act  upon 
false  grounds  in  giving  him  the  money. 
The  pretext  exists  in  fact,  but  is  un- 
fairly employed  or  applied.  The  pre- 
tence has  no  existence.  If  a  child 
makes  indisposition  a  pretext  for  idle- 
ness, he  is  not  so  ill  as  he  pretends  to 
be ;  if  he  makes  it  a  pretence,  he  is 
not  ill  at  all. 

"  I  believe,  upon  a  due  survey  of  history, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  most  considerable 
villainies  which  were  e^er  acted  upon  the 
stage  of  Christendom  have  been  authorised 
with  the  glistering  pretences  of  conscience 


[pride] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


629 


and  the  introduction  of  a  greater  purity  of 
religion."— South. 

"  He  said  there  were  some  among  them 
that,  under  colour  and  pretext  of  honesty, 
did  commit  many  lewd  parts." — North, 
Hutarch. 

"  You  see  that  an  opinion  of  merit  is  dis- 
couraged, even  in  those  who  had  the  best 
pretensions  to  entertain  it,  if  any  preten- 
sions were  good."— Paley. 

"  In  vain  would  his  excusers  endeavour  to 
palliate  his  enormities  by  imputing  them  to 
madness." — SwiFT. 

PRE^^ENT.  Anticipate.  Ob- 
viate.    Preclude.    Forestall. 

To  Prevent  (Lat.  prcevtnire,  sup. 
'Ventuniy  to  go  before,  anticipate)  is  lite- 
rally to  go  before  simply,  and  in  old 
English  meant  to  go  before  with  the 
implied  purpose  of  aiding,  as  it  now 
implies  a  purpose  of  counteracting. 
It  differs  from  Anticipate  (liat.  an- 
iicipare)  as  the  negative  from  the 
positive  ;  to  prevent  being  to  cause  a 
thing  not  to  be  done  or  take  place  ;  to 
anticipate  is  to  cause  it  to  take  place 
or  effect  by  doing  it  or  bringing  it 
about  one's  self  or  in  one's  own  way. 
I  prevent  another  from  making  a  re- 
mark by  saying  or  doing  something 
which  silences  him.  I  anticipate  him 
by  making  it  myself.  The  anticipa- 
tion of  pleasure  is  a  part  of  the  plea- 
sure, and  often  the  best  and  purest 
part. 

To  Oi3ViATE  (Lat.  ohviare,  to  meet 
on  the  road)  is  to  place  a  thing  in  the 
way,  or  inteiTupt  the  course  of  things ; 
hence,  specifically,  to  prevent  a  thing 
from  taking  its  com*se.  To  obviate  is 
to  prevent  by  interception.  We  pre- 
vent by  direct  action  upon  a  thing ;  we 
obvia'.e  by  means  of  something  else  as 
a  mrdium.  Obviate  never  has  the 
purely  physical  sense  of  Prevent  ;  as 
wc  could  not  say,  "To  obviate  a  man 
from  passing  along  a  particulai*  road." 
It  denwtes  not  necessarily  the  bringing 
Df  design  to  bear  upon  the  natural 
force  and  sequence  of  things,  for  cir- 
cumstances may  obviate. 

To  Preclude  (Lat.  pvtzcludh^ef  to 
^ovbid  access  to)  is  to  shut  out  by  an- 
deipation,  or  to  prevent  by  necessary 
5onsequence.  To  prevent  removes 
orce;  to  obviate  neutralizes  force. 
Ill   tliose  synonyms  are   applicable 


both  to  conscious  and  uticoriscious 
force.  To  prevent  a  difficulty,  would 
be  to  cause  the  difficulty  not  to  occur. 
To  preclude  the  difficulty,  would  be 
to  render  it  impossible  that  it  should 
occur.  To  obviate  the  difficulty,  would 
be  to  neutralize  it  wheii  it  did  occur. 
Hence  we  coiqmonly  speak  of  pre- 
venting occurrences,  obviating  neces- 
sities, precluding  possibilities,  sup- 
positions, or  contingencies.  The 
permissible  or  possible  is  precluded  ; 
the  urgent  or  cogent  is  obviated. 

"  For  physick  is  either  curative  or  pre- 
ventive. Preventive  we  call  that  which,  by 
purging  noxious  humours  and  the  causes 
of  diseases,  preventeth  sickness  in  the 
healthy,  or  the  recourse  thereof  in  the 
valetudinary."— Brown,  Vulgar  Errors. 
"  Time  1  thou  auticipatest  my  dread  ex- 
ploits." Shakespeare. 

"  The  following  outlines  will,  I  hope,  not 
only  obviate  this  inconvenience,  but  will 
allow  me  in  future  a  greater  latitude  of 
illustration  and  digression." — Stewart. 

"The  design  of  subscription  being  to 
preserve  one  uniform  tenor  of  faith,  to 
preclude  diversity  of  opinions." — Water- 
land. 

Forestall  (lit.  to  buy  up  before  it  is 
placed  in  the  market-stall)  is  to  antici- 
pate, and  so  prevent  the  action  of 
some  influence,  power,  or  person.  It 
involves  the  ideas  of  prior  occupation 
or  measures  taken  in  advance,  where- 
by the  thing  anticipated  is  monopo- 
lized, or  turned  to  one's  own  account. 
He  who  forestalls  another  takes  to  hig 
own  benefit  the  object  of  another 
man's  endeavours.  One  forestalls  by 
vigilance,  by  diligence,  by  prompti- 
tude of  action,  by  a  more  skilful  use 
of  means,  by  a  better  acquaintance 
of  the  relation  between  causes  and 
effects. 
"  Why  need  a  man  forestall  his  date  of 

grief. 
And  run  to    meet  what   he   would  most 
avoid  ?  "  Milton. 

PRIDE.     Disdain. 

The  first  of  these  words  is  taken 
both  in  a  good  and  a  bad  sense,  the 
latter  only  in  a  bad.  In  the  sense  in 
which  they  are  synonymous,  they 
denote  a  sentiment  which  induces 
us  to  avoid  familiarity  with  others 
on  the  ground  of  a  feeling  of  their 
inferiority  in  birth,  talent,  property, 


630 


or  station  ;  with  this  difFerence,  that 
PniDE  is  founded  on  the  high  conside- 
ration of  ourselves,  Disdain  on  the 
lOw  consideration  of  others.  The 
latter  is,  therefore,  the  more  odious 
and  intolerable,  because  it  seems  the 
more  active  or  aggressive.  If  the 
object  be  to  procure  eocial  esteem  or 
respect,  they  must  be  considered 
Kjually  ineffective  to  this  end.  With 
proud  persons  one  can  hardly  venture 
to  speak,  especially  to  speak  familiarly. 
Disdainful  persons  are  best  avoided 
altogether.  It  is  easier  to  say  what 
pride  is  not  than  what  it  is.  It  is  not 
simply  the  vanity  which  prunes  itself 
on  little  peculiarities,  nor  the  pre- 
sumption which  considers  itself  ca- 
pable of  great  things,  nor  the  disdain 
which  adds  contempt  of  others  to  a 
high  opinion  of  one's  self;  but  it  is 
closely  allied  to  all  these  defects,  and 
partakes  of  the  spirit  of  all. 

PRINCIPLE.  Element.  Rudi- 
ment. 

These  terms  are  used  physically 
and  metaphysically,  or  analogously. 

Physically,  the  Phinciple  of  a 
thing  is  its  cause — that  which  has 
nothing  prior  to  it.  This  is  the  simple 
sense  of  the  Latin  principium,  begin- 
ning. In  this  sense  of  starting-point, 
the  term  is  in  English  well-ni^h  obso- 
lete. "  Doubting,  sad  end  of  princi- 
ple unsound,*'  wrote  Spenser, — that  is, 
sad  end  of  unsound  beginning.  Hence 
it  means  an  ultimate  source  or  origin  of 
physical  things,  whether  an  enei-gy, 
a  substance,  or  an  element  or  ulti- 
mate ingredient.  In  science  and  in 
morals  the  seeming  vagueness  of  the 
term  Principle  flows  from  its  twofold 
nature  as  a  starting-point  of  inquiry. 
The  principles  of  mathematics  are 
axioms  and  postulates.  The  prin- 
ciples of  morals  are  said  to  be  certain 
self-evident  truths.  But  that  which 
is  first  in  the  synthetical  is  last  in  the 
analytical  ])rocess,  and  so  a  principle 
according  to  the  former  is  an  initia- 
tory item,  according  to  the  latter  is  an 
ultimate  conclusion.  In  chemistry 
what  is  called  a  principle  in  sub- 
stances is  not  an  ingredient  from 
which  one  passes  on  to  other  ingre- 
dients, but  a  substance  obtained  and 


SYNONYMS  [PIIINCIPLEJ 

exhibited  by  analysis.  In  matters  of 
science  principles  are  general!  rules  of 
which  the  science  is  the  applicaticii 
and  development. 

The  Elemknts  (Lat.  tlcmentiim)  of 
a  science  are  its  beginnings.  He  who 
has  learnt  the  elements  of  it  has  made 
the  first  complete  step  in  the  know- 
ledge of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
know  its  principles  is  to  know  the 
philosophy  of  it.  The  element  in  phy- 
sics is  the  ultimate  indecomposable 
ingredient  (ultimate  in  point  of  inves- 
tigation, primary  in  point  of  natural 
constitution),  which  goes  to  make  up 
a  substance. 

The  Rudiment  (Lat.  riidimentuin) 
is  an  incomplete  development  of  the 
first  stage  in  the  existence  of  any  thing 
complex  or  organized. 

PRIVACY.  Retirement.  Soli- 
tude.     Seclusion.     Loneliness. 

Privacy  (Lat.  pnvatus,  part.  pj"t- 
vdre,  to  bereave,  to  set  free)  is  opposed 
to  publicity,  and  is  a  condition  of  per 
sons. 

Retirement  (Fr.  retirer,  to  draw 
back)  is  a  condition  both  of  places  and 
persons.  Privacy  may  be  of  short 
duration  ;  retirement  implies  a  longer 
duration.     Hence  we  say,  "  hours  of 


privacy 


'a  life  of  retirement." 


Solitude  (Lat.  solttudinem)  and 
Seclusion  (Lat.  sicludere,  to  shut  offy 
part,  scclusus)  imply  more  than  this 
—an  absence  from  all  society ;  while 
both  Privacy  and  Retirement  are 
compatible  with  the  companionship  of 
a  few,  but  in  different  senses.  Seclu- 
sion is  the  extreme  of  retirement.  Se- 
clusion is  sought ;  solitude  may  be 
imposed.  The  prisoner  in  his  com- 
pulsory confinement  is  not  said  to  be 
in  seclusion,  though  the  word  etymo- 
logically  expresses  this  exactly.  Nor 
is  Solitude  applicable  to  persons  col- 
lectively, but  individually.  The  in- 
habitants of  a  retired  village  might  be 
said  to  live  in  seclusion,  but  hardly  in 
solitude. 

Loneliness  (lone,  corr.  of  alore) 
has  been  well  defined  the  solitude  of 
the  heart.  Some  have  never  felt 
more  lonely  than  in  a  crowd,  where 
it  bas  been  an  utterly  strange  and  un- 


[proceed] 

sympathizing  one;  the  very  fact  of 
the  mere  external  publicity'bringing 
home  the  more  forcibly  the  feeling  of 
moral  isolation.  As  Privacy  is  op- 
posed to  Publicity,  so  Retirement 
may  be  opposed  to  sociality  ;  Soli- 
tude, to  society ;  Seclusion,  to  so- 
ciability; Loneliness,  to  companion- 
sbip.  Privacy  is  sought  for  the 
sake  of  any  employment  with  which 
publicity  intei*feres.  Retirement  is 
sought  for  purposes  of  reflexion,  or 
as  a  relaxation  after  public  duties. 
Seclusion  commonly  indicates  a  pecu- 
liar humour  or  constitution  of  mind. 
Solitude  may  be  voluntary  or  involun- 
tary ;  loneliness  is  involuntary. 

"  Which    fair  and    happ7    blessing    thou 

Tnight'st  well 
Ha>e   far    more    raised,    had    not    thine 

enemy 
Retired  :  privacy  made  thee  to  sell 
Thy  greatness  for  thy  quiet."     Daniel. 

"  He  was  banished  into  Patmos,  a  little 
island  in  the  archipelago,  and  during  his 
retirement  there  was  favoured  in  a  particu- 
lar manner  with  revelations  from  heaven, 
which  he  committed  to  writing,  and  left 
behind  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church." 
— Watkrland. 

"  At  which  this  honest  man. 
Finding  that  naught  but  hate  and  scorn  he 

wan, 
Amongst   these  idiots    and   their   beastly 

kind. 
The  poor,  small  remnant  of  his  life  behind 
Determineth  to  solititde  to  give. 
And  a  true  hermit  afterward  to  live." 

Drayton. 
"  The  invisible  mansion  of  departed 
spirits,  though  certainly  not  a  place  of  penal 
confinement  to  the  good,  is  nevertheless 
in  some  respects  a  prison.  It  is  a  place  of 
seclusion  from  the  external  world."  — 
Bishop  Horsley. 

PROCEED.     Advance. 

To  Proceed  (Lat.  "procldtre)  is 
simply  to  go  on;  to  Advance  (Fr. 
avancer)  is  to  go  forward.  He  pro- 
ceeds -who  does  not  halt.  He  ad- 
vances who  makes  ground  and  is 
growing  nearer  to  a  proposed  point. 
We  cannot  advance  without  proceed- 
ing; but  we  may  proceed  without 
advancing.  To  Advance  regai'ds  the 
end,  to  Proceed,  thebeginning,  of  our 
journey.  In  advancing  we  are  nearer 
to  a  point  before  us;  in  proceeding 
we  leave  a  point  behind  us.  How  ob- 
vious is  the  difference  between  "to 


DISCRIMINATED, 


631 


proceed  with  one  s  studies,"  and  "  to 
advance  in  one's  studies  "  ! 

"  Farther    advances     in     mathematical 

knowledge."— Locke. 

•*  Then  he  forth  on  his  journey  did  pro- 
ceed 

To  seek  adventures  which  mote  him 
befall."  Spenser. 

PROCEED.  Arise.  Flow.  Em.v 
NATE.     Issue.     Spring. 

The  two  first  of  these  terms  are 
employed  to  express  the  course  of 
cause  and  effect;  but  Proceed 
lends  itself  more  readily  to  moral, 
Arise  (A.  S.  dHsan,  to  arise)  to  phy- 
sical, sequence  and  causation.  So  we 
might  say,  with  nearly  equal  pro- 
priety, "  His  cordial  reception  arose 
cr  proceeded  from  his  popularity," 
inasmuch  as  the  circumstance  is  re- 
garded both  as  an  external  fact  or 
occurrence,  and  as  a  moral  result ; 
but  we  should  say,  "The  scanty  har- 
vest arose,"  not  proceeded,  "from 
the  drought."  Simple  causation,  too, 
is  best  expressed  by  Arise;  complex, 
by  Proceed. 

Flow  (A.  S.  Jlowan,  to  flow)  and 
Emanate  (hat.  cmandre,  to  flow  out 
of)  are  metaphorical  terms,  and  are 
therefore  best  employed  when  the 
metaphors  are  best  preserved.  To 
Flow  denotes  continuity  and  abun- 
dance; Emanate,  little  more  than 
source  and  origin.  "All  these  sad 
occurrences  have  flowed  from  a  bad 
system  of  administration."  "The 
timely  hint  emanated  from  his  good* 
nature."  Em  an  atf.,  in  spite  of  its  de- 
rivation, is  not  employed  simply  of 
fluid.  The  water  is  not  said  to  ema- 
nate fi-om  the  fountain.  It  is  em- 
ployed of  fine  and  subtle  substances, 
as  light  vapour,  odour,  minute  cor- 
puscles. The  ideas  of  the  term  are 
first  source  and  origin,  then  spread  or 
influence.  Acts  emanate  from  autlio- 
rity,  and  laws  from  a  sj'Stem  of 
government.  It  is  seldom  used  of 
foolish,  weak,  or  deleterious  influ- 
ences. 

Issue  (Fr.  J5s»,  part,  of  issir,Lat.exire, 
to  go  out,  to  end)  and  Spring  differ  in 
that  Issue  takes  into  consideration  the 
end  as  well  as  the  beginning  ;  whii* 
Spring  (A.  S.  spring,  a  spring,  foun' 


632 


SYNONYMS 


[proceeding] 


tain-hend)  regards  only  the  begin- 
ning. "  Such  attempts  spring  from 
ignorance,  and  must  issue  in  failure." 
We  might  say  also,  "  issue  from  ig- 
norance." Spring  more  strongly 
iftarks  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect ; 
while  Issue  often  denotes  little  more 
than  the  relation  of  antecedent  and 
consequent.  Actions  are  said  to  spring 
from  feelings  which  are  their  motives. 
"  Teach  me  the  various  labours  of   the 

moon. 
And  whence  jyroceed  th'  eclipsesof  the  sun." 
Dryden. 
'•  Yet  many  will  presume  ; 
Whence  heavy  persecution  shall  arise 
On  all  who  in  the  worship  persevere 
Of  spirit  and  truth. "  MiLTON. 

"  Those  thousand  decencies  that  daily y?ow 
From  all  her  words  and  actions."     Ibid. 

"  That  subsistiHg  form  of  government 
from  which  all  laws  emanate." — De  Quiif- 
CEY. 

«'  From  this  Supreme  Being,  from  this 
eternal  fountain  of  all  truth  and  of  all 
good  gifts,  there  issues  light  which  lighteth 
eveiy  one  which  cometh  into  the  world." — 
JOKTIX. 

"Also  it  is  necessarie  to  uuderstande 
whennes  that  sinnes  sprivgen  and  how  they 
encresen,  and  which  they  lien." — Chaucer. 

PROCEEDING.  Procedure. 
Process.     Procession. 

A  Proceeding  is  a  complex  action 
capable  of  being  distinguished  as  to 
its  parts,  steps,  or  stages.  Proce- 
dure is  proceeding  in  the  abstract, 
that  is,  the  act  or  manner  of  proceed- 
ing; the  Process  is  the  proceeding- 
regarded  as  separate  or  apart  from  the 
agent,  more  especially  as  something 
conducted  by  method  and  rule.  The 
Procession  is  the  movement,  as  the 
Procedure  is  the  mode,  of  pi  oceeding. 
See  Train. 

"What  could  be  more  fair  than  to  lay 
open  to  an  enemy  all  that  you  wished  to 
obtain,  and  to  desire  him  to  imitate  your 
ingenious  proceeding."— 'Bxj'RKK. 

"If  the  external  procedures  of  God's 
providence  be  the  rule  to  measure  His  love 
or  hatred  by,  then  it  cannot  be  avoided  but 
that  the  rich  and  powerful  have  the  fairest 
plea  for  heaven,  and  the  martyr  the  shrew- 
dest marks  of  approbation," — South. 

In  Old  English  the  word  Process  was 
used  to  signify  detailed  description, 
or  the  account  of  what  we  now  call  a 
process,  as  in  the  following  of  Shake- 
B pea re  : — 


"  In  brief,  to  set  the  needless /Jrocess  by. 
How    I    persuaded,    how    I    prayed    and 

kneeled. 
How  he  repelled  me,  and  how  I  replied." 

PRODUCE.  Product.  Produc- 
TiCN.     Manufacture. 

Produce  (Lat.  produccve,  to  lead 
forward,  to  beget)  is  now  restricted  to 
what  is  naturally  produced  from  any 
source,  as  by  the  soil  in  vegetation, 
but  for  useful  purposes,  and  in  the  ag' 
gregate ;  as  the  produce  of  a  poultry 
yard,  a  farm,  a  field.  Product  is 
specific,  in  the  sense  of  that  which  is 
produced  by  some  operation  in  par- 
ticular, whether  mental,  moral,  me- 
chanical, or  natural.  Production  is 
used  both  of  the  operation  and  the 
result  of  producing.  In  the  latter 
sense,  it  is  not  confined  to  the  useful 
or  the  natural,  but  is  applicable  to  the 
ornamental  and  the  artistic.  The 
production  may  be  viewed  simply  as 
a  phenomenon  in  itself.  The  pro- 
duct has  a  theoretical  or  material 
value. 

"  It  is  evident  he  means  not  only  exter- 
nal actions,  but  the  acts  of  choice  them- 
$elves,  when  he  speaks  of  all  free  actions  as 
the  produce  of  free  choice." — Edwards, 
On  the  mil. 

"  Man  is  the  flower  and  chief  of  all  pro- 
ducts of  Nature  upon  this  globe  of  the 
earth." — More. 

"  The  value  of  land  consists  in  this,  that 
by  its  constant  production  of  saleable  com- 
modities it  brings  in  a  certain  yearly  in- 
come."— Locke, 

Manufacture  (Lat.  mitnufactus, 
made  by  the  hand)  includes  both  manual 
and  mechanical  operation ;  but  it  is 
confined  to  the  process  of  reducing 
raw  materials  to  forms  convenient  for 
use.  The  work  of  art,  or  the  article 
of  food,  or  the  dwelling,  is  not  said  to 
be  manufactured.  Manufacture  is  the 
application  of  science,  art,  and  force, 
whether  manual  or  mechanical,  to  the 
productions  of  skilled  labour. 

"  A  trading  and  manufacturing  country 
naturally  purchases  with  a  small  part  of  its 
manufact2ired  produce  a  great  part  of  the 
trade  produce  of  other  countries." — Smith 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

PRODUCTION.     Work. 

Production  is  fi'om  the  Latin  pro- 
ducere,  to  brin^  forth  01  forward,  one 
of  its  j)rincipal  meanings  being  to  giv« 


[profession]         discriminated. 


633 


birth,  hence  to  bring  to  light  by  inhe- 
rent causation  or  efficacy.  This  is  tlie 
peculiar  force  of  the  term  Productiox. 
ft  is  so  that  we  speak  of  the  produc- 
tion of  nature,  of  the  earth,  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  of  anything  which  gives 
existence,  which  brings  forth  a  thing 
from  its  own  substance  or  stock. 

WoHK  (A.  S.  iveorc)  is  the  result  of 
eftbrt  and  labour,  as  a  work  of  indus- 
try or  of  art.  One  speaks  of  the 
work,  not  the  production,  of  the  car- 
penter and  the  stonemason.  The 
production  is  the  issue  of  fecundity, 
the  work  is  the  result  of  travail.  The 
production  comes  forth  from  the  pro- 
ductive causes,the  work  from  the  hands 
af  the  skilful  or  industrious  workman. 
I'he  production  receives  a  being,  the 
work  a  form.  The  tree  is  a  production 
of  the  earth,  the  timber  formed  out  of 
this  production  becomes  a  work,  by 
the  shape  given  to  it.  The  universe 
is  a  production  of  infinite  power,  a 
work  of  infinite  intelligence.  It  is 
evident  that  the  same  things  may  be 
often  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  pro- 
duction or  an  art,  in  proportion  as  an 
original  creative  faculty  or  an  opera- 
tive process  is  under  contemplation. 
We  may  speak  of  the  productions  of 
art  or  of  nature.  But  a  book  which 
was  an  abridgement  or  a  translation  of 
another,  not  having  invention,  would 
be  a  work,  not  a  production.  This 
term  would  belong  to  the  original 
from  which  it  was  abridged. 

PROFANATION.  Sacrilegk. 
Desecration. 

Profanation  (Lat.  ■pr6fanatibnem) 
is  an  ii-reverence  or  outi-age  committed 
against  the  sacred  tilings  of  religion. 

Sacrilege  (Lat.  saonltgiiim)  is  a 
crime  committed  against  the  Deity 
himself.  It  is  a  profanation  of  a 
church  to  put  it  to  vile  uses ;  it  is  sacri- 
lege to  rob  it,  because  sacred  things 
having  been  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  God,  this  is  to  rob  God  himself. 
To  complete  the  idea  of  Sacrilege  and 
Profanation  it  is  necessary  that  there 
should  be  an  intention  of  a  criminal 
kind. 

Desecration  (Lat.  de,  from,  sCtcer, 
uicred  ;  disecrare  being  to  consecrate)  is 


a  milder  term,  and  may  be  the  result 
of  ignorance  or  even  necessity.  It 
means  the  treating  in  any  way  which 
is  not  distinctive  reverence.  It  some- 
times happens  that  a  church  is  no 
longer  required,  or  that  no  funds  re- 
main to  support  it.  It  is  made  use  of  as 
a  store-house.  This  is  not  a  purposed 
profanation  of  the  holy  place,  yet  a 
I  esecration  which  all  thoughtful  per- 
sons would  depl«re. 

PROFESS.     Declare. 

To  Profess  (Lat.  ■profiten,  part. 
proj'essus)  is  employed  only  of  what 
relates  td  one's  self.  To  Declare  (see 
Declare)  is  employed  of  any  fact 
coming  within  one's  cognizance. 
There  is  always  a  particular  and  pri- 
vate motive  for  profession.  A  decla- 
ration may  be  made  on  any  account, 
as,  for  instance,  in  obedience  to  duty, 
or  for  the  sake  of  another. 

"  Luther  that  professed  openly  to  abhore 
al  that  might  be  uoted  Papish,  defended 
stoutly  the  presence  of  Christes  bodie  in 
the  Sacrament,  and  to  be  present  really 
and  substantially  even  with  the  same  words 
and  termes," — lip.  Gardner. 

PROFESSION.  Trade.  Bvsi- 
NESS.    Art. 

BusiN  ESS  is  the  most  general  of  these 
terms,  and  comprises  any  exercise  of 
knowledge  and  experience  for  pur- 
poses of  gain.  Wiien  learning  or 
skill  of  a  high  order  is  required, 
it  is  called  a  Profession.  When  it 
consists  of  buying  and  selling  mer- 
chandise, it  is  a  Trade  (Fr.  traite, 
Lat.  trdhcre,  part,  tractus,  to  draw  or 
cai-ry).  When  there  is  a  peculiar  ex- 
ercise of  skill,  it  is  called  an  Art. 
Those  exercise  an  art  who  exchange 
skilled  labour  for  money ;  those  a 
trade,  who  exchange  commodities  for 
money ;  those  a  profession,  who  ex- 
change intellectual  exertion  for  money. 
The  art  of  the  baker  lies  in  making 
loaves;  his  trade,  in  selling  them. 

*'  Amongst  so  many  gi-eat  foundations  of 
colleges  in  Europe,  I  find  strange  that  they 
are  all  dedicated  to  professions,  and  none 
left  free  to  arts  and  sciences  at  large." — 
Bacon, 

"A  bank  cannot  consistently  with  its 
own  interest  advance  to  a  trader  the  whole. 
or  even  the  greater  part  of  the  circulating 


634 


capital  witli  which  he  ^rr7flfes."— Smith, 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  It  seldom  happens  that  men  of  a 
^tadiaus  turn  acquire  any  degree  of  reputa- 
tion for  their  knowledge  of  Ousiness" — 
Bishop  Porteus. 

"Art  can  never  give  the  rules  that  make 
nn  ar•^"— BuRKK. 

PROFICIENCY.  Improvement. 
Pkogress. 

Proficiency  (Lat.  proftctre,  to 
make  progress)  is  more  marked  than 
Improvement  (prefix  im-and  O.  Fr. 
prover,  probdre,  to  approve  of).  In  re- 
gard to  persons  Improvement  is  em- 
ployed of  tilings  both  manual  and 
mental,  active  and  reflexive  ;  Pro- 
ficiency is  employed  more  commonly 
of  matters  of  practical  skill  or  active 
exercise  of  mind.  Any  degree  of 
better  condition,  capability,  or  per- 
formance is  Improvement;  but  Pro- 
ficiency denotes  such  a  degree  as  finds 
the  person  in  possession  of  a  positive 
power  and  skill. 

Progress  (Lat.  progrtdi,  part,  pro- 
gressus,  to  go  forward)  is  more  indefi- 
nite, expressing  movement  onvv'ards, 
without  implying  any  point  gained. 
Improvement  may  be  predicated  of 
any  thing  which  is  capable  of  existing 
in  degi'ees  of  better  or  worse.  Pro- 
ficiency regards  only  the  agent.  Pro- 
gress belongs  to  the  work.  Personal 
improvement  is  more  general  than 
proficiency.  Improvement  betokens 
a  better  state,  proficiency  an  in- 
creased skill  or  ability  in  some  one 
particular.  It  deserves  to  be  remarked 
that  the  English  word  improve  is 
vitious,  being  a  coined  word  with  the 
meaning  of  approve. 

"  The  clergy  in  particular,  as  they  then 
engrossed  almost  every  other  branch  of 
learning,  so,  like  their  pred£cessors,  the 
British  Druids,  they  were  peculiarly  re- 
markable for  their  proficiency  m  the  study 
of  the  law."— Blackstone. 

"  Reflect  upon  that  great  law  of  Nature, 
that  exercise  is  the  chief  source  of  improve- 
ment in  all  our  faculties."— Blair. 

"Growth  is  progress,  and  all  progress 
designs  and  tends  to  the  acquisition  of  some- 
thing which  the  growing  person  is  not  yet 
possessed  of." — South. 

PROFUSENESS.     Profusion. 
PiiOFusENESs^'Lat  pr'iifundcre,  part. 


SYNONYMS  [proficiency] 

pr'dfusus,  to  pour  forth)  is  simply  the 
quality  or  exhibition  of  the  profuse. 
Profusion  is  the  existence  of  the  pro- 
fuse in  what  is  desirable  or  good. 
Profuseness  of  epithets;  profusion  of 
praise.  Profuseness  is  the  quality 
which,  as  a  cause,  produces  profusion 
as  a  result. 

"  He  who  with  a  promiscuous,  nndistin- 
guishing  profuseness  does  not  so  much  dis- 
pense as  throw  away  what  he  has,  proclaims 
himself  a  fool  to  all  the  intelligent  world 
about  him." — South. 

"  The  raptured  eye, 
The  fair  profusion,  yellow  Autumn  spies." 
Thomson. 

PROHIBITION.     Inhibition. 

Prohibition  (Lat.  prohibitionem) 
and  Inhibition  (Lat.  inhibere,  to  re- 
strain), the  former  bein^  literally  to 
abolish  and  the  latter  to  liold  in,  have 
this  distinction  in  usage.  The  prohi- 
bition stops  a  man  from  doing  a  thing, 
the  inhibition  stops  him  after  he  has 
begun  to  do  it.  Prohibit  implies  no 
motive  in  particular,  Inhibit  implies 
the  desire  to  stop  what  is  contrary  to 
established  order.  One  forbids  what 
ought  not  to  be  done;  one  prohibits 
what  might  otherwise  be  done ;  one 
inhibits  persons  from  doing  what  they 
have  assumed  the  right  of  doing. 
Forbid  is  the  generic  tenn.  Prohi- 
bition belongs  to  government  and 
discipline.  Inhibition  has  a  technical 
force  as  belonging  to  law.  In  this 
case  it  is  authority  exercised  to  compel 
adherence  to  law. 


PROMISCUOUS.        Indiscrimi. 

NATE. 

Promiscuous  (Lat.  promiscuus, 
mixed,  promitciious)  is  a  term  ap- 
plied to  objects;  Indiscriminate 
(Lat.  indiscriminitim,  without  distinc- 
tton),  to  actions.  A  promiscuous 
crowd ;  an  indiscriminate  accusation. 
The  promiscuous  appearance  of  seve- 
ral objects  brought  together  may  be 
owing  to  the  indiscriminate  way  in 
which  they  have  been  dealt  with. 

"  Say,  Muse,  their  names  then  known,  who 

first,  who  last. 
Roused  from  the  slumber  on  that  fiery 

couch. 
At  their  great  emperor's  call,  *»  next  io 

worth. 


[promote] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


635 


Came  singly  where  he  stood  oa  the  bare 

strand. 
While  the  promiscuous  crowd   stood  yet 

aloof."  Milton. 

"  Since,  then,  in  our  own  order  of  being, 
the  power  of  the  individual  over  external 
bodies  is  not  at  all  proportioned  to  his  piety 
or  his  morals,  but  is  exercised  indiscrimi- 
■nately,  and  in  equal  degi'ees,  by  the  good 
and  by  the  bad,  we  have  no  reason  from  ana- 
logy to  suppose  but  that  the  like  indiscrimi- 
ruitio7i  may  obtain  in  higher  orders,  and 
that  both  the  good  and  evil  angels  may  ex- 
ercise powers  far  transcending  any  we 
possess,  the  effects  of  which  to  us  will 
seem  preternatural."— Bishop  Horsley. 

PROMISE.     Engagement. 

Promise  (Fr.  promesse,  Lat.  promit- 
th-e,  part.  promissuSf  to  promise)  is  used 
directly  of  the  object,  as  to  promise  a 
gift.  We  do  not  say,  to  engage  a 
gift,  but  to  engage  that  the  person 
shall  receive  it. 

An  Engagement  (Fr.  engager,  to 
impledge ;  gage,  a  pledge,  Low  Lat. 
vHduun)  is  only  in  this  sense  a  stronger 
word  than  Promise,  by  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  express  that  the  promiser 
feels  as  if  he  had  put  liimself  under  a 
pledge  to  execute  his  promise.  "  I 
promise  that  you  shall  have  it, "means, 
simply,  "  I  give  you  my  word  that  I 
will  give  it  to  you."  "  1  engage  that 
you  shall  have  it,"  means,  "  1  pledge 
everything  in  my  power  to  cause  you 
to  have  it."  The  word  of  the  pro- 
miser  is,  as  it  were,  put  in  pledge, 
though  no  actual  pledge  is  given.  It 
is  like  saying,  "  I  pledge  my  word 
that  it  shall  be  so.  Promise  sup- 
poses an  accordance  where  all  the 
gain  is  on  the  side  of  the  person  to 
whom  the  promise  is  made,  and  all 
the  power  of  benefiting  on  the  side  of 
the  person  who  makes  the  promise. 
Engagement  supposes  an  agreement 
in  which  the  advantages  are  on  both 
sides.  One  promises  to  do  another  a 
service,  one  engages  to  deliver  goods 
at  a  certain  time  and  place,  for  which 
he  who  receives  them  engages  to  pay. 

"  Christian  simplicity  relates  to  promises 
and  acts  of  grace  and  favour,  and  its  caution 
is  that  all  promises  be  simple,  ingenuous, 
agreeable  to  the  intention  of  the  promiser, 
truly  and  effectually  expressed,  and  never 
giving  less  in  the  performance  than  in  the 
promises  and  words  of  the  expression." — 
Bishop  TAYiiOR. 


"  The  king  objected  that  the  rendezvous 
being  appointed  for  the  next  week,  he  was 
not  willing  to  quit  the  army  till  that  was 
passed  ;  because  if  the  superior  officers  pre- 
vailed, they  would  be  able  to  make  good 
their  engagement,  if  not,  they  must  apply 
themselves  to  him  for  their  own  security." 
— Ludlow,  Memoirs. 

PROMOTE.  Advance.  Forward. 
Encourage. 

We  speak  of  Promoting  (Lat.  pr5- 
m'dvire,  part,  promotxis,  to  muke  to  move 
Jh-wards)  interests,  of  Advancing 
(Fr.  avancer)  causes,  of  Forwarding 
plans  or  purposes,  and  of  Encourag- 
ing (Fr.  encourager,  ca-ur,  the  heart) 
eflforts.  The  last  application  is  a 
little  distorted,  inasmuch  as  to  En- 
courage meaning  to  give  heart,  it  is, 
strictly  speaking,  only  persons  that  can 
be  encouraged.  We  encourage  an 
undertaking  by  lending  countenance 
and  strength  to  those  who  undertake 
it.  Promote  is  used  both  of  good  and 
evil  designs  or  movements ;  Advance, 
only  of  good.  We  might  speak  of 
promoting  happiness  and  contentment 
or  discontent  and  disturbance.  We 
should  speak  of  advancing  happiness, 
not  unhappiness ;  here  we  should  use 
Promote.  To  promote  seems  to  mean 
no  more  than  to  give  additional  in- 
fluence ;  to  advance,  to  do  so  in  cases 
where  such  influence  is  a  fair  object 
of  desire.  Forward  is  a  simpler  term, 
but  is  always  more  closely  connected 
with  persons.  We  should  endeavour 
to  advance  the  truth  on  all  occasions, 
and  to  forward  the  efforts  of  those 
to  whom  it  is  dear,  but  never  believe 
that  we  can  promote  good  in  any  way 
by  promoting  persecution. 

"  All  my  mind  was  set 
Serious  to  learn  and  know,  and  thence  to  do 
What  might   be   public  good;    myself,    1 

thought 
Born  to  that  end,  born  to  promote  all  truth. 
All  righteous  things."  Miltox. 

"  True  religion  is  the  best  support  of 
every  government,  Trhich  being  founded 
on  just  principles,  proposes  for  its  end 
the  joint  advancement  of  the  virtue  and 
the  happiness  of  the  people."— Bishop 
Horsley. 

"  The  occasional  propensity  to  this  super- 
stition (of  symbolic  figures)  was,  without 
qnest\on,  forivarded  and  encour^g''.d  by  the 
priesthood." — W  arburton. 


63G 


PROMOTION.  Advancement. 
Preferment.     Aggrandizement. 

As  applied  to  the  raising  of  persons 
in  their  social  position,  Pkomotion 
seems  restricted  to  those  offices  which 
are  held  in  a  scale  of  gradation,  as  in 
the  array,  navy,  government  offices, 
and  mercantile  houses.  Advance- 
M  ENT  is  a  general  term,  applicable  to 
any  raising  of  individual  position  ; 
while  Preferment  (Lat.  prtEj'erre,  to 
place  before)  involves  some  peculiar 
greatness  or  dignity  of  office  in  that 
to  which  the  person  is  preferred, 
especially  in  Church  or  State.  Ag- 
grandizement is  applicable  not  only 
to  persons,  but  also  to  families  and 
communities;  it  is  advancement  in 
rank,  power  or  honour.  That  which 
is  aggrandized  becomes  socially 
greater. 

"  Can  place  so  lessen  us  or  aggrandize." 
Young. 

"  The  government  is  elective  ;  promotion 
depends  in  a  great  degree  upon  talents  and 
virtues,  and  consequently  there  is  a  stimu- 
lus to  exertion,  and  a  scope  for  honourable 
ambition." — EuSTACE,  Italg. 

"  Those  that  are  advanced  by  degrees  are 
less  envied  than  those  that  are  advanced 
suddenly." — Bacon. 

"  Sir  Antonio  More  was  made  receiver  of 
the  revenues  of  West  Flanders,  a  prefer- 
ment with  which  they  say  he  was  so  elated, 
that  he  burned  his  easel,  and  gave  away 
his  painting  tools." — Walpole,  Anecdotes 
of  Painting. 

PROMULGATE.  Publish.  Di- 
vulge. Reveal.  Disclose.  (5ee 
Disclose.) 

Promulgate  (Lat.  promulgdre,  to 
make  known,  publish)  is  a  mode  of 
Puulishing  (Fr.  publier,  Lat.  pubti- 
care,  publicus,  public,  for  piiptWicus, 
from  piipiilns,  the  people) ;  for  to  Pub- 
lish is  indefinite,  and  means  simply 
to  make  generally  known,  as  facts ; 
while  Promulgate  is  to  make  exten- 
sively known,  to  give  a  wide,  and,  if 
possible,  extending,  publicity.  Nor 
is  it  applied  to  facts,  but  rather  to 
principles,  opinions,  doctrines ;  hence 
promulgation  is  not  only  publication, 
but  systematic  and  often  repeated 
publication. 

Divulge  (Lat.  cTivulgdre,  to  make 
commonly  known)  is  to  make  known 
««'hat  was  known  only  to  one's  self  or 


SYNONYMS  [promotion] 

to  a  few,  or  which  there  was  some 
propriety  or  obligation  of  keeping 
secret.  Divulge  often  refers  to  • 
breach  of  confidence,  but  does  not 
necessarily  imply  this. 

To  Reveal  (literally,  to  draw  back 
the  veil,  Lat.  reveldre,  which  hid  an  ob- 
ject) differs  from  Divulge,  inasmuch 
as  Reveal  implies  no  more  than  the 
bare  fact  of  antecedent  ignorance,  not 
any  propriety  or  obligation  of  con- 
cealment. To  divulge  is  to  give 
knowledge  of  facts  before  kept  secret. 
To  reveal  is  this,  and  more.  It  is 
applicable  to  what  was  unknown  from 
being  high,  abstruse,  or  mysterious. 
It  applies  also  to  principles  as  well  as 
facts,  and  to  knowledge  in  its  broadest 
acceptation. 

All  these  differ  from  Disclose  (O. 
Fr.  desclos,  part,  of  des-clorre,  to  un- 
close), in  that  Disclose  may  express 
the  accidental  or  unintentional,  while 
they  involve  a  purpose.  We  reveal 
that  which  is  to  their  interest  to  know 
to  whom  the  revelation  is  made.  We 
divulge  what  is  to  the  interest  of  some 
not  to  make  known. 

*'  An  absurd  theory  on  one  side  of  a  ques- 
tion forms  no  justification  for  alleging  a 
false    fact    or   promulgating    mischievous 
maxims  on  the  other." — Burke. 
"  How  best  the  mighty  work  He  might 

begin. 
Of  Saviour  to  mankind,  and  which  way 

first 
Publish  His  God-like  office,  now  mature." 
Milton. 

"  Descamps  says  that  this  mystery,  as  it 
was  then  held,  was  stolen  from  Vaillant  by 
the  son  of  an  old  nian,  who  scraped  the 
grounds  of  his  plates  for  him.  This  might 
be  one  of  the  means  of  divulging  the  new 
art  (of  mezzotinto)." — Walpole. 
"  Early  the  morrow  next  before  that  day. 

His  joyous  face  did  to  the  world  reveal. 
They  both  uprose  and  took   their  ready 
way 

Unto  the  church,  their  prayers  to  ap- 
peal." Spensek. 

**  Thus  it  was  then,  and  thu«  it  hath  been 
ever  since,  Truth  has  had  concealed  and 
timorous  friends,  who,  keeping  their  senti- 
ments to  themselves  or  disclosing  them  only 
to  a  few,  complied  with  eiTors  and  snpersti- 
lions  which  they  disliked  and  despised."— 
Jortin. 

PRONOUNCE.    Utter.  Articu- 
late.    Deliver. 
What  is  given  forth  by  the  voice  as 


[proof] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


637 


mere  sound  may  be  said  to  be  Ut- 
YERfiD  (A.  S.  iit,  out,  compar.  utor). 

What  is  spoken  in  distinct  syllables 
is  Articulated  (Lat.arf&(i/af»s,  part. 
o£ arttciUare,  to  articulate).  What  is 
spoken  m  harmonious,  proportioned, 
and  sustained  articulation  is  Pro- 
nounced, as  words  or  sentences. 

What  is  given  forth  by  sustained 
pronunciation  is  Delivered  (Fr.  de- 
livrer,  to  release).  Thus  do  these  terms 
grow  upon  one  another,  as  sound, 
syllables, words,andspeech.  Pronounce 
has  the  general  meaning  of  making 
to  understand  by  means  of  the  voice 
in  articulate  speech.  Man  alone 
utters  intelligent  speech,  though  some 
birds  can  articulate  syllables  and 
words.  Difference  of  climate  and 
habit  renders  the  inhabitants  of  one 
countiy  almost  incapable  of  pro- 
nouncing certain  syllables  in  the  lan- 
guage of  another,  yet  practice  will 
overcome  such  difficulties.  The  same 
'■vords  are  pronounced  differently  in 
different  provinces  of  a  country,  or  by 
the  educated  and  uneducated. 

"  In  order  to  be  fully  and  easily  under- 
st  ;od,  the  four  chief  requisites  are  a  degree 
c  loudness  of  voice,  distinctness,  slowness, 
«4nd  propriety  oi  pronunciation." — Blair. 

•'  The  ashen  beam,  his  power  of  utterance 

left 
Still  unimpaired,  butm  the  dust  he  fell." 
CoWPER,  Iliad. 

"  They  must  be  put  into  his  (the  cate- 
f  hist's)  hands  the  moment  they  are  capable 
of  articulating  their  words,  and  their  in- 
struction must  be  pm-sued  with  unremitting 
diligence." — Bishop  Porteus. 

PRONOUNCE.     Declare. 

As  applied  to  the  making  known  by 
rerbal  utterance,  Declare  denotes 
the  clear  and  positive  assertion  of  a 
thing;  Pronounce  denotes  such  a 
declaration  as  rests,  in  some  degree, 
upon  individual  responsibility.  We 
declare  facts,  intentions,  and  the  like ; 
we  pronounce  sentence,  judgment,  an 
opinion. 

*'  But  the  attorney  answered  them  that 
he  is  not  the  declarer  of  his  intention  :  he 
must  be  judged  by  tte  book,  by  his  words, 
more  certainly  by  the  effect."  —  State 
Trials. 

"  The  confident  and  pronunciative  school 
of  Aristotle."— Bacon. 


PROOF.  Testimony.  Evidence. 
Deposition. 

Proof  (Fr.  preuve,  Lat.  pr'Ubdre,  to 
vrove,  approve)  is  used  in  two  senses  : 
1,  any  effort  or  process  whicli  tenda 
to  establish  a  fact  or  truth ;  and  2, 
such  an  amount  of  it  as  shall  lead  to 
conviction,  and  produce  belief.  Being 
a  simpler  werd  than  Testimony  (Lat. 
testimonium,  from  testis,  a  witness)  and 
Evidence  (Lat.  Ividentia,  distinctness 
in  speech),  it  is  used  more  generally  of 
the  ordinary  facts  of  life.  Evidence 
is  a  term  of  higher  dignity,  and  is  ap- 
plied to  that  which  is "  moral  and 
intellectual ;  as,  the  evidences  ot 
Christianity,  or  the  body  of  proofs,  or 
alleged  proofs,  tending  to  establish 
facts  in  law.  Testimony  is  strictly  the 
evidence  of  a  witness  given  upon 
oath.  It  always  implies,  more  or  less 
directly,  proofs  afforded  by  a  living 
witness,  though  it  is  often  used  ot 
unconscious  things  in  the  way  ot 
analogy;  as,  the  testimony  of  Nature, 
of  conscience,  and  the  like.  Proof  is 
a  plainer  and  stronger  term  than 
evidence.  Proof  is  positive,  evidence 
may  be  probable,  presumptive,  ques- 
tionable, or  circumstantial.  Proof 
belongs  more  dii-ectly  to  facts;  evi- 
dence to  truth,  or  what  is  moral  in 
its  nature  ;  testimony  to  what  is  per- 
sonal. The  suffering  of  a  martyr, 
borne  in  j)ersonal  testimony  of  his 
belief,  is  not  conclusive,  though  it  is 
no  slight  evidence  of  the  truth  of  that 
for  which  he  suffers  :  it  is  incontest- 
able proof,  where  it  is  voluntarily 
undergone,  of  his  own  sincerity. 

Deposition  (Lat.  d'cp'6sitionem,  de- 
position,diS  a  legal  term)  is  the  written 
testimony  of  a  witness  taken  down  in 
due  form  of  law,  and  affii-med  or  sworn 
to  by  the  deponent.  In  a  less  techni- 
cal sense  it  is  to  declare  upon  oath,  or 
as  solemnly  bearing  witness. 
"  Seeing  'twas  he  that  made  you  to  depose. 
Your  oath,  my  Lord,  was  frivolous  and 
vain."  Shakespeare. 

'*  To  conform  our  language  more  to  com- 
mon use,  we  ought  to  divide  arguments 
into  demonstrations,  proofs,  and  probabili- 
ties; by  proofs  meaning  such  arguments 
from  experience  as  leave  no  room  for  doubt 
or  opposition." — HuMB. 

"  The  difficulty  is  when  testimonies  con- 
tradict common  experience,  and  the  reports 


638 


SYNONYMS 


[propagateJ 


of  history  aad  witnesses  clash  with  the 
ordinary  course  of  Nature  or  with  one  an- 
other."—Locke. 

"  Evidence  signifies  that  wnich  demon- 
strates, makes  clear,  or  ascertains  the  truth 
of  the  very  fact  or  point  in  issue,  either  on 
the  one  side  or  on  the  other." — Black- 
STONE. 

PROPAGATE.  Sprkad.  Circu- 
late.    Disseminate. 

Of  these,  to  Spread  (A.S.  spra:dan) 
is  the  most  indeterminate,  so  that  the 
rest  may  be  regarded  as  modifications 
of  this. 

To  Circulate  (Lat.  circfdare,  to 
vmke  circular)  is  to  spread  within  a 
circle  or  particular  area ;  as,  "  the 
rumour  circulates,  or  is  circulated, 
through  the  town." 

To  Disseminate  (Lat.  disscnnnare  ; 
semen,  seed)  is  a  metaphorical  term, 
conveying  rather  the  idea  of  scatter- 
ing and  diffusion  than  that  orf"  any  after 
up-growth. 

This  is  indicated  by  Propagate 
(Lat.  propagarCf  to  propagate,  bymeam 
of  layers).  A  rumour  is  propagated 
when  many  in  succession  give  force 
to  it.  Doctrines  are  propagated  when 
those  who  spread  them  succeed  in 
making  them  take  root.  Ideas  are 
disseminated  when  they  are  largely 
scattered  about,  and,  as  it  were,  sown 
broadcast.  That  which  is  circulated 
is  matter  of  local  and  temporary  inte- 
rest; that  which  is  disseminated  is 
accepted  and  retained ;  that  which  is 
propagated  becomes  deeply  and  last- 
ingly established.  Disseminate  im- 
plies less  active  and  laborious  effort 
than  Propagate. 

"  It  was  the  singular  and  miraculous 
blessing  of  the  Gospel  in  the  hands  of  the 
first  propagators  of  it,  that  there  was  no 
speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  was 
not  heard."— Bishop  Hall. 

"He  chooses  a  company  of  very  ordinary 
unlettered  men,  but  very  honest  men,  to  be 
the  wi^.nesses  of  His  conversation  and  doc- 
trine ;  and  these  He  designs  for  the  spreaders 
of  His  religion  throughout  the  world."— 
Sharp. 
"Our God,  when  heaven  and  earth  He  did 

create, 
Formed  man,  who  should  of  both  partici- 
pate. 
If  our  lives'  motions  theirs  must  imitate. 
Oar  knowledge,  like  our  blood,  must  ctrcu- 
late."  Denham. 


"  The  horrid  scenes  that  have  been  pass- 
ing there  have  all  been,  it  lias  been  said, 
by  the  dissemination  of  speculative  notion! 
about  liberty  and  the  rights  o/man  among 
the  negroes  of  that  island." -HoiiSLEY. 

PROPERTY.  Quality.  Attri- 
bute.    Accident. 

Property  (Yr.proprieti)h  a  pecu- 
liar quality.  It  is  thus  very  exten- 
sively applied;  as,  the  properties  of 
matter,  which  are,  in  some  cases,  per- 
manent, as  extension,  gravitation,  or 
colour;  transmntative,  as  shown  in 
chemical  affinities,  as,  for  instance, 
the  explosiveness  of  gunpowder,  these 
being  accompanied  by  change  in  the 
substances  themselves;  and  percep- 
tible, that  is,  such  as  produce  affec- 
tions on  sentient  beings,  as  smells, 
poisons. 

Quality  (Fr.  qualile,  Lat.  qiidtita- 
tern)  is  that  which  makes,  or  helps  to 
make,  a  thing  what  it  is.  It  is  there- 
fore a  subjective  or  metaphysical 
term;  and  in  metaphysics  qualities 
are  primary  and  secondary,  or  neces- 
sary to  the  conception  of  a  thing,  anc 
not  so  essential ;  as,  Avhiteness  is  a 
primary  quality  of  snow,  and  a  se- 
condary quali^  of  a  horse. 

Attribute  (Lat.  attributum,  a  thing 
ascribed,  or  predicated)  is,  more  pro- 
perly, a  personal  quulitu,  and  so  is 
mainly  moral,  as  Property  is  mainly 
physical,  and  Quality  metaphysical ; 
as,  "  Justice  and  mercy  are  attributes 
of  God."  We  may  say,  roughly,  that 
qualities  are  perceived ;  properties, 
discovered;  attributes,  ascribed. 

In  logic  an  Accident  (Lat.  acct- 
dens,  acctdcre,  to  happen)  is  a  property 
or  quality  which  is  non-essential  to 
the  thing  in  which  it  occurs,  as  black- 
ness in  ink,  which  may  be  red  or  blue. 
So  the  conditions  of  human  life,  which 
ai-e  not  essential  to  it,  but  forms  in 
which  it  manifests  itself  as  wealth  or 
poverty,  may  be  called  the  accidents 
of  existence. 

"  What  the  light  is — whether  a  substance 
or  an  accident,  whether  of  a  corpw'all  or 
incorporalJ  nature — it  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine."— H  AKEWELI.. 

"  Pi-operty  is  correctly  a  synonym  for 
peculiar  quality  ;  but  it  is  frequently  uned 
as  co-extensive  with  quality  in  general  "  - 
Sir  W.  Hamilton 


[i^roposal] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


639 


"  Humility  and  Patience,  Industry  and 
Temperance,  are  very  often  the  good  quali- 
ties of  a  poor  man." — Addisox. 

•* But  mercy  is  above  this  sceptr'd  sway; 
It  is  an  attribute  to  God  Himself." 

Shakespeare. 

It  maybe  added  that  we  do  not  speak 
of  the  attributes  of  any  but  great  per- 
sons or  personifications ;  while  we 
speak  of  the  properties  of  brute  matter, 
and  the  qualities  even  of  the  com- 
monest men. 

PROPORTION.     Ratk.    Ratio. 

Proportion  (Lat.  prdpnrtionem)  is 
the  relation  or  adaptation  of  one  por- 
tion to  another  or  to  the  whole  in 
ooint  of  magnitude  or  quantity,  and 
;s  a  term  of  greater  dignity  than  the 
others,  being  employed,  not  of  mere 
quantity  only,  but  of  such  quantity  as 
relates  to  truth,  justice,  or  artistic 
impression. 

Rate  (Lat,  rlitam,  sc.  partem ,  a 
reckoned  part)  is  an  established  por- 
tion or  measure,  a  fixed  allowance. 
Proportion  is  a  Jixed  value ;  rate  is 
a  concurrent  value ;  and  is  thus  em- 
ployed of  movement  or  continuous  pro- 
portion. "  At  the  rate  or  running  value 
or  proportion  of  six  miles  an  hour." 
Ratio  is  only  employed  of  the  relation 
vhich  one  quantity  or  magnitude  has 
o  another ;  for  instance,  as  two  is  to 
four,  so  is  four  to  eight ;  as  two  is  to 
six,  so  is  six  to  eighteen,  and  the  like. 

"Proportion  is  the  measure  of  relative 
quantity  "—Burke. 

"  Nor  will  the  purity  which  is  inseparable 
from  it  ever  let  us  know  what  the  vast  and 
sinking  expenses  of  lewdness  and  unclean- 
ness  are.  In  a  word,  it  is  vice  only  that  is 
the  chargeable  thing  ;  it  is  only  shame  and 
repentance  that  men  buy  at  such  costly 
raies."— Sharp. 

PROPOSAL.  Proposition. 

Overture. 

These  terms  represent  two  aspects 
of  the  word  propose — that  is,  to  set 
forth  (Lat.  proponcre).  A  Proposal 
is  something  set  forth,  or  laid  down 
before  another  for  consideration.  A 
Proposition  is  something  laid  down 
in  words  simply  —  an  alfiiTAation  or 
denial,  that  is,  logically, — any  asser- 
tion of  the  connexion  or  disconnexion 
of   two   teims   being   a    proposition. 


affirmative  or  negativt  The  ^rms 
are  often  confounded.  But  it  is  also 
true  that  the  same  thing  may  be  called 
a  proposal  and  a  proposition,  accord- 
ing to  the  view  taken  of  it ;  that  is  to 
say,  a  statement  is  a  proposition ;  a 
statement  made  for  purposes  of  con- 
sideration is  a  proposal  also  ;  yet  there 
seems  also  a  further  difference  in 
usage ;  Proposition  being  used  for 
something  to  be  deliberated  upon ,  Pro- 
posal, something  to  be  done. 
"  Spare  that  proposal,  father  1   spare  the 

trouble 
Of  that  solicitation."  MiLTOX. 

"  If  a  proposition  ascribing  the  nature  of 
things  has  an  indefinite  subject,  it  is  gene- 
i-ally  to  be  esteemed  universal  in  its  propo- 
sitional  sense." — Watts,  Logic 

An  Overture  (Fr.  ouverturg,  an 
opening)  is  literally  an  opening  up  or 
commencement. 

A  Proposal  (Fr.  proposer)  is  a 
thing  put  forth  or  forward,  and  speci- 
fically for  consideration,  that  is  for 
acceptance  or  rejection  by  another 
party.  A  proposal  is  always  with  a 
view  to  action.  An  overture  is  less 
definite,  the  end  being  often  implied 
rather  than  expressed.  A  friendly 
word,  for  instance,  towards  one 
from  whom  we  had  been  estranged 
would  be  an  overture  of  reconciliation. 
The  force  of  Proposal  lies  in  the  thing 
proposed,  which  must  depend  for  its 
acceptance  on  the  desirableness  of  it. 
The  force  of  Overture  lies  in  the  per 
son  making  it  and  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  made.  Individual  feeling  od 
judgment  operates  in  prompting  an 
overture  which  is  always  connected 
closely  with  one's  own  state,  interest, 
or  desire,  while  it  is  possible  to  make 
a  proposal  for  another's  sake  alto- 
gether. Overture  implies  some  ante- 
cedent relation  between  the  parties 
out  of  which  the  overture  springs,  and 
to  some  point  connected  with  which 
one  of  the  two  parties  is  prompted  to 
give  expression.  Accordingly,  an 
overture  is  not  only  as  regards  the 
movement  of  the  party  making  it,  b;  t 
also  the  matter  as  it  lies  between  the 
two  initiating,  while  the  proposal  ia 
final.  The  overture  is  to  lead  to  some- 
thing beyond.  The  proposal  is  itseli 
the  end.     Hence  an  overture  might  in 


640 


SYNONYMS  [PKOPOSK 


many  cases  be  defined  as  an  initiatory 
proposal. 

PROPOSE.     Offer.     Purpose. 

The  meaning  of  Propose  has  been 
partly  considered  under  Proposal. 
To  propose  and  to  Offer  (Lat.  offerre, 
to  present  forward)hoth  relate  to  prac- 
tical affairs.  We  propose  for  consi- 
deration ;  we  offer  for  acceptance.  In 
argument,  to  propose  a  remark,  would 
mean,  to  lay  it  down  for  deliberation 
or  discussion  on  its  own  merits;  to 
offer  a  remark,  would  mean,  to  pre- 
sent it  for  acceptance  or  rejection,  as 
relevant  or  irrelevant.  To  Offer  com- 
monly implies  a  single  undivided  in- 
terest ;  to  Propose  implies  complex  or 
common  interests.  Where  one  person 
is  concerned,  we  offer,  or  where  many 
are  as  one  in  community  of  condition. 
Where  many  are  concerned,  we  pro- 
pose. No  two  terms  are  more  com- 
monly confounded  than  Purpose  and 
Propose  ;  but  the  former  denotes 
a  settled,  the  latter,  a  contingent, 
state  of  mind.  I  propose  to  do  some- 
thing, if  I  have  not  yet  made  up  my 
mind.  I  purpose  when  I  have  made 
it  up.  Yet  the  words  Purpose  and 
Propose  might  often  be  used  indif- 
ferently, provided  it  be  remembered 
that  they  express  different  aspects  of 
the  same  thing.  I  purpose  to  do  a 
thing  when  I  have  formed  a  practical 
intention  to  do  it.  I  propose  to  do  it 
when  I  recognize  it  as  a  design  which 
I  shall  carry  out,  provided  that  no- 
thing should  occur  to  hinder  or  deter 
me.     See  Offer. 

"  But  I  should  ill  become  this  throne,  0 

peers. 
And  this  imperial  sovereignty,  adorned 
With    splendour,   armed    with    power,   if 

aught  proposed. 
And  judged  of  public  moment,  in  the  shape 
Of  difficulty  or  danger,  could  deter 
Me  from  attempting."  Milton. 

"Tlie  ship  a  naked  helpless  hull  is  left ; 
Forc'd  round    and   round,   she   quits   her 

purposed  way. 
And  bounds   uncertain  o'er   the   swelling 

sea."  RowE,  Lucan. 

PROROGUE.     Adjourn. 

Prorogu  e  is  a  legislative  term  (Lat. 
vror'ignrej  in  the  sense  of  asking  the 
people's  consent  to  a  law,  &c.)  and 


only  applied  to  national  legislative  as- 
semblies. 

Adjourn  (Fr.  ajonrner,  Low  Lat. 
adjournare^  Brachet)  is  employed  of 
ordinary  deliberative  meetings. 

"  By  the  king's  authority  alone  and  by 
his  writs  are  they  (the  two  houses  of  peers 
and  commons)  assembled  and  by  him  alone 
are  they  prorogued  and  dissolved,  but  each 
house  may  adjourn  itself." — Bacox. 

PROSPERITY.  Welfare. 
Well-being. 

Welfare  and  Well-beino  are  ab- 
stract terms. 

Prosperity  (Lat.  prospcritatem)  ig 
a  relative  term.  It  is  welfare  regarded 
as  the  successful  issue  of  conduct  in 
the  acquisition  of  material  goods,  and. 
such  estimation  as  is  founded  upon 
the  possession  of  them.  Success  and 
progress  are  involved  in  the  idea  of 
prosperity.  Welfare  is  not  so  high  a 
term  as  well-being ;  welfare  denotes 
a  sufficiency  of  material  goods ;  well- 
being  denotes  that  it  is  well  with  the 
whole  nature,  moral  as  well  as  bodily; 
as,  virtue  is  necessary  to  the  well- 
being,  though  not  to  the  welfare  of 
a  man,  to  which  it  is,  in  some  respects, 
often  opposed.  Well-being  is  more 
commonly  usedof  persons  collectively, 
Welfare  personally.  The  welfare  of 
an  individual,  the  well-being  of  a  com- 
munity. 

"  Pros/1  irity  is  but  a  bad  nurse  to  virtue 
a  nurse  which  is  like  to  starve  it  in  its  in- 
fancy, and  to  spoil  it  in  its  growth." — 
South. 

"  Therefore,  fair  damsel,  be  ye  well  aware. 
Lest  that  too   far  ye   have    your   sorrow 

sought. 
You  and  your  country  both  I  wish  welfare. 
And  honour  both,  for  each  of  other  worthy 
are."  Spenskr. 

"  A  necessity,  indeed,  of  fitness,  that  is, 
that  things  could  not  have  been  otherwise 
than  they  are  without  diminishing  the 
beauty,  order,  and  well-being  of  the  whole, 
there  may  be,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  compre- 
hend, there  certainly  is." — Clarke. 

PROSPEROUS.     Fortunate. 

The  man  is  FoRTUNATE(Lat^ijrtH»rt« 
tus) whose  welfare  was  unloolced  for; 
Prosperous,  whose  welfare  was 
matter  of  hope  and  effort.  Good 
fortune  comes;  but  prosperity  is, 
partly,  at  least,  earned,  tliough  not 
of  necessity  honestly  and  well  earned. 


[proverb] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


64i 


"  Amongst  men,  those  who  are  ■prosper- 
ously  unjnst  are  entitled  to  panegyric;  but 
afflicted  virtue  is  insolently  stabbed  with  all 
mannevofreproaches."— DRYDEN,yMrena/. 

"  For  first  with  words,  nearer  admira- 
tion than  liking,  she  would  extol  his  excel- 
lences, the  goodliness  of  his  shape,  the  power 
of  his  wit,  the  valiantness  of  his  courage, 
the  fortiinateness  of  his  successes." — Sid- 
ney, Arcadia. 

PROVERB.  Aphorism.  Apoph- 
thegm. Byword.  Axiom.  Maxim. 
Saying.  Adage.  Saw.  Truism. 
Principle. 

The  term  Proverb  (Lat.  prover- 
birnrn)  is  employed  with  considerable 
latitude  of  meaning,  as  equivalent  to 
any  saying  which  is  frequently  re- 
peated,especially  one  forcibly  express- 
ing some  practical  truth,  the  result 
or  experience  or  observation.  It  is 
"  one  man's  wit  and  many  men's  wis- 
dom." It  had  of  old  attached  to  it  the 
idea  of  mystical  value,  and  hence 
came  to  signify  something  difficult  to 
understand ;  as,  "  His  disciples  said 
unto  Him,  Lo,  now  speakest  Thou 
plainly,  and  speakest  no  proverb." 

"The  proverb  is  true,  that  light  gains 
make  heavy  purses,  for  light  gains  come 
often,  great  gains  now  and  then." — BacOK. 

Aphorism  (Gr.  a.<po^iirfA,6':,  a  defini- 
tion) differs  from  Proverb  in  relating 
to  abstract  truth  rather  than  to  prac- 
tical matters.  The  aphorisms  of  Hip- 
pocrates defined  the  symptoms  of 
disease.  An  aphorism  may  be  defined 
as  the  substance  of  a  doctrine.  The 
characteristic  of  an  aphorism  seems  to 
be  the  disproportion  between  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  expression  and  the  rich- 
ness of  the  sentiment  conveyed  by  it. 

"That  aphorism  of  the  wise  man,  'The 
desire  of  the  slothful  killeth  him,  for  his 
hands  refuse  to  labour.' " — Barrow. 

Apophthegm  (Gr.  a.'no<pBiyfj,a.)  is  a 
terse,  concise  saying,  of  a  sententious 
character.  The  apophthegm  is  in 
common  what  the  aphorism  is  in 
higher  matters.  It  is  a  saying  che- 
rished for  its  aptness,  effectiveness, 
and  truth  ;  as  in  the  definition  of  pro- 
verb given  above.  An  apophthegm 
is  a  memorable  saying  emanating 
from  energetic  thought. 

"In  a  numerous  collection  of  our  Sa- 
Tiour's  apophthegms,  many  of  them  refer- 
nng  to  sundry  precepts  of  the  Jewish  law. 


there  is  not  to  be  found  an  example  o> 
sophistry,  or  of  false  subtilty,  or  of  any- 
thing approaching  thereunto."—  Palky. 

Byword  originally  meant  littlo 
more  than  a  common  saying,  whethei 
expressed  by  a  single  term  or  in  more 
than  one.  It  has  taken  to  itself  in 
later  times  a  contemptuous  significa- 
tion, as  if  what  is  frequently  named 
were  a  thing  of  meanness  or  derision ; 
something  the  fiimiliarity  of  whose 
mention  has  bred  contempt. 

"  I  agree  with  him  fully  in  the  last,  and 
if  I  were  forced  to  allow  the  fii'st,  I  should 
still  think,  with  our  old  coarse  byword, 
that  the  same  power  which  furnished  all 
their  restorateurs  sent  also  their  present 
cooks."— Burke. 

An  Axiom  (Gr.  a^loofxa.)  is  some- 
thing which  is  claimed  to  be  conceded 
as  a  self-evident  proposition.  It 
differs,  however,  from  Truism,  in 
being  a  foundation  of  argument,  which 
a  truism  is  not.  Moreover,  ti-uism  be- 
longs to  morals;  axiom,  to  science.  The 
axiom  is  a  cardinal  verity,  which  is 
appreciated  by  any  understanding 
which  is  in  a  normal  and  sound 
state. 

"  There  are  a  sort  of  propositions  which, 
under  the  name  of  maxims  and  axioms, 
have  passed  for  principles  of  science." — 
Locke. 

"  Allow  a  man  the  privilege  to  make  hia 
own  definitions  of  common  words,  and  it 
will  be  no  hard  matter  for  him  to  infer 
conclusions  which,  in  one  sense,  shall  be 
true,  and  in  another,  false,  at  once  seeming 
paradoxes  and  manifest  truisms." — Berke- 
ley. 

Maxim  (Lat.  maxima^  i.e.  senten- 
tidrum,  greatest,  i.e.  widest,  most  gene' 
ral  of  propositions)  is  an  established 
principle  or  proposition  in  matters  of 
practical  truth ;  its  characteristic  is 
the  authorit}^  with  which  it  is  invested, 
so  that  it  may  be  appealed  to  retro- 
spectively. It  is  a  guide  and  rule  of 
conduct.  It  is  abstract  and  specula- 
tive, though  founded  upon  observa* 
tion  and  experience ;  so  differing  from 
Principle  (Lat.  principinniy  a  begin- 
ning, a  principle)  which  carries  know- 
ledge with  it,  and  is  applicable  to 
action  as  a  guide  or  basis  of  proceed- 
ing. A  principle  is  a  funaamental 
truth,  or  comprehensive  law,  from 
which  others  are  derived,  or  on  which 
they  are  founded.    See  Doctrinb. 


642 


SI?  NONYMS 


[providence 


•'A  good  principle  not  rightly  nnder- 
stood  may  prove  as  hnrtful  as  a  bad." — 
MlLTOK. 

It  may  be  observed,  generally,  that 
principles  are  last  in  the  order  of  in- 
vestigation, and  first  in  the  order  of 
practice.  They  are  arrived  at  by 
analysis,  and  when  found  become 
bases  or  starting-points  for  action  or 
scientific  inquiry.  A  Saying  and  a 
Saw  are  probably  etymologically  con- 
nected, and  represent,  the  former  the 
more  philosophical,  the  latter,  the 
more  vulgar  aspect  of  a  proverb.  A 
wise  "  saw,"  for  instance,  has  become 
an  expression  somewhat  satirical,  to 
denote  the  aiming  at  the  sententious 
in  that  which  is  really  commonplace. 
Adage  (Lat.  Mdgium)  represents 
in  proverbs  the  aspect  of  their  long 
establishment;  as  Maxim,  their  au- 
thority; and  Proverb,  their  com- 
monness. Hence  we  commonly  find 
the  word  coupled  with  some  adjective 
expressive  of  this :  "the  old  adage," 
or  the  like ;  as,  the  common  proverb  ; 
the  vulgar  saw  ;  the  excellent  saying  ; 
the  incontrovertible  maxim;  the  es- 
tablished or  universal  principle.  The 
adage  has  more  merit  as  a  saying  than 
the  proverb.  The  proverb  is  popular, 
familiar,  and  full  of  common  sense. 
The  adage  gives  to  the  same  thing 
point  and  cleverness,  and  peculiar 
turn  of  expression,  antithetical  or 
otherwise.  Hence  a  proverb  may  be 
coarse  and  vulgar.  In  that  case  it 
would  not  be  called  an  adage. 
•'  Severs  to  censure,  earnest  to  advise. 
And  with  ©Id  saws  the  present  age  chas- 
tise." Frakcis,  Horace. 

"It  was  a  common  saj/ing-vnth  him,  that 
such  altercations  were  for  a  logician  and 
not  merely  for  a  philosopher." — Sir  T 
MORK. 

The  term  Saying,  it  will  be  seen,  does 
not  of  necessity  imply  much  autho- 
rity, and  is  often  the  habitual  expres- 
sion of  an  individual  only.  "  Two 
bodies  cannot  occupy  the  same  space 
at  the  same  time,"  is  an  example  of 
an  axiom.  "  Know  thyself,"  is  a 
maxim.  "  He  who  hurts  thee  in- 
structs thee,"  is  an  ancient  adage. 
When  Leonidas  was  asked  why  brave 
men  preferred  honour  to  life,  his  an- 
swer was  an  apophthegm:  "  Because/' 


said  he,  "life  comes  from  fortum 
but  honour  comes  from  virtue." 
was  an  aphorism  of  Hippocrates,  "  TL 
virtue  of  remedies  is  m  assisting  na 
ture."  "  The  dog  returns  to  L* 
vomit,"  is  a  proverb. 

"  The  antithetic  parallelism  gives  ai 
acuteness  and  force  to  adages  and  mora 
sentences,  and  therefore  abounds  in  Sole 
mon's  Proverbs." — LovfTH. 

PROVIDENCE.     Prudence. 

These  words  are  etymologicalh 
identical  (hat. providentia,  prudentia  . 
prndens  being  a  contracted  form  of  pro- 
vtdens),  but  Providence  is  a  habit 
Prudence,  a  quality.  Hence  the  first 
may  be  employed  of  the  inferior  ani- 
mals ;  the  latter,  only  of  men.  Pro- 
vidence is  more  restricted  than  Pru- 
dence, for  it  is  directed  only  to  the 
supplying  of  needful  wants,  or  the 
making  preparation  against  want, 
danger,  or  necessity ;  while  Prudence 
is  applicable  to  everything  which  be- 
longs to  our  interests,  even  of  the 
highest  kind.  Prudence  is  rather 
contemplative,  and  guards;  provi- 
dence is  active,  and  anticipates. 
"  Yet,  by  experience  taught,  we  know  how 

good. 
And  of  our  good  and  of  our  dignity 
How  provident  He  is."  MiLTON. 

"  Our  blessed  Saviour  having  prefaced 
concerning  prudence,  adds  to  the  integrity 
of  the  precept,  and  for  the  conduct  of  our 
religion,  that  we  be  simple  as  well  as  pru- 
dent, innocent  as  well  as  wary." — Bishop 
Taylor. 

PROVINCIALISM.  Solecism. 
Barbarism. 

A  Provincialism  (Lat.  provincial 
an  outlying  country  subjugated  to  Rome, 
a  province)  is  an  expression  or  mode 
of  speaking  which  marks  a  distance 
from  the  metropolis,  or  more  refined 
centre  of  a  community  or  nation.  The 
style  is  simply  unpolished. 

A  Solecism  (Gr.  a-oXoiKicr/uoi)  is  said 
to  mean  a  corruption  of  the  Attic  dia- 
lect by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Athenian 
Asiatic  colonies  of  Soli  in  Cilicia.  It 
amounts  to  a  violation  of  grammatical 
rule,  or  the  inversion  or  contradic- 
tion of  the  ordinary  processes  of  the 
laws  of  thought. 

A  Barbarism  (Gr.  ^ap^eLpia-fM;)  is 


^pursue] 

an  expression  not  only  foreign  to  a 
language,  but  uncongenial  to  its 
structure  and  modes,  exliibiting  in 
its  character  a  want  of  acquaintance 
with  its  genius  and  the  modes  on 
which  its  language  proceeds.  John- 
son says  :  "  A  barbarism  may  be  in  one 
word,  a  solecism  must  be  of  more," 
upon  the  authority  of  the  Greek  gram- 
marians, who  had  made  the  same  dis- 
tinction. By  a  further  extension  of 
the  term,  Solkcism,  like  Barbarism, 
has  been  made  applicable  to  what  is 
unrefined  or  irregular  in  manners.  The 
barbarism  offends  against  taste  and 
usage,  the  solecism  against  rule  and 
law,  the  provincialism  against  culture 
and  refinement. 

PROXY.     Substitute. 

The  Proxy  (i.e.  Procuracy,  Lat. 
procurationem,  the  office  of  the  procura- 
tor, or  proctor)  is  always  personal. 

The  Substitute  (Lat.  substXtiiere, 
to  place  instead,  part,  substttutiis)  may 
be  personal  or  otherwise.  The  proxy 
is  an  agent,  the  substitute  either  an 
agent  or  an  instrument.  Hence, 
where  both  are  persons,  more  repre- 
sentative independence  of  action  is 
implied  in  Proxy  than  in  Substitute. 
The  pleader  appears  by  proxy.  The 
conscript  is  sometimes  allowed  to  pay 
money  for  a  substitute.  It  may  be 
observed  that  a  substitute  properly 
implies  the  antecedent  existence,  not 
only  the  analogous  use,  of  the  thing 
itself;  so  that  De  Quincey's  expres- 
sion seems  to  be  questionable,  that  in 
the  time  of  Shakespeare  ladies  wore 
masks  as  "  a  substitute  for  the  modern 
parasol." 

PRUDENT.     Prudential. 

We  use  Prudent  of  character  and 
conduct ;  Prudential,  of  the  motives 
of  conduct.  Hence,  a  prudent  course ; 
prudential  morality  ;  that  is,  morality 
which  is  founded  upon  the  theory  that 
virtue  is  safer  than  vice.  Pnv  d  e nt  is 
exhibiting  the  moral  quality  of  pru- 
dence. Prudential  is  actuated  by 
nothing  higher  than  prudence. 

"  I  know  not  how  any  honest  man  can 
harge  his  conscience  in  pi-udentlally  con- 
_iTing  at  such  falsities."— More,  On  En- 
thusiasm , 


DISCRIMINATED. 


643 


PUNISHMENT.    Chastisement 
Chastisement  (0.  Fr.  ckastier)  is 
administered   to   him   who  has  com- 
mitted a  fault,  to  prevent  him  from 
falling  again  into  the  same  offence. 

Punishment  (  Fr.  punir)  ia  visited 
on  him  who  has  committed  a  crime, 
by  way  of  expiation  and  example. 
Children  are  chastised  by  their  pa- 
rents, maltifactors  punished  by  the 
judge.  Chastisement,  to  be  effective, 
must  be  rare ;  punishment,  to  be  effec- 
tive, must  be  severe.  Chastisement 
should  be  dispensed  temperately, 
punishment  proportionately.  Reli- 
gion teaches  us  that  the  Almighty,  as 
a  Father,  chastises  us  in  this  life  as 
children,  that  we  may  not  be  punished 
by  Ilim  as  our  Judge  in  the  life  to  come. 
He  who  chastises  is  in  some  sort  a 
superior  with  power  of  control.  Hf 
who  punishes  may  be  an  equal,  an  in 
ferior,  or  even  one's  self.  Circum 
stances  may  punish,  or  the  offenci 
may  draw  after  it  consequences 
which  may  make  it  its  own  punish 
ment.  Parents  wlio  are  too  indul- 
gent to  chastise  their  cliildren  are 
sometimes  punished  for  it  in  the  in- 
gratitude and  rebellion  of  the  same 
children.  Political  punishments  should 
be  severe  only  in  those  cases  in  which 
the  crime  tends  to  the  disorder  and 
ruin  of  the  State.  Frequent  chastise- 
ments lead  commonly  to  no  bette* 
end  than  a  disgust  of  virtue. 

PURGE.     Purify. 

Purge  is  to  make  pure  (Lat.  pur- 
gare)  ;  to  Purify  (Lat.  purijtcare)  is 
\o  bring  back  a  thing  to  its  proper 
purity.  We  purge  by  taking  away 
what  is  foul,  hurtful,  or  obstructive, 
especially  in  conglomeration  of  foreign 
substances.  To  purify  is  to  dissipate, 
remove,  or  destroy  what  there  is  bad, 
vicious,  or  foul  in  the  substance  of 
tlie  thing  itself.  The  fire  purifies  the 
metal,  the  winds  purify  the  air. 
Pure  and  wholesome  principles  purify 
the  morals,  the  actions,  the  inten- 
tions, the  mind. 

PURSUE.     Prosecute. 

These  words  are  etymologically  the 
same,  the  former  coming  to  us,  me- 
diately, through  the  French  pounuivrt 


644 


(i.e.  Lat.  yros^qitire:  Buachet);  the 
latter,  directly,  from  the  Lat.  -prostqui^ 
part,  prosccutus,  to  pursue.  As  ap- 
plied to  processes  of  mental  applica- 
tion, they  differ  very  slightly ;  but 
*^URSUE  seems  rather  more  to  belong 
to  general,  Prosecute,  to  specific, 
investigations  or  undertakings.  So 
we  commonly  say,  to  pursue  one's 
studies  (indefinitely);  but  (definitely) 
to  prosecute  a  particular  subject  of 
inquiry.  There  seems  also  a  further 
difference.  Pursue  is  applicable  to 
the  guiding  principle.  Prosecute  to 
the  subject-matter.  We  pursue  a  line 
of  inquiry  or  given  instructions,  we 
prosecute  an  investigation  itself,  or  a 
work.  We  pursue  an  intention,  we 
prosecute  an  undertaking. 

"  The  conclusion  which  I  draw  from 
these  premises  pursuant  to  the  query  laid 
down  is,t,hiit  the  learned  doctor  in  condemn- 
ing Arius  has  implicitly  condemned  him- 
self."— Waterland, 
"  She  was  no  whit  thereby  discouraged 
From  prosecuting  of  her  first  intent." 

Spenser. 

PUSH.   Shove.  Thrust.  Propel. 

All  these  words  denote  giving  an 
impulse  to  a  body,  but  differ  as  to  the 
manner. 

Push  (Fr.  pousser,  to  thrust,  Lat. 
pulsdre)  is  indefinite.  It  maj'  mean 
to  press  against  with  force,  with  or 
without  producing  change  of  place  in 
the  object. 

To  Shove  (A.  S.  sceofan)  is  to 
drive  along,  and  so  implies  a  change 
of  position ;  the  action  being  by 
gradually  increasing  force  or  pressure, 
and  not  by  sudden  impulse,  especially 
by  causing  it  to  slide  or  move  along 
the  surface  of  another  body. 

Thrust  (Icel.  thrysta,  to  press, 
thrust)  is  applicable  to  cases  in  which 
a  definite  line  of  movement  or  a  point 
of  contact  is  supposed.  We  push  per- 
sons ;  we  thrust  at  them  in  cases  in 
which  a  line  of  aim,  especially  with 
«ome  weapon,  is  contemplated. 

Propel  (Lat.  propelltre,  to  drive 
forwards)  denotes  a  more  equable  or 
-egulated  application  of  force,  com- 
aaonly  also  sustained,  for  the  purpose 
of  pushing  along  a  given  course  or 
.ine  of  movement,  and   so  is  often 


SrNONYMS  [push 

used  in  speaking  of  the  scientific  ap 
plication  of  power  to  locomotion. 

PUTREFY.    Rot.    Corrupt. 

These  terms  may  be  taken  in  the 
following  order:  Corrupt  (Lat.  cor- 
rumpere,  to  destroji,  to  spoil,  part,  cor- 
ruptiis).  Putrefy  ( Lat.  phtrijieri),  and 
Rot  (A.  S.  rotian),  to  express  the 
different  stages  of  decomposition  of 
organized  bodies.  The  first,  that  in 
which  the  form  as  seen  in  life  is  be- 
ginning to  be  marred  ;  the  second, 
that  in  which  it  decays  offensively  ; 
and  the  last,  that  in  which  its  particles 
cease  to  cohere  and  begin  to  mingle 
with  foreign  matter.  The  verb  cor- 
rupt is  seldom  used  now  in  an  intran- 
sitive sense.  Formerly  this  use  was 
more  common,  as  by  Bacon,  but 
always  rare. 

"Though  this  action  of  putrefaction 
comes  the  nearest  to  animal  digestion,  it  so 
far  differs  from  it  that  the  salts  and  oils  are 
only  detained  in  the  animal  body  so  long  as 
they  remain  benign  and  friendly  to  it ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  putrefy  entirely,  are  either 
thrown  offer  must  produce  mortal  distem- 
pers."—Arbuthnot. 

"  Live  the  brute 
Since  as  the  brute  we  die,  the  scorn  of  man. 
Of  godlike  man,  to  revel  and  to  rot." 

Young. 
"  Corruption  is  a  reciprocal  to  generation  " 
—  Bacon. 


Q 

QUALIFIED.  Competent. 
Entitled. 

A  man  is  Qualified  (L.  Lat. 
qualXficare,  to  make,  of  such  and 
such  quaiitii)  for  a  task  when  his 
powers,  either  by  training  or  by  na- 
ture, have  a  special  aptitude  for  that 
task. 

A  man  is  Competent  (Lat.  com- 
petcre,  to  suit,  to  be  qualified)  to  such  a 
task  when  he  has  simply  the  natural 
powers,  so  that  after-training  may  be 
added.  Hence  qualification  is  compe- 
tency specifically  developed.  It  follows 
that  a  man  may  be  competent  without 
being  qualified,  inasmuch  as  compe- 
tency regards  native  powers ;  qualifi- 
cation, artificial  acquirements.  Hu* 
qualification    extends    eve^    beyond 


quarrelJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


645 


this ;  and,  while  competency  always 
belongs  to  inherent  power,  qualifica- 
tion sometimes  denotes  such  powers 
as  ara  altogether  extraneous  to  the  in- 
dividual, and  come  to  him  from  with- 
out, or  are  conferred  upon  him.  The 
fulfilment  of  any  necessary  condition 
whatever  is,  so  far,  a  qualification.  So 
that  we  speak  of  persons  as  qualified 
by  then-  age  to  hold  certain  offices. 

Entitled  (prefix  en-  and  Lat, 
ttttiUis,  a  title)  denotes  an  assertive 
kind  of  qualification  ;  that  is,  is  ap- 
plied to  cases  not  only  of  fitness  but  of 
privilege,  and  denotes  the  condition 
to  claim  with  success. 

"  The  true  reason  of  requiring  any  quali- 
fication with  regard  to  property  in  voters  is 
to  exclude  such  persons  as  are  in  so  mean  a 
situation  that  they  are  esteemed  to  have  no 
will  of  their  own." — Blackstone. 

•'  But  the  Socinians,  who  concluded  that 
this  was  not  thus,  because  they  knew  not 
how  it  could  be  thus,  are  highly  to  be  re- 
proved for  their  excess  in  the  inquiiies  of 
reason,  not  where  she  is  not  a  compete7it 
judge,  but  where  she  is  not  competently  in- 
structed."—BiSHOP  Taylou. 

"  Entitling  themselves  to  a  contemp- 
tuous mercy  by  a  display  of  their  imbecility 
and  meanness." — Burkk. 

QUARREL.  Difference.  Dis- 
pute. Altercation.  Affray  or 
Fray.     Feud.     Broil.     Brawl. 

A  Quarrel  (O.  Fr.  querele,  Lat. 
qucreltty  a  complaint)  is  vague,  general, 
and  indefinite.  Any  angry  contest, 
confined,  however,  to  words,  may  be 
called  a  quarrel.  The  etymological 
force  of  the  word,  however,  so  far 
survives,  that  a  quarrel  always  pre- 
sumes a  wrong,  or  ground  of  com- 
plaint of  some  kind.  Hence  the 
phrase,  "  to  pick  a  quarrel,"  meaning 
to  seek  wilfully  that  occasion  of  con- 
test which  does  not  readily  present 
itself.  By  an  extension  of  meaning, 
the  verb  to  quarrel  is  applied  to  mat- 
ters in  which  no  question  of  right  at 
all  is  concerned,  and  so  denotes  little 
more  than  actively  to  complain,  as  in 
the  phrase,  "to  quarrel  with  one's 
food  ;"  or  to  find  fault,  as,  "  to  quarrel 
with  a  slight  mistake."  Shar})nessof 
temper  is  the  usual  cause  of  quarrels 
in  which  there  is  commonly  more 
i»-ntation  than  hatred. 

**  If  opoQ  a  sadden  quarrei  two  persons 


fight,  and  one  of  them  kills  the  other,  this 
is  manslaughter," — Blackstone. 

Difference  (Lat.  differentia)  is 
employed  of  personal  matters  of 
minor  consequence.  It  is  used  both 
for  the  dissimilarity  of  opinion  or  feel- 
ing and  for  the  manifestation  of  it. 
Differences  between  persons  are  com- 
monly caused  by  a  collision  of  in 
terests. 

A  Dispute  (Lat.  dispiitdre,  to  du, 
cuss)  is  a  difference  more  or  less  strong 
kept  within  the  bounds  of  argument 
and  the  expression  of  opponent  views 
or  claims.  Difference  of  opinion  is 
the  common  cause  of  dispute.  Verbal 
disputes  are  often  prolonged  by  ob- 
stinacy and  inattention  to  the  just 
value  of  terms.  It  may  be  upon  a 
point  external  to  both  parties.  It 
closely  resembles  Altercation  (Lat. 
altercationem,  a  debating,  wraiigling), 
which  is  literally  the  alternate  ex- 
pression of  feelings  of  difference.  Al- 
tercations properly  involve  but  two 
persons ;  while  disputes  may  involve 
many.  An  altercation  is  a  wordy 
dispute,  into  which  are  introduced  ill- 
temper  and  personalities. 

"  Ought  lesser  differences  altogether  to 
divide  and  estrange  those  from  one  another 
whom  such  ancient  and  sacx'ed  bonds 
unite  ?  "—Blair. 

"  I  here,  in  this  place,  make  this  offer  to 
them,  that  if  I  (Prynne)  may  be  admitted  a 
fair  dispute  on  fair  terms  for  my  cause,  that 
I  will  maintain,  and  do  here  make  the 
challenge,  against  all  the  prelates  in  the 
king's  dominions,  and  against  all  the  prelates 
in  Christendom,  let  them  take  in  the  Pope 
and  all  to  help  them,  that  their  calling  is 
not  jure  divino." — State  Trials, 

"  When  Jacob  abruptly  left  the  house  of 
his  father-in-law  Laban,  and  was  pursued 
and  overtaken  by  him,  a  warm  altercation 
took  place." — GiLPIlT. 

Affray  or  Fray  (O.  Fr.  effroyer,  to 
frighten,  from  a  supposed  Lat.  exfrlgid- 
dre)  is  literally  to  cause  to  turn  cold, 
or  to  cause  to  fear.  In  this  case  the  quar- 
rel is  of  apu6/ic  nature,and  has  ceased  to 
be  a  matter  of  mere  words.  Hence  it 
has  been  defined  by  Blackstone,  "  The 
fightmg  of  two  or  more  persons  in  a 
public  place,  to  the  terror  of  others." 

"  The  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  his  son,  ant' 
several  citizens  of  distinction  were  killed  in 
the  fray.  "—Robertson. 

A  Feud  (A.  S.  fxhiS)  is  properly 


646 


SYNONYMS 


[query; 


a  combination  of  kindred  to  avenge 
injuries  or  insults,  which  in  uncivi- 
lized times  extended  from  the  offenders 
on  either  side  to  their  kith  and  kin, 
and  tended  to  perpetuate  itself  for 
generations.  Hence  the  term  ex- 
presses a  deep-rooted,  long-standing 
animosity  between  two  parties,  and, 
by  an  extension  of  meaning',  some- 
times between  two  individuals. 

A  Broil  (connected  with  brawl  ?) 
is  an  angry  contention  of  more  than 
two  ]>ersons,  carrying  with  it  the  idea 
of  chance  disturbance  and  fortuitous 
entanglement  in  quarrel. 

"Yet    ofttimes    in  his  maddest   mirthful 

mood. 
Strange   pangs  would   flash   along   Childe 

Harold's  brow, 
A«  if  the  memory  of  some  deadly  feud, 
Or  disappointed  passion,  lurked  below." 
Byron. 
"  There  is  no  preserving  peace,  nor  pre- 
renting  broils  and  stirs  but  by  punctually 
observing  that  ordinary  rule  of  equity  that 
in  cases  of  doubtful  debate,  and  points  of 
controverted  practice,  the   fewest  should 
yield  to  the  most,  the  weakest  yield  to  the 
strongest,  and  that  to  the  greatest  number 
should  be  allowed  at  least  the  greatest  ap- 
pearance of  reason." — Barrow. 

Brawl  (Wei.  brawl,  a  boast)  de- 
notes a  noisy  and  indecent  quarreling, 
such  as  offends  against  peaceableness 
of  manners.  Where  the  law  imposes 
strict  order,  or  society  demands  mu- 
tual forbearance  and  a  common  re- 
spectfulness, a  slight  degree  of  un- 
seemly loudness  or  coarseness  of 
words  and  manner  is  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  brawl. 

"  Let  a  man  that  is  a  man  consider  that 
he  is  a  foole  that  brawleth  openlie  with  his 
wife." — Golden  Boke, 

QUERY.     Question. 

A  Question  (Lat.  qucestidnem)  is 
simply  such  a  form  of  inquiry  as  in- 
volves a  verbal  answer. 

A  Query  is  a  question  on  a  pecu- 
liar subject-matter,  that  is,  where  the 
answer  involves  a  knowledge  of  the 
scientific  or  abstruse.  A  question 
may  be  grave  or  idle.  A  query  is 
always  grave,  Truth  generally  is 
the  object  of  a  c'lestion;  curious  truth, 
of  a  query. 
"  St.  Paul,  answering  that  querte  of  the 
u.Jiosophick  iufide}.   '  How  are  the  dead 


raised  up,  or  with  what  body  do  they  come  P" 
replieth  in  this  manner."— CuD WORTH, 

"  But  this  question  asked  puts  me  in 
doubt. " — Milton. 

QUICKNESS.  Celerity.  Ex- 
PEDiTiON.  Rapidity.  Swiftness. 
Velocity.  Fi.eetness.  Speed.  Fast- 
ness. 

Quickness  (A.  S.  cwic,  living,  ac- 
tive) is  the  generic  term  of  which  all 
the  rest  may  be  regarded  as  specific 
applications. 

Celerity  (Lat.  celerltdtem),  and 
Swiftness  (A.  S.  sivift,  from  swifuny 
to  move  quickly)  can  only  be  said  of 
objects  passing  from  one  spot  to  an- 
other; while  the  more  generic  term 
Quickness  may  be  used  of  things 
moving  upon  the  same  spot.  Q  uickness 
has  relation  to  time  by  itself,  as  well 
as  to  space  ;  as,  quickness  of  sight  or 
hearing.  A  dog  may  run  swiftly  and 
hear  quickly,  but  not  swiftly.  Celerity 
is  commonly  used  of  such  movements 
as  results  from  will,  and  so  belongs  to 
persons  and  impersonations ;  while 
Rapidity  (Lat.  rttpuUtatem)  and 
swiftness  are  employed  both  of  con- 
scious and  mechanical  movement. 
Rapidity  is  associated  with  excited 
movement,  and  more  or  less  of  impe- 
tuosity. The  torrent,  the  whirlwind, 
the  changes  produced  by  the  elements, 
or  by  political  revolutions,  are  rapid. 
The  quick  answer  to  a  call,  a  ready 
pursuit  of  an  object  in  a  creature  of 
intelligence,  is  celerity.  So  we  do 
not  speak  of  the  celerity  of  a  cannon- 
ball,  or  even  of  a  bird  in  its  flight,  but 
tlje  velocity  of  the  one,  and  the  rapi- 
dity of  tlie  other. 

Velocity  (Lat.  vilocitdtem)  is  em- 
ployed where  mechanical  rapidity, 
and  nothing  else,  is  intended  or  con- 
templated, and  is  a  scientific  term  for 
rate  of  movement,  however  slow. 
Hence  velocity  is  the  term  used  -where 
any  comparison  of  speed  is  spoken  of. 

Expedition  (Lat.  expkiltiunern,  at. 
expedition)  is  exclusively  confined  tc 
the  complex  actions  of  intelligent 
agents ;  and  Fleetness(A.  S.Jieotan. 
to  float),  to  the  quickness  of  anima. 
movements  from  place  to  place.  Il 
employed  of  inanimate  things,  it  is  by 
a  rhetorical  analogy  to  animate  niotioiii 


[kagsJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


647 


In  Rapid  is  sometimes  implied  the  idea 
of  cjuick  succession,  that  is,  quickness 
which  has  the  effect  of  diminishing 
intervals.  So  the  swift  revolutions  of 
a  wheel,  would  mean  the  mere  velo- 
city of  the  wheel's  rotatory  move- 
ment ;  the  rapid  revolutions,  would 
mean  the  short  periods  in  which  the 
rotations  were  completed. 

Speed  (A.  S.  spedan,to  speed,  pros- 
per) is  rapidity  in  relation  to  the  dis- 
tance to  be  traversed,  or  the  transac- 
tions to  be  accomplished.  When  we 
are  informed  of  the  distance  which  the 
horseman  has  traversed,  and  the  com- 
paratively small  time  he  has  spent  on 
the  journey,  we  infer  the  gi-eat  speed 
at  which  he  must  have  ridden. 

Fast  (A.  S.ftcst)  meaning  quick  in 
motion  is  the  same  word  as  fast, 
meaning  Jinn.  Hence  the  idea  of 
fastness  is  that  of  close  pressure,  ur- 
gent and  continuous  movement;  to 
follow  fast  upon  another  is  to  come 
after  him  without  leaving  an  interval. 
Rapidity  in  succession  and  then  ra- 
pidity in  motion  generally.  It  rains 
fast,  that  is,  the  drops  follow  one 
upon  the  other  without  interval. 

"  He  saw  a  young  Indian,  whom  he 
judged  to  be  about  nineteen  or  twenty  years 
old,  come  down  from  a  tree,  and  he  also  ran 
away  with  such  speed  as  made  it  hopeless 
to  follow  him." — Cook's   Voyages. 

"All  my  predictions  are  now  verifying 
too /asi."— Chesterfield. 
**  Hamlet,  this  deed  of  thine  for  thine  espe- 
cial safety. 
Which  we  do  tender  as  we  dearly  grieve ; 
For  that  which  thou  hast  done  must  send 

thee  hence 
With  fieiy  quic/mess."     Shakkspeark. 

*'  Time,  with  all  its  celeriti/,  moves  slowly 
to  him  whose  whole  employlnent  is  to  watch 
its  flight." — Idler. 

"With  winged  expedition,  swift  as  light- 
ning." ,  MiLTOX. 

"  We  mortals  could  have  little  better 
ground  for  our  faith  and  hope  in  such  an 
omnipotent  arbitrary  will  as  this,  than  we 
could  have  in  the  motions  of  senseless  atoms 
furiously  agitated,  or  of  a  rapid  whirl- 
wind."—C  UDWORTH. 

"Herald,  be  swift,  and  bid  Machaon  bring 
His  speedy  s&cv-our  to  the  Spartan  king." 
Pope,  Homer. 

"  It  appears,  from  experiments  of  falling 
bodies,  and  from  experiments  of  pendulums, 
which,  berng  of  equal  leugtlis  and  unequal 
gravities,  rjai'ate  in  equa    times,  that  all 


bodies  whatsoever  in  spaces  void  of  sensible 
resistance,  fall  from  the  same  height  with 
equal  velocities  "—Clarke. 

QUOTE.     Cite. 

To  Cite  (Lat.  ctture,  to  summon)  is 
literally  to  call  as  a  witness,  and,  in 
its  literary  sense,  to  call  in  the  words 
of  another  in  aid  of  one's  own.  In 
this  way  it  becomes  a  synonym  with 
Quote  (Old  Fr.  quoter,  from  the  Lai. 
qtt^itiis,  how  many,  or  which  in  order). 
To  cite  an  author,  and  to  quote  an 
author,  have  practically  nearly  the 
same  meaning;  but  we  use  the  term 
Cite  when  the  mind  dwells  primarily 
upon  the  matter  imported ;  Quote 
when  we  think  of  the  precise  words. 
To  cite  Shakespeare  as  an  authority, 
does  not  imj)ly  so  exact  a  reproduc- 
tion of  his  words  as  the  term  Quote, 
for  we  may  cite  roughly,  but  we  are 
bound  to  quote  exactly.  A  lawyer 
cites  a  case  as  a  precedent;  he  may 
even  go  on  to  quote  the  words  in 
which  judgment  was  given  upon  it. 

"  I  propose  this  passage  entire,  to  take  off 
the  disguise  which  its  quoter  put  upon  it." 
— Atterbury. 

"This  little  song  is  not  unlike  a  sonnet 
ascribed  to  Shakespeare,  which  deserves  to 
be  cited  here,  as  a  proof  that  the  Eastern 
imagery  is  not  so  different  fi'ora  the  Euro- 
pean as  we  are  apt  to  imagine." — JoKKS,  On 
Eastern  Poetry. 


R. 


RAGS.     Tatters.     Shreds. 

These  terms  agree  in  expressing 
torn  pieces  of  almost  any  textile  fabric, 
but  differ  in  their  association.  Rags 
(etym.  unknown)  are  associated  with 
poverty,  beggary,  and  consequently 
contempt.  A  ragged  child  belongs  to 
poor  and  negligent  parents.  The 
ruritans  called  the  surplice  a  rag  of 
popery. 

Tatters  (O.  Nor.  tbturr,  a  rag, 
tatter;  Wedgwood)  are  torn  pieces, 
not  separated  like  ra^'S,  but  hang- 
ing about  in  connexion  with  the 
body  and  substance  of  the  piece. 
The  term  is  capable  of  an  honourable 
association,  as  the  banners  of  a  regi- 
ment which   bas  seen  much  service 


648 


SYNONYMS 


[ramble 


may  hang  in  tatters.     Dirty  rags,  not 
(Yvty  tatters,  commoi^ly. 

".HREDS  (A.S.  screadian,  to  cut,  to 
tvar)  points  to  the  violence  which  has 
torn  the  substance  into  pieces.  As 
fcubstances  are  shivered  into  frag- 
ments, so  they  are  torn  into  shreds. 

RAMBLE.  Roam.  Rove.  Range. 
Stroll.     Wander. 

The  idea  of  going  in  a  free,  irregu- 
lar manner  is  common  to  these  terms. 
To  Ramble  (frequentative  of  Roam^ 
IS  to  go  about  from  place  to  place, 
without  any  determinate  object  in 
view,  but  in  sheer  relaxation  of  mind. 

To  Roam  (perhaps  Ger.  raum,  room, 
ipace;  Wedgwood)  has  not  the  free- 
dom and  carelessness  of  Ramble,  and 
is  often  associated  with  restlessness, 
or  an  impulse  to  uneasii  wandering. 
As  Roam  implies  something  in  the 
impelling  to  wander,  so  Rove  involves 
the  idea  of  a  future  purpose,  and  is 
commonly  associated  witii  search  or 
wandering  in  quest  of  an  object. 

Range  (orig.  to  send  ranks  of  sol- 
diers over  the  country ;  Fr.  rang,  rank) 
differs  from  the  preceding  in  being 
within  certain  limits  ;  as,  the  ranger  of 
a  park.  The  hunter  ranges  the  woods 
or  the  mountains,  that  is,  wanders 
about  some  more  or  less  definitely 
prescribed  area,  and  with  no  listless - 
ness  or  want  of  aim,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, with  a  purpose  of  observation 
or  quest.  It  implies  a  right  and  a 
freedom.  To  Wander  (A.  S.  wan- 
diian)  and  to  Stroll  (Da.  strelle,  to 
stroll)  closely  resemble  each  other; 
but  a  stroll  is  commonly  on  foot, 
while  Wander  may  be  also  on  horse- 
back or  on  water.  Stroll  excludes 
that  idea  of  accident  and  ignorance 
of  the  cour&e  or  road  which  some- 
times attaches  to  the  idea  of  wander- 
ing. Nor  has  it  so  direct  a  reference 
to  a  line  of  right  or  proposed  move- 
ment which  has  been  erroneously  left 
or  lost. 

"  We  must  not  ramble  in  this  field  with- 
out discernment  or  choice,  nor  even  with 
these  must  we  ramble  too  long." — Bolinq- 
BKOKB,  On  the  Study  of  History. 

"  Where'er  I  roam^  whatever  realms  I  see. 
My  heart,  QatraveU'd.    fondly  turns    to 


'till  to  my  brother  turns  with  censslesf 

l)ain, 
Anci    'rags  at  each  remove  a  lengthening 

^,.-iin."  Goldsmith.  ' 

"  The  wiij  ravings  of  men's  fancies  inti.- 
odd  similitudes,  startling  metaphors,  hu 
morous  expressioas,  and  sportive  represen 
tations  of  things,  are  grown  more  acceptable 
in  almost  all  conversations,  than  the  most 
solid  reason  and  discourse." — ScoxT,  CTiris 
tian  Life, 

"  A  milk-white    hind,   immortal  and  un 

changed, 
Fedou  the  lawns,  and  in  the  fovest  raf-yed 
Without  unspotted,  innoc^ent  within. 
She  feared  no  danger,  for  she  knew  no  sin, 
Drvden. 

"  These  mothers  stroll to^ieg  sustenance 
for  their  helpless  infants." — SwiFT. 

"  They  wandered  about  ii\  "heepskins 
and  goatskins." — English  Bible. 

RANGE.     Arrange. 

Arrange  and  Range  represent  re- 
spectively the  compounded  and  uu- 
compounded  form  of  the  French  ran- 
ger, from  rang,  a  rank  or  range.  Ar- 
range expresses  the  relationship 
which  one  establishes  among  several 
things  which  one  ranges  together. 
Range  expresses  only  an  individual 
idea.  Arrange  is  complex.  One  ar- 
ranges one's  library  by  ranging  one's 
books.  To  range  is  to  put  in  place,  ar- 
range is  to  put  in  order.  We  arrange 
occasionally,  we  are  ranging  per- 
petually. To  arrange  is  an  operation 
which  requires  some  action  of  mind. 
To  range  is  little  more  than  physical. 
The  former  implies  taste  and  know- 
ledge, the  latter  is  to  follow  a  generic 
rule.  Arrange  implies  a  freedom  of 
will  and  choice.  Range  the  obligation 
of  a  predetermined  order. 

RANSOM.     Redeem. 

These  words  are  etymologically 
identical,  Rans(5m  being  the  old  Fr. 
raensom,  and  Fr.  ran^on,  Lat.  rtdemp- 
tionem,,  a  buying  off,  a  release.  In  its 
application,  Redeem  is  general;  Ran- 
sosj,  particular.  We  redeem  things 
and  persons.  We  ransom  persons 
only.  Moreover,  the  means  of  re- 
deeming are  manifold.  We  may  re- 
deem not  only  by  money,  but  by  care, 
by  the  expenditure  of  labour,  and  the 
like.  We  ransom  only  by  ruDney 
Character,  life,  honour  may  .je   n 


[kavage] 


deemed.     Only  persons,  or  their  life 
or  liberty,  are  the  objects  of  ransom. 
"  Talk  not  of  life  or  ransom,  he  replies  ; 
Patax)clas  dead,  whoever  meets  me  dies." 
Pope,  Homer. 
•'  For  no  way  else,   they  said,  but  this 

could  be. 
Their  wrung-detained  honour  to  redeem. 
Which  true-bred  blood  should  more  than 

life  esteem."  Daxiel. 

RAPACIOUS.  Ravenous.  Vora- 
cious. 

Rapacioi'S  (Lat.  rUpncem,  from  rH- 
piire,  to  seize)  means  given  to  seize  from 
a  desire  of  possessing.  This  is  appli- 
cable to  matters  of  greed  in  food,  but 
obviously  extends  far  beyond  them. 

Ravenous  (raven,  to  plunder,  to  de- 
vour, O.  Fr.  ravine,  violence,  Lat.  rd- 
pvier,  pillage)  and  Voracioifs  (Lat. 
vh-dcem,  vorare,  to  devour)  apply  only 
to  matters  of  food,  except  by  rhetori- 
cal analogy.  Of  these  two.  Ravenous 
denotes  rather  the  state ;  Voracious, 
the  nature  of  the  animal.  A  voracious 
beast  is  one  that  satisfies  its  appetite 
by  large  quantities  of  food ;  a  rave- 
nous animal  or  appetite  may  have 
been  simply  made  so  by  long  priva- 
tion. There  are  some  animals  which 
cannot  be  called  voracious,  for  they 
pass  considerable  intervals  without 
taking  any  food ;  yet  at  the  times  of 
eating  they  have  become  ravenous. 

"  There  are  two  sorts  of  avarice  ;  the  one 
is  but  of  a  bastard  kind,  and  that  is  the 
rapacious  appetite  of  gain,  not  for  its  own 
sake,  but  for  the  pleasure  of  refunding  im- 
mediately through  all  the  channels  of  pride 
and  luxury."— CoWLEV. 

"  The  curiosity  of  the  one,  like  the  hun- 
ger of  the  other,  devours  ravenously,  and 
without  distinction,  whatever  comes  in  its 
way,  but  neither  of  them  digests." — Bo- 
X-INGBROKK,  Study  of  History. 

"  But  it  ought  to  be  observed  that  it  is 
this  slowness  which  alone  suspends  the  vo- 
racity of  this  animal  (the  sloth)."— Paley. 

RARE.    Scarce. 

We  call  a  thing  Rare  (Lat.  rams, 
thru,  scanty)  when  only  a  few  of  the 
kind  exist,  or  can  be  procured.  We 
gpeak  of  a  thing  as  Scarce,  which 
exists,  or  is  to  be  had  at  the  present 
time,  in  diminished  quantities.  Dia- 
monds are  rare  when  they  are  com- 
pared with  pebbles.  They  are  scarce 
•rhen  there  happen  to  be  comparn- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


649 


lively  few  in  the  market.  Thus  Rare 
bears  reference  to  the  intrinsic  cha- 
racter of  things;  Scarce,  to  their  re- 
lation to  circumstances  and  require- 
ments. Scarce  implies  a  previous 
plenty,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
Rare.  Rare  qualifies  what  is  an  ob- 
ject of  novelty,  curiosity,  or  intrinsic 
value  ;  Scarce,  what  is  a  matter  of  ne- 
cessity or  common  demand.  Things 
are  rare  by  nature ;  they  become  scarce 
by  circumstances. 

"  A  perfect  union  of  wit  and  judgment  is 
one  of  the  rarest  things  in  the  world." — 
Burke. 

"  For  the  rarity  of  transparent  gems, 
their  lustre,  and  the  great  A'alue  which 
their  scarceness  and  mens  folly  sets  upon 
them,  emboldens  some  to  say,  and  inclines 
others  to  believe,  that  such  rare  and  noble 
productions  of  Nature  must  be  endowed 
with  proportionable  and  consequently  with 
extraordinary  qualities." — Boyle. 

RATIONAL.     Reasonable. 

These  are  respectively  forms  coming 
to  us  directly  from  the  Latin  {riiiionem., 
reason)  and  the  French  form  of  the 
same  word,  raison.  Rational  has  re- 
lation to  reason  as  a  faculty  of  the 
mind,  and  is  opposed  to  irrational ; 
as,  a  rational  being,  a  rational  state  of 
mind.  Reasonable  has  reference  not 
so  much  to  the  speculative  as  to  the 
practical  reason,  denoting  governed 
by,  or  in  accordance  with,  right 
reason ;  as,  "  Reasonable  views  in- 
volve prospects  of  success." 

"  Can  there,  then,  be  enthusiasts  who 
profess  to  follow  reason!  Yes,  undoubtedly, 
if  by  reason  they  mean  only  conceits. 
Therefore  such  persons  ai-e  now  commonly 
called  I'easouists,  or  rationalists,  to  distin 
guish  them  from  true  reasoners,  or  rational 
mquirers." — Watkrland. 

"  The  adjective  reasonable,  as  employed 
in  our  language,  is  not  liable  to  the  same 
ambiguity  as  the  substantive  from  which  it 
is  derived.  It  denotes  a  character  in  which 
reason,  taking  it  in  its  larger  acceptation, 
possesses  a  decided  ascendant  over  the  tem- 
per and  passions,  and  implies  no  particular 
propensity  to  a  displsvy  of  the  discursive 
power — indeed,  it  does  not  exclude  the  idea 
of  such  a  propensity."—  StewaRT. 

RAVAGE.  Devastation.  Deso- 
lation.    Havoc. 

Ravage  (Fr.  ravage,  ravir,  to  carry 
cff  violently)  is  the  violence  that  mars 
and  spoils;   Devastation  (dirvastdre. 


650 


SYNONYMS 


[reach] 


to  lay  waste),  the  violence  that  de- 
8troys  and  lays  waste;  Desolation 
(  Lat.  desoldtionem),  the  violence  which 
makes  empty  and  uninhabited.  Ra- 
vage is  sudden,  violent,  seizing  and 
dragging  away,  as  the  imperious  con- 
queror ravages  the  territories  he  has 
subdued,  or  tlje  overflowing  torrent 
ravages  the  fields  which  it  should 
fertilize,  or  the  flame  and  the  tempest 
commit  ravages.  Other  forces,  such 
as  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  deso- 
late a  country.  Tyranny  and  foreign 
invasions  desolate  kingdoms.  That 
which  ravages  cannot  be  resisted.  It 
is  rapid  and  terrible.  That  which  de- 
solates cannot  be  arrested  :  it  is  cruel 
and  relentless.  That  which  devastates 
spares  nothing:  it  is  fierce  and  un- 
wearying in  its  work.  Ravage  spreads 
alarm  and  terror  ;  desolation,  mourn- 
ing and  despair ;  devastation,  fear 
and  horror. 

Havoc  (A.  S.  hafoc,  a  hawk,  whence 
probably  the  Welsh  hafog,  destruction, 
the  word  being  used  as  a  cry  of  en- 
couragement to  hawks,  "  Cry  havoc, 
and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war  "),  denotes 
indiscriminate  destruction,  whether 
with  specific  violence  of  purpose  or 
not.  Recklessness  or  accident,  as 
well  as  design,  may  produce  havoc. 

"  Louis  XIV.  ravaged  defenceless  coun- 
tries with  armies  sufficient  to  conquer  them 
if  they  had  been  prepared  to  resist." — Bo- 

LINGBROKK. 

"  So  dismal  and  amazing  a  devastation." 
— TlLLOTSON. 

"  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself 
shall  be  brought  to  desolation."— English 
Bible. 

"  If  their  first  charge  could  be  supported, 
they  (the  elephants)  were  easily  driven  back 
npon  their  confederates.  They  then  broke 
through  the  troops  behind  them,  and  made 
no  less  havock  in  the  precipitation  of  their 
retreat  than  in  the  fury  of  their  onset."— 
liambler. 

REACH.     Extend.     Stretch. 

Reach  (A.  S.  •'•Scan)  is  a  more  sig- 
nificant term,  though  a  simpler  one, 
than  Extend  (  Lat.  eitendere,  to  stretch 
ont),  inasmuch  as  it  involves  not  the 
mere  abstract  idea  of  extension,  but 
such  extension  as  attains  to  a  given 
point ;  as,  a  tall  man  reaches  to  the 
top  of  the  door.  No  such  limitation  is 
ccrrejed  by  Extend  or  Stretch.  The 


idea  of  attainment  in  addition  to  ex- 
tension, which  belongs  to  Reach,  is 
more  plainly  seen  in  the  transitive 
application  of  Reach,  as  the  sound 
reaches  the  ear. 

The  latter,  Stretch  (A.  S.  streocan ), 
conveys  the  idea  of  efibrt,  or  is  em- 
ployed where  continuity  as  the  result 
of  effort  may  be  imagined ;  as,  when 
we  speak  of  a  promontory  stretching 
far  out  to  sea,  the  analogy  suggested 
is  that  of  an  outstretched  arm.  Ex- 
tend is  the  most  abstract  of  the  three, 
and  is  applicable  both  to  lines  and 
spaces.  In  their  secondary  applica- 
tion, Extend  is  effortless,  as  observa- 
tion, power,  influence  may  be  ex- 
tended, that  is,  simply  earned  out 
farther;  they  may  be  stretched  un- 
duly ;  they  may  reach  or  not  to  the 
desired  point  or  amount.  Extension 
is  employed  scientifically,  as  a  pro- 
perty of  matter  or  space. 

"  Being  at  liberty  to  indulge  himself  in 
all  the  immunities  of  invisibility,  out  of  the 
reach  of  danger,  he  (Junius)  has  been  bold ; 
out  of  the  reach  of  shame,  he  has  been  con- 
fident."— Johnson. 

"  If  any  one  ask  me  what  this  space  I 
speak  of  is,  I  will  tell  him  when  he  tells  me 
what  his  extension  is.  For  to  say,  as  is 
usually  done,  that  extension  is  to  have  partes 
extra  partes,  is  to  say  only  that  extension  is 
extension." — Locke. 

"  His  slanting  ray 
Slides  ineffectual  down  the  snowy  vale. 
And  tinging  all  with  his  own  rosy  hue. 
From  every  herb  and  every  spiry  blade. 
Stretches  a  length  of  shadow  o'er  the  field." 
COWPKR. 

REALM.  State.  Common- 
wealth. 

The  State  (Lat.  status,  a  standing) 
is  the  body  politic  of  a  country,  some- 
times restricted  to  the  legislative  body, 
sometimes  extended  to  the  entire 
body  of  the  people  as  governed  by  the 
laws  of  their  representatives.  It  de- 
notes government  in  the  most  abstract 
sense. 

Realm  (Fr.  roiiaume ;  roi,  Lat.  ri- 
gem,  a  kine)  denotes  such  a  nation  as 
is  monarchical  and  aristocratic  in  its 
constitution.  Hence  such  emphatic 
expressions  as,  "a  peer  of  the  realm," 
"  the  parliament  of  the  realm."  We 
may  also,  with  less  regard  to  its  aris- 
tocratic constitution,  speak  of  "  the 


[recede] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


651 


parliament  of  the  country ;  "  but  we 
do  not  commonly  speak  of  '*  a  peer  of 
the  country." 

CoMMONWEAiTn  (comtnoii  and 
toealth,  weal,  or  ivell-being)  is  a  term 
not  bearing  so  distinctively  upon  the 
form  of  government,  but  belongs  to  a 
free  country,  as  being  so  administered 
as  to  aim  at  the  public  good. 

"  His  realm  is  declared  to  be  an  empire, 
and  his  crown  imperial,  by  many  Acts  of 
Parliament,  particularly  the  statutes  24 
Henry  VIII.,  ch.  12,  and  25  Henry  VIII., 
ch.  28,  which  at  the  same  time  declare  the 
king  to  be  the  supreme  head  of  the  realm 
in  matters  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical." — 
Blackstoxe. 

"The  Puritans  in  the  reign  of  Mary, 
driven  from  their  homes,  sought  an  asylum 
in  Geneva,  where  they  found  a  state  with- 
out a  king,  and  a  Church  without  a  bishop." 
— Choate. 

The  term  Com.monwealth  has  re- 
ceived a  strong  anti-monarchical  tinge 
from  the  fact  that  this  name  was  given 
to  the  government  of  England  which 
intervened  after  the  death  of  Charles 
I.,  and.  ended  with  the  resignation 
of  Richard  Cromwell. 
"  The  Commonwealth  yet  panting  under- 
neath 
The  stripes  and  wounds  of  a  late  civil  wai*. 
Gasping  for  life,  and  scarce  restored  to 
nope."  Ben  Joxson. 

REASON.    Cause. 

Reason  (Fr.  raison,  Lat.  rUtionem) 
relates  originally  to  logical  sequence. 
A  reason  is  the  Cause,  not  of  the 
existence  of  a  thing,  but  of  our  know- 
ing it.  It  is  the  mode  in  which  we 
take  account  of  its  being,  so  answer- 
ing to  the  question,  How  1  as,  "  How 
do  3'ou  know  that  your  friend  has 
gone  this  road  ?  "  "  Because  I  re- 
cognize his  footmarks."  In  common 
conversation  it  is  often  used  loosely 
instead  of  Cause,  either  the  physical 
cause,  namel}'^,  that  which  produces 
an  effect ;  or  the  final  cause,  namely, 
the  purpose  for  which  u  thing  is 
done.  Reasons  are  logical ;  causes 
are  natural.  The  cause  of  a  vessel's 
sailing  is  the  wind  acting  upon  the 
sails.  The  reason  of  its  sailing  is  the 
order  given  to  its  captain.  The  result 
of  a  reason  is  a  conclusion ;  the  re- 
sult of  a  cause  is  an  effect.  The  cSiise 
gives   the  physical,   the  reeson,   the 


metaphysical,  account.  Generally 
speaking,  the  cause  is'  sufficient  or  in- 
sufficient; the  reason  is  satisfactory 
or  unsatisfactory. 

"Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the 
hope  that  is  in  yon  with  meekness  and 
fear." — English  Bible. 

"  In  the  notice  that  our  senses  take  of 
the  common  vicissitudes  of  things,  we  can- 
not but  observe  that  several  particulars, 
both  qup.lities  and  substances,  begin  to 
exist,  and  that  they  receive  this  their  ex- 
istence from  the  due  application  and  opera- 
tion of  some  other  being.  From  this  ob- 
servation we  get  our  ideas  of  cause  and 
"—Locke. 


REBOUND.  Reverberate. 
Recoil. 

Rebound  (Fr.  rebondir)  is  simply 
to  spring  or  start  back  on  collision  by 
the  elastic  force  of  the  body  struck  or 
rebounding. 

Reverberate  (Lat.  reverberare,  to 
beat  back)  is  now  restricted  to  the  re- 
bounding of  sound,  and  sometimes, 
but  rarely,  spoken  of  the  reflexion  or 
rays  of  light. 

Recoil  (Fr.  reenter,  to  move  back, 
lo  draw  back)  is  employed  in  those 
cases  in  which  the  rebound  strikes  or 
closely  affects  the  person  causing  the 
movement  or  projection,  as  when  a 
gun  recoils,  or  a  plot  for  the  injury 
of  another  recoils  upon  the  plotter. 

"  A  dreadful  sound 
Which  through  the  wood  loud  bellowing 
did  rebound."  Spexser. 

"  And  every  soun 
Tis  but  of  aire  reverberatioun." 

Chaucer. 

"  First  Fear  at  hand,  its  skill  to  try. 
Amid  the  chords  bewildered  laid. 

And  back  recoiled,  he  knew  not  why. 
E'en  at  the  sound  himself  had  made.' 
Collins, 

RECEDE.  Retreat.  Retire. 
Withdraw.     Secede.     Abscond. 

To  Recede  (Lat.  recedere)  is  to  go 
back. 

To  Retreat  (Fr.  rttracter,  Lat. 
retractdre)  is  to  draw  back.  Hence  Re- 
cede is  the  more  purely  mechanical. 
A  body  passing  away  from  us  recedes 
into  the  distance.  Retreat,  except 
when  it  is  employed  in  poetic  ana- 
logy, involves  a  purpose  in  receding. 


652 


SYNONYMS 


[receipt] 


Buch  as  the  object  of  leaving  one 
locality  oi*  position  to  go  to  another. 

Retire  (Fr.  retirer,  to  withdraw)  is 
closely  similar  to  Retrea  r,  but  more 
strongly  denotes  the  purpose  of  ab- 
senting one's  self  from  view.  A  party 
of  soldiers,  unable  to  hold  one  post  in 
fighting,  may  retreat  to  another.  A 
combatant,  convinced  that  he  has  no 
chance  of  success,  may  retire  alto- 
gether from  the  contest. 

WnnuRAW  is  in  English  exactly 
what  Retire  is  in  French ;  but,  as  is 
common  in  such  cases,  withdraw  is 
the  more  familiar  and  less  dignified 
term.  An  army  retires  from  the  occu- 
pation of  a  country.  An  individual 
withdraws  on  finding  the  company 
uncongenial  to  him. 

Seleue  (Lat.  scccdcre,  to  withdraw) 
denotes  a  public  and  formal  act  of 
separation  from  a  body  with  which 
one  was  associated,  more  especially 
religious  and  political  bodies. 

Abscond  (Lat.  abscondh-e,  to  hide 
away)  has  in  English  taken  an  intran- 
sitive sense  instead  of  the  transitive 
sense  of  the  Latin.  It  is  to  go  into 
continuous  retirement,  to  withdraw 
from  the  sight  and  intercourse  of 
men,  commonly  with  an  implied 
fiirtiveness  of  purpose,  as  the  debtor 
or  the  offender  against  the  laws  ab- 
sconds to  avoid  detection.  Ray  speaks 
of  swallows  absconding  in  the  winter. 
Bentley  used  the  verb  actively. 

"  Nothing  discoverable  in  the  lunar  sur- 
face is  ever  covered  and  absconded  from  us 
by  the  interposition  of  any  clouds  or  inists 
but  such  as  rise  from  our  own  globe." — 
Bkntley,  Sennons. 

RECEIPT.     Reception. 

These  terms — both  derived  from  the 
Latin  rcciipere,  part,  receptus,  to  re- 
ceive— differ  in  the  applications  to 
which  usage  has  restricted  them. 

Receipt  applies  to  inanimate  ob- 
jects, as  being  simply  taken  into  pos- 
session; Receition,  to  persons,  and 
to  such  objects  as  are  connected  with 
will  and  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the 
givers.  A  receipt  of  goods  is  acknow- 
ledged. The  reception  of  favours 
merits  gratitude.  "  His  friend  met 
witha  warm  reception."     1  acknow- 


ledge the  receipt,  not  the  reception,  of 
a  letter. 
"  At  the  receipt  of  your  letter."—  Shakb> 

SPEARE. 

"  His  reception  is  here  recorded  on  a 
medal,  on  which  one  of  the  ensigns  present« 
him  his  hand." — AcDlSON. 

RECLAIM.    Refoum. 

To  Reclaim  (Fr.  r^clamer,  to  claim 
back)  always  denotes  an  external  in- 
fluence, such  as  the  exhortations  and 
representations  of  friends. 

Reform  (Fr.  reformer)  commonly 
implies  motives  springing  from  with- 
in. A  man  reforms  himself,  and  re- 
claims his  neighbour.  Reclaim  is 
also  more  specific.  Reform  is  of  the 
character  generally.  Reclaim  refers 
to  some  specific  vice  or  error,  to  the 
latter  of  which  Reform  does  not  apply 
so  forcibly.  Reclaim  has  also  a  more 
extended  sense.  We  may  be  reclaimed 
from  misery  or  eiTor.  We  are  reformed 
only  from  vice.  On  the  other  hand, 
individuals  are  reclaimed ;  systems  or 
institutions  also  are  reformed. 

"A  qualified  property  may  subsist  in 
animals  ferae  naturaj  per  industriam  ho- 
minis,  by  a  man's  reclniming  and  making 
them  tame  by  art,  industry,  and  educa- 
tion."— Blackstone. 

"  This  shall  certainly  be  our  portion  as 
well  as  his,  unless  we  do  prevent  it  by  a 
speedy  reformation  of  our  lives." — Sharp. 

RECLINE.    Repose.     Rest. 

Jo  Recline  (Lat.  rhsViniire,  to  lean 
backivards)  is  to  lean  back  for  sup- 
port. 

Repose  (Fr.  reposer)  is  to  place 
one's  self  in  the  easiest  position  for 
rest. 

To  Rest  (Fr.  re'ster,  to  rem  an)  ia 
to  cease  from  labour  or  exertion,  and 
may  be  in  a  standing  or  any  other 
posture. 

"  To  their  supper  fruits  they  fell. 
Nectarine    fruits,    which    the    compliant 

boughs 
Yielded  them  side-long  as  they  sat  recline 
On   the  soft  downy  bank,  damask'd  with 
flowers."  Mllton. 

The  word  Recline  in  the  above  is  an 
adjective. 

"  So  forth  she  rode,  without  repose  or  rest, 
Seurching    ail   lands,   and  each  r-^motesl 
part. 


t 


RECOVER J 


Following   the    guidance  of  her  blinded 

gnest, 
"ill  that  to  the  sea-coast  at  length  she  her 

addrest."  Spknser. 

RECOGNIZE.    AcKxvowLEDOE. 

To  Acknowledge  is  opposed  to 
keeping  back  or  concealing.  It  is  to 
avow  our  knowledge,  where  that 
knowledge  had  been  previously  con- 
fined to  ourselves,  and  where  the 
avowal  of  it  on  our  part  furnishes 
others  with  peculiar  and  complete 
evidence.  The  extent  to  which  ac- 
knowledgment furnishes  knowledge 
to  others,  in  the  sense  of  information 
which  thej  did  not  previously  possess, 
is  a  matter  of  degree.  To  acknow- 
ledge one's  obligations  for  the  kind- 
ness of  others,  is  little  more  than 
openly  to  express  them.  To  acknow- 
ledge one's  fault,  may  or  may  not  im- 

ly  that  it  was  not  known  to  others. 

'c  acknowledge  a  secret  man-iage,  is 
to  give  others  a  completeness  of  in- 
formation which  otherwise  they  had 
not  possessed.  The  difference  between 
acknowledge  and  Rkcugmze  (Lat. 
recognoscere,  to  knoio  agubi)  turns  on 
the  previous  state  of  our  own  minds. 
We  acknowledge  what  we  knew  dis- 
tinctly before,  though  we  did  not 
make  that  knowledge  public.  We 
recognize  what  we  saw  at  first  only 
indisiinctl'j.  That  which  we  recog- 
nize we  know,  as  it  were,  anew,  and 
admit  it  on  the  ground  of  the  evidence 
which  it  brings.  A  person  is  recog- 
nized as  an  ambassador  when  he  pro- 
duces his  testimonials.  We  recognize 
a  friend  after  a  long  absence  when  we 
have  had  time  to  put  together  the 
ocular  evidence  of  his  identity.  We 
recognize  truths,  principles,  claims, 
and  the  like  when  such  grounds  for 
them  have  been  laid  before  us  as  we 
feel  we  cannot  reject.  Hence  acknow- 
ledgment is  for  the  sake  of  others  ;  re- 
cognition is  on  our  own  account.  In 
acknowledging  we  impart  knowledge ; 
in  recoojmzing  we  receive  it.  Ac- 
knowledgment is  active,  recognition 
is  passive. 

"  Hang,  beg,  starve,  die  in  the  street* ! 
For    by   my   soul    I'll   ne'er   acknowledge 

thee. 
Nor,  what  is  raoi'e,  shall  never  do  thee 
good."  SHAKKSPKAR2. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


653 


"  But  the  view  in  which  the  State  re- 
gards the  practice  of  morality  is  evideatlj 
seen  in  its  recognition  of  that  famous  maxim 
by  which  penal  laws  in  all  communities  ai-e 
fashioned  and  directed,  that  the  severity 
of  the  punishment  must  always  rise  ia  pro- 
portion to  the  propensity  to  the  crime." — 
Warburton. 

RECOUNT.  Relate. 
These  terms  dilFer  in  the  character 
of  the  subject-matter.  The  idea  oi 
giving  an  account  of  circumstances 
or  occurrences  is  common  to  both  ; 
but  we  Relate  (Lat.  rtferre,  part. 
rtidtns,  to  bring  back)  generally  ;  we 
RErouNT(Fr.  raconter,  to  relate)  spe- 
cifically. Anything  which  has  oc- 
curred of  a  complex  character,  and  in 
order  of  occurrence,  may  be  related. 
We  recount  in  closer  detail  what  is 
personally  connected  with  ourselves 
and  matter  of  our  own  experience. 
We  relate  the  story  of  another's  ad- 
ventures ;  we  recount  our  own.  The 
term  Relate  is  also  broadly  applicable 
to  all  modes  of  connected  statements, 
as  by  writing  or  by  word  of  mouth  ; 
Recount  is  commonly  restricted  to 
word  of  mouth.  We  relate  things 
that  have  occurred  ;  we  recount  them 
as  they  occurred.  We  ought  to  re- 
count fully,  and  to  relate  accurately. 
Nor  are  we  usually  said  to  recount 
matters  of  very  recent  occurrence. 
The  old  soldier  recounts  the  battles 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  he  may  re- 
late what  he  saw  an  hour  ago. 
"  To  all  His   angels,  who  with  ti-ne   ap. 

plause 
Recount  His  praises."  Miltok. 

"  Truth  she  relates  in  a  sublimer  strain 
Than    all    the    tales    the  boldest  Greek* 

coald  feign."  Waixkb. 

RECOVER.     Retrieve.     Re^ 

GAIN. 

Reco./er  is  the  O.  Fr.  recouvrer, 
fi'om  the  Lat.  rccuperdre,  to  recover. 

Retrieve  is  from  the  French  re- 
trouver,  tojind  again,  It.  ritrovare.  We 
are  said  to  recover  what  has  been 
accidentally  lost,  or  lost  from  want 
of  reflexion ;  to  retrieve  that  the  loss 
of  which  is  more  distinctly  charge- 
able upon  us  as  a  fault.  A  man  loses 
his  purse,  and  by  assiduous  inquiry 
and  search  succeeds,  perhaps,  in  re- 
covering it.     He  retrieves  his  good 


654 


name.  A  man  may  recover  by  good 
luck ;  but  he  retrieves  through  his 
own  exertions. 

Reoain  (Fr.  regagnevj  to  regain) 
denotes  the  recovery  of  what  is  of 
simple  and  obvious  value.  We  re- 
cover what  is  of  general,  even  indi- 
rect, advantage.  We  retrieve  what 
It  is  a  positive  loss  to  have  parted 
with.  We  regain  possessions ;  we  re- 
trieve losses  ;  we  recover  advantages. 

"  Though  wicked  men  be  under  the  in- 
fluence of  their  corrupt  prevailing  inclina- 
tions, in  the  ordinary  course  of  their  lives, 
yet  at  some  certain  seasons,  and  especially 
in  the  absence  of  temptations,  their  en- 
chanted reason  and  understanding  may 
recover  its  due  force  and  spring." — Water- 
land. 

"  There  is  much  to  be  done,  undoubtedly, 
and  much  to  be  retrieved." — Burkk. 

"  My  soul  attends  thy  voice  ;  and  banish'd 

Virtue 
Strives  to  regain  her  empire  of  the  mind." 
Johnson. 

RECTITUDE.     Justice. 

Rectitude  (Lat.  rectitndinem, 
$traightness,  uprightness)  is  conformity 
to  the  rule  of  right  in  principle  and 
practice. 

Justice  (Lat.  jusittia)  refers  more 
especially  to  the  carrying  out  of  law 
as  regards  the  treatment  of  others. 
Rectitude  is,  therefore,  in  one's  self ; 
justice  is  on  account  of  others.  Jus- 
tice is  by  moralists  sometimes  divided 
into — commutative,  Vv'hich  assures  to 
every  man  what  is  his  own  in  fact 
or  by  promise;  distributive,  which 
deals  out  to  several  according  to  their 
deserts ;  and  general,  which  through 
any  channels,  though  not  strictly  com- 
mutative or  distriljutive,  carries  out 
the  ends  of  law,  as  in  the  government 
of  his  children  by  a  parent. 

"  Nor  is  the  lowest  herd  incapable  of 
that  sincerest  of  pleasures,  the  conscious- 
ness of  acting  right ;  for  rectitude  does  not 
sonsist  in  extensiveness  of  knowledge,  but 
in  doing  the  best  according  to  the  lights 
afforded."— Search. 

"  The  king-becoming  gi-aces, 
tis  justice,  verity,  temperance,  and  stable- 

ness, 
r  have  no  relish  of  them." 

Shakespeare. 

REDRESS.     Relief. 

Heduess (Fr.  -edresser,  to  sl^aighte^t) 


SYNONYMS  [rectitude] 

is,  literally,  the  bringing  back  to  the 
right,  and  is  said  only  in  regard  to 
matters  of  right  and  justice;  while 
Relief  (Fr.  relief,  relever,  to  raise 
anew)  is  said  of  the  lightening  of 
anything  that  may  be  regarded  as  o( 
the  nature  of  a  burden,  as  pain,  in- 
convenience, obligation,  or  necessity. 
Power  and  justice  redress,  charity 
and  humanity  relieve. 

"  Thus  heavenward  all  things  tend.  For 
all  were  once 

Perfect,  and  all  must  be  at  length  re- 
stored. 

So  God  has  greatly  purposed  ;  Who  would 
else 

In  His  dishonour'd  works  Himself  endure 

Dishonour,  and  be  wronged  without  re- 
dress." CowPKR. 

"  The  inferior  ranks  of  people  no  longer 
looked  upon  that  order,  as  they  had  done 
before,  as  the  comforters  of  their  distress, 
and  the  relievers  of  their  indigence." — 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

REEL.     Stagger.     Totter. 

Involuntary  and  unsteady  motion 
in  animate  beings  is  common  to  these 
terms. 

To  Reel  (connected  with  roll)  is  to 
move  in  such  a  way  as  to  border  on 
the  loss  of  equilibrium. 

To  Stagger  may  be  applied  to 
standing  as  well  as  walking,  and  de- 
notes a  difficulty  of  preserving  the 
power  of  standing  upright  (Dut. 
staggeren,  to  stagger).  As  reeling  is 
the  effect  of  force  or  misdirected 
movement,  as  in  intoxication,  bo  stag- 
gering indicates  either  great  pres- 
sure, as  of  a  burden,  or  unsteadiness 
of  brain,  and  consequent  weakness. 

Totter  (Du.  touteren,  to  oscillate, 
swing:  Wedgwood)  is  the  indication 
of  weakness,  especially  in  the  support 
of  the  limbs,  and  is  applied,  as  the 
others  are  not,  to  what  is  inanimate ; 
as,  a  building  tottering  to  its  fall. 

"  They  reel  to  and  fro  and  stagger  like  a 
drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wits'  end." 
— Eng.  Psabyis. 

"  Tottering  on  the  seat  of  elevation."— 
Idler. 

RE-ESTABLISH.  Restouf.. 
Repair.     Repi.ace.    Rehabilitate, 

Re-establish  (Fr.  ritahlir)  signi- 
fies  properly   to  put  upoL  t  fonnei 


[refractory]        discriminated. 


655 


looting,  to  restore  to  a  former  state ; 
Restore  (Lat.  restaiirare),  to  reinstate 
a  tiling  in  its  integrity,  its  force,  its 
consideration,  and  condition  ;  Repair 
(  Lat.  rcparer,  to  mend),  to  give  back  to 
a  thing  its  form,  its  totality,  its  origi- 
nal aspect.  We  re-establish  what  has 
been  overthrown,  ruined,  desti'oyed. 
One  restores  what  has  been  degraded, 
disfigured,  dilapidated.  One  repairs 
what  has  been  spoilt,  damaged,  and 
deteriorated.  Like  the  verb  establish, 
however,  we  do  not  speak  of  re-es- 
tablishing things  purely  material,  but 
things  which  have  the  nature  of  force, 
order,  law,  continued  existence,  or 
operation.  The  others  are  capable  of 
a  purely  material  application.  We 
re-establish  that  which  had  lost  its 
influence  and  its  action.  We  restore 
that  which,  being  capable  of  variation, 
has  lost  much  of  its  stability,  force, 
vigour,  activity,  or  excellence.  We 
repair  that  which  has  been  injuriously 
aiiected  contrary  to  its  own  intrinsic 
perfection  or  the  established  order  of 
things.  We  are  also  said  to  repair 
the  evil  or  the  loss  itself. 

Replace  has  a  more  decided  mean- 
ing, that  of  putting  a  thin^  back  to 
the  place  from  which  it  had  been  re- 
moved. It  may  be  observed  that  the 
terra  has  also  the  meaning  of  furnish- 
ing a  substitute  for  what  has  altogether 
disappeared,  so  that  the  identity  of 
the  original  is  lost. 

REFERENCE.     Relation. 

Both  these  words  are  formed  from 
the  Lat.  rt/erre,  part,  rcldtus,  to  carrif 
back,  but  express  different  aspects  of 
the  same  idea.  The  relation  is  the 
fixed  connexion  recognized  as  exist- 
i[ig  between  two  things  in  any  way. 

The  Reference  is  tlie  act  of  refer- 
ring, or  the  state  of  being  referred, 
and  springs  out  of  the  case  and  the 
occasion.  Thus  the  reference  is  the 
specific  institution  of  a  mental  con- 
nexion which  ends  when  the  mind 
ceases  to  regard  the  relation,  while 
the  relation  is  inherent  and  perma- 
nent. Unless  Christianity  stood  re- 
lated to  the  forms  of  social  life,  we 
could  not  speak  of  it  in  reference  to 
Javery. 


REFORM.     Reformation. 

Reformation  (Lat.  r^'ormaTS.  M 
shape  anew)  is  usually  employed  of 
matters  of  grave  moral  or  political 
importance  in  the  interests  of  nations 
and  the  character  of  individuals. 

Reform  is  oftener  applied  to  prac- 
tical details.  We  speak  of  a  reforma- 
tion in  morals  and  in  religion;  a 
reform  in  government  and  administra- 
tion or  management.  So  reform  is 
commonly  local  or  particular,  re- 
formation is  general.  An  organiza- 
tion, a  polity,  or  the  character  of  an 
individual,  may  need  reform  in  one  or 
more  particulars,  without  requiring 
such  a  radical  alteration  as  would  be 
implied  in  the  term  Reformation. 
Whately  has  well  remarked, 

"  It  is  a  recent  custom  to  speak  of  re- 
forming abuses  ;  but  this  is  an  impropriety 
of  language.  Abuses  may  be  remedied  or 
extirpated,  but  they  cannot  be  reformed. 
In  the  same  way,  we  speak  improperly  of 
curing  diseases.  It  is,  correctly  speaking, 
the  patient  who  is  cured." 
Under  another  view,  Reformation 
and  Reform  also  differ  as  active  and 
passive.  Reformation  is  often  used 
in  the  sense  of  the  act  of  reforming ; 
Reform,  of  the  state  of  being  re- 
formed. A  reformation  may  be  going 
on  ;  a  reform  may  be  effected. 

"  This  was  a  proper  time  to  enter  upon 
the  business  of  a  reformatio7i,  which  eA'ery 
man  who  gave  himself  a  moment's  time 
to  think  must  be  satisfied  was  absolutely 
necessary." — Pitt,  Speech  on  Parliamen- 
tary Reform, 
"  What  vice  has  it  snbdned,  whose  heart 

reclaimed 
By  rigour?  or  whom  laughed  into  reform?  " 
COWPER, 

REFRACTORY.    Unruly.     Un- 

GOVERNABLE. 

Refractory  (Lat.  refract arius,  ob- 
stinate) is  the  active  and  positive  con- 
dition of  Unruliness.  The  unruly 
child  is  simply  hard  to  keep  under 
rule.  The  refractory  child  perversely 
breaks  rule.  An  unruly  temper  or 
disposition  is  under  no  sound  prin- 
ciple of  control ;  a  refractory  temper 
rebels  agamst  it. 

Ungovernable  (LslI.  gubernare,  to 
steer,  to  govern)  denotes  that  extreme 
of  refractoriness  which  successfully 
sets  at  defiance  all  attejnpts  at  control. 


656 


SYNONYMS 


[refresh"^ 


"  That  religion  thus  nnrsed  up  by  politi- 
cians might  be  every  way  compliant  with 
and  obsequious  to  their  designs,  and  no  way 
refractory  to  the  same."— Cudworth. 

"  Who  alone  canst  order  the  unruly  wills 
and  affections  of  sinful  men."— Anglican 
Liturgy. 

"Haughty  and  ungovernable  spirits."— 
Hale. 

REFRESH.  Revive.  Renovate. 
Renew. 

REPnESH  (Fr.  rafraichir,  to  cool,  re- 
fresh) denotes  the  renewal  of  what  is 
vital  or  vivid  ;  as  to  refresh  one  who 
is  faint,  or  a  colour  which  has  become 
faded. 

Revive  (Lat.  rhuvtre,  to  live  again) 
IS  to  renew  that  which  is  of  the  nature 
of  vital  force,  or  may  be  regarded  as 
analogous  to  it 

Renew  and  Renovate,  which  are 
dififerent  forms  of  the  same  word,  the 
former   coming   to    us   through    the 
French  iieuf,  and  the  latter  through 
the  Latin  jibwits,  new,  differ  in  being 
employed,  the  former  more  distinc- 
tively of  moral,  the  latter,  of  physical, 
subjects;  as,  to  renew  a  vow;  to  re- 
novate  furniture.      All    involve   the 
idea  of  a  restoration  of  things  to  their 
former  state.     Revive  and  Refresh 
belong  specially    to   animal    bodies. 
One  who  had  fainted  revives  when  the 
functions  of  life  return.     One  who  is 
weary  is  refreshed  when  those  func- 
tions are  performed  with  more  anima- 
tion;  Refresh  thus  implying  an  in- 
ferior degree  of  antecedent  exhaustion 
to  that   implied  by   Revive.     Any- 
thing of  which  the  force   or   action 
has    lain    dormant    or    in    abeyance 
may  be  said  to  be  revived,  as  a  cus- 
tom, a  claim,  a  practice.     In  this  ap- 
plication.  Revive  belongs  rather  to 
things  external,  Renew,  to  things  in- 
ternal, to  one's  self.     To  renew  a  cus- 
tom, would  mean  a  custom  of  one's 
own  :  to  revive  a  custom,  would  indi- 
cate that  others  besides  one's  self  are 
interested.     Dormant   energies,   and 
even  weakened  impressioM  are  said 
to  be  revived.     Renovate  never  im- 
plies any  cessation  or  interval  of  time ; 
whereas  Renew  is  often  employed  of 
the  taking  up  of  what  has  been  sus- 
pended. 
••  In  order  to  keep  the  mind  in  repair,  it 


IS  necessary  to  replace  and  refreshen  those 
impressions  of  Nature  which  are  continu- 
ally wearing  away,"  -Reynolds. 

"  Gross  corruptions  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trine, which  the  caprice  and  vanity  of  this 
licentious  age,  have  revived  rather  than 
produced."— Bishop  Horsley. 

"  All  Nature  feels  the  renovating  force 
Of  winter."  Thomsox. 

"  The  old  custom  upon  many  estates  is  to 
let  for  leases  of  lives  renewable  at  pleasure  " 
—Swift. 

REFUSE.  Decline.  Deny.  Re- 
ject.  Repel.  Reuvfe.  Repulse. 
Refuse  (Fr.  refuser,  Lat.  r^fntdre, 
to  push  back)  indicates  the  expression 
of  an  unwillingness  to  grant  what 
others  desire,  request,  or  demand. 

Decline  (Lat.  diclinare,  to  bend 
away  from)  is  a  gentle  yet  determined 
refusal  to  act  in  a  manner  proposed, 
jmd  most  commonly  fi-om  motives  ot 
consideration  or  prudence.  We  may 
decline  what  is  advantageous  to  our- 
selves, as  well  as  what  is  desired  by 
others. 

We  Deny  (Yt.  denier,  Lat.  dinegdre) 
what  is  desired  of  us  by  others,  ex- 
cept in  the  sense  in  which  denial  u 
opposed  to  affirmation. 

We  Reject  (Lat.  rejicere^  part,  re- 
jectus,  to  cast  back)  what  is  strongly 
opposed  to  our  taste,  judgment,  or  in- 
clination. 

We  Repel  (Lat.  repelltre,  to  drive 
back)  what  others  press  upon  us. 

Rebuff  (It.  ribuffo,  rebuff,  reproof) 
denotes  such  a  refusal  or  repelling  as 
by  its  decisive  character  inflicts  a 
shock  upon  the  other  party — refusal 
that  may  be  felt.  To  repel  is  to  re- 
ject with  violence,  to  rebuflfis  to  refuse 
with  contempt. 

To  Repulse,  another  form  of  Repfi 
(Lat.  rcpellh-e,  rtpulsus)  is  eflfectually 
to  repel,  to  force  back  upon  another 
his  own  advances,  overtures,  ap- 
proaches, eflforts,  attacks.  Only  the 
movements  of  intelligent  agents  are 
repulsed,  while  natural  or  mechanical 
forces  may  be  repelled 

Entreaties,  invitations,  are  refused, 
proposals  are  declined,  requests  and 
petitions  are  denied,  ]»ropositions  and 
counsels  are  rejected,  advances  are  re- 


[BEMAINDER]  UISCRIMINATED. 


657 


pelled,  importunities  rebuffed,  attacks 

repulsed. 

"  Complete  to  have  discovered  aud  repulsed 

Whatever  wiles  of  foe  or  seeming  friend." 

MlLTOX. 

"A  flat  refusal  on  his  (their  prince's) 
part  reduces  them  to  the  melancholy  alter- 
native of  continuing  to  submit  to  one  grie- 
vance a^.'l  to  stand  exposed  to  the  other 
danger,  or  of  freeing  themselves  from  both 
without  his  consent." — BoLlKGBROKB. 

"  He  (Evelyn's  father)  was  a  studious 
decliner  of  honours  and  titles." — EvTiXYK. 
••  Begin,  then,  sisters  of  the  sacred  well. 
That  from  beneath   the   seat  of  Jove  do 

spring. 
Begin,  and  somewhat    loudly    sweep   the 

string. 
Hence  with  denial  vain  and  coy  excuse."        j 
MiXTON.          I 

"  For  always  the  weakest  part  of  man-  } 
kind  are  the  most  suspicious ;  the  less  they  i 
understand  things  the  more  designs  they  | 
imagine  are  laid  for  them,  and  the  best  | 
counsels  are  soonest  rcject&i  by  them." — 
Stillingfleet. 

"  They  repelled  each  other  strongly,  and 
yet  attracted  each  other  strongly." — Mac- 
AULAY. 

"  Marvel. ing  that  he  who  hadnever  heard 
•nch  speeches  from  any  knight  should  be 
thus  rebuffed  by  a  woman ;  and  that  marvel 
made  him  hear  out  her  speech." — Sidney,    I 
Arcadia.  I 

REITERATE.     Repe.^t.  ! 

To  Repeat  (Lat.  repctere)  is  no 
more  than  to  do  or  say  what  one  has 
already  said  or  done ;  aud  this  once 
again  or  oftener  as  the  case  may  be. 

To  Reiter  ATE  (Lat.  reiteratio,  subst. 
from  obs-  reitirdre)  is  to  do  this  in 
a  fixed  and  determined  way,  hence 
naturally,  though  not  necessarily,  to 
exhibit  one's  determination  by  fre- 
quency of  the  same  words  or  act.  He 
who  repeats  is  often  content  with 
repeating  the  substance,  he  who  re- 
iterates is  led  by  his  obstinacy  to  re- 
peat in  exact  form. 

RELUCTANT.  Averse.  Ad- 
verse.     Unwilling. 

'Re\.vctavt  (hat.rtluctdri,ta  stniggte 
against)  is  a  tenn  of  the  will,  which, 
as  it  were,  struggles  against  the  deed, 
and  relates  always  to  questions  of  ac- 
tion. 

Averse  (Lat.  dversus,  turned  away 
from)  is  a  term  of  the  nature  or  dis- 
position, and  relates  to  objects  or  to 


actions,  as  a  mattei  of  taste.  It  indi- 
cates a  settled  sentiment  of  dislike,  as 
reluctance  is  specific  in  regard  tp 
sets. 

Adverse  (Lat.  adversus,  opposed  to) 
denotes  active  opposition  and  hos- 
tility, as  a  matter  of  judgment.  Un- 
willing is  the  widest  of  all,  and  ex- 
presses no  more  than  decided  dis- 
inclination. It  is,  however,  the 
weakest  tenn  of  all,  and  refers  to 
action  only. 

"Well,  says  I,  since  it  must  be  so,  here 
is  my  arm  ;  but  I  go  half  reluctantly,  for  I 
like  this  place  so  well,  I  could  be  content 
to  live  here  always." — Search,  Light  of 
Nature. 

Averse  is  only  predicated  of  beings  of 
intelligence  and  will.  Adverse  may  be 
employed  even  of  physical  influences, 
as  adverse  winds.  \Vhen  predicated 
of  persons.  Adverse  is  much  stronger 
than  Averse.  The  man  who  is  aveiiee 
to  a  measure  onlj-  dislikes  it,  and  may 
still  perhaps  adopt  it.  He  who  is  ad- 
verse to  it,  thinks  it  his  bounden  duty 
to  do  all  he  can  to  oppose  and  prevent 
it. 

"Happy  wei'e  it  for  us  all  if  we  bore 
prosperity  as  well  and  wisely  as  we  endure 
an  adverse  fortune."— SouTHKY. 

♦'Nature  is  so  far  from  producing  it 
(virtue)  that  it  yieldeth  mighty  obstacles 
and  resistances  to  its  birth,  there  being  in 
the  best  dispositions  much  averseness  from 
good,  and  great  pi"onenes8  to  evil."— Bab- 
row. 

"  Which  deferring,  as  it  must  needs  h« 
the  argument  of  an  evil  man,  and  an  indi- 
cation of  unwillingness  to  live  worthily,  so 
it  can  serve  really  no  prudent  end  to  which 
it  can  fallaciously  pretend." — Bishop  Tay- 
lor. 

REMAINDER.  Rest.  Rem- 
nant.    Residue. 

Remainder  (see  Remain)  is  not  so 
general  as  Rest  (Fr.  rester,  to  stop  o^ 
remain),  which  is  indeed  the  most 
general  of  all  these  tenns,  and  de- 
notes, universally,  that  which  remains 
or  is  left  after  the  separation  of  a  part 
or  parts,  whether  in  fact  or  contem- 
plation, and  may  be  so  as  the  result  of 
circumstances  or  purposely.  The  re- 
mainder is  tlie  rest  under  certain  con- 
ditions, most  commonly  the  smaller 
part  which  remains  after  the  greater 
part  has  been  taken  away.  It  is  alsc 
u  V 


668 


more  applicable  to  mental  and  moral, 
Rest  to  physical,  matters. 

Remnant  (Lat.  rhndnh^e,  to  stay  be- 
hind) has  in  itself  much  the  same 
meaning  as  Remainder,  of  which  it  is 
only  another  fonu,  but  differs  from  it 
in  the  implied  process  which  preceded 
the  leaving,  which,  in  the  case  of 
remnant,  is  that  of  use,  consumption, 
or  waste.  It  is  commonly  a  very  small 
part. 

Residue  (Lat.  residuiis,  rcsid'ere,  to 
remain  behind)  is  that  part  which  has 
not  been  disposed  of;  that  is,  either 
purposely  omitted  to  be  used,  or  un- 
touched by  a  previous  process  of  dis- 
tribution or  use.  Neither  Remnant, 
Remainder,  nor  Residue  can  be  em- 
ployed, like  Rest,  to  express  the  result 
of  purpose. 
"Scarce  seven,  the  thin  remainder  of  my 

fleet. 
From  storms  preserved,  within  year  har- 
bour meet."  Dryden,  Firgil. 
It  is  possible  that  the  rest  may  be  the 
larger  part,  while  in  the  case  of  the 
others  it  is  the  smaller.  Out  of  a  com- 

Eany  of  twenty,  for  instance,  it  mi^ht 
appen  that  one  should  give  expression 
to  a  particular  opinion,  and  that  all 
the  rest  should  dissent  from  it;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  remainder  would  im- 
ply a  minorit}-^,  and  the  remnant  a 
small  minority. 

"Plato  and  the  rest  of  the  philosophers." 
— STILLINarLEKT. 

"  The  remnant  shall  return,  even  the 
remnant  of  Jacob,  unto  the  mighty  God. 
For  though  thy  people  Israel  be  as  the  sand 
of  the  sea,  yet  a  remnant  of  them  shall  re- 
turn."—  English  Bible. 

"  He  burneth  part  thereof  in  the  fire, 
with  part  thereof  he  eateth  flesh,  he  roasteth 
roast,  and  is  satisfied.  Yea,  he  warmeth 
himself,  and  saith.  Aha  1  I  am  warm,  I 
have  seen  the  fire.  And  the  residue  thereof 
he  maketh  a  god."—  Ibid. 

REMISSION.  Absolution.  Par- 
don.    Grace. 

Grace  (Lat.  gratia)  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  generic  terra  under 
which  the  rest  are  included. 

Pardon  (Fr.  pardon),  in  the  tech- 
nical sense  of  jurisprudence,  is  the 
grace  accorded  by  the  Prince  to  one 
who,  though  implicated  in  an  affair, 
is  yet  not  tlie  autlior  of  it,  nor  an  ac- 


S5fN0NYMS  [remission] 

complice.     It  is  then  the  grace  of  K-at 
punishing  the  innocent. 

Remission  (Lat.  remissionem)  is  the 
grace  which  is  accorded  to  one  who 
has  committed  an  involuntary  murder, 
or  has  killed  another  while  defending 
his  own  life.  It  is  a  grace  extended 
to  the  unfortunate,  or  to  the  hapless 
exerciser  of  his  own  right.  There  was 
also  another  act  called  the  abolitioiiy 
which  was  nothing  less  than  the  arbi- 
trary pardon  of  one  in  absolute  power 
extended  to  a  crime  irremissible  in  it- 
self: a  robbery  of  justice. 

Absolution  (Lat.  absMutionem)  is  a 
judgment  by  which  an  accused  person 
is  declared  innocent,  or  reinstated  as 
such. 

In  common  language,  the  proper 
idea  of  Remission  is  that  of  forbearing 
from  the  exercise  of  the  right  to  in- 
flict a  penalty.  One  remits  a  penalty 
or  a  debt  either  wholly  or  in  part.  That 
of  absolution  is  the  loosino-  or  freeing 
tlie  accused  from  the  bonds  by  which 
he  was  tied.  The  exact  force  of  abso- 
lution is  expressed  in  a  prayer  of  the 
English  Liturgy,  which  contains  these 
words :  "  though  we  be  tied  and  bound 
with  the  chain  of  our  sins,  yet  let  the 
piti  fulness  of  Thy  great  mercy  loose 
us."  That  of  pardon  is  to  grant  the 
entire  remission  of  a  fault  which  one 
has  a  right  to  punish  as  a  superior,  or 
an  offence  which  one  is  in  a  position 
to  resent,  so  that  it  shall  be  forgotten, 
and  be  as  if  it  had  not  been  committed. 
It  is  literally  to  ^ii;fi  with  perfect  free- 
dom, and  without  any  reserve.  That 
of  grace  is  the  accordance  of  a  pardon 
entirely  gratuitous,  so  as  to  receive 
the  offenaer  to  grace  or  favour.  Re- 
mission is  an  act  of  moderation,  aboli- 
tion of  a  tyrant's  favour,  absolution  of 
a  just  or  propitious  judge;  pardon  is 
an  act  of  clemency  or  generosity,  and 
grace  of  affection  or  goodness.  Re- 
mission is  opposed  to  exaction,  aboli- 
tion to  justice,  absolution  to  con- 
demnation, pardon  to  punishment, 
grace  to  the  rigour  of  justice.  The 
sinner,  by  the  remission  of  his  sins,  i* 
freed  from  rendering  account  of  them. 
The  abolition  of  them  deals  with  them 
as  if  he  had  never  committed  them. 
By  absolution  he  is  loosed  in  heaven 


,_BEPAKATIONj  DISCRIMINATED. 

and  earth.  By  pardon,  he  is  no  longer 
an  object  of  punishment.  By  grace, 
he  is  restored  to  the  favour  of  God. 


659 


REMOVE.     Move. 

We  Move  (Lat.  m^ivere)  when  we 
alter  in  the  slightest  degi-ee  the  posi- 
tion of  an  object,  or  even  cause  an 
internal  motion  of  its  parts ;  we  Re- 
move (Lat.  rtmovere)  when  we  take  it 
away  bodily. 

RENEGADE.     Apostate.      Re- 

CUSANT. 

These  terms  both  express  one  who 
has  deserted  his  faith,  his  professed 
principles,  or  his  party. 

The  Apostate  (Gr.  aTroo-TaTif,  lite- 
rally, one  who  stands  off  or  away)  is  a 
religious  Renegade  (Low  Lat.  rene- 
i^atus,  from  rhitgarej  to  deny),  and  the 
renegade  is  a  political  apostr  %  An 
apostate  denies  his  former  laith  ;  a 
renegade  deserts  his  former  policy. 

Recusant  (Lat.  reci'isa litem,  refus- 
ing, rejecting)  is  a  historical  term,  and 
has  been  apjjlied  in  English  history  to 
those — mostly  Roman  (Catholics — who 
refuse  to  acknowledge  the  king's  su- 
Iremacy  in  things  ecclesiastical. 

RENOWNED.     Famous. 

A  person  cannot  be  Renowned  (Fr. 
renomme)  but  for  great  and  illustrious 
deeds;  while  he  maybe  Famous  (Lat. 
fdmosus,  famous,  infamous)  for  this  and 
also  for  some  incident  of  importance 
which  is  associated  with  him,  but  does 
not  of  necessity  betoken  any  greatness 
of  chai-acter ;  as,  "  Empedocles  is  fa- 
mous for  having  been  swallowed  by  a 
volcano,  and  Tarquin  for  having  been 
expelled  from  Rome."  Those  only 
are  renowned  who  are  principals  in 
great  actions.  The  history  of  the  fa- 
mous is  commonly  better  known  than 
that  of  the  renowned.  Joan  of  Arc  is 
more  renowned  than  known.  No 
moral  worth  is  implied  in  renown, 
though  persons  may  be  renowned  for 
virtue.  Renown  is  emphatically  the 
preservation  from  oblivion.  Things  as 
well  as  persons  may  be  renowned. 
Champagne  is  renowned  for  its  wine. 
The  idea  of  renown  is  conspicuous 
«ud  celeb}-ated  success. 


"  He  was  a  wight  of  high  rtHOnm." 
Shakespkabk. 

"  Henry  the  Fifth,  too  famous  to  live  lonjj.** 

REPAIR.     Reparation. 

Repair  (Fr.  reparer^  to  repair,  rmnd, 
Lat.  rtpdrdre,  to  prepare)  is  the  result 
of  which  Reparation  is  the  process. 
A  bridge,  for  instance,  is  undergoing 
a  process  of  reparation  till  it  is  placed 
in  a  condition  of  repair.  Repair,  too, 
is  a  physical  process  ;  reparation  is  a 
moral  action.  Repair  is  always  phy- 
sical or  analogous  in  its  use  ;  repai-a- 
tion  is  purely  moral.  We  speak  of 
repairing  a  house,  a  road,  a  bridge,  or, 
analogously,  of  repairing  shattered 
fortunes ;  but  of  making  repai"atiou 
for  injury  and  wrong  to  the  characters 
of  others. 

"  Sunk  down,  and  sought  repair 
Of  sleep,  which  instantly  fell  on  me." 
MUCTON. 

"  I  am  sensible  of  the  scandal  I  have 
given  by  my  loose  writings,  an«l  made  what 
reparation  I  am  able." — Drydej^c. 

REPARATION.  Restitution. 
Restoration. 

All  these  terms  denote  the  undoing 
of  that  which  has  been  done  to  the 
injury  of  another;  but  Reparation 
{see  above)  relates  to  moral  injury  ; 
Restitution,  to  the  wrongful  depri- 
vation of  property.  A  man  who  has 
stolen  a  sum  of  money  from  another 
will  be  compelled,  if  convicted,  and 
his  circumstances  permit  it,  to  make 
restitution  (Lat.  vestAtu^re,  to  restore). 
if  injury  has  been  done  to  a  man's  re- 
putation, the  injurer  may  find  it  hard, 
even  if  he  should  be  willing,  to  make 
adequate  reparation. 

Restoration  (Lat.  restaurare,  to  re- 
store) ditters  in  denoting  the  specific 
giving  back  of  that  which  had  been 
taken  away.  Restitution  of  stolen 
property  may  be  made  by  paying  its 
value  in  money.  Restoration  implies 
the  giving  back  of  the  articles  stolen. 

"Mo  discords  and  mo  jealousies 
AIo  murmures  and  nio  novelties 
And  also  mo  dissimulations 
And  eke  fained  reparations." 

Chauckr. 

"  On  a  couvKtion  of  larceny  in  particular 
the  prosecutor  shall  have  restitutioti  of  hit 


660 


goods  by  virtue  of  the  statute  21  Henry 
vIII.  c.  11."— Blackstone. 

•'  If  I  have  done  any  wrongto  any  man, 
I  restore  fouxtold"— English  JSiile. 

REPARTEE.  Retort. 
Reparteb  {Vr.repartieja  rejoinder) 
is  a  fai  i.ess  grave  word  than  Retort 
(Lat.  reUtrqucre,  part,  retortus,  to  twist 
back  again,  to  retort)  being  restricted 
to  meaning  a  sharp,  ready,  and  witty 
reply;  while  Retort  is  applied  to  mat- 
ters more  earnest,  as  arguments,  accu- 
sations, and  the  like. 

"  A  man  renowned  for  repartee 
Will  seldom  scruple  to  make  free 
With  friendship's  finest  feeling." 

COWPER. 

"  I  did  dislike  the  cut  of  a  certain  cour- 
tier's beard ;  he  sent  me  word,  if  I  said  his 
beard  was  not  cut  well,  he  was  in  the  mind 
it  was.  This  is  called  the  retort  courteous." 
—Shakespeare. 

In  Repartee  there  is  more  of  wit; 
in  Retort  there  is  more  of  logic.  Re- 
partee throws  back  a  joke  upon  the 
joker ;  retort  throws  back  the  issues 
of  an  argument  upon  the  arguer.  It 
is  plain  that  the  same  thing  may  often 
be  called  a  repartee  or  a  retort.  Many 
a  serious  thing  is  said  in  jest.  A  re- 
partee which  veils  argument  under 
wit  is  a  retort,  and  of  a  very  effective 
kind. 

REPEAT.  Rehearse.  Recite. 
Recapitulate. 

Of  these,  Repeat  (Lat.  reptlire)  is 
the  most  comprehensive,  and  is  ap- 
plicable both  to  actions  and  words, 
the  rest  only  to  words.  Again,  we 
may  repeat  single  words,  or  even  in- 
articulate sounds.  We  apply  the 
other  tei-ms  only  to  many  words  con- 
secutively. And  again,  we  may  re- 
peat that  which  originally  came  from 
ourselves  as  well  as  that  which  came 
from  others. 

Rehearse,  lit.  to  harrow  over  agam 
(Fr.  Iiei'se,  a  harrow)  conveys  the  idea 
of  solemnity  or  exactness  in  utterance. 
We  reheai'se  as  before  an  audience 
and  in  detail  that  which  it  is  of  public 
interest  to  listen  to.  A  rehearsal  may 
be  subsequent  or  preliminary. 

We  Recite  (Lat.  rtcitare,  to  read 
cut  publicly)  when  our  avowed  pur- 
pose is  to  gire  the  exact  words  of 


SYNON  JTMS  [REPARTEEJ 

another.  Rehearsal  applieg  equally 
to  deeds  and  words ;  recital,  more 
directly  to  words,  and  to  deeds  only 
as  already  committed  to  some  form  ol 
relation. 

Recapitulate  (Lat.  rtcHpitUldref 
to  go  over  the  headings,  citpitilla,  pi. 
again)  is  to  go  over  again,  as  the 
principal  things  mentioned  in  a  pre- 
ceding discourse,  in  a  concise  and 
summary  manner,  for  the  purpose  of 
refreshing  the  memory  of  the  hearers, 
whether  the  original  statement  or  ex- 
position were  our  own  or  another's. 

"  Yet  I  can  repeat  whole  books  that  I 
hare  read,   and  poems  of  some    selected 
friends  which  I  have  liked  to  charge  my 
memory  with."— Ben  Jonsok. 
•'  Let   Diyden  with  new  rules  our  stage 

refine. 
And  his  great  models  form  by  this  design ; 
But  Where's  a  second  Vii-gil  to  rehearse 
Our  hero's  glory  in  his  epic  verse  ?  " 

Rochester. 

'•  From  this  time  forwards,  I  presume, 
the  Athanasian  Creed  has  been  honoured 
with  a  public  recital  among  the  other 
sacred  hymns  and  Chm-ch  offices  all  over 
the  west."— Waterland. 

"Hence  we  may  see  the  reason  why 
creeds  were  no  larger  nor  more  explicit, 
being  but  a  kind  of  recapitulation  of  what 
the  catechumens  had  been  taught  mbre  at 
large,  the  main  heads  whereof  were  com- 
mitted to  memory,  and  publicly  rmfecf,  and 
so  became  a  creed." — Ibid. 

REPENTANCE.  Penitence. 
Compunction.  Contrition.  Re- 
morse.    Regret. 

Repentance  (Fr.  repentance,  re- 
pentir,  to  repent)  is  a  practical  state 
of  mind,  involving,  with  the  sorrow 
for  past  acts,  the  resolution  to  avoid 
them  for  the  future — deep  Regret 
and  renunciation  being  combined. 
Penitence  is  the  same  thing,  with  a 
less  general  and  more  theological  ap- 
plication. Repentance  may  have  re- 
spect to  our  worldly  interests ;  peni- 
tence, to  the  state  of  the  soul.  It  is 
even  possible  to  repent  having  done  a 
good  thing ;  as,  for  instance,  kindness 
to  another,  which  has  been  abused. 

Compunction  (Lat.  compuncius, 
pricked  with  remorse)  is  a  warning  of 
the  conscience  against  the  act,  which, 
however,  is  not  strong  enough  to  pre- 
vent it,  and  so  often  accompanies  its 
commission.    Compunction  may  pre* 


[reprehension]    discriminated. 


661 


cede  or  follow  the  act ;  the  rest  only 
follow  it. 

Contrition  (Lat.  contirh-e,  pai-t. 
eontritns,  to  bruise)  is  a  continuous 
state  of  grief  and  self-condemnation, 
which  has  not  found  relief  in  action, 
and  is  a  mere  painful  condition  of  the 
conscience,  either  in  regard  to  a  spe- 
cific act  or  to  past  conduct  generally. 
Compunction  may  he  for  the  present ; 
but  contrition  is  always  for  the  past. 
Contrition  may  be  eitlier  specific  or 
general.  Compunction  is  always  spe- 
cific. 

Remorse  (Fr.  remords,  L&t.  remor- 
dhe,  to  bite  again)  is  the  strongest 
form  of  compunction  for  the  past ;  a 
gnawing  anguish  occasioned  by  re- 
flection upon  a  past  deed  or  course. 
Neither  compunction  nor  remorse  de- 
note that  genuine  regret  of  wrong- 
doing for  its  own  sake  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  Contrition. 

Regret  (Fr.  regret j  from  regretter, 
formerly  regretevy  meaning  to  pity) 
does  not  carry  with  it  either  the 
energy  of  remorse  or  the  sacredncss 
of  contrition,  or  the  practical  charac- 
ter of  repentance. 

'*  What  this  repentance  was  which  the 
new  covenant  required  as  one  of  the  condi- 
tions to  be  performed  by  all  those  who 
should  receive  the  benefits  of  that  covenant, 
13  plain  in  the  Scriptnre  to  be  not  only  a 
sorrow  for  sins  past,  but  (what  is  a  natural 
consequence  of  such  sorrow,  if  it  be  real)  a 
turning  from  them  into  a  new  and  contrary 
life."— Locke. 

"  Hearen  may  forgive  a  crime  to  penitence. 
For  Heaven  can  judge  Upenitencehe  true." 
Dbyden. 

"  Repentance  extorted  from  us  by  the 
prospect  of  death  can  be  only  a  sorrow  for 
sin,  perhaps  rendered  more  passionate  by 
our  present  fears.  And  this  being  only 
s-orrow  and  compunction,  and  perhaps  a 
good  resolution,  it  is  plain  that  still  these 
are  only  the  steps  in  the  repentance  of  a 
sinner,  and  not  complete  repentance  in  all 
its  parts." — Hoadly. 

"  If  the  sorrow  arise  merely  from  the 
fear  of  punishment,  it  is  called,  in  the  lan- 
guage o'  the  schools,  attrition,  and  is 
deemed  the  lowest  and  least  honourable 
species  of  repentance ;  if  from  a  desire  to 
plerise  God,  and  a  tender  sense  of  having 
offended  so  good  a  Father,  it  is  styled  con- 
trition, and  is  of  a  more  generous  and  noble 
kind."— Bishop  Hornk. 

"  When  remorse  is  blended  with  the  fear 
of  punishment,  and  arises  to  despair,  it 


constitutes  the  supreme  wretchednes*  of 
the  mind." — CoOAJf, 
'*  Alike  regretted  in  the  dust  he  lies. 
Who  yields  ignobly,  or  who  bravely  dies." 

Pope,  Homer, 
We  eren  apply  the  term  Regret  to 
circumstances  over  which  we  have 
had  no  control ;  as,  any  untoward  cc- 
cun-ence ;  the  absence  of  friends  or 
their  loss.  When  connected  with 
ourselves,  it  relates  rather  to  unwise 
acts  than  to  wrong  or  sinful  ones  ;  as, 
foolish  or  rash  conduct,  carelessness, 
the  loss  of  opportunities,  and  the  like, 
and  may  be  entirely  selfish.  Contri- 
tion is  the  spontaneous  grief  which  is 
felt  by  a  heart  touched  by  the  sense 
of  having  offended  against  God  in  sin 
and  evil.  Repentance  is  the  bitter 
yet  wholesome  reflexion  of  a  scrupu- 
lous mind  dwelling  on  some  repre- 
hensible act  performed.  Remorse  is 
the  vengeance  of  an  outraged  con- 
science. 

REPERTORY.     Repository. 

The  object  of  a  Repository  (Lat. 
rep'intoHum)  is  the  safety  and  preser- 
vation of  the  articles  laid  up  ;  the  ob- 
ject of  a  Repertory  (Lat.  rh)ertd- 
rium)  is  to  have  them  so  stored  that 
they  may  be  readily  available. 

REPETITION.     Tautology. 

The  latter  stands  to  the  former  as 
species  to  genus.  Not  every  Repe- 
tition (Lat.  rtpctcre,  to  repeat)  is 
Tautology  (Gr.  rauToXo-yia.  ;  to  owto', 
the  same  thing,  andxsj/fjv,  to  say).  Re- 
petition may  be  often  necessary,  justi- 
fiable, and  efiective.  Tautology  is 
such  repetition  as  is  none  of  these, 
and  is  therefore  vain  and  tiresome. 

"  Our  long-tongued  chatterers  do,  after 
a  sort,  wound  and  weary  the  ears  of  their 
hearers  by  their  tautologies  and  vain  repe- 
titions  of  the  same  things."— HOLLAND, 
Plutarch. 

REPREHENSION.     Reproof. 

Blame  is  involved  in  both  terms, 
but  more  mildly  in  the  former  than 
the  latter.  The  former  (Lat.  rtprH- 
hendere,  to  blame)  denotes  little  more 
than  an  expression  of  blame ;  the 
latter  is  its  authoritative  expression. 
Many  might  express  reprehension 
who  would  not  think  themselves  en- 
titled to  adiz  inister  reproof. 


662 


Reprehension  may  be  indirect ; 
Reproof  is  personal  and  direct  (Lat. 
r^riibnre,  to  reprove,  condemn).  A 
master  of  a  school  may  be  repre- 
hended by  the  parents  of  his  scholars  ; 
while  he  visits  the  scholars  themselves 
with  reproofs. 

"  Foolish  reprehension 
Of  faulty  men."  Spenskr. 

*'  Those  best  can  bear  reproof  that  merit 
praise." — Pope. 

REPRESENT.     Remonstrate. 

The  literal  sense  of  Represent 
(Lat.  reprccsentare)  is  to  make  once 
more  present,  to  bring  again  before 
the  eyes  ;  that  of  Remonstrate  (Lat. 
re-  and  monstrdre,  to  show}  is  to  exhibit 
anew,  to  advertise  agam  in  a  forcible 
manner.  In  its  present  acceptation  Re- 
present implies  a  modest  and  gentle 
putting  forward  of  grounds  of  action 
or  change  of  opinion,  intention,  or 
conduct ;  Remonstrate  implies  an  ex- 
hibition, with  more  or  less  of  force,  of 
duties  or  obligations  for  the  purpose 
of  dissuading  one  or  recalling  him 
from  a  false  step.  You  represent  to 
me  what  I  seem  to  forget.  You  re- 
monstrate with  me  on  what  I  ought 
to  respect.  Representation  can-ies 
instruction,  counsel,  advice.  Re- 
monstrance adds  to  these  elements  of 
warning  and  of  censure.  Your  repre- 
sentation tends  to  clear  up  my  views, 
your  remonstrance  to  correct  my  con- 
duct. Remonstrance  supposes  an 
actual  wrong,  representation  may 
possibly  turn  upon  a  matter  of  im- 
policy, or  a  course  of  conduct  which 
IS  simply  undesirable.  One  may  use 
representation  where  the  relative  con- 
dition of  another  may  deter  us  from 
the  exercise  of  remonstrance.  In- 
direct and  apparently  casual  informa- 
tion is  often  the  most  efficacious 
mode  of  representation,  while  a  grave 
silence  may  amount  to  a  strong  and 
perhaps  the  only  available,  remon- 
strance. , 

REPRESENTATIVE..  Deputy. 
Delegate.  1^ 

These  all  denote  persons  employed 
to  act  on  behalf  of  others.  The  ap- 
pointment makes  the  Deputy  (Ir. 
diputi) ;  the  being  sent  elsewhere  to 


SYNONYMS  [represent] 

act  makes  the  Delegate  (Lat.  d'dl- 
gure,  to  send  to  a  place,  part,  diligdtus) ; 
the  faithful  transmission,  or,  literally, 
presenting  again,  of  the  will  or  sense  of 
the  constituent  body  makes  the  Re- 
presentative. 

"  In  so  large  a  state  as  ours,  it  is  there 
fore  very  wisely  contrired  that  the  people 
should  do  that  by  their  representatives 
which  it  is  impracticable  to  perform  in  per- 
son— representatives  chosen  by  a  number 
of  minute  and  separate  districts,  wherein 
all  the  voters  are,  or  easily  may  be,  dis- 
tinguished."—Blackstone. 

"Our  Saviour  pleads  our  cause  and 
manages  our  affairs  there,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  His  Deputy  and  Vice-gerent, 
doth  it  here." -Sharp. 

"  The  bishops  being  generally  addicted 
to  the  former  superstition,  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  keep  them  under  so  arbitrary 
a  power  as  that  subjected  them  to ;  for 
they  hereby  held  their  bishoprics  only  dur- 
ing the  king's  pleasure,  and  were  to  exe]> 
cise  them  as  his  delegates  in  his  name,  and 
by  his  authority."— Buenet. 

REPRESS.     Restrain.     Sup- 


Repress  (Lat.  r'^rimcre,  part,  re- 
pressus),    literally,   to  press  back,   is 
applied  to  matters  of  feeling,  as  to 
emotions    which    tend     to    manifest  ' 
themselves  in  outward  expression. 

Restrain  (Lat.  restringere)  bears 
reference,  not  so  much  to  the  mani- 
festation of  the  impulse  as  the  im- 
pulse itself.  He  restrains  his  feelings 
who  does  not  allow  them  to  rise  be- 
yond a  certain  pitch ;  he  represses 
them  who  allows  no  expression  of 
them  by  word  or  looks. 

Suppress  (Lat.  suppiHmtre,  part, 
suppressus,  to  press  down,  to  put  a  stop 
to)  is  total,  while  Repress  may  be 
partial,  and  denotes  a  more  complete 
overcoming,  or  a  keeping  down  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  shall  not  be 
able  to  show  itself;  as,  to  suppress  a 
rebellion,  in  the  first  instance  ;  or  a 
correspondence,  in  the  second.  On 
the  other  hand,  an  unseemly  expres- 
I  sion  or  manifestation  of  opinion,  as  in 
the  plaudits  of  a  law  court,  is  said  io 
be  repressed. 

"  And  no  doubt  overgrowthey  wonld.and 
cover  the  whole  face  of  the  earth  were  they 
not  repressed  and  withstood  by  good  hn»- 
bandrie  " — Holland's  Pliny. 

"  The  suppression  of  idolatry  in  the  Ro 


[require] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


663 


man  Empire,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Christian  Church  upon  its  ruins  was  an 
event  the  most  wonderful  in  the  Gentile 
world,  to  which  nothing  but  the  power  of 
God  was  adequate." — Bishop  Horsley. 

"  And  with  these  sayings  scarce  re- 
straiTied  they  the  people  that  they  hadtoot 
done  sacrifice  unto  them." — English  Bible. 

REPRIEVE.     Respite. 

These  words  are  used  in  common  in 
the  sense  of"  a  temporary  relief  from 
any  pressure,  burden,  or  trouble. 

The  Reprieve  (0.  Fr.  repreuver, 
Lat.  r'^r^bdre,  to  disallow)  is,  how- 
ever, something  given  or  granted. 

The  Respite  (O.  Fr.  respit,  Lat.  re- 
spectuSy  a  lookiii^  back,  co7isideration) 
comes  to  us  in  the  course  of  circum- 
stances. We  commonly  speak  of  a 
reprieve  from  punishment,  a  respite 
from  toil. 

"  A  reprieve,  from  reprendre,  to  take 
back,  is  the  withdrawing  of  a  sentence  for 
an  interval  of  time,  whereby  the  execution 
is  suspended." — Blackstone. 

The  derivation,  however,  given  by 
Blackstone,  is  erroneous. 

"  If  we  may  ventui'e  to  declare  more  par- 
ticularly in  what  sense  God  might  be  said 
to  have  hardened  their  hearts,  it  was  very 
probably  by  forbearing  to  strike  terror  into 
them,  l)y  gi'^'ing  them  respite,  and  not  pur- 
suing them  constantly  and  without  remis- 
sion. "— Waterland. 

REPRISAL.     Retaliation. 

Reprisal  (Fr.  reprise,  a  retaking) 
is,  literally,  the  taking  again  in  re- 
turn for  something  taken.  Both  in 
this  case  and  in  Retaliation  (Lat. 
retdlidre,  to  retaliate ;  re-,  again,  and 
talis,  such  as)  there  is  an  implied 
suffering  on  the  part  of  the  party  on 
whom  the  reprisal  or  retaliation  is 
made.  Retaliation,  however,  is  the 
more  general  term,  while  Reprisal  is 
often  restricted  to  cases  of  war  and 
hostility.  Retaliation  may  be  simply 
in  the  making  another  to  suffer  loss, 
whereas  reprisal  implies  gain  to  the 
party  making  it.  "An  eye  for  an 
eye,  or  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,'  is  retalia- 
tion, not  reprisal.  Retaliation  is 
seldom  now  employed,  as  it  used  to 
be,  equally  in  the  sense  of  returning 
or  requiting  good  and  evil,  but  is  con- 
fined to  the  latter.  In  reprisal  the 
satisfaction  consists  of  solid  benefit ; 


in  retaliation,  of  the   indulgence  of 

revenge. 

"  In  this  case  letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal (words  used  as  synonjrmous,  and  sig- 
nifying, the  latter,  a  taking  in  return,  the 
former,  the  passing  the  frontiers  in  order 
to  such  taking)  maybe  obtained  in  order  to 
seize  the  bodies  or  goods  of  the  subjects  of 
the  offending  state  until  satisfaction  be 
made  wherever  they  happen  to  be  found." 
— Blackstoitb. 

"  Revenge  in  this  case  naturally  dictates 
retaliation,  and  that  we  should  impose  the 
like  duties  and  prohibitions  upon  the  im- 
portation of  some  or  all  of  their  manafao- 
tures  into  ours.  Nations  accordingly  sel- 
dom fail  to  retaliate  in  this  manner."  — 
Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

REQUIRE.     Demand. 

Require  (Lat.  rhpiirere,  to  needy  to 
xcant)  is  less  strong  than  Demand 
(Fr.  demander,  Lat.  danandare,  to 
entrust ;  and  in  later  Latin  to  denuind. 
See  Littre,  s.  v.  de77iander,  to  ask  or 
claiju).  We  demand  on  the  ground  of 
authority;  we  may  require  on  the 
ground  of  expediency,  necessity,  or 
right.  We  demand  what  in  some  way 
redounds  to  our  own  gain,  advantage, 
or  use.  We  may  require  that  another 
should  act  in  a  certain  way,  or  do  a 
certain  thing  for  his  own  sake.  We 
require  when  we  lay  down  conditions 
of  any  kind.  We  demand  when  we 
employ  our  power,  social,  moral,  or 
accidental,  to  exact  such  conditions, 
as  founding  the  exaction  upon  some 
strong  reason.  We  demand  that 
which  is  owing  and  ought  to  be 
given;  we  require  that  which  we 
wish  and  expect  to  have  done.  The 
creditor  makes  a  demand  on  the 
debtor,  the  master  requires  a  certain 
duty  from  his  servant.  It  is  unjust 
to  demand  of  another  what  he  ought 
not  to  give.  It  is  unreasonable  to  re- 
quire of  him  what  is  not  in  his  power 
to  do. 

"That  if  the  Gentiles,  whom  no  .aw  in- 
spired. 
By  nature  did  what  was  by  law  required. 
They  who    the    written   rule    had   never 

known 
Were  to  themselves  Iwth    rule   and  law 
alone."  Drydkn. 

"  The  dii'ectors  of  some  of  those  bank* 
sometimes  took  advantage  of  this  optional 
clause,  and  sometimes  threatened  those 
who  demanded  gohl  and  silver  in  exchange 
for  a  considerable  number  of  their  notes. 


664 


SYNONYMS 


reserve! 


that  they  wonld  take  advantage  of  it  un- 
less snch  demanders  would  content  them- 
selves with  a  part  of  what  they  rfewiaWet/." 
— Smitti,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

RESERVE.     Retain. 

To  Ret.4in  (Lat.  rctXnire)  is  to 
keep  back  simply  as  an  act  of  power. 
It  is  to  continue  to  hold,  to  restrain 
from  departure,  escape,  and  the  like, 
as  against  influences  which  might  de- 
prive us  of  things. 

Reserve  (Lat.  rtservare)  is  to  keep 
back  or  retain  contingently,  as  a  por- 
tion of  a  larger  quantity,  or  over 
against  the  fulfilment  of  some  condi- 
tion, or  the  accession  of  some  circum- 
stance. To  reserve  implies  the  exer- 
cise of  judgment  or  aiscretion.  To 
retain  may  be  lawful  or  unlawful. 
VVlien  we  reserve,  we  at  least  profess 
a  reason  for  what  we  do  ;  but  we  may 
retain  by  open  violence.  Retention 
implies  nothing  beyond  itself ;  reser- 
vation implies  a  further  purpose  be- 
yond the  act.  Reserve  is  thus  purely 
moral,  while  Retain  is  physical  and 
mechanical.  I  reserve  a  remark  for  a 
a  favourable  opportunity.  A  heated 
body  retains  heat.  The  memory  re- 
tains events. 

"  When  a  landed  estate  therefore  is  sold 
witii  a  reservation  of  a  perpetual  rent,  if 
it  is  intended  that  this  rent  should  always 
be  of  the  same  value,  it  is  of  importance 
to  the  family  in  whose  favour  it  is  re- 
served, that  it  should  not  consist  in  a  par- 
ticular sum  of  money." — Smith,  Wealth 
of  Nations. 

"  We  will  add  to  all  this  the  retainment 
of  the  same  name  which  the  deceased  had 
liere,  unless  there  be  some  special  reason  to 
change  it,  so  that  their  persons  will  be  as 
punctually  distinguished  and  circumscribed 
as  any  of  ours  in  this  life."— More,  Im- 
mortality of  the  Soul. 

RESIGN.    Abdicate. 

We  can  only  Abdicate  (Lat.  abdi- 
care,  to  reject,  to  abdicate)  a  high 
dignity,  power,  or  station.  We  can 
Resign  (Lat.  resigtiare,  to  cancel,  to 
resign)  any  situation,  employment,  or 
office,  high  or  low,  or  any  advantage. 
A  king  abdicates  the  throne.  A  do- 
mestic servant  may  resign  his  situa- 
tion. According  to  etymology,  Rk- 
sioNATioN  would  be  by  writing,  for 
tignare,  came  to  be  used  &fi  =  scribcre ; 
abdication,   by  word  of  mouth*  but 


this  distinction  is  not  auTiered  to 
practically.  Abdication  is  always 
purely  voluntary.  But  persons  are 
sometimes  forced  to  resign.  He  who 
abdicates  performs  a  final  act^  while  a 
resignation  has  to  be  tendered  to  some 
superior  authority  for  acceptance  or 
refusal.  The  monarch  may  abdicate 
at  will,  but  the  minister  has  before 
now  been  refused  permission  to  re- 
sign. A  more  important  difference  is 
that  resignation  recognizes  that  the 
office  or  other  thing  given  up  flowed 
from  the  source  to  which  it  is  given 
back.  Resign  has  a  much  wider  meta- 
phorical use  than  Abdicate.  So  we 
may  resign  expectations  or  hopes  of 
what  we  never  as  a  fact  possessed. 
The  monarch  does  not  resign ;  or,  if 
he  do,  it  denotes  tlie  understanding 
that  he  owed  his  elevation  originally 
to  the  people,  the  aristocracy,  or 
others,  as  the  case  may  be. 

"  Deaneries  and  prebends  may  become 
void,  like  a  bishopric,  by  death,  by  depri- 
vution,  or  by  resignation,  to  either  the  king 
or  the  bishop." — Ulackstone. 

"  The  consequences  drawn  from  these 
facts,  namely,  that  they  amounted  to  an 
abdication  of  the  government,  which  abdica- 
tio7i  did  not  affect  only  the  person  of  the 
king  himself,  but  also  of  all  his  heirs,  and 
rendered  the  throne  absolutely  and  com- 
pletely vacant,  it  belonged  to  our  ancestors 
to  determine." — Blackstone. 

RESOLUTION.  Determination. 
Decision. 

A  choice  between  action  and  inac 
tion  is  Resolution.  A  choice  be- 
tween one  motive  and  another  is  De- 
termination (Lat.  dilermmare,  to 
limit,  to  settle). 

An  irrevocable  choice  is  a  Decision 
(decidere,  to  cut  short,  to  determine). 
Resolution  is  opposed  to  practical 
doubt ;  determination,  to  uncertainty 
or  practical  ignorance  ;  decision,  to 
hesitation  or  incompleteness  of  final 
purpose.  After  deliberation  we  re- 
solve; after  consideration  we  deter- 
mine ;  after  decision  nothing  remains 
but  action.  Decision  commonly  im- 
plies a  choice  among  several  courses  of 
action.  We  determine  what  to  do, 
and  resolve  to  carry  out  our  determi- 
nation. Determination  is  a  less  ener- 
getic form  of  decision.  Resolution  is 
a  promise  made  to  one's  self  to  under- 


[restrict] 

take  a  thing.   It  implies  a  finer  moral 

choice.  A  stubborn  man  may  be  de- 
termined, a  firm  man  is  resolyed,  what 
to  do.  A  decided  character  is  quick 
in  forming  a  judgment,  and  firm  in 
adhering  to  it.  He  has  a  sharp  under- 
standing of  distinct  motives  and  lines 
of  conduct.  AVhat  he  has  decided  he 
is  likely  to  carry  out  resolutely.  Both 
determination  and  decision  are  at  an 
end  when  the  action  has  been  entered 
upon,  but  resolution  may  be  carried 
on  into  tJie  action  itself.  Decision  is 
an  act  of  the  mind,  and  supposes  ex- 
amination. Resolution  is  an  act  of 
the  will,  and  supposes  deliberation. 
Our  decisions  should  be  just,  that  we 
may  not  rej)ent  of  tliera.  Our  resolu- 
tions should  be  firm,  that  we  may  not 
break  them.  Women  come  generally 
to  decisions  wliich  have  no  better 
foundation  than  imagination  and  feel- 
ing. Men  pride  themselves  on  their 
superior  strength ;  yet  hoAV  often  do 
they  make  resolutions  in  trouble  which 
they  forget  in  prosperity.  In  matters 
of  science  we  speak  of  the  decision  of 
a  question,  and  the  resolution  of  a 
doubt  or  difiiculty. 

'•  Be  it  with  resolution,  then,  to  fight." — 
Shakespeare. 

"  The  will  IS  said  to  be  determined  when 
in  consequence  of  some  action  or  influence 
its  choice  is  directed  to  and  fixed  upon  a 
particular  object." — Edwabds,  On  Free- 
dom of  the  Will. 

"  The  guidance  of  instinct,  indeed,  as  it  is 
more  decisively  determinate,  seems  to  bring 
np  an  ofispring  with  less  deviation  from  the 
purposes  of  Nature  than  the  superior  fa- 
tally of  reason." — KjfOX,  Essays. 

RESORT.     Repair. 

Resort  (Fr.  ressortiVf  sorttr,  to  go 
out)  has  both  a  moral  and  a  material 
meaning,  Repair  (O.  Fr.  repairer,  to 
return  home)  only  a  material.  To  re- 
pair is  to  betake  one's  self  to  a  place. 
To  resort  is  to  have  recourse  either  in 
the  sense  of  repair,  in  which  case  it 
implies  habitual  repairing,  or  in  that 
of  applying  one's  self  to  some  person, 
or  medium  of  action,  for  the  purpose 
of  procuring  an  end.  Resort  has  often 
the  force  of  betaking  one's  self  to  some 
special  or  extraordinary  means  when 
the  present  or  ordinary  are  found  in- 
sufficient as  he  who  cannot  gain  his 


DISCRIMINATED. 


665 


desire  by  entreaty  may  tesort  to  vio- 
lence or  threats. 

RESTRAIN  (see  Repress).    Con 
TROL.     Check.     Curb. 

We  Restrain  (Lat.  restringirej  t« 
draw  hack,  restrain)  only  vital  or  moral, 
not  mechanical  force. 

We  Control  (0.  Fr.  contrerole,  a 
list  by  which  we  rheck  another  list)  any 
force  which  develops  itself  into  con- 
tinuous action  or  movement.  Re- 
straint may  hinder  action  altogether  ; 
control  implies  its  continuance  under 
regulation. 

Check  (Yr.ichec,  '^ check!'*  in  play- 
ing chess,  lit.  ^'king.'"  Pers.  shah) 
denotes  a  slight  force  of  restraint  in 
movement  or  action,  interposed  with 
some  degree  of  suddenness. 

CxiRB  (Fr.  courber,  Lat.  curvdre, 
to  bend)  is  employed  only  of  moral 
forces,  impulses,  emotions,  and  the 
like,  denoting  a  pressure  of  restraint 
put  upon  the  feelings,  the  desires,  or 
the  will,  by  the  control  or  self-control 
of  the  individual. 

"  Nor  is  the  hand  of  the  painter  more 
restrainuble  than  the  pen  of  the  poet."— 
Brown,  Vulgar  Errors. 

"  If  the  seeds  of  piety  and  virtue  be  but 
carefully  sown  at  first,  very  much  may  be 
done  by  this  means,  even  in  the  most  de- 
praved natures,  towards  the  altering  and 
changing  of  them,  however  to  the  checking 
and  controlling  of  our  vicious  inclinations." 
— Tillotsok. 

"  Collier's  attack  upon  the  stage  obliged 
the  succeeding  dramatic  poets  to  curb  that 
propension  to  indecency  which  had  carried 
some  of  their  predecessors  so  far  beyond  the 
bounds  of  good  taste  and  good  manners." — 
Beattie. 

It  maybe  observed  that  the  objects  of 
restraint,  control,  or  check  may  be 
indifferent;  while  what  requires  to  be 
curbed  is  generally  a  vicious  inclina- 
tion or  action. 

RESTRICT.     Restrain. 

Although  these  are  but  different 
forms  of  "the  same  verb  (Lat.  restnn- 
gcre,  part,  restrictus,  to  restrain),  they 
have  acquired  a  different  application 
in  usage.  Restrain  is  employed  of 
the  simple  exercise  of  power,  whether 
physical  or  moral.  Restrict  implies 
moral  restraint  by  prohibition  to  cer- 


666 


SYNONYMS 


[result] 


tain  defined  limits.  Hence  Restrain 
is  general ;  Restrict,  specific  and  rela- 
tive. Restriction  is  relative  restraint. 
The  imprisoned  man  is  under  restraint. 
He  who  is  abroad  on  parole  is  under 
restriction. 
"  Restrain  in  me  the  cursed  thonghts  that 

Nature 
Gives  way  to  in  repose." 

Shakespkark. 
"  This  is  to  have  the  same  restriction  as 
all  other  recreations." — Government  of  the 
Tongue. 

RESULT.  Effect.  Conse- 
quence. 

Of  these,  Effect  (Lat.  effectus,  an 
effect)  may  be  regarded  as  the  gene- 
ric, of  which  the  others  are  special 
forms. 

Results  (Yr.risidtery  to  result,  Lat. 
risultare)  and  Consequences  (Lat. 
conshntentia,  a  consequence)  are  diffe- 
rent forms  of  Effect.  The  effect  fol- 
lows immediately  from  the  cause, 
which  may  be  physical,  mental,  or 
moral.  They  can  therefore  be  gene- 
rally calculated  upon  beforehand. 
Consequences  are  more  remote, 
springing  less  directly  from  causes, 
following  in  the  train  of  events,  and 
involving  collateral  causes  or  in- 
fluences. To  foresee  the  consequences 
of  a  thing  is  a  matter  of  comparison 
and  sagacity;  to  foresee  the  effects, 
belongs  to  absolute  knowledge ;  for, 
given  the  cause,  the  effect  follows  ot 
course.  The  effect  is,  commonly 
speaking,  the  object  of  action,  ex- 
cept where  the  action  is  complex  and 
purposely  indirect;  as,  for  instance, 
in  diplomacy,  where  the  end  directly 
aimed  at  may  be  something  which 
will  follow  indirectly  as  a  consequence. 
A  consequence  is,  in  short,  commonly 
the  effect  of  an  effect.  Results  are 
still  more  remote  than  consequences, 
and  more  general,  being  the  sum  ot 
all  prior  causes  or  operations  specified 
or  unspecified.  The  effect  of  plough- 
tig  is  the  loosening  of  the  soil ;  the 
consequence  is  the  condition  of  prepa- 
ration to  receive  the  seed ;  the  result, 
by  the  action  of  sun,  frost,  rain,  snow, 
wind,  and  other  causes,  is  the  general 
fertility  of  the  land. 

"  Such  suppose  a  Deity  that,  actuig  wisely 
but  necessarily,  did  contrive  the  general 


frame  of  things  in  the  world,  from  whence, 
by  a  series  of  causes,  doth  unavoidably  re- 
sult  whatsoever  is  now  done  in  it."— Cdt>- 
WORTH. 

"  Kappy  the  man  that  sees  a  God  employed 
In  all  the  good  and  ill  that  checker  life, 
Resolving  all  events,  with  their  ejects 
And  manifold  results,  into  the  will 
And  arbitration  wise  of  the  Supreme." 

COWPER. 
*'  There  are,  indeed,  such  consequences  as 
are  plainly  necessary,  and  those  which  on 
their  first  sight  cany  in  them  no  less  cer- 
tainty than  the  principles  from  which  they 
were  immediately  derived.  Of  this  nature, 
are  they  which  are  reciprocally  deduced 
from  their  certain  and  intrinsical  causes  to 
their  effects." — Bishop  Hall. 

RETRIBUTION.     Requital. 

Both  thesfe  terms  denote  the  giving 
back,  or  giving,  something  the  cha- 
racter of  whicli  dejiends  upon  past 
conduct,  and  may  be  either  in  the  way 
of  reward  or  punishment. 

But  Retribution  (Lat.  rttrthuere, 
part.  retrHhiduSy  to  give  back)  bears  a 
more  distinct  relation  to  the  justice  of 
what  is  so  done;  while  REQuiTAL(from 
requite,  which  is  re-  and  quit,  in  the 
sense  of  pay,  something  given  to 
quiet  the  sense  of  obligation  in  an- 
other ;  so  quit-rent, quittance,  may  have 
no  reference  to  justice  or  equity,  but 
be  simply  the  result  of  personal  feel- 
ing. Ingratitude  may  even  requite 
good  with  evil ;  but  retribution  bears 
reference  to  the  demands  and  propor- 
tion of  the  case. 

"  But  yet,  in  the  state  of  Nature,  one 
man  comes  by  no  absolute  or  arbitrary 
power  to  use  a  criminal, when  he  has  got  him 
into  his  hands,  according  to  the  passionate 
heats  or  boundless  extravagancy  of  his  own 
will,  but  only  to  retribute  to  him,  as  far  as 
calm  reason  and  conscience  dictate,  what 
is  proportionate  to  his  transgression." — 
LOCKK. 

"  They  find  they  had  condemned  them- 
selves when  they  so  readily  passed  so  severe 
a  sentence  upon  those  husbandmen  who  had 
so  ill  requited  the  lord  of  the  vineyard," — 
Stillinqfleet. 

RETURN.     Restore. 

\Vp  Return  (Fr.  retoui-ner,  to  re- 
turn) wnat  was  borrowed  or  lent.  We 
Restore  (see  above)  what  was  taken 
or  given.  It  is  in  such  cases  a  duty 
to  return  with  punctuality  and  exact- 
ness ;  to  restore  wholly,  and  without 
diminution.     We  return  that  which 


[ridicule] 


came  to  us  under  conditions  and  ex- 
pectations, as  civilities  or  loans.  We 
restore  tliat  of  which  the  alienation 
was  not  expressed,  or  was  uncondi- 
tional, as  confidence,  deposits,  stolen 
goods,  and  it  goes  back  in  its  original 
form  ;  while  we  may  return  one  thing 
by  another,  being  of  a  different  form 
but  equivalent. 

REVERIE.     Dream. 

These  are  etymologically  coinci- 
dent. Reverif,  being  a  dreaming, 
from  the  French  rever,  to  dream ;  but 
a  reverie  is  a  day,  or  wakeful.  Dream. 
In  their  remoter  and  metaphorical 
applications.  Reverie  points  rather  to 
the  inconsecutiveness,  Dream,  to  the 
unreality,  of  the  subject  of  thought. 
Men,  fi-om  absence  of  mind,  wander 
off  into  reveries.  Ardent  and  ambi- 
tious minds  entertain  dreams  of  happi- 
ness or  greatness,  which  are,  in  the 
multitude  of  cases,  not  realized. 

REVERSE.     Invert.    Subvert. 

These  are  compounds  of  the  Latin 
verb  vertere,  to  turn;  but  there  are 
points  of  usage  in  which  they  differ, 
though  in  some  cases  they  may  be 
used  interchangeably.  We  might 
say,  for  instance,  "  to  reverse  or  to 
invert  an  order."  Now  to  Reverse 
is  literally  to  turn  so  as  to  face  another 
way.  To  Invert  is  to  turn  over  or 
upside  down.  But  it  will  be  easily 
understood  that  to  reverse,  in  the 
sense  of  turning  that  side  before 
which  ought  to  be  beliind,  may  be  as 
violent  an  alteration,  when  we  come  to 
speak  metaphorically,  as  to  place  that 
below  which  ought  to  be  above.  To 
Invert,  in  the  above  phrase,  is  a 
stronger  form  of  expression  than  to 
Reverse.  We  may  reverse  in  some 
cases  without  contravening  nature  or 
propriety.  Such  contravention  is 
commonly  employed  in  invert.  We 
may  reverse  a  proposition  by  making 
it  negative  instead  of  affirmative  ;  or 
a  decree,  by  giving  it  a  contrary  effect. 
Such  procedure  may  be  right  or  wrong 
according  to  circumstances.  Subvert 
is  a  stronger  term,  implying  the  vio- 
lent overturning  of  what  used  to  stand 
as  it  were  firm  and  erect. 

•*Edch  court  of  appeal,  in  their  respective 


DISCRIMINATED. 


667 


stages,  may,  upon  hearing  the  matter  of  la\T 
in  which  the  error  is  assigned,  reverse  or 
affirm  the  judgment  of  the  inferior  couxta.'' 
— Blackstone. 

"  The  sagacious  Kepler  first  made  the 
noble  discovery  that  distinct  but  iiiverted 
pictui-es  of  visible  objects  are  formed  upon 
the  retuia  by  the  rays  of  light  coming  fvDm 
the  object."— Reid. 

"  Now,  if  the  acts  of  voluntary  agents 
follow  necessarily  upon  the  impulse  of  ex- 
ternal causes,  there  will  be  a  constant 
fatality  upon  them  utterly  subversive  of 
liberty,  estimation,  and  prudence."  — 
Search. 

REVERT.    Return. 

To  Return  may  be  physical  or 
mental,  indicating  the  simple  going 
jack  to  a  former  point. 

To  Revert,  though  no  more  than 
its  Latin  equivalent  (rgrerftre,  to  make 
to  turn  hack)  is  never  used  in  any  but 
a  mental  sense.  Return  may  be  used 
of  unconscious.  Revert  can  only  be 
used  of  conscious,  agents.  As  em- 
ployed of  intellectual  mattei-s,RETURN 
denotes  simply  the  going  back  to  a 
certatn  point.  To  revert  is  to  carry 
back  one's  attention  with  more  specific 
effort.  Things  return  to  a  point,  and 
revert  to  a  state,  more  especially  to 
the  same  state  as  formerly.  Revert 
being  Latin,  is  used  in  the  higher  or 
more  thoughtful  style;  Return,  in 
that  which  is  the  more  simple. 

"  All  things  reverted  to  their  primitive 
order  and  regularity,  calm,  quiet,  and  com- 
posed."—WaterulND. 

"  When  the  unclean  spirit  is  gone  out  of 
a  man,  he  walketh  through  dry  places  seek- 
ing rest,  and  findeth  none.  Thenhesaith, 
I  will  retui-n  unto  my  house  from  whence  I 
came  out;  and  when  he  is  come,  he  findeth 
it  empty,  swept,  and  SBXui&heA"— English 
Bible. 

RIDICULE.    Deride. 

As  common  laughter  may  be  either 
sympathetic  or  hostile — that  is,  we 
may  laugh  with  others,  or  laugh  at 
them — so  Ridicule  and  Derisio^ 
( both  forms  of  the  Lat.  rid'tre,  to  laugh 
are  always  hostile;  but  Ridicule  is 
the  lighter  term  of  the  two.  Ridicule 
indicates  a  merry,  good-humoured 
hostility.  Derision  is  ill-humoured 
and  scornful.  It  is  anger  wearing 
the  mask  of  ridicule,  and  adoptinc 
the  sound  of  laughter.     We  ridicul'. 


668 


what  offends  our  taste.    We  deride 

what  seems  to  merit  our  scorn. 

"  Jane  borrowed  maxims  from  a  doubting 

school, 
Aud  took  for  truth  the  test  of  ridicule. 
Lucy  saw  no  such  virtue  in  a  jest ; 
Truti  wa£  with  her  of  ridicule  the  test." 
Crabbk. 
"  British  policy  is  brought  into  derision 
in  those  nations  that  awhile  ago  trembled 
at  the  power  of  our  arms,  whilst  they  looked 
up  with  confidence  to  the  equity,  firmness, 
and  candour,  which  shone  in  all  our  nego- 
tiations."—BURKK. 

RIGHT.    Justice. 

Right  (Lat.  rectus)  is  the  object  of 
Justice  (Lat.  justttia).  It  is  a  per- 
son's due.  Justice  is  the  conformity 
of  actions  with  right.  It  is  that  which 
gives  and  preserves  to  each  what  is 
his  due.  The  first  is  dictated  by  na- 
ture or  established  by  authority,  either 
homan  or  divine.  It  may  change  ac- 
cording to  circumstances.  The  second 
is  a  rule  always  to  be  followed,  and 
never  varies. 

RIGHTEOUS.     Godly. 

These  terms  are  of  a  spiritual  cha- 
racter. The  Godly  man  is  he  who 
has  a  mind  which  habitually  converses 
with  God,  as  in  prayer,  meditation, 
the  reading  and  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, public  worship,  and  a  temper 
consonant  with  such  things.  'Ihe 
Righteous  man  is  he  who  practically 
recognizes  righteousness ;  that  is,  that 
morality  which  is  based  upon  revealed 
religion,  doing  that  which  is  right,  as 
being  in  conformity  with  the  Divine 
will ;  especially  between  man  and 
man. 

"A  godly,  righteous,  and  sober  life." — 
English  Liturgy. 

RIGID.     Rigorous. 

Rigid,  the  Lat.  rigidus,  stiff,  hard, 
and  Rigorous,  from  the  Lat.  i^gorem, 
stillness,  are  both  derivatives  of  ri^ere, 
to  be  stiff,  especially  from  cold,  but 
Rigid  is  applicable  to  physical  con- 
ditions; Rigorous,  not.  Rigid  mus- 
cles. Rigorous  justice.  When  Rigid 
18  employed  of  moral  subjects,  it  in- 
dicates a  character  or  condition ;  Rioo- 
Bous,  a  force.  Rules  are  rigid  when 
they  are  inflexible  to  relaxation. 
Rules  or  ruleis  are  rigorous  when 


SYNONYMS  [right] 

they  are  hard  and  energetic  in  what 
they  exact.  Hence  we  speak  of  "  the 
rigidity  of  a  statute,"  "  the  rigour  of 
a  law  when  applied,  as,  for  instance, 
in  enforcing  penalty.  The  rigid  man 
binds  himself;  the  rigorous  man 
binds  others.  So  that  Rigid  is  gene- 
rally passive,  rigorous,  active,  in  its 
force.  Rigidity  of  nature,  character, 
principle,  or  disposition  shows  itseli 
in  rigorousness  of  action,  operation, 
or  treatment.  Hence  the  words  mav 
often  be  used  interchangeably ;  but  to 
deal  rigidly  is  to  deal  with  inflexible 
adherence  to  principle.  To  deal  rigo- 
rously is  to  deal  in  the  energetic  ap- 
plication of  that  principle. 

"  Be  not  too  rigidly  censorious. 

A  string  may  jar  in  the  best   master'a 

hand. 
And  the  most  skilful  archer  misa  his  aim." 
RoscoMMOK,  Horace. 

"Capitation  taxes  are  levied  at  little  ex- 
pense, and  where  they  are  rigorously  ex- 
acted afford  a  very  sure  revenue  to  the 
state."— Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

ROAD.    Route.    Course.    Way. 

Road  (A.  S.  rdd,  a  riding,  a  road) 
is,  strictly,  a  public  way  tor  horses 
and  can'iages,  and  when  used  meta- 
phorically conveys  the  ideas  of  public 
or  common  recognition  and  du-ectness 
of  end ;  as  in  such  phrases  as,  "  the 
sure  road  to  honour,"  or,  "  to  ruin." 

Route  (Fr.  route,  Lat.  rupta  (scili- 
cet via),  a  broken  waif,  a  cross  road)  is 
a  circular  or  circuitous  travel,  which 
may  consist  of  more  than  one  road 
successively. 

Course  (Lat.  cursus,  currere,  to  run) 
differs  from  Route  as  the  defined  from 
the  indefinite.  A  traveller  finds  his 
way  to  a  town  by  a  circuitous  route. 
The  sun  runs  his  course.  A  road  is 
fixed  or  marked  naturally.  A  route 
is  unmarked  or  unfixed.  A  course 
is  fixed  by  necessity  or  by  appoint- 
ment. Yet  Route  involves  the  idea  ot 
a  Hue  ordinary  and  frequented,  as 
"  the  overland  route  to  India." 
Routes  differ  according  to  the  diffe- 
rent points  or  places  by  which  one 
passes  to  the  proposed  destination. 

Way  (A.  S.  wctg)  expresses  broadly 
the  general  manner  of  travel.  To  go 
by  coach,  by  railway,  and  by  ship  are 


[rodomontadeJ    discriminated. 


6B9 


diflferent  wa_ys  of  travelling :  but  this 
is  rather  an  analogical  extension  of  the 
term.  The  term,  especially  in  the 
plural,  lends  itself  to  moral  meanings. 
Good  or  evil  ways,  tJiat  is  modes  of 
conduct.  The  way  indicates  primarily 
truth  of  proceeding.  A  certain  road 
or  path  is  spoken  of  as  the  way  or  not 
the  way  which  leads  to  such  a  place. 

'*  The  gates  of  hell  are  open  day  and  night. 
Smooth  the  descent  and  easy  is  the  icay. 
But  to  return  and  view  the  cheerful  skies. 
In  this  the  task  and  mighty  labour  lies." 
Dryden's  Virgil. 

'•  At  our  first  sally  into  the  mtellectual 
world,  we  all   march  together  along  one 
straight  and  open  road," — Johnson. 
••  Wide  through  the  furzy  field  their  roxtte 
they  take."  Gay. 

"  He  rejoiceth  as  a  giant  to  run  his 
course." — English  Psalms. 

ROBBERY.  Depredation. 
Theft. 

These  words  denote  the  taking 
away  of  that  wliich  is  the  property  of 
another,  but  differ  somewhat  in  the 
chai'acter  of  the  actions. 

Robbery  (O.  Fr.  rober,  Low  Lat. 
rHuhare,  to  rob)  diffei'S  from  Theft 
(A.  S.  theofj  a  thief  )in  being  effected 
by  open  violence ;  while  thelt  is  com- 
mitted by  stealth  or  privately,  and  of 
articles  of  comparatively  small  value. 

Depredation  (Lat.  depreeddre,  to 
plunder)  is  desultory  robbery,  with 
no  direct  violence,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  lawful  owners,  the  property 
being  left  ungiiajded.  It  is  more 
commonly  a  collective  than  an  indivi- 
dual act,  and  of  a  desultory  cha- 
racter. 

"  Larceny  from  the  person  is  either  by 
privately  stealing,  or  by  open  and  violent 
assault,  which  is  usually  called  robbery." — 
Blackstone. 

"  Nevertheless,  I  shall  in  this  case  send 
my  brother  with  a  detachment  of  hoi*se  to 
harass  Antony  in  his  retreat,  and  to  protect 
Italy  from  his  depredations." — Melmoth, 
Cicero. 

"  One  of  our  men  in  the  midst  of  these 
hardships  was  found  guilty  of  theft,  and 
tondemned  for  the  same  to  have  three 
blows  from  every  man  in  the  ship  with  a 
two  inch  and  a  half  rope  on  his  bare  neck." 
— Dampier's  Voyages. 

ROBUST.    Strong.     Sturdy. 
Robust  (La*,  rohustus,  hardf  strong) 


implies  some  degree  of  size  and  mus- 
cular power,  combined  -with  sound- 
ness of  constitution.  A  man  of  small 
size  would  not  be  called  robust,  nor 
one  who,  though  possessed  of  muscu- 
lar sti-ength,  was  of  a  sickly  constitu- 
tion. 

Strong  (A.  S.  sti'xng)  is  the  simple 
and  generic  term  applicable  to  both, 
and  ai  Robust  is  not,  to  other  sub- 
stances and  objects,  as  a  strong  rope. 
Strong  may  denote  power  of  mental 
or  muscular  action ;  passive  power, 
as  of  resistance,  endurance,  or  cohe- 
sion ;  may  mean  powerful  in  the  sense 
of  influential ;  or  powerful  mechani- 
cally ;  impetuous ;  logically  cogent  or 
convincing  ;  or  powerfully  affecting 
the  organs  or  senses. 

Sturdy  is  the  O.  Fr.  estourdi,  Mod. 
Fr.  itourdi,  passive  participle  of  the 
verb  Hourdir,  to  stun,  and  so  stunned^ 
dazed,  giddy.  Its  earlier  meaning  in 
English  was,  accordingly,  foolislily 
obstinate.  It  is  now  only  pliysically 
employed,  and  that  of  persons,  and 
denotes  the  strength  which  belongs 
to  compactness  and  solidity.  Where 
it  is  employed  of  certain  impersonal 
objects,  this  seems  rather  by  way  of 
poetic  analogy ;  as  a  sturdy  oak.  It  is 
also  sometimes  transferred  from  the 
actor  to  the  work  ;  as  a  sturdy  oppo- 
sition. The  sturdy  man  is  of  no  great 
size,  but  well-knit  of  limb,  and,  with- 
out being  powerful,  can  keep  his 
ground  and  hold  his  own. 
'♦  Survey  the  warlike  horse !  Didst  thou  in- 
vest 
With  thunder  his  robust  distended  chest  ? ' 
Young. 
"  No  man  ran  enter  into  a  strong  man's 
house  and  spoil  his  gcx)ds  ex  ept  he  will  first 
bind  the  strong  man,  and  then  he  will  spoil 
his  house." —  English  Bible. 
"  E^en  in  this  early  dawning  of  the  year. 
Produce  the  plough  and  yoke  the  sturdy 

steer. 
And  goad  him  till  he  groans  beneath  his 

toil, 
Till  the  bright  share  is  buried  in  the  soil." 
Drydbn. 

RODOMONTADE.  Gasconade. 
Rant. 

Rodomontade,  from  Rodotnonte^ 
a  boasting  hero  in  the  "  Orlando 
Furioso"  of  Ariosto,  denoted  first 
empty   boasting,  then  empty,  blus 


670 


BYNONYMS 


[room] 


tering  talk.  Gasconade,  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Gascony,  who  had  the 
reputation  for  this  propensity,  ex- 
presses no  more  than  conceited  ex- 
firessions  of  self-confidence ;  while 
I  ANT  (cf.  Ger.  ranzen,  to  make  a  noise) 
has  in  it  nothing  of  tha  element  of 
vaunting,  but,  retaining  that  of  blus- 
tering talk,  has  added  to  it  that  ot 
great  mental  excitement.  The  ranter 
endeavours  to  substitute  vehemence 
in  declamation  for  dignity  of  thought. 

ROOM.     Space. 

Space  (Lat.  spHtium)  is  absolute. 

Room  (A.  S.  rum,  room,  space)  is 
relative.  Room  is  space  set  apart  for 
a  purpose,  or  regarded  in  reference  to 
such  purpose.  Space  is  used  inde- 
finitely to  express  that  which  sur- 
passes our  comprehension.  It  may 
be  infinitely  extended  in  idea,  or 
bounded.  Room  is  always  bounded. 
Space  is  a  term  more  commonly  asso- 
ciated with  the  facts  of  Nature ;  Room, 
with  the  requirements  of  man.  Room 
is  space  specifically  sufiicient. 

"  The  ground  of  a  certain  rich  man 
brought  forth  plentifully,  and  he  thought 
within  himself,  saying.  What  shall  I  do, 
because  I  have  no  rooin  where  to  bestow  my 
fruits  ?  "—English  Bible. 

"  This  space,  considered  barely  in  length 
between  any  two  beings,  without  consider- 
ing anything  else  between  them,  is  called 
distance ;  if  considered  in  length,  breadth, 
and  thickness,  I  think  it  may  be  called  ca- 
pacity. The  terra  extension  is  usually  ap- 
plied to  it,  in  what  manner  soever  consi- 
dered."—LoCKE. 

ROTUNDITY.     Roundness. 

These  words  ar^  from  Lat.  r'btun- 
duSf  rotmd  (from  r'dta,  a  wheel),  and 
its  der.  the  Fr.  rond.  Roundness  is 
the  general  terra.  Rotundity  is  that 
specific  roundness  which  belongs  to 
the  volume  of  solid  bodies.  So  we 
might  speak  at  discretion  of  the 
roundness  or  the  rotundity  of  a  turnip, 
but  of  the  roundness,  not  the  rotun- 
dity, of  a  mathematical  circle ;  round- 
ness is  ap})lied  to  a  very  partial  con- 
vexitj',  as  in  the  roundness,  but  not 
rotundity  of  a  hill.  We  might  speak 
of  the  roundness  or  the  rotundity  of 
the  earth,  of  the  roundness  as  regards 
Its  shape,  of  the  rotundity  as  regards 
the  ca{)ncity  comprised  in  its  round- 


ness.    Rotundity  is  now,  however,  a 

term  more  colloquial  than  scientific. 

A    more  scientific    term    would  be 

spherical. 

"  Make  it  thy  vernal   care,  when   April 

calls 
New  shoots  to  birth,  to  trim  the  hedge 

aslant, 
And   mould   it  to  the   roundness   oS    the 

mound, 
itself  a  shelving  hill."  Mason. 

"And  thou  all-shaking  thunder, 
Strike  flat  the  thick  rotundity  of  the  world." 
Shakespkaee. 

ROUGH.  See  Coarse,  Abrupt, 
and  Harsh. 

ROUND.    Tour.     Circuit. 

A  Round  (see  Rotundity)  is  made 
in  the  way  of  personal  business  of  an 
ordinary  or  familiar  kind,  as  when 
visitors,  watchmen,  or  tradesmen  go 
their  rounds. 

A  Tour  (Fr.  tour,  a  twti)  is  made 
in  the  way  of  pleasure,  as  a  tour 
through  the  Lake  District.  We 
speak,  however,  of  a  round  of  plea- 
sure as  well  as  of  business,  and  in 
either  case  a  definite  course  seems 
implied. 

A  Circuit  (Lat.  circuitus)  isofficial 
and  pre-defined,  and  seems  to  imply 
primarily  a  purpose  of  visitation  and 
inspection.  Rounds,  in  the  plural, 
is  physically  applied  ;  Round,  in  the 
singular,  is  used  in  the  secondary 
sense,  as  a  round  of  pleasure  or 
gaiety. 

RURAL.    Rustic. 

These  words  are  both  derived  from 
one  source — 'La.t.rus,ruris,  the  country, 
from  wliich  are  formed  the  adjectives 
7'uratis,  and  rusttcus. 

Rural,  however,  is  emplojred  of 
the  country,  or  matters  belonging  to 
it,  as  distinguished  from  man,  or  from 
towns,  and  is  so  associated  with  the 
pleasant  things  of  Nature. 

Rusiic  is  applied  to  the  persons  or 
conditions  of  men  in  reference  to  sim- 
plicity or  rudeness  of  manners.  Ety- 
mologically,  it  is  opposed  to  such 
words  as  civil,  urbane,  denoting  the 
refinement  of  cities.  A  rural  abode 
means  one  pleasantly  situated  in  the 
country ;  a  rustic  abode,  one  wanting 
in  elegance.     We,  however,  use  the 


SAD 


niSORIMINATED. 


671 


<eim  Rustic  in  reference  to  certain 
gtjrles  of  construction,  in  which  there 
is  an  affectation  of  rudeness  combined 
with  real  elegance;  as  an  e'egant 
country  retreat  built  in  a  rustic  style 
of  architecture ;  that  is,  with  stone  oi 
wood  which  shall  wear  an  appearance 
of  undesigned  in-egularity. 
•*  For  I  have  loved  the  rural  walk  through 

lanes 
Of  grassy    s-warth,  close  cropp'd  by   nib- 
bling sheep. 
And  skirted  thick  with  intertexture  firm 
Of  thorny  boughs."  COWPER. 

"  Lay  bashfulness,  that  rustic  virtue,  by  ; 
To  manly  confidence  thy  thoughts  apply." 
Dryden. 


SACRED.     Holy.     Divine. 

Sacred  (Lat.  sdcrkm)  is  less  strong 
than  Holy  (A.  S.  hMig),  though 
many  cases  occur  in  which  the  words 
might  be  used  indifferently,  as  the 
sacred  vessels,  or  the  holy  vessels  of 
the  sanctuary.  But  Sacred  denotes 
rather  the  character  conferred  upon 
objects  or  persons  by  setting  them 
apart  for  certain  purposes ;  Holv,  an 
intrinsic  chai-acter  which  they  possess 
in  themselves.  So  we  speak  of  a  holy 
man,  not  a  sacred  man.  It  is  well  if, 
in  cases  where  the  office  is  sacred,  the 
man  himself  is  holy.  Holy  is  opposed 
to  unholy;  sacred,  to  profane.  We 
speak  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the 
Sacred  Scriptures ;  the  former  as  era- 
bodying  and  reflecting  the  holy  per- 
son, will,  character,  and  attributes  of 
an  all-holy  God  ;  the  latter  as  unlike 
or  apai-t  from  other  books,  and  de- 
serving of  peculiai'  treatment  and  re- 
verence. 

Divine  (^Lat.  duviniLs)  is  a  weaker 
and  vaguer  word,  meaning  like  a 
Deity  or  the  Deity,  or  in  any  way 
connected  with  Him  ;  as,  the  Divine 
justice.  Divine  worship.  Divine  is 
opposed  to  human.  The  expression 
of  the  holy  in  garb  or  appearance 
generally  is  denoted  by  tne  term 
sanctity  (Lat.  Muctttdtem). 

"  For  how  can  we  think  of  Him  without 
dread  and  reverence,  when  we  consider 
how  He  is  secluded  by  the  infinite  sacred- 


ness  of  His  awn  Majesty  from  all  immediate 
converse  and  mtercourse  with  us?"— ScoTT, 
Christian  life. 

"When  Christ  not  only  triumphed  over 
hell  and  the  gi-ave,  but  was  exalted  to  the 
right  hand  of  God,  He  then  not  only  be- 
stowed these  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  on  the  apostles,  but  settled  a  con- 
stant order  of  such  in  the  Chui-ch,  who 
were  to  attend  to  the  necessities  of  it,  till 
there  will  be  no  further  need  of  instruc 
tion." — Stillingflket. 

"Therefore  there  was  plainly  wanting  a 
Divine  revelation  to  recover  mankind  out  of 
their  universally  degenerated  estate  into  a 
state  suitable  to  the  original  excellence  of 
their  nature;  which  Divine  revelation  both 
the  necessities  of  men  and  their  natural 
notions  of  Gtod  gave  them  reasonabl* 
ground  to  expect  and  hope  for."— Ci^AJlKB. 

SAD.       Gloomy.       Mournpul, 
Dej£cted.     Melancholy.     Moody. 
Sad  is  the  most  generic  of  these 
terms.   It  is,  according  to  Wedgwood, 
the  Wei.  sad^  meaning  firm,  discreet^ 
and  moans  excessive  sedateness.     Its 
earlier  uses  were    purely   physical, 
in   the  sense  of  heavy,  close,   hard. 
As  Spenser,"  His  hand  more saci  than 
lump  of  lead."     Hence  producing  a 
heavy  or  sombre  impression  or  effect ; 
as,    "  sad-coloured    clothes. ' — Wal- 
ton.    From  this  it  passed  to  a  moral 
sense,  and  was  applied  to  temper, 
mood,  or  chai'acter,  in  the  sense  in 
which    we    now    employ    the  term 
serious;  as  Bacon  says,  "A  sad  and 
religious    woman ; "    hence    affected 
with    unhappiness,    or,    reflexively, 
producing  depression ;   as,   "a   sad 
misfortune."      Sadness  is  reflexive. 
1 1  implies  some  cause  or  ground  for 
the  feeling.  To  be  sad  without  know- 
ing why,  Would  be  folly  and  unreason. 
We  ai-esad  when  we  reflect  upon  loss, 
privation,  <lisappointment,   and   the 
like.   When  Sad  appears  as  an  epithet 
of  things  or  events  it  does  not  neces- 
sarily denote  a  feeling  of  great  sorrow 
in  the  speaker.     A  person  suffering 
I   under  a  terrible  aflaiction  would  not 
*   speak  of  it  as  a  sad  event  though  it 
might  be  so  designated  by  another,  nor 
I    would    the    person    suffering   under 
severe  mentaJ  pain  be  called  Sad. 
"  Man's  feeble  race  what  ilU  await: 
Labour  and  Penury,  the  racks  of  Pain, 
Disea?e  and  Sorrow's  weeping  train. 
And  Death,  sad  refuge  from  the  storm*  of 
fate."  Gbay. 


672 


Gloomy  (A.  S.  glom,  gloom)  has 
preserved  its  etymological  force,  and 
differs  from  Sad  in  its  indefiniteness 
and  indistinctness.  Men  are  often 
gloomy  without  knowing  why,  as 
ander  a  general  forebuding  of  misfor- 
tune. Sadness  is  almost  always  the 
result  of  the  past ;  gloominess  more 
commonly  bears  upon  the  future, 
which  is  contemplated  with  misgiv- 
ing. 

"  For  the  English  are  naturally  fanciful, 
and  very  often  disposed  by  that  gloominess 
and  melancholy  of  temper  which  is  so  fre- 
quent in  our  nation  to  many  wild  notions 
and  visions  to  which  others  are  not  so 
liable." — Spectator. 

Mournful(A.  S.  murnan,to  mourn) 
applies  more  distinctively  to  the  ex- 
yression  of  the  sad  ;  as,  the  mournful 
sound  of  a  bell ;  a  mournful  sight  or 
sound ;  a  gloomy  prospect.  Mourn- 
ful is  literally  full  of  what  causes 
mourning.  It  therefore  denotes  a 
quality,  while  Sad  denotes  a  state. 
By  the  sight  or  recital  of  what  is 
mournful  the  mind  may  be  made  sad. 

"Yet  if  he  steps  forth  with  a  Friday 
look  and  a  Lenten  face,  with  a  blessed 
Jesu,  a  mournful  ditty  for  the  vices  of  the 
tiues,  oh  1  then  he  is  a  saint  upon  earth, 
an  Ambrose  or  an  Augustine." — South. 

Dejected  (Lat.  dijtcere,  part,  di' 
lectus,  to  ca6t  down)  is,  literally,  cast 
down,  and,  like  Sad,  betokens  a  spe- 
cific cause,  the  subject  of  reflexion. 
It  is  a  term  denoting  the  external 
effect  as  well  as  state  of  sorrow,  and 
brings  before  the  eye  of  the  mind  the 
downcast  look  and  hanging  head.  It 
is  obviously  applicable  only  to  per- 
sons. Yet  it  is  not  a  term  of  the 
gi'eatest  seriousness.  Dejection  is  not 
overwhelming  sorrow,  but  betokens 
sadness  and  disappointment  rather 
than  bitter  grief.  It  is  a  transient 
rather  than  a  peraianent  state. 

"  When  our  souls  are  dejected,  distressed, 
Vprmented  with  the  remembrance  of  our 
former  sins.  He  saith  to  us,  as  He  said  to 
the  man  in  tlie  Gospel,  *  Be  of  good  cheer. 
My  son,  thy  sins  are  all  pardoned.*" — 
Beveridqe. 

It  may  be  observed  that  dejected  and 
Moody  (A.  S.  rndd,  mind,  disposition) 
differ  from  the  rest  of  these  synonyms 
in  bring  only  passive,  while  they  may 
also  be  u«ed  actively  ;  that  is,  a»  not 


SYNONYMS  [safe J 

only   occupied  by  but  producing  a 
feeling  of  sadness,  and  the  like. 

MELANCH0LY(Gr./u£7\.aj';t°^ja,(UEXa?, 
black,  and  %oX)5,  bile)  denotes  a  con- 
tinued if  not  chronic  state  of  depres- 
sion of  spirits  arising  from  any  cause. 
Melancholy  is  commonly  the  con- 
comitant of  over-thoughtful  disposi- 
tions, which  suspect  life  of  dissatis- 
faction, though  they  may  not  have 
had  bitter  experiences. 
"  And    Melancholy    marked  him   for   her 

own."  Gkay. 

Moody  (A.  S.  modig)  differs  from 
melancholy,  dejected,  sad,  and 
gloomy,  in  being  more  fitful  and  ca- 
pricious. It  is  less  passive,  and  ex- 
presses itself  in  discontent,  ill-humour, 
peevishness,  and  a  desu-e  to  commit 
harm,  as  if  brooding  in  sullenness. 
"  And  moody  madness  laughing  wild 
Amid  severest  woe."  Gray. 

SAFE.     Secure. 

The  word  Safe  (Fr.  sauf^  Lat.  sal- 
vus)  is  employed  in  an  abstract  way,  in 
which  Secure  (Lat.  seciirus,  without 
care)  is  not.  We  may  say,  "  It  is  safe, 
or  safer,  to  travel  by  day,"  where  we 
eould  not  say,  "  It  is  secure."  Safety 
differs  fi-om  security,  as  the  objective 
from  tlie  subjective,  security  being 
the  sense  or  recognition  of  safety.  If 
I  say,  "  He  is  safe,"  I  mean  in  a  state 
removed  from  danger;  if  1  say  "  He  is 
secure,"  I  mean  in  a  state  which  he 
or  I  can  recognize  as  removed  from 
danger.  Hence  Secure  has  travelled 
on  to  mean  entertaining  a  sense  of 
safety,  which  may  be  even  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  facts  of  the  case.  "  While 
they  slept  secure  the  enemy  attacked 
the  camp ; "  where  the  security  was 
not  safety,  but  emphatically  the  con- 
trary. But  there  are  further  diffe- 
rences to  be  noted  between  safety  and 
security.  Safety  is  absolute,  security 
relative;  or,  in  other  words,  those 
who  are  simply  out  of  danger  are  safe ; 
those  who  are  removed  beyond  the 
reach  of  danger  are  secure.  Safety 
regards  the  present  in  connexion  with 
the  past ;  security  is  also  for  the 
future.  Safety  is  a  more  abstract 
term  than  Security.  If  effectual  mea- 
sures have  been  taken  for  the  security 
of  a  thing,  it  is  in  a  condition  of  safety 


[sanction] 


r,iriCRIMINATED. 


673 


Again,  Security  sometimes  implies 
such  restriction  upon  the  individual 
as  prevents  him  from  being  a  cause  of 
alarm  or  danger.  In  looking  at  a 
caged  lion,  we  think  less  of  his  safety 
than  ofour  own  security.  The  felon, 
captured  and  imprisoned,  is  secure, 
without  being  safe. 

"  Secure  from  Fortune's  blows." 

Dbyden. 
"And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  they  es- 
caped all  safe  to  laad." — English  Bible. 

SAKE.    AccocNT. 

Sake  (A.  S.  sacu,  cause  or  suit  in 
law)  is  employed  both  of  persons  and 
things,  as  also  is  Account  (Fr.  ac- 
sompte,  Lat.  ad  and  compiitdre,  to 
reckon).  We  say,  grammatically, 
"for  the  sake"  and  "on  account." 
But  Sake  denotes  an  ulterior  purpose 
which  is  contemplated ;  Account,  an 
anterior  cause  or  motive  which  in- 
duces. Moreover,  Account  is  no  more 
than  a  cause  ;  Sake,  a  cause  in  which 
one  is  concerned.  If  I  say,  "  i  am 
doing  this  for  his  sake,"  1  mean  that  I 
am  doing  it  because  1  have  an  end  in 
view,  which  I  believe  it  will  be  to  his 
interest  that  I  should  accomplish.  If 
I  say,  "  I  am  doing  it  on  his  account," 
I  mean  broadly,  tliat  he  is  in  some 
way  the  cause  of  my  doing  it.  Hence 
it  follows  that  where  the  object  is  ser- 
viceable, we  use  Sake  ;  as,  "  to  make 
sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  peace ;  "  that 
is,  to  promote  the  ends  of  peace.  On 
the  other  hand,  "  I  took  the  high 
road  rather  than  the  fields,  on  account 
of  the  darkness,"  where  the  darkness 
is  no  more  than  the  subject  of  con- 
sideration which  influenced  my  choice. 

"  Knowledge  is  for  the  sake  of  man,  and 
act  man  for  the  sake  of  knowledge." — Sir 
W.  Hamilton. 

"In  matters  where  his  judgment  led 
him  to  oppose  men  on  a  public  account,  he 
would  do  it  vigorously  and  heartily." — 
Attkrbury. 

SALUTATION.    Salute. 

These  worils  coming  from  the  Lat. 
sdliitem,  health,  safetij,  refer  more  di- 
rectly, the  former  to  the  person,  the 
latter  to  the  thing.  A  Salutation 
may  be  in  words  or  any  other  way, 
implyine  personal  expression  of  feel- 
ing.   The  Salute  is  never  in  words. 


There  is  more  of  familiarity  in  Salu- 
tation, and  of  respect  or  formal  de- 
monstration in  Salute. 

"  But  at  the  very  time  while  he  is  bowing 
at  the  threshold  of  the  rich  man,  the  philo- 
sopher shall  pass  by,  and  because  he  pos- 
sesses only  a  competency,  without  super- 
fluity and  without  influence,  he  shall  not 
be  honoured  with  the  common  civility  of  a 
salutation." — Knox,  Essays. 

"  I  sent  a  lieutenant  ashore,  to  acquaint 
the  governor  of  our  arrival,  and  to  make  an 
excuse  for  our  not  saluting  ;  for  as  I  could 
salute  only  with  three  guns,  except  the 
swivels,  which  I  was  of  opinion  would  not 
be  heard,  I  thought  it  was  better  to  let  it 
alone." — Cook's  Votjages. 

SANCTION.  Countenance.  Sup- 
port.    Ratify. 
We  Countenance  (  Lat.  continentiuy 

festurCf  demeanour)  persons;  we 
ANCTioN  things;  we  Support  things 
and  persons.  Persons  are  counte- 
nanced by  the  apparent  approval  of 
others.  Mere  numbers  may  counte- 
nance. Proceedings  are  sanctioned 
(Lat.  sancire,  part,  sanctusj  to  sanctionor 
ratify)  by  the  approval,  especially  of 
persons  of  weight  or  authority.  Per- 
sons or  measures  are  supported  ( Lat. 
supportarey  to  carry,  convey,)  by  any 
means  which  may  give  assistance  or 
encouragement,  or  promote  the  end  in 
view.  Superiors  only  can  counte- 
nance and  sanction  ;  all  of  every  de- 
gree may  support,  which  implies, 
more  than  the  rest,  active  co-opera- 
tion. 

••  The  strictest  professors  of  reason  have 
added  the  tanction  of  their  testimony."— 
Watts. 

"  But  as  to  the  civil  religion,  Socrates 
never  opposed  it,  but  always  countenanced 
it  both  by  discourse  and  example." — Bknt- 
LEY 

"  The  apparent  insufficiency  of  every  in- 
dividual to  his  own  happiness  or  safety 
compels  ns  to  seek  from  one  another  assis- 
tance and  support."    JoHNSON. 

As  Sanction,  Countenance,  and 
Support  are  equally  applicable  to 
things  done  and  to  things  proposed,  so 
Ratify  (Low  Lat.  rattfwdrey  to  con- 
firm) belongs  only  to  things  done.  To 
ratify  is  to  approve  so  as  to  make 
valid  what  has  been  done  by  another, 
especially  a  delegate  or  representative. 
It  wears  an  official  and  political  air. 
involving  the   ideas  of  interest  and 


674 

authority  in  the  person  or  power 
that  ratifies.  Ratification  is  given  to 
acts  done  without  the  knowledge  or 
the  full  knowledge  of  others  to  whom 
the  agents  are  responsible. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  the  Divine  Power 
to  set  a  seal  to  a  lie  by  ratifying  an  impos- 
ture with  such  a  miracle."— South. 

SAVE.     Spare. 

We  may  be  Saved  (Fr.  tauvevy  Lat. 
\alvusy  safe)  fi'om  any  evils.  We  are 
Spared  (A.S.  spdrian,  to  spare)  only 
from  those  which  it  is  in  the  power  of 
some  one  to  inflict.  To  save  may  be 
the  effect  either  of  accident  or  design. 
To  spare  is  always  designed,  denotmg 
intentional  forbearance.  "  He  was  to 
have  been  shot  as  a  deserter,  but  the 
clemency  of  his  commander  spared 
his  life.  "  He  was  sti'uck  by  a  bullet, 
but  the  watch  in  his  pocket  saved  his 
life."  The  difference  may  be  seen  at 
opce  in  the  two  phrases,  *'  he  saved 
my  life,"  and  "  he  spared  my  life." 

"  Then  he  called  for  a  light,  and  sprang 
in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down  be- 
fore Paul  and  Silas,  and  brought  them  out 
and  said.  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  t " 
—English  Bible. 

"  God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned, 
but  cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  delivered 
them  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved 
unto  judgment ;  and  spared  not  the  old 
world,"— 76id. 

SCANDAL.     Reproach. 

The  same  thing  may  be  matter  of 
both  Scandal  (Gr.  erxaviaXov,  o  stiim- 
bling-block)  and  Reproach  (Fr.  re- 
procher,  Lat.  repr'bpidre,  the  bringing 
near  or  home  of  an  offence)  ;  but  Re- 
proach points  rather  to  the  intrinsic 
blame  of  the  act;  Scandal,  to  the 
offence  caused  by  it  in  the  minds  of 
others,  and  of  society  at  large.  It 
may  be  observed  that  Scandal  is  used 
for  the  offensive  act,  and  for  the  im- 
putation, even  including  the  un- 
rounded imputation  of  it. 
"  The  loss  in  war  sustained  through   his 


SrNONYMS  [save] 


A  lasting  scandal  to  the  English  name." 
Drayton. 

"The  Chevalier  Bayard,  distinguished 
among  his  contemporaries  by  the  appellation 
of  the  knight  witnout  fear  and  without  re- 
proach."—Robertson. 


SCANDALOUS.     Infamous. 

Scandalous  (see  Scandal)  is  ap- 
plied only  to  deeds  and  transactions  ; 
while  Infamous  (Lat.  irif  privative, 
and/anjosus,  see  Famous)  is  used  both 
of  transactions  and  persons.  Infa- 
mous is  the  stronger  term  of  the  two ; 
a  scandalous  act  being  one  which  is 
calculated  to  excite  a  high  degree  of 
social  blame;  an  infamous  act,  one 
which  is  calculated  to  brand  the  cha- 
racter of  the  doer  with  detestation  for 
life. 

•*  Nothing  scandalous  or  offensive  to  any." 
—Hooker. 

"  If  anything  be  of  ill-report,  and  looks 
infamously  to  the  sober  part  of  mankind, 
why,  that  very  consideration  is  enough  to 
deter  yon  from  the  practice  of  it,  for  yon 
are  to  recommend  your  religion  to  all  the 
men  in  the  world  by  all  the  ways  that  are 
possible." — Sharp. 

SCANTY.     Meagre. 

These  terms  are  closely  similar; 
and  when  employed  as  synonyms,  as  a 
meagre  supply,  a  scanty  supply,  seem 
nearly  identical.  But  Scanty  (Norse 
skanta,  measured,  exactly Jitted,  Wedg- 
wood) refers  rather  to  the  r'^lation  of 
the  thing  supplied  to  the  will  of  the 
supplier;  Meagre  (Fr.  maigre,  thiriy 
Lat.  mdcrum),  to  the  littleness  or  po- 
verty of  the  thing  in  itself.  A  meagre 
supply  may  be  the  result  of  circum- 
stances. A  scanty  supply  reflects 
upon  the  giver  or  provider.  Scanty 
relates  more  to  number,  measure,  or 
rule ;  Meagre,  to  quantity  generally. 
The  proportionately  mea^e  is  the 
scanty.  Scanty  is  therefore  applic- 
able to  number  as  well  as  quantity 
or  amplitude;  meagre  only  to  the 
latter. 

"  The  lowest  class  of  labourers,  therefore, 
notwithstanding  their  scanty  subsistence, 
must,  some  way  or  another,  make  shift  to 
continue  their  race  so  far  as  to  keep  up 
their  usual  numbers." — Smith,  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

"  His  education  had  been  bat  meagre." 

—Motley. 

The  expressions  "  scanty  hope  "  and 
** meagre  hope"  would  thus  mean — 
the  latter,  that  the  amount  of  hope  was 
very  small ;  the  former,  that  tne  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  afforded  littl* 
ground  for  hope. 


fBCATTERJ 


SCARCITY.     Famine,    Dearth. 

Scarcity  (see  Scarce)  is  a  generic 
terra,  and  expresses  the  scant  supply 
of  any  article  needful  or  desirable. 
Dkarth,  which  is  dearness,  is  applied 
to  articles  of  food  primarily,  though, 
by  a  poetic  analogy,  extended  to  mean 
poverty  in  supply  generally ;  as,  "  a 
dearth  of  plot  and  narrowness  of 
imagination.  — Drydeu.  Scarcity  is 
notso serious atermas Dearth.  There 
may  be  a  scarcity  in  the  market  of 
articles  of  luxury ;  a  dearth  is  such 
scarcity  as  is  felt  to  be  a  privation. 

Fa  MIX  E  (Lat.  fdmes,  hunger)  is  re- 
stricted to  a  grievous  scarcity  of  food 
or  provisions,  and  expresses  the  con- 
dition as  well  as  the  fact  of  such 
want.  It  is  used,  unlike  the  others, 
only  generally  and  not  of  specific 
articles  or  commodities.  The  famine 
is  the  evil,  the  dearth  or  the  scarcity 
is  the  cause  of  the  evil.  In  a  time  of 
dearth  provisions  are  very  dear,  in  a 
time  of  famine  victuals  must  be  pro- 
vided anyhow. 

"Value  is  more  frequently  raised  by 
scarcity  than  use." — Idler. 

"  The  famine  is  sore  in  the  land." — Eng- 
Ksh  Bible. 

"  For  I  find  the  dearth  at  this  time  was 
very  great ;  wheat  was  at  four  marks  the 
quarter,  malt  at  two  pounds  four  shillings, 
pease  at  two  pounds  five  shillings." — BuR- 
NET. 

SCATTER.  Spread.  Disperse. 
Sprinkle.     Strew. 

Scatter  (A.  S.  scateran,  to  scatter) 
is  applicable  only  to  separable  or  se- 
parated bodies:  as,  to  scatter  seed 
upon  the  ground ;  to  scatter  papers 
about  a  room.  It  is  mostly,  but  not 
absolutely,  an  aot  of  design,  but  done 
without  exactness.  It  involves  also 
dissination  from  ope  point  or  centre, 
I  en   Lot   gc    8y8teniatic*lly  as   Dis- 

J»ERiB. 

Spread  (A.S.  spriBdan),  on  the 
other  hand,  applies  both  to  separable 
and  inseparable  or  unseparated  bodies ; 
as,  to  spread  butter  upon  bread ;  to 
•pread  documents  upon  a  table.  Yet 
tne  idea  of  collectiveness  is  always 
more  orless  retained  in  Spread;  while 
it  is  contradicted  and  lost  in  Scatter. 
The  term  Spread  may  indicate  exten- 


D/SCRIMINATED. 


675 


sion  in  one  direction,  or  in  more  than 
one,  and  it  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
design. 

Disperse  (ha.t.  dispergh'e,  pari,  dit- 
persuSf  to  scatter  in  different  directions) 
is  the  consequence  of  intelligent  will, 
or  of  mere  force;  as,  the  troops  were 
dispersed  by  the  enemy ;  the  sun  dis- 
perses the  clouds.  What  is  especially 
implied  in  Disperse  is  the  disr  iption 
ofapreviouslycompactbody.  Scatter 
is  a  stronger  terra  than  Disperse  when 
the  term  is  applied  to  acts  of  raan's 
volition  or  the  force  of  circumstances. 
"  The  .Tews  have,  by  the  providence 
of  God,  been  scattered  throughout  all 
lands."  A  party  of  pleasure  may 
disperse  themselves  over  the  hills. 
Scatter  and  Disperse  are  terms  with- 
out limit.  Spread  may  be  with  limit 
as  well  as  design,  as  when  manure  is 
spread  over  a  field,  or  a  given  part  of 
it.  It  may  be  purposely  scattered,  or 
purposely  spread ;  in  the  former  case 
It  would  be  in  patches  ;  in  the  Ir.tter, 
it  would  form  a  continuous  cov  ssiny 
to  the  soil. 

To  Sprinkle  (A.  S.  $pr(£ncan)  is  te 
cause  to  fall  lightly  and  scantily  in 
drops,  or  solid  particles  like  drops,  of 
liquid. 

"Our  bones  lie  scattered  before  the  pit." 
—English  F^alms. 

"As  touching  the  spreading  of  mucke, 
ftud  minsrling  it  with  the  mould  of  a  land,  it 
is  exceeding  good  to  do  it  when  the  wind 
•etteth  full  west."— Holland,  Pliny. 

"  Not  in  a  professed  history  of  persecu- 
tions, or  in  the  connected  manner  in  which 
I  am  about  to  recite  it,  hnt  dispersedly,  and 
occasionally,  in  the  course  of  a  mixed  gene- 
ral history,  which  circumstance  alone  nega- 
tives the  supposition  of  any  fraudulent  de- 
sign."—P  alky. 

Strew  (A.  S.  streowian^  ia  to  scatter 
so  as  substantially  to  spread  over  an 
area  or  surface.  Grammatically  it  is 
applicable  both  to  the  area  and  the 
objects  upon  it.  It  involves  a  degree 
of  magnitude  in  such  objects.  So  we 
strew  flowers  but  not  seeds.  We 
scatter  with  freedom  and  at  random. 
We  may  strew  carefully  and  artisti- 
cally. We  may  spread  with  geome- 
trical exactness. 
"  She  may  strmv  dangerous  conjectures.' 

SHAKEaPEAKB. 


676 


SCORN.  Despise.  Contemn.  Di»- 
OAiN.    Spurn. 

These  terms  all  express  a  feeling  of 
dislike,  coupled  with  a  sense  of  one's 
own  superiority  to  a  person  or  object. 
Contemn  (Lat.  contemncre,  to  despise) 
is  less  frequently  used  than  phrases 
into  which  it  enters,  as  to  show  or 
feel  contempt.  We  are  not  commonly 
said  to  contemn  individuals,  but  ob- 
jects, qualities,  character,  and  the 
like,  hence  there  is  a  moral  element 
inherent  in  Contemn,  which  does  not 
of  necessity  belong  to  Despise  (Lat. 
despicere^  to  look  down  upon).  The 
naturally  pn*oud  man  despises  his  in- 
feriors. Despise,  however,  often 
stands  as  the  verb,  to  which  the  noun 
tontempt  (instead  oid£spite)  belongs. 
Contemn  lends  itself,  as  the  others  do 
not,  to  a  collective  expression  of  feel- 
ing. Society  contemns,  but  does  not 
disdain  or  despise  or  scorn.  Men  are 
sometimes  called  contemners  of  that 
which,  professing  to  be  good  or  use- 
ful or  authoritative,  is  deemed  by 
them  to  be  wanting  in  these  qualities. 

To  Scorn  (It.  scomare,  to  break  off 
the  horns  of  an  aniTual;  when  used  re- 
flexively,  to  be  ashamed)  and  Disdain 
(Old  Fr.  desdaigneVf  Lat.  de-,dignari) 
are  used  in  stronger  senses  than  Con- 
temn and  Despise.  Yet  they  are  not 
used  toward  persons,  though  their 
•on jugate  nouns  are.  We  do  not  say, 
"  He  scorned  him,"  but  "  He  scorned 
his  eflbits  or  threats ;  "  nor  "  I  dis- 
dain you,"  but  "  I  disdain  your  acts, 
words,  insinuations,  character,"  and 
the  like.  Yet  we  should  say,  "  He 
was  treated  with  scorn, "  or,  "regarded 
with  disdain,"  Disdain  shows  itself 
m  supercilious  haughtiness  when  ex- 
hibited towards  persons,  and  may 
have  no  better  foundation  than  a  con- 
temptuous disposition.  To  disdain 
IS  to  feel  unworthy  of  one's  self.  We 
Bcom  the  coward.  We  are  too  apt  to 
despise  the  lowly  and  weak.  We 
disdain  the  presumptuous.  We  de- 
spise others  for  their  inti-insic  mean- 
ness. We  disdain  them  m  compari- 
son with  ourselves.  So  if  we  despise 
proffered  help,  it  is  because  we  think 
It  so  weak  as  not  to  be  worth  having. 
If  vre  disdain  it,  it  is  because  we 


SYJs^QTNYMS  [scorn] 

think  ourselves  too  strong  to  need  it. 
Contempt  implies  an  exercise  of 
judgment  on  the  character  or  capabi- 
lities of  another,  and  an  inference 
drawn  disparaging  to  them.  Hence 
C  ONT  empt  is  used  of  impersonal  th  ings, 
as  a  contempt  of  danger,  which  means 
a  low  estimate  of  its  nature  or  power 
to  intimidate.  There  is  a  further 
difference  betweenDisDAiNandScoRN. 
We  disdain  on  comparison  with  our- 
selves  personally.  We  scorn  what  is 
in  itself  contemptible  or  disgraceful. 
Alexander  disdained  to  share  the  Per- 
sian empire  with  Darius.  A  man  of 
honour  scorns  to  deceive  another. 
Scorn  is  energetic  contempt.  The 
moral  element  in  Contemn  is  apparent 
in  the  fact  that  one  can  contemn  one's 
superiors  in  authority,  we  can  only 
despise,  disdain,  or  scorn  those  who 
are  our  inferiors,  or  whom  we  take  to 
be  so. 

"  I  am,  ridiculonsly  enongh,  accused  to 
be  a  contemner  of  universities — that  is,  in 
other  words,  an  enemy  of  learning,  with- 
out the  foundation  of  which  I  am  sure 
no  man  can  pretend  tc  be  a  poet." — 
Dryden. 

'  It  was  this  that  raised  his  spirits  and 
made  him  (Job)  stand  his  ground  against 
the  opposition  of  his  friends  and  the  scorn 
of  his  enemies," — Stillingfleet. 

"  For  he  (Pyrrhus)  was  a  man  that 
could  tell  how  to  humble  himself  towards 
the  great,  by  whom  he  might  win  benefit, 
and  know  also  how  to  creep  into  their 
credit ;  and  in  like  manner  was  he  a  great 
scorner  and  despiser  of  such  as  were  his  in- 
feriors."— North,  Plutarch. 
"  Let  not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil. 
Their  homely  joys  and  destiny  obscure  ; 
Nor    grandeur    hear  with    a    disdainful 

smile 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 
Gray. 

It  may  be  observed  that  Disdain,  un- 
like Scorn  or  Contempt,  may  be  in 
some  cases  a  virtue,  as  where  a  man 
disdains  to  take  an  unfair  advantage 
of  another. 

Spurn,  consonant  to  its  etymology 
(A.  S.  spurnan,  allied  to  spor^  a  hed)y 
implies  »uch  contempt  as  shows  itself 
in  the  repulse  of  the  object.  He  who 
is  spurned  feels  himself  not  only  de- 
spised, but  thrust  away. 
"  The  rule  of  knighthood  I  disdain  and 
apnrn."  Shakkspkake. 


[sedate] 


SCREAM.     Shriek. 

A  Scream  (It.  scramare,  escluinare. 
to  cry  out)  is  a  cry,  shrill,  sharp,  and 
sudden,  as  in  fright  or  pain ;  and  a 
Shriek  (compare  screech  and  similar 
imitative  words)  might  be  defined 
nearly  in  the  same  way ;  but  scream- 
ing may  be  voluntary  or  involuntary. 
Sbriekiixg  is  only  involuntary.  We 
do  not  shriek,  except  when  suddenly 
overborne ;  but  we  sometimes  scream 
with  the  object  of  being  heard  at  a 
distance.  Shriek  is  more  forcible 
than  scream.  The  ill-tempered  child 
screams  with  disappointment.  A 
Bhriek  of  horror  may  rise  at  the  sight 
of  a  sudden  and  disastrous  accident. 

SCURRILOUS.     Abusive. 

Scurrility  (Lat.  scurrititatem^ 
scurraj  a  buffoon)  is  low  and  virulent 
Abuse  (Lat.  Hbutiy  to  misuse,  part. 
Ubiisus),  but  without  the  sustained 
earnestness  of  abuse.  It  depends 
upon  taunts  and  contemptuous  ridi- 
cule, rather  than  upon  anything  else. 
There  is  an  argumentative  consis- 
tency about  abuse,  whether  it  be 
merited  or  unmerited ;  while  scurrility 
will  condescend  to  mean,  vile,  or  ob- 
scene vituperation.  The  angry,  re- 
sentful man  may  be  abusive;  the 
coarse-minded  man  is  scurrilous. 
Abuse  is  virulent  condemnation. 
Scarrility  is  virulent  derision. 

'•The  absurd  and  scurrilous  sermon 
which  had  very  unwisely  been  honoared 
with  impeachment." — MACAULA.Y. 

"  Barbarous  abusiveness."—Mii,TOV. 

SECRECY.     Concealment. 

Concealment  (Lat.  concelare,  to 
hide)  may  be  employed  to  express 
the  act  as  well  as  the  state  of  conceal- 
ing ;  while  Secrecy  (Lat.  sicretus, 
part,  of  stcernh-e,  to  set  apart)  ex- 
presses the  state  or  quality  alone. 
Secrecy  involves  limited  knowledge ; 
while  concealment  is  consistent  with 
total  ignorance  of  the  existence  of  a 
thing.  There  cannot  be  secrecy  with- 
out concealment ;  but  there  may  be 
concealment  without  secrecy.  Con- 
cealment is  oftener  against  others ; 
secrecy,  for  the  sake  of  ourselves. 
Thq  commission  of  a  crime  is  com- 
monly   both    secret   and    concealed. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


677 


Secret,  in  being  kept  to  himself  bv 
the  author ;  concealed,  as  being  hid- 
den from  the  knowledge  of  others. 
Secrecy  is  purposed  concealment. 

"  When  King  John  of  France,  in  order 
to  pay  his  debts,  adulterated  his  coin,  all 
the   officers  of  his  mint  were   sworn    to 
secrecy." — Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 
"  Some    to    the  rude   protection    «f   the 

thorn 
Commit  their  feeble  offspring ;   the   cleft 

tree 
Offers  its  kind  concealment  to  a  few. 
Their  food  its  insects,  and  its  moss  their 

nest."  Thomson. 

SECRET.     Clandestine. 

Clandestine  (clandestviusy  eori' 
cealed ;  claniy  secretly)  is  less  wide,  but 
more  distinctive  in  meaning  than 
Secret  (see  above).  Clandestine  ap- 
plies only  to  matters  of  human  ac- 
tion ;  while  Secret maj  be  employed 
of  anything  unknown.  The  idea  of 
the  clandestine  carries  with  it  that  of 
a  purposed  and  unlawtiil  secrecy. 
When  Johnson  uses  the  term  clan- 
destine in  the  following  unusual  way, 
"  I  went  to  this  clandestine  lodging, 
and  found,  to  my  amazement,  all  the 
ornaments  of  a  fine  gentleman,"  there 
is  still  involved  the  idea  of  continued 
secrecy  in  keeping  up  a  clandestine 
mode  of  life. 

"An  Englishman  will  do  yon  a  piece  of 
service  secretly,  and  be  distressed  with  the 
expressions  of  your  gratitude." — Kkox, 
Essays. 

"  But  it  will  be  urged  still  that  civil 
Rf5semblies  are  open  and  free  for  any  one 
to  enter  into,  whereas  religious  conven- 
ticles are  more  private,  and  thereby  give 
opportunity  to  clandestine  machinations,"— 
LOCKK. 

SEDATE.     Composed. 

Composed  (Fr.  composer,  to  compose,  to 
make  up)  relates  to  a  specific  state  on  a 
specific  occasion;  Sedate  (Lat.scddfMS, 
part,  of  seddre,  toaUaif),  to  an  habitual 
temper  and  demeanour.  Composed  de- 
notes tranquillity,  in  opposition  to  any 
excitement  of  feeling,   as  alarm   or 
anger.     Sedate  denotes  quietness,  as 
opposed  to  levity  or  any  extravaganot; 
of  conduct  or  appearance. 
"  Go  1  fair  example  of  untainted  youth. 
Of  modest  wisdom  and  pacific  truth  ; 
Composea  m  sufferings,  and  in  joy  sedate. 
Good  without  noise,   without   preteusioD 
great."  Popk. 


678 


SEDUCE.     Suborn.    Coruupt. 

Literally,  to  Seduce (Lat.  scdmhe) 
is  to  draw  off  or  aside. 

To  Suborn  (Lat.  siiborrmre)  is  to 
prepare  or  dispose  in  an  underhanded 
way,  and  to  Corrupt  (Lat.  cprrum- 
p^re,  part,  corruptiis)  is  to  break  up 
the  component  particles  of  a  body. 
The  two  former  are  employed  of  per- 
sons only,  the  last  of  certain  things, 
as  principles,  minds,  purity,  integiity. 
To  lead  from  the  path  of  purity  and 
right  by  specious  representations  or 
misrepresentations  is  the  idea  of  Se- 
duce. To  induce  him  to  do  wrong  by 
exciting  his  self-interest  is  that  of 
Suborn.  To  instil  vice,  to  infect  with 
bad  sentiments  or  principles  by  any 
means  whatever  is  that  of  Corrupt. 
We  seduce  the  innocent,  the  ignorant, 
the  simple,  by  appearances,  by  attrac- 
tive externals,  by  illusions,  tricks, 
imposition.  We  suborn  the  cowardly, 
the  weak,  the  unprincipled,  women, 
witnesses,  servants,  judges,  preju- 
diced pei'sons,  or  those  with  peculiar 
failings,  by  flatteries,  promises, 
threats,  and  that  which  touches  their 
interest.  We  corrupt  what  is  pure, 
sound,  good,  virtuous,  wholesome, 
innocent,  but  accessible  to  evil  influ- 
ences and  capable  of  perversion,  by 
the  force  of  contagion.  The  seduced 
is  the  dupe  or  victim  of  the  seducer. 
The  suborned  lends  himself  volun- 
tarily to  the  process.  The  corrupted 
is  the  prey  or  spoil  of  the  corrupter. 
The  first  falls  into  a  snare.  The 
second  yields  to  a  temptation.  The 
third  succumbs  to  an  influence. 

SEEK.     Search. 

Both  these  terms  are  employed  to 
express  the  looking  after  something 
not  Jn  sight.  Grammatically,  Seek 
(A.  S.  itcun)  is  employed  directly  of 
tne  object  sought;  while  Search  (Fr. 
chercher)  is  applied  directly  to  the 
place  in  which  it  is  expected  to  be 
found.  We  seek  a  thing,  and  search 
for  it.  To  search  is  to  seek  specula- 
tively, widely,  and  laboriously.  We 
are  said  to  seek  eagerly,  to  search 
carefully. 

"  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  yon ;  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
•peued  uuto  yon." — Ehiglish  Biblt, 


SYNONYMS  [seduce] 

•'  Search  the  Scriptures,  for  in  them  y« 
think  ye  have  eternal  life." — Ibid. 

SEEM.    Appear. 

Seem  (A.  S.  seman,  to  seem,  appear) 
is  a  term  of  which  the  meaning  rises 
upon  that  of  Appear  (Lat.  apparire). 
An  object  appears  when  it  becomes 
simply  visible  to  the  eye  or  recog- 
nizable to  the  mind.  It  seems  when 
it  is  referred  to  something  beyond 
itself  either  in  the  mind  or  outside  it ; 
as,  "  such  a  proposal  seems  fair."  Ap- 
pear expresses  more  directly  the  phe- 
nomena or  facts  as  they  are  presented 
to  us ;  Seem,  the  impression  of  like- 
ness or  probability  which  we  derive 
from  them.  So  the  probability  of  a 
fact  is  expressed  more  naturally  by 
Appear  ;  the  probability  of  an  infe- 
rence, by  Seem.  "  From  the  state  of 
the  ground,  it  appears  that  it  rained 
last  night."  "  From  the  look  of  the 
clouds,  it  seems  likely  that  we  shall 
have  rain  before  long."  It  seems 
probable.  It  appeal's  certain.  A 
seeming  likelihood.  An  apparent 
truism.  Apparent  sometimes  means 
obvious  ;  but  Seeming  never  means 
certain,  but  always  uncertain.  To 
seem  is  to  appear  m  such  a  way,  that 
is  to  appear  as  possessing  certain 
qualities  or  a  certain  character.  An 
object  may  be  said  to  seem  or  to  ap- 
pear fine,  good,  pleasant.  It  seems 
such  by  its  conformity  to  goodness, 
beauty,  plea  santness .  1 1  appears  such 
by  the  impression  produced  upon 
yourself.  In  the  one  case  one  com- 
pares objects,  in  the  other  perceptions. 
That  which  appears  good  lias  the  air 
of  being  so,  that  which  seems  good  is 
like  something  else  that  is  good.  Re- 
semblance is  correlative  to  difference, 
appearance  to  reality.  A  work  of  art 
seems  well  executed  on  examination, 
it  appears  so  perhaps  at  a  superficial 
glance.  *'  It  appears  to  me,"  indicates 
a  lighter  persuasion  of  the  fact  than 
"  it  seems  to  me."  After  reflexion,  do 
that  which  seems  right,  not  merely 
that  which  appears  right. 

SELF-WILL.  Self-conceit. 
Self-sufficiency. 

The  Self-willed  person  is  go- 
verned by  his  own  will,  and  does^ot 
yield  to  the  will  or  wishes  of  others,  is 


SENSIBLE] 


unaccommodating,  uncompliant.  The 
Self-conceited  person  has  a  high 
and  over-weening  opinion  of  his  own 
powers  or  endowments.  The  Self- 
sufficient  person  has  the  same 
opinion  of  his  own  strength  or  abili- 
ties; hence  he  despises  the  assistance 
as  well  as  the  suggestions  of  others. 
Self-will  is  in  determination  and  pur- 
pose ;  self-conceit,  in  personal  judg- 
ment and  estimation ;  self-sufficiency, 
in  opinion  and  action.  The  self-willed 
cai'es  nothing  for  differences  of  right 
and  wrong,  true  and  false,  where  his 
mind  is  bent  upon  action ;  the  self- 
conceited  is  much  concerned  about 
these  things,  but  admits  no  criterion 
but  his  own  notions. 

SENSIBILITY.     Tenderness. 

Sensibility  (Lat.  sen^b^iCitaiem),  as 
it  is  a  moral  quality,  means  suscepti- 
bility of  feeling. 

Tenderness  (Fr.  tendre,  Lat.  Ihter) 
i%  an  analogous  term,  expressing  that 
quality  which  is  the  opposite  to  hard- 
ness of  heart.  The  impressions  or 
affections  entertained  by  the  person  of 
sensibility  and  the  person  of  tender- 
ness are  such  as  are  favourable  to 
otliers  with  whom  they  have  to  deal. 
Sensibility  is  a  natural  disposition  to 
be  affected  by  whatever  interests  hu- 
manity, and  to  interest  itself  with  such 
things.  Tenderness  is  a  quality  which 
imposes  affectionate  feelings  in  a 
touching  degree.  Sensibility  is  ex- 
cited. Tenderness  excites  us.  A  heart 
of  sensibility  is  easily  moved  and  won. 
A  heart  of  tenderness  attaches  itself. 
The  foi-mer  is  comparatively  dormant 
until  aroused  into  action,  the  other  is 
spontaneously  active.  The  one  is  like 
sparks  of  electricity,  the  other  a  sweet, 
pure,  and  steady  burning  flame.  Sen- 
sibility disposes  to  tenderness.  Ten- 
derness exalts  sensibility.  The  man 
of  sensibility  is  ever  open  to  pity, 
clemency,  mercy,  gratitude,  and  the 
feelings  generally  which  prompt  us 
to  wish  well  and  do  well  to  others. 
The  man  of  tenderness  has  within  him 
the  germs  of  the  most  active  affections, 
love,  friendship,  benevolence,  charity 
— those  feelings  which  make  us  exist 
for  others  and  in  others.  Sensibility 
compassionates,  tenderness  consoles 


DISCRIMINATED. 


679 


and  relieves.  Sensibility  makes  sacri- 
fices ;  tenderness  loves  to  make  them, 
and  realizes  the  divine  saying,  "  It  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
There  is  a  sensibility  which  is  cowar- 
dice, which  shuns  through  weakness 
of  mind  the  sight  of  suffering.  There 
is  also  an  excessive  tenderness  which 
cannot  deny  or  resist,  and  is  therefore 
at  the  mercy  or  tie  abuse  of  others. 
This  id  but  a  blina  &i»vl  barren  pas- 
sion. 

SENSIBLE.  Sensitive.  Sen- 
tient. 

All  these  terms  are  derived  from 
the  same  source,  the  Lat.  senttre,  to 
feel.  Sensible  expresses  either  a 
habit  of  the  body  or  mind,  or  only 
a  state  relating  to  a  particular  object, 
as  a  person  may  be  sensible  of  cold, 
injury,  kindness.  Sensitive  ex- 
presses a  permanent  or  habitual  con- 
dition, in  which  the  sense  or  feeling 
is  quickly  acted  upon,  bein^  naturally 
keenly  alive  to  external  influences. 
Sentient  expresses  a  character  oi 
nature,  the  possession  of  the  power  or 
faculty  of  feeling,  and  of  reflecting 
upon  the  feeling,  as,  "  angels  or  men 
are  sentient  beings."  It  is  the  fact 
that  beings  are  of  a  sentient  nature 
which  qualifies  them  for  being  sen- 
sible of  certain  impressions  in  particu- 
lar. Sensitive  denotes  a  very  ener- 
getic, and  at  the  same  time  a  very  re- 
stricted, property.  There  is  a  plant 
called  "  tne  sensitive  plant,"  which  is 
neither  sentient  nor  sensible.  Sf.nsi- 
tive  and  Sentient  are  always  active. 
Sensible  is  both  active  and  passive, 
in  the  sense  of  recognizing  and  recog- 
nized by  the  feelings.  When  Sensible 
is  employed  in  the  sense  of  wise  or 
pruder.t,  it  denotes  the  exercise  ac- 
tively oi  sense,  in  its  meaning  of  men- 
tal perception  or  understanding.  The 
two  uses  of  Sensible  are  illustrated  in 
the  two  following  quotations : — 

*'  Our  senses,  conversant  about  partiealar 
sensible  objects,  do  convey  into  the  mind 
several  distinK.t  perceptions  of  things,  ac- 
cording to  those  various  ways  wherein 
those  objects  do  affect  them,  and  thus  we 
come  by  those  ideas  we  have  of  yellow, 
white,  heat,  cold,  soft,  hard,  bitter,  sweet, 
and  all  those  which  we  call  sensible  qnaJ^ 
ties." — LoCK£ 


680 


"For,  as  in  the  ccllation  it  is  not  the  gold 
or  the  silver,  the  fi>od  cr  the  apparel,  in 
which  the  benefit  consists,  but  the  %Yill  and 
benevolent  intention  of  him  who  bestows 
them  ;  so  reciprocally  it  is  the  good  accep- 
tance, the  sensibleness  of  and  acquiescence 
in  the  benefactor's  goodness  that  constitutes 
the  gratitude." — Barrow. 

"This  spiritual  sword  of  God's  awful 
word  penetrates  the  inmost  recesses  of  the 
human  mind,  pierces  to  the  very  line  of 
separation,  as  it  were,  of  the  sejisitive  and 
the  intelligent  principle."— Bishop  Hors- 
LEY. 

"  From  hence  we  may  gather  that  the 
pro\  idence  of  God  is  over  all  His  works,  and 
that  in  the  formation  of  sentient  as  well  as 
unsentient  natures.  He  had  in  view  that 
series  of  changes  and  events  they  would 
produce,  and  ordered  His  whole  multitude 
of  second  causes  so  as  to  execute  that  plan 
of  providence  He  had  in  His  intention." — 
Search,  Light  of  Nature. 

SENTIMENTAL.     Romantic. 

The  Sentimental  person  is  one  of 
wi-ong  or  excessive  sensibility',  or  who 
imports  mere  sentiment  into  mattera 
worthy  of  more  vigorous  thought. 

The  Romantic  (Old  Fr.  romance, 
Roman,  or  Romant,  originally  the 
growing  French  language,  tlie  "  riu<- 
tic  Latin,"  opposed  to  the  "  Latin 
tongue;"  hence  applied  to  composi- 
tions in  the  vulgar  tongue  ;  see  Bra- 
ciiET,  8.V.  Roman)  creates  ideal  scenes 
and  objects  by  the  extravagant  exer- 
cise of  the  imagination.  The  senti- 
mental character  is  soft  and  sickly; 
the  romantic  is  extravagant  and  wild. 

"  She  has  even  the  false  pity  and  senti- 
mentality of  many  modern  ladies." — War- 
TON,  English  Poetry. 

"  I  cannot  but  look  on  an  indifferency  of 
mind  as  to  the  good  or  evil  things  of  this 
life  as  a  mere  romantick  fancy  of  sach  who 
would  be  thought  to  be  much  wiser  than 
they  ever  were  or  could  be." — Stllling- 
FLEET. 

SEPARATE.  Detach.  Disjoin. 
Disconnect.  Divide.  Part.  Sever. 
Sunder. 

To  Sepakaip  (Lat.  sipitidre,  se- 
i.e.  apart,  and  parare,'  to  prepare)  is 
sm ployed  both  of  physical  and  mental 
objects.  We  may  separate  one  thing 
in  its  entirety  from  another  or  from 
other  things,  or  a  part  from  the  whole 
;o  which  it  belong!.  The  leading  idea 
iff  StPAnATiON  is  the  establishing  an 
{Qterval  of  distance  between  objects, 


SYNONYMS  ^^ENTIMKNTAL] 


or  the  reversing  of  contiguity,  whethei 
that  contiguity  be  by  natural  adhe- 
sion, or  by  artificial  or  casual  colloca- 
tion ;  permanent  inter-removal  is  the 
object  or  result  of  separation.  The 
interval  of  space  may  be  great  or 
small. 

To  Detach  (Fr.  detacher,  to  un- 
fa&ten)  is  to  undo  a  link  or  fastening 
which  kept  any  two  things  connected. 
It  is  a  word  of  physical,  not  mental 
or  moral,  import,  generally. 

To  Disjoin  (Lat.  disjungtre,  Fr. 
joindre,  to  join)  is  the  opposite  of  to 
join,  and  therefore  expresses  the  re- 
versal of  an  union  which  is  the  effect 
of  design. 

Disconnect  (Lat.  dis-  and  conncc- 
tere,  con-,  together,  and  necttre,  to  knit) 
is  a  more  complex  word  than  Disjoin, 
as  connect  is  more  complex  than  join, 
and  expresses  any  kind  or  degree  of 
junction,  union,  coherence,  or  even 
relationship,  which  is  metaphysical 
junction.  To  disconnect  is  to  part 
things  which  are  commonly  asso- 
ciated. We  disconnect  in  order  to 
neutralize  common  or  reciprocal  ac- 
tion, force,  or  relationship. 

Divide  (Lat.  dxvidere)  is  applicable 
only  to  the  whole  and  entire  object, 
Avhich  is  intrinsically  separated  into 
two  or  more  parts.  Yet  it  is  to  be 
observed  that,  even  in  physical  ob- 
jects, it  is  not  necessary  that  the 
thing  divided  should  have  actually 
ever  been  one,  only  it  would  be  one 
but  for  the  division.  In  this  way  a 
wall  may  be  said  to  divide  two  houses. 

Part  (Lat. parifn,  and  re-,  to  share) 
is  very  nearly  identical.  We  part  in 
order  to  neutralize  union  ;  but,  as  wa 
separate  what  was  contiguous,  so  we 
part  what  was  whole.  Part  is  oftec 
used  of  such  division  as  involves  a  se- 
paration of  parts  without  destroying 
the  unity  of  the  whole,  as  to  part  th? 
hair  on  the  forehead.  A  current  Krty 
be  parted  by  a  rock.  Soiretimes  it 
means  to  distribute  portions  of  a  thing. 
We  divide  what  was  one.  We  detach 
what  was  fastened.  We  disconnect 
what  was  associated. 

We  SuNDKR  (A.S.  sunder,  separate 
what  was  oomprebanued. 


[severe] 


We  Sever  (Old  Fr.  sevrer,  to  sepa- 
rate) or  disserer  (which  seems  only  a 
redundancy)  what  requires  some  ef- 
fort to  part.  This  comes  from  the  fact 
that  Sever  is  employed  of  things  which 
are  united  in  physical  growth  and  or- 
f^anization  or  some  natural  union. 
BothSfiVER  and  Sunder  commonly  in- 
volve the  inferiority  of  what  is  severed 
oj'  sundered  to  that  from  which  it  is 
taken.  Sever  seems  to  lend  itself 
more  readily  to  expressing  repeated 
acts  of  disconnexion,  as  to  sever  limb 
from  limbjwhere  we  should  hardly  use 
Sunder.  To  Divide  and  to  Separate 
need  especially  to  be  distinguished. 
To  divide  is  to  cut  or  resolve  into 
parts.     To  separate  is  to  place  those 

Earts  at  a  distance  from  each  other. 
Ibjects  may  be  divided,  yet  near. 
When  separated  they  are  mutually 
removed.  The  object  of  division  is  to 
presei-ve  unity  under  certain  condi- 
tions; of  separation,  to  dissolve  unity 
altogether.  Society  is  divided  into 
classes.  The  hermit  is  separated  from 
society.  Division  usually  follows 
some  principle  of  nature  or  arrange- 
ment. Separations  are  often  unnatu.- 
ral,  violent,  or  unavoidable.  Every 
separation  involves  a  division ;  but 
there  is  many  a  division  without  se- 
paration. 

"The  Latin  word  (coloiiia)  signifies 
simply  a  plantation.  The  Greek  word 
eer»)da,  on  the  conti"a.ry,  signifies  a  separa- 
tion of  dwelling,  a  departure  from  home,  a 
going  out  of  the  house." — Smith,  Wealth 
of  A'ations. 

"  They  are,  in  short,  instruments  m  the 
hands  of  our  Maker  to  improve  our  minds, 
to  rectify  our  failings,  to  detach  us  from 
the  present  scene,  to  fix  our  affections  on 
things  above/' — PoRTEUS. 

"  The  Athenian  Sophists  taught  it  (logic) 
in  conjunction  with  rhetoric  and  philoso- 
phy; but  Aristotle  brought  it  to  perfec- 
tion, and  seems  to  have  been  the  fii-st  who 
professedly  disjoined  it  from  other  arts  and 
•cicnces."— Beattie. 

"  The  Episcopal  Church  of  England,  be- 
fore the  Reformation  connected  with  the 
See  of  Rome,  since  then  disconnected,  and 
protesting  against  some  of  her  doctrines, 
and  against  the  whole  of  her  authority  as 
binding  on  our  National  Church." — BuRKE. 

"Capsar  had  made  a  law  for  the  dividing 
of  the  lands  of  the  Campania  unto  the  sol- 
diers."—No  RTH,  Plutarch. 

"  But,  indeed,  the  chief  parter  of  the 
fray  was  night."— SiDMiv,  Arcadia. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


681 


"  The  angels  shall  come  forth,  and  sener 
the  wicked  from  among  the  just." — £>i^- 
lijh  Bible. 

"He  cutteth  the  spear  in  sunder.'^— 
English  Psalms. 

SERIES.  Sequence.  Succes- 
sion. 

Series  (Lat.  sh-ies,  a  row,  a  succes- 
sion) denotes  a  number  of  individuals 
or  units  standing  in  order  or  follow- 
ing in  succession. 

Sequence  ( Lat.  seqnentia,  a  follow- 
ing) denotes  of  necessity  a  moving 
series  or  the  quality  of  it,  in  which 
that  which  follows  does  so  by  vii-tue 
of  that  which  went  before.  Sequence 
is  succession  by  a  regular  force  or 
law. 

Succession  (Lat.  sxiccessiouemf  a 
succeeding)  may  be  with  or  without 
interconnexion.  Succession  to  the 
throne  is  accordino;  to  rule  or  law. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  succession  oi 
misfortunes  may  be  without  such 
common  rule  or  cause,  but  casual. 
Series  implies  of  necessity  a  number 
more  than  two.  Sequence  and  Suc- 
cession may  denote  no  more  than  one 
thing  following  upon  another.  Se- 
quence involves  a  principle,  succes- 
sion only  states  a  fact.  A  succession 
of  notes  might  be  struck  on  a  musical 
instrument  with  no  regard  to  time, 
interval,  or  melody;  the  diatonic 
scale  is  a  sequence  of  eight  notes. 

"  Snch  divine  fatalists  make  fa'-.e  to  be 
an  implexed  series  or  concatenation  ol 
causes,  all  in  themselves  necessary,  where- 
of Gwl  is  the  chief— CuDWORTH. 

"  Tell  my  friends. 
Tell  Athens,  in  the  sequence  of  degree. 
From  high  to  low  throughout." 

Shakespeare. 

"  Of  the  same  kind  is  the  Dutch  tax 
upon  successions.  Collateral  successions 
are  taxed  according  to  the  degree  of  rela- 
tions from  five  to  thirty  per  cent,  upon  the 
whole  value  fcf  the  succession." — Smith, 
Wealth  of  Nations. 

SEVERE.     Ajstere. 

One  is  Austere  (Lat.  uuslirm)  in 
one's  manner  of  life.  Severe  (Lat. 
scvLTus)  in  one's  manner  of  tliought. 
The  opposite  to  austerity  is  luxurious- 
ness,  the  mean  a  well  regulated  life. 
The  opposite  to  severity  is  over-in- 
dulgence, the  mean  a  just  recognitiou 


682 


SYNONYMS  [severity 


of  law.  One  is  austere  in  one  s  self, 
severe  either  to  one's  self  or  to  others. 
Men  have  been  known  of  the  most 
austere  virtue  who  have  leant  to  the 
side  of  benignity  rather  than  severity 
toward  others.  On  the  other  hand, 
more  frequently,  men  by  no  means 
austere  in  their  own  lives  have  visited 
the  faults  and  sins  of  others  with  im- 
placable severity.  Severity  comes 
rather  from  principle  and  character, 
austerity  from  habit.  One  may  ad- 
mire the  austere,  and  fear  the  severe 
man.     It  is  difficult  to  love  either. 

SEVERITY.     Rigour. 

Severity  (Lat.  scvirttatem)  relates 
more  to  the  way  of  thinking  and 
judging,  Rigour  (Fr.  riguetir,  Lat. 
rigorem)  to  the  manner  of  punishing. 
Severity  is  ready  to  condemn  and 
does  not  excuse.  Rigour  abates 
nothing  of  the  penalty,  and  does  not 
pardon.  We  speak  of  the  severity  of 
manners,  of  the  rigour  of  justice  and 
the  law. 

SHADE.    Shadow. 

Light  intercepted  produces  the 
effect  denoted  by  these  terms.  But 
Shade  (A.  S.  sceddan,  to  separate,  to 
shade)  denotes  no  more  than  the 
general  effect  of  comparative  dark- 
ness ;  while  Shadow  implies  a  limit 
or  foi-m  in  accordance  with  the  object 
intercepting.  The  shadow  of  a  tree 
has  an  outline  agreeing  with  the 
shape  of  the  tree  itself.  The  shade 
of  a  tree  is  that  variable  quantity  of 
ground  and  atmosphere  which  is 
screened  from  the  sun's  rays. 

"  The  means  by  which  the  painter  works, 
and  on  which  the  effect  of  his  picture  de- 
pends, are  light  and  shade,  warm  and  cold 
colours. " — Reynolds. 

"  They  say  that  in  the  town  Syene, 
which  is  above  Alexandria  fifty  stadia,  at 
noone  tide  in  the  middes  of  summer,  there 
is  no  shadow  at  all ;  and  for  farther  ex- 
periment thereof,  let  a  pit  besunke  in  the 
ground,  and  it  will  be  light  all  over  in 
every  corner  ;  whereby  it  appeareth  that 
the  sunne  then  is  just  and  directly  over  the 
place  as  the  very  zenith  thereof." — Hol- 
land, Pliny. 

SHAKE.      TuFMnTF.     Shudder. 
Quiver.     Quake. 
Shake  (A.  S.  tcacauy  to  shake)  mfty 


be  regarded  as  the  generic  term,  of 
which  the  others  are  modifications. 

To  Tremble  (Fr.  trembler,  Lat. 
tremulare)  is  said  both  of  persons  and 
things,  and  is  a  quick  vibratory  and 
involuntary  shaking,  as  in  persons 
from  cold  or  fear;  in  things  from 
weakness  or  jarring  forces. 

To  Shudder  (probably  imitative, 
compare  Low  Germ,  schuddern)  is 
only  applied  to  sentient  heinous,  as 
the  effect  of  fear,  hoiTor,  aversion,  or 
anticipation. 

Quiver  is  a  quick  vibration  of  the 
particles  of  a  body  resulting  from 
their  own  inherent  elasticity. 

To  Quake  (A.  S.  cwaeian)  is  to 
shake  from  want  of  compactness  or 
tenacity  in  the  material  affected ;  as, 
to  quake  with  fear  comes  fi*om  a  loss 
of  muscular  consistency  ;  the  quaking 
bog,  sand,  or  moss  wants  firmness 
and  solidity. 

'*  The  foundations  of  the  earth  shook,  and 
were  removed,  because  He  was  wroth." — 
English  Bible. 

"  Tremble,  thou  earth,  at  the  presence  of 
the  Lord."— Ibid. 

"  Who  see  dire  specti-es  through  the 
gloomy  air 

In  threatening  forms  advance,  and  shud- 
dering hear 

The  groan  of  wandering  ghosts  and  yellings 
of  despair."  Blackmore. 

"  With  that  at  him  a  quiv'ring  dart  he 

threw. 
With  so  fell  force  and  villanous  despite. 
That  thi-ongh  hia  habergeon  the  fork-head 

flew."  Spenser. 

"  Anon  she  'gan   perceive    the   house   to 

gua/ce. 
And  all  the  dores  to  rattle  round  about." 
Jbid. 

SHAKE.    Agitate.    Toss. 

Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  intran- 
sitive verb.  Shake  is  indefinite. 

Agitate  (Lat.  HgXtare),  frequenta- 
tive of  dgere,  to  drive)  is  to  shake  rela- 
tively, that  is,  to  a  normal  or  ordinary 
state  of  quietude;  as,  "the  sea  is 
agitated  by  a  storm." 

Toss  ("the  radical  image  is  pro- 
bably shown  in  Nor.  tossa,  to  strew  ;" 
Wedgwood)  differs  from  the  others 
in  implying  change  of  place  in  tlie 
thing  tossed,  which  is  either  once  or 


[short] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


683 


more  than  once  thrown  up  so  as  to 
fall  on  another  spot. 

'*  The  shake  that  is  given  to  one  part  of 
the  earth  by  the  firing  and  explosion  of 
Babterranean  exhalations." — Boyle. 
Agitate  is  used  of  the  mind,  in  its 
secondary  application  in  regard  to 
passions  and  emotions  ;  and  Shake,  of 
what  the  mind  entertains,  as,  for  in- 
stance, convictions,  beliefs,  and  the 
Uke. 

*'  Winds  firom  all  quarters  agitate  the  air. 
And  fit  the  limpid  element  for  nse. 
Else  noxious."  CowPEB. 

"  Fear  ye  not  Me  ?  saith  the  Lord ;  will 
je  not  tremble  at  My  presence,  which  have 
placed  the  sand  for  the  bound  of  the  sea  by 
a  perpetual  decree,  that  it  cannot  pass  it, 
and  though  the  waves  thereof  toss  them- 
selves, yet  can  they  not  prevail,  though 
they  roar,  yet  can  they  not  pass  over  it." — 
English  Bible. 

SHALLOW.    Superficial. 

The  Superficial  is  that  which  lies 
at  the  surface(Lat.  stlperficies,  surface), 
and  so  is  closely  related  in  sense  to 
Shallow  (compare  shoal,  and  shelf, 
A.S.  scylfe),  which  is  wanting  in 
depth.  The  terms  might,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  be  used  indiscrimi- 
nately, as  a  person  of  shallow  or  of 
superficial  understanding.  But  Shal- 
1.0W  is,  by  usage,  more  frequently  asso- 
ciVed  with  matters  of  understand- 
ing ;  Superficial,  with  matters  of  ob- 
servation. A  superficial  view.  A 
shallow  decision.  Shallow  is  always 
a  term  of  reproach ;  not  so  Super- 
ficial. A  superficial  consideration  of 
a  subject  may  be  all  that  time  and 
opportunities  permit.  A  shallow  con- 
sideration would  indicate  want  of  due 
investigation  or  capacity  in  the  in- 
vestigator. A  superficial  acquaintance 
with  a  subject  will  lead  to  a  shalloAV 
treatment  of  it. 

"  It  then  evidently  will  appear  that  up- 
right simpUcity  is  the  deepest  wisdom,  and 
perverse  craft  the  merest  shallotcness." — 
Barrow. 

"  These  things  are  never  to  be  under- 
stood without  much  more  than  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  especially 
the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament." — 
Bishop  IIorsley. 

SHIELD.     Buckler.     Target. 
Shield  i«  the  generic  term  (A.S. 
tevld)  being  a  broad  piece  of  defensive 


armour  carried  upon  the  arm,  of  no 
material  in  particular,  and  of  no  one 
shape. 

The  Buckler  (O.  Fr.  bocler,  Lat. 
bucfUa,  a  boss)  was  an  oblong  shield  of 
considerable  size  almost  covering  the 
body. 

Target  (Fr.  targe)  was  a  small 
shield,  and  being  small  approached 
the  round  form  or  was  actually  cir- 
cular. 

SHOCK.     Concussion. 

Shock  (Fr.  choc)  is  a  violent  and 
sudden  shake. 

Concussion  is  from  Lat.  concHtere, 
con-,  together^  and  qudtcre,  to  shake). 
A  concussion  is  the  violent  collision 
of  two  bodies  physically.  Shock  is 
used,  besides,  in  cases  where  tlie  re- 
sult is  not  physical,  but  mental ;  as,  a 
shock  of  the  nervous  system  ;  a  shock 
to  the  mind.  A  concussion  of  the 
brain. 

"  The  infidel  principles  which  have  been 
recently  diffused  with  uncommon  industry 
and  art,  have  an  immediate  tendency  to 
produce  in  a  reading  age  this  shocking  coe- 
mption."—Knox,  Essays. 

"  How  can  that  concussion  of  atoms  be 
capable  of  begetting  those  internal  and  vital 
affections,  that  self-consciousness,  and  those 
other  powers  and  energies  that  we  feel  in 
our  minds  ?"— Bentlky. 

SHORT.  Brief.  Concise.  Sue- 
ciNCT.     Summary. 

Short  (A.  S.  scort,  sceort ;  sciran,  to 
shear)  may  be  regarded  as  the  generic 
tenn  here,  of  which  the  others  re- 
present specific  forces.  Everything 
may  be  called  short  which  possesses 
relative  length  in  an  inferior  degree, 
whether  naturally  or  artificiallv,  being 
either  mentally  or  physically  mea- 
sured, if  applied  to  space  and  time. 

Brief  (Lat.  brcvis,  short)  is  em- 
ployed only  of  time  and  of  matters  of 
speech,  which  have  taken  compara 
lively  sftort  time  to  utter. 

Concise  (Lat.  concldere, pArt.  conct 
sus,  to  cut  ih.trt)  and  Succinct  (Lat. 
Siiccinctus,  girt  up,  contracted,  part,  of 
succingcre)  are  employed,  not  of  mere 
matter  as  such;  both  terms  signify 
brevity  and  comprehensiveness  com- 
bined; but  we  speak  of  a  concise 
phrase  or  style,  a  succinct  narrative  or 


684 


SYNONYMS  [show] 


account.  Conciseness  indicates  the 
master  of  language,  who  can  produce, 
like  the  bold  style  in  painting,  effect 
with  the  least  expenditure  of  words. 
Succinctness  indicates  the  man  of 
judgment  and  quick  discrimination, 
who  can  select  from  a  quantity  of 
material  that  which  is  most  impor- 
tant and  characteristic  for  purposes  of 
relation. 

Summary  ( Lat.  sum/narmm,  a  sum- 
mnry,  epitome)  is  a  term  applicable  to 
both  speaking  and  acting.  It  often 
gains  time  at  the  loss  of  fulness  and 
correctness,  indicating  mental  activity 
and  practical  decision,  and  sometimes 
unscrupulousness.  Where  it  belongs 
to  exposition  in  words,  it  denotes 
that  brevity  which  comes  from  touch- 
ing only  main  topics  and  not  details. 

*'  After  short  silence  then 
And  summons  read,   the    great  consult 
began."  Milton. 

"  1  shall  content  myself  to  show  very 
briejly  how  a  religious  and  virtuous  life  doth 
conduce  to  our  future  happiness." — Tillot 
SON. 

"  He  expresses  himself  so  concisely,  em- 
ploys words  so  sparingly,  that  whoerei  will 
possess  his  ideas  must  dig  for  them,  and 
oftentimes  pretty  far  below  the  surface." — 
Richardson,  Life  of  Milton. 
*'A  tale  should  be  judicious,  clear,  succinct. 
The  language  plain,  and  incidents  well- 
link'd."  COWPER. 

"  Now,  for  this  present  I  will  breefely 
and  summarily  touch  those  principall  points 
which  are  confessed  and  agreed  upon  as 
touching  the  said  eclipses." —  HOLLAND, 
Pliny. 

SHOW.  ExiiiBiTioy.  Repre- 
sentation. Sight.  Spectacle.  Pa- 
geant.    Scene. 

Show  is  here  tne  most  general  and 
comprehensive  term  (A.  S.  scawiany 
scedwian,  to  look,  see,  view).  A  show 
is  commonly  something  set  forth  to 
be  seen  of  a  more  or  less  aggregate 
or  complex  character  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  others.  We  do  not  speak  of 
the  exhibition  of  a  single  object,  how- 
ever curious,  as  a  show.  Like  most 
simple  terms,  it  has  its  vulgar  side.  A 
sliow  appeals  to  the  eye  as  a  matter  of 
curiosity  or  imposing  effect,  rather 
than  to  the  taste.  A  show  does  not 
absolutely,  involve  design  ;  as  a  fine 
bIiow  of  blossom  on  fruit-trees. 


Exhibition  (Lat.  exhWitionem,  a 
handing  out,  a  delivering),  especially 
since  the  establishment  of  national, 
local,  or  international  exhibitions,  de- 
notes a  show  of  works  eminent  as 
works  of  art  or  industry.  In  the  case 
of  natural  objects,  they  are  shown  or 
exhibited,  according  as  we  contem- 
plate their  natural  beauty  or  attrac- 
tiveness, or  the  skill  which  has  pro- 
duced, and  the  taste  which  has  col- 
lected them.  So  we  speak  sometimes 
of  a  flower-show,  sometimes  of  a  hor- 
ticultural exhibition.  An  exhibition 
always  involves  design.  It  is  a  pre- 
concerted show. 

Representation  (Lat.  reprccsentarty 
to  manifest^  to  represent,  in  art)  is  the 
exhibiting  or,  as  it  were,  recalling 
and  reproducing  an  object  by  art,  ana 
may  be  of  one  or  more  than  one  such 
object  at  a  time ;  as,  the  representation 
of  a  beast  or  bird  on  canvas ;  a  thea- 
trical representation  of  an  historic 
scene. 

A  Sight  (A.  S.  gesiht,  sight,  view) 
is  a  term  expressing  not  the  effort 
which  produces  the  object  contem- 
plated or  exhibited,  but  the  interest  of 
the  object  itself;  hence  a  sight  exhi- 
bits itself,  and  maybe,  and  commonly 
is,  natural,  not  artificial  and  casual. 
It  may  be  of  a  single  object,  or  of 
many. 

Spectacle  (Lat.  spectdculum,  spec- 
tare,  to  look  at)  is  a  sight  preconcerted 
for  public  view,  and  full  of  interest  in 
its  details,  and  striking  in  its  arrange- 
ments, being  of  a  complex  character, 
connected  with  the  social  life  of  man 

•'  Tnere  is  nothing  which  lies  more  within 
the  province  of  a  spectator  than  public 
shows  and  diversions,  and  as  among  these, 
there  are  none  which  can  pretend  to  vie 
with  those  elegant  entertainments  that  are 
exhibited  in  our  theatres," — Spectator. 

"  If  we  consider  what  Numa  ordained 
concerning  images  and  the  representation 
of  the  gods,  it  is  altogether  agreeable  unto 
the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras,  who  thought 
that  God  was  neither  sensible  nor  mortal, 
but  invisible,  incorruptible,  and  only  intel- 
igible."— North,  Plu  tarch. 

"Moses  said,  I  will  now  tarn  aside  and 
see  this  great  sight,  why  the  btish  is  not 
burned."— ^n^riisA  Bible. 

The  spectacle,  being  closely  allied  to 
human  life  and  manners,  differs  froni 


[show] 


M«3CRIMINATKl). 


685 


the  rest  in  commonly  exciting  some 
Aentimeat  or  emotion,  as  of  hor- 
ror, pity,  approbation.  The  spec- 
tacle, therefore,  may  be  striking  and 
imposing,  or  quite  the  contrary,  so 
that  the  feeling  raised  in  the  mind 
may  be  out  of  proportion  to  what  is 
exhibited  or  displayed,  as  in  the  fol- 
lowing of  Cowper : — 

"The  paralytic,  who  can  hold  her  cards. 
Bat  cannot  play  them,  borrows  a  friend's 

hand 
To  deal  and  shuffle,  to  divide  and  sort 
Her  mingled  snits  and  seqaences,  and  sits 
Spectatress  both  and  spectacle,  a  sad 
And  silent  cipher,  while  her  proxy  plays." 
Pageant  (which  originally  meant 
a  scaffold  or  platj'orm,  something  put 
together  for  use  in  public  shows,  Lat. 
pangere,  to  make  fast)  is  an  imposing 
but  transient  spectacle.     Hence  it  is  a 
favourite  term  of  moralists  when  they 
contrast  what  is  powerful  and  splen- 
did in  human  life  with  its  short-lived 
duration. 

"  Thus  unlamented  pass  the  proud  away 

The  gaze  of  fools  and  pageant  of  a  day." 

-  Pope. 

Scene  (Lat.  scena,  Gr.  trxKvrij  a  tent, 
booth)  is  an  assemblage  of  objects  pre- 
sented to  the  eye  at  once,  having  in- 
ten-elation,  whether  in  inanimate  na- 
ture, or  composed  of  living  agents, 
anited  in  place,  time,  and  circum- 
stance of  action.  A  scene  impresses 
us  with  emotion  as  of  pleasure,  admi- 
ration, gloom,  horror,  and  does  not 
exist  apart  from  the  interest  excited 
by  it.  It  addresses  itself  to  our  feel- 
ings, as  a  spectacle  to  our  observation 
and  taste. 

"  Probably  no  lover  of  scenes  would  have 
had  very  long  to  wait  for  •ome  explosion  be- 
tween parties  both  equally  ready  to  take 
offence  and  careless  of  giving  it." — Da 
QUINCY. 

SHOW.  Exhibit.  Display.  De- 
monstrate. Indicate.  Evince. 
Argue.     Manifest. 

Show,  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
noun,  must  be  taken  as  the  generic 
term,  of  which  the  rest  are  specific 
forms.  It  is  indefinite,  and  means  no 
more  than  to  bring  to  view. 

Exhibit  (see  above)  commonly  de- 
notes to  show  in  oi'der  to  attract  notice 
to  what  is  rare  or  interesting,  with 


more  or  less  of  publicity ;  while  show 
may  be  public  or  private  to  one  or  to 
many,  and  may  be  even  indirect  and 
undesigned.  That  which  is  shown  is 
commonly  remarkable  as  a  whole,  so 
that  it  is  8ufl5cient  to  take  a  general 
view  of  it.  That  which  is  exnibited 
is  commonly  remarkable  in  detail  and 
challenges  examination  and  inspec- 
tion. 

Display  (OM  Fr.  desploier,  Lat. 
dis-,  abroad,  aud  plicare,  to  fold)  is  to 
exhibit  from  personal  desire  that  the 
object  should  be  seen  as  extensively 
as  possible,  and  with  such  publicity 
as  redounds  to  the  honour  or  impor- 
tance of  the  person  exhibiting.  We 
exhibit  in  public.  We  display  for 
the  sake  of  publicity.  It  is  to  spread 
out  in  exhibition. 

To  Demonstrate  (Lat.  dimon- 
strart)  is  to  show  as  the  result  of 
argument  or  scientific  experiment. 
Demonstration  is  planned  or  pur- 
posed showing,  through  media  specifi- 
cally chosen  or  adapted  to  the  purpose. 
It  is  to  give  clear  or  ocular  proof. 

Indicate  (Lat.  indicare)  differs 
from  demonstrate  in  being  wanting  in 
such  plan  and  purpose  ;  the  indica- 
tion being  in  the  inherent  nature  or 
force  of  the  thing  itself.  Indica- 
tion involves  a  conscious  power  of 
judgment  and  interpretation  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  object,  which  only 
has  a  power  of  indication  if  reflexion, 
comparison,  and  experience  are  pre- 
sent in  the  observer.  Indication, 
unlike  the  preceding,  is  indirect  and 
uncertain.  There  can  be  no  degree  or 
question  in  demonstration  which  is 
absolute,  while  indication  is  relative 
and  may  be  in  some  cases  easily  Ttiis- 
interpie  ted .  The  proper  idea  of  indi- 
cation is  the  giving  certain  informa- 
tion or  throwing  certain  light  on  an 
object  of  which  one  is  ignorant  or  in 
search,  so  as  to  direct  our  eyes,  our 
steps,  our  attention,  to  see,  observe, 
or  find  it.  The  index  of  a  book  indi- 
cates the  divisions,  and  the  place  of 
the  subject  sought.  The  finger  indi- 
cates the  distant  object  which  one  de- 
sires to  point  out. 

Evince  (Lat.  emiicere.  f«  prevail 
entirely)    is    to     show    oy    particu- 


686 

lar  and  convincing  proof.  It  had 
originally  the  sense  of  conquer  or  sub- 
due in  argument,  a  sense  which  is 
now  obsolete.  As  Milton — 
"  Error  by  his  own  arms  is  best  evinced." 
It  is  most  correctly  employed  when  it 
is  refen-ed  to  some  conclusion,  either 
true,  or  maintained  to  be  true;  as  to 
evince  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  a 
statement.  There  is  a  loose  sense,  in 
which  it  is  used  instead  of  manifest 
or  exhibit ;  as,  "  He  evinced  great 
emotion."  This  has  perhaps  sprung 
from  its  likeness  in  sound  to  evidence. 

Argue  (Lat.  arguere,  to  make 
known)  is  nearly  related  to  Indicate, 
and  stands  to  probability  and  infer- 
ence as  Indicate  stands  to  fact.  If  I 
say,  "  Such  expressions  indicate  ill- 
will,"  1  mean  that  they  point  it  out  as 
actually^  existing.  If  1  say,  "  They 
argue  lU-will,"  I  mean  that  ill-will  is 
naturally  suggested  to  account  for 
them. 

Manifest  (Lat.  mdnifestus,  mani- 
fest) is,  in  its  simplest  aspect,  the  op- 
posite to  conceal;  but  it  seems  spe- 
cially applicable  to  the  indirect 
exhibition  of  feeling  or  motive  in 
sentient  beings.  So  we  speak  of 
persons  manifesting  joy  or  grief  at 
announcements,  or  manifesting  a 
strong  desire  for  an  object,  or  mani- 
festing signs  of  impatience.  A  mani- 
festation is  an  external,  visible,  and 
tangible  token  of  what  would  other- 
wise be  more  or  less  concealed.  But 
Manifest  means  more  than  disclose  ; 
it  is  to  lay  open,  not  merely  before 
the  sight  but  the  observation  and  the 
understanding.  It  is  not  merely  to 
make  visible,  but  to  make  evident. 

"  In  some  disorders  it  is  no  more  possible 
for  men  to  hinder  wicked  thonghts  from 
taking  possession  of  their  minds,  or  blas- 
phemous words  from  coming  out  of  their 
mouths  than  to  hinder  any  other  distemper 
(for  plainly  this  is  one)  which  may  attack 
•ny  other  part  of  them  from  showing  itself 
by  its  common  effects." — Skckkr. 

"  Instead  of  the  shadows  and  figures  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  which  veiled  and  in  a  great 
measure  concetded  what  they  exhibited,  it 
presents  ns  with  the  undisguised  truth  anC 
very  substance." — Jbid. 

*'  Some  grains  must  be  allowed  to  a  rhe- 
torical display  which  will  not  bear  the 
rigour  of  a  critical  severity." — Glanvill. 


SYNONYMS  [show] 


So  entirely  does  demonstration  de« 
pend  upon  evidence,  that  the  tenn  is 
atpplied,  not  only  to  persons,  but  to 
the  subject  matter  of  the  evidence 
itself,  as  in  the  following  of  Burke : — 

"  May  no  storm  ever  come  which  will 
put  the  firmness  of  their  attachment  to  the 
proof,  and  which,  in  the  midst  of  confusions 
and  terrors  and  sufferings,  may  demonstrate 
the  eternal  difference  between  a  true  and 
severe  friend  to  the  monarchy  and  a  slip- 
pery sycophant  of  the  court." 

"I  believe  what  you  scholars  call  just 
and  sublime,  in  opposition  to  turgid  and 
bombast  expression,  may  give  you  an  idea 
of  what  I  mean  when  I  say  modesty  is  the 
certain  indication  of  a  great  spirit,  and  im- 
pudence the  affectation  of  it." — Spectator. 

"  And  give  me  leave  to  tell  you  that  it  ia 
no    weak  evincement    of  my    passion    for 
and  concern  in  your  happiness  that  I  can 
refrain  envying  you." — BoYLE. 
"  Eve,  thy  contempt  of  life  and  pleasure 

seems 
To  argue  in  thee  something  more  sublime 
And   excellent   than  what  thy  mind  con- 
temns."  Milton. 

"  The  magistrate  is  not  to  be  obeyed  in 
temporals  more  than  in  spirituals,  where 
a  repugnancy  is  perceived  between  his  com- 
mands and  any  credited  manifestations  ox 
the  Divine  will." — Palky. 

SHOW.  Semblance. 
Show,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  a 
synonym  with  Semblance  (Fr.  sem- 
bler,  Lat.  simillare,  similis,  like),  has 
a  more  varied  meaning.  Show  maj 
denote  a  purposed  exhibition ;  while 
semblance  is  naturally  inherent.  A 
person  may  make  a  show  of  leai-ning, 
but  there  will  be  a  semblance  of  it  if 
only  there  actually  exist  in  him  some 
amount  of  learning,  or  it  be  attributed 
to  him  by  the  ignorance  of  obsei-vers. 
A  semblance  is  a  natural  show  of 
similarity. 
"  And  to  the  ground  his  eyes  were  lowly 

bent 
Simple  in  shew  and  voide  of  malice  bad 
And  all  the  way  he  prayed  as  he  went 
And  often  knockt  his  brest  as  one  that  did 

repent."  Spenser. 

'*  He  made  an  image  of  entaile 
Like  to  a  woman  in  semblance."    GoWKR, 

SHRILL.     Sharp. 

Although  a  sound  cannot  be  Shrill 
(Low  Germ,  schrellj  harsh,  in  sound 
as  in  taste)  without  being  also  Sharp 
(A.  S.scearp,  potnred,  quick)  yet  Shrill 
regards  not  the  pitch,  but  the  quality 


[significant]       discriminated. 


687 


of  the  noise.  A  shrill  sound  is  at 
once  high-pitched,  penetrative,  and 
harah.  On  the  other  hand,  Sharp  is 
high  in  pitch  as  opposed  to  flat. 
Power  is  involved  in  Shrill  more  than 
in  Sharp.  A  sharp  sound  may  be  far 
from  loud,  a  shrill  sound  is  heard  at  a 
distance. 

SHRINK.     Contract. 

Shrink  (A.  S.  scrincan,  to  shrink) 
expresses  the  contraction  of  conscious 
bemgs  under  the  influence  of  fear; 
while  Cojo-RACT  (  Lat.  contrdhere,  part. 
contractus,  to  draw  together,  to  shorten) 
IS  seldom  used  but  of  physical  sub- 
stances j  nor  are  these  saia  quite  in- 
discriramately  to  shrink  and  contract. 
Contract  being  the  more  scientific 
term  of  the  two,  is  employed  of  the 
shrinking  of  bodies  less  in  common 
use.  W  e  speak  of  the  shrinking  of 
flannel  by  washing;  of  the  contraction 
of  metals  under  the  influence  of  cold. 
Shrink  is  also  used  of  such  contraction 
as  intimately  aflfects  the  particles  of 
which  a  substance  may  be  composed  ; 
while  Contract  is  used  of  the  mere 
closer  collocation  of  such  parts  oe 
particles.  The  rings  of  the  snake  do 
not  shrink,  but  contract.  In  their 
secondary  application,  Shrink  belongs 
to  the  reluctance  to  action  or  endu- 
rance ;  Contract,  to  the  narrowing  of 
the  field  of  observation,  or  the  scope 
of  privilege  and  indulgence. 
"  Retarn,  Alpheus  ;  the  dread  voice  is  past 
That  shrunk  thy  streams."         Milton. 

"  It  is  given  very  well  in  cases  of  con- 
traction and  shrinking  of  sinews."— Hoi/- 
LAND,  Plini/. 

SHUT.    CLOSE. 

To  Close  (Fr.  clos,  part.  ofO.  Fr. 
clore,  to  shut)  is  merely  to  put  close 
together. 

To  Shut  (A.  S.  scyttaii,  scittan,  to 
shut  up,  lock  up)  is  to  close  so  as  to 
hinder  ingress  or  egress.  So  Shut  is 
a  stronger  term,  capable  of  implying 
more  substantial  obstruction,  than 
Ct  381.  The  petals  of  a  flower  close. 
The  gates  of  a  city  are  shut  at  night. 
Inasmuch,  however,asthe  word  Close 
is  simply  the  Latin  equivalent  of  Shut, 
there  are  numberless  cases  in  which 
the  worda  may  be  used  indiscrimi- 
uateiy.     But,  like  most  cases  of  this 


kind,  the  Saxon  is  the  commoner  term 
for  physical  and  common,  close  for 
metaphysical  and  secondary,  pro- 
cesses of  termination.  "  He  closed 
his  discourse  by  shutting  his  book." 

"  If,  after  all,  some  headstrong,  hardy  lont 
Would  disobey,  though  sure  to  be  shut  out. 
Could  he  with  reason  murmur  at  his  case. 
Himself  sole  author  of  his  own  disgi-ace  ?  " 
COWPKR. 

"  The  Lord  Himself  hath  not  disdained 
so  exactly  to  register  in  the  Book  of  Life 
after  what  sort  His  servants  have  closed  op 
their  days  on  earth." — HoOKKR. 

SIGi^fALIZE.     Distinguish. 

The  former  term  is  stronger  than 
the  latter.  To  Signalize  one's  self 
(Lat.  signalis,  belonging  lo  a  sign)  is 
eminently  and  conspicuously  to  Distin- 
guish one's  self  (Lat.  distingucre,  to 
mark  with  a  point  or  dot).  He  distin- 
guishes himself  who  gains  honour.  He 
signalizes  himself  who  performs  strik- 
ing deeds,  for  which  he  obtains  re- 
nown. So  Signalize  is  especially  ap- 
plicable to  individuals;  while  many 
may  be  distinguished. 

"  The  knight  of  La  Mancha  gravely  re- 
counts to  his  companion  the  adventures  by 
which  he  is  to  signalize  himself." — John- 
son. 

"  Few  are  formed  with  abilities  to  dis- 
cover new  possibilities,  and  to  distinguish 
themselves  by  means  never  tried  before. 
— Rambler. 

SIGNIFICANT.     Expressive. 

Significant  (Lat.  signXficarej  to 
mean)  is  specific;  Expressive  (Lat. 
exprimere,  pai't.  expressus,  to  express)  is 
general.  That  is  expressive  which 
habitually  and  forcibly  shows  expres- 
sion, as  opposed  to  inexpressive. 
That  is  significant  which  strongly 
expresses  or  indicates  some  particular 
thing.  An  expressive  countenance 
manifests  clearly  successive  and  varied 
emotions.  A  gesture  is  significant 
which  plainly  and  forcibly  illustrates 
what  is  on  the  mind.  Expressive 
can-ies  with  it  the  idea  of  excellence. 
Significant  is  neutral  for  bad  or  good, 
and  may  be  either.  Expressive  is  re- 
stricted to  looks  and  words ;  as,  an 
expressive  eye ;  an  expressive  phrase, 
Signific;»nt  is  applicable  to  complex 
actions  or  measures;  as,  "Such  a 
measure  is  significant    of  a  libe^' 


589 


fiOiicy."  Expressive  belongs  to  the 
present.  Significant  is  indicative  also 
of  the  future.  The  expressive  appeals 
more  directly  to  the  senses  ;  the  sig- 
nificant, to  the  understanding.  Ex- 
pressive stands  to  feeling-  as  Sionifi- 
CANi  to  fact. 

"  The  new  name  war  aiways  significant, 
and  for  the  most  part,  when  given  by 
Divine  authority,  predictive  of  some  pecu- 
liarity in  the  character,  the  life,  the  achieve- 
ments, or  the  destinyof  the  person  on  whom 
it  was  imposed."— Bishop  Horslky. 

"  The  murrain  at  the  end  of  the  Third 
Georgic  has  all  the  expressiveness  that 
words  can  give  it." — Addison. 

SIGNIFY.     Denote. 

Denote  (Lat.  den6tare,  to  mark 
out)  is  to  Signify  {see  Significant) 
by  an  outward  sign,  and  so  is  less 
wide  in  its  application  than  Signify, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  always  patent  and 
direct,  wijile  Signify  may  be  covert 
and  indirect.  There  is  a  distinctness 
of  exposition  in  Denote  which  does 
not  belong  to  Signify.  The  dove  does 
not  signify  innocence,  nor  the  lamb 
gentleness ;  but  they  denote  those 
qualities  when  employed  as  symbols. 
As  signify  stands  to  sign,  so  denote 
stands  to  symbol.  I'hat  which  denotes 
marks  out  plainly ;  whereas  we  often 
require  a  key  to  ascertain  a  significa- 
tion. The  hands  of  the  clock  do  not 
signify,  they  denote,  the  hour.  Sim- 
ple things  or  objects  are  denoted, 
complex  signified. 

"Nobody  ever  saw  one  animal  by  its 
gestures  and  natm-al  cries  signify  to  ano- 
ther, •  This  is  mine  ?  that  is  yours ;  I  am 
willing  to  give  this  for  that.'"— Smith, 
Wealth,  of  Nations. 

"  '  He  hath  given  to  the  poor.'  These 
words  denote  the  freeness  of  his  bounty, 
and  determine  the  principal  objects  there- 
of,"— Barrow. 

SILLY.    Simple. 

Silliness  (A.  S.  sklig,  happy, 
blessed),  like  innocence,  has  deterio- 
rated in  meaning.  An  innocent  is  now 
sometimes  used  for  aa  imbecde  or 
idiotic  person.  So  Silly  meant  at  first 
innocent,  happy;  hence,  not  up  to 
the  world's  ways — child/i7ce,and  after- 
wards cbildis/i.  Silliness  is  energetic 
Simplicity  (  Fr.simp/M;i<e,Lat.simp/Yc5f- 
tdtem).  The  simple  person  is  behind 
the  world,  and  so  in  the  transactions 


SYNONYMS  [signify] 

of  life  likely  to  be  duped.  The  sillj 
person  wants  judgment  or  experience, 
and  so  is  continually  acting  out  false 
ends  and  mis-estimating  the  compara- 
tive forc^  value,  and  significance  of 
things.  Silly  is  active ;  Simple,  pas- 
sive. Ihe  simple  is  deceived  by 
others.  The  silly  betrays  liimself. 
Simplicity  is  allied  to  ignorance ; 
silliness,  to  folly.  In  the  present 
sense.  Simple  is  more  peculiarly  an 
epithet  of  persons.  Silly  extends 
farther ;  as,  a  silly  speech,  book,  no- 
tion, manner.  Simplicity  is  stolid. 
Silliness  is  frivolous. 

"  What  can  be  more  sillily  aiTogant  and 
misbecoming  than  for  a  man  to  think  that 
he  has  a  mind  and  understanding  in  him, 
but  yet  in  all  the  universe  beside  there  is 
no  such  thing  ?  " — LoCKK. 
"  Beseeching  your  excellence  to  defend 
My  simplenesse,  if  ignoraunce  offend 
In  any  wise."  ChauCKR. 

SIMPLE.     Single. 

Simple  {see  Silly)  denotes  the  ex* 
istence  of  a  thing  apart  from  other 
things  of  any  kind;  Single  (Lat. 
singUlm,  more  commonly  plur.  sino;fUif 
one  apiece),  from  other  things  oi  the 
same  kind.  If  a  direction  began, 
"Take  a  simple  sheet  of  paper," 
this  would  mean  that  no  other  article 
was  required.  If,  "Take  a  single 
sheet,"  this  would  mean  that  only 
one  sheet  was  required. 

SIMPLE.     Plain. 

Simple  (Lat.  simplex)  marks  the 
opposite  to  that  which  is  compound, 
complex,  or  complicated.  Tnat  is 
simple  materially  which  is  of  one 
substance,  that  is  simple  mechani- 
cally which  is  of  uniform  structure, 
and  has  one  force  or  purpose,  that  ia 
simple  morally  which  has  one  pur- 
pose or  design,  as  simplicity  is  in 
this  sense  opposed  to  d-uplicity. 

That  is  Plain  (Fr.  plain,  Lat. 
planus)  which  is  smooth,  open,  clear, 
unencumbered,  and  so  obvious,  mani- 
fest, unmistakeable.  That  which  is 
simple  needs  not  to  be  explained, 
that  which  is  plain  has  already  ex- 
plained itself.  A  simple  statement 
IS  uninvolved,  not  abstruse,  not  in- 
cluding many  meanings,  and  so  equi- 
vocal or  ambiguous.     A  plain  state* 


[site] 


ment  is  not  uncertain  or  obscure,  but 
lies  naked  and  open,  so  that  to  look  at 
it  or  hear  it  is  to  understand  it.  That 
which  is  hard  to  understand  is  not 
plain,  that  which  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand is  not  simple.  So  the  simplest 
expression  in  a  language  is  not  plain 
to  him  who  does  not  understand  that 
language.  The  stammerer  is  unin- 
telligible, not  because  he  does  not 
speak  simply,  but  because  he  does 
not  speak  plainly.  Simplicity  regards 
primarily  the  nature  of  the  object  or 
subject,  plainness  the  faculties  of  the 
person  to  perceive  and  understand  it. 
If  one  man  speaks  simply,  it  is  the 
fault  of  the  other  if  he  does  not  under- 
stand plainly. 

SINGULAR.     Extraordinary. 

There  is  always  something  singu- 
lar (Lat.  singularis,  alone  of  its  kmd) 
in  the  extraordinary  (Lat.  extraor- 
dindrius,  without  the  usual  order )y  and 
something  extraordinary  in  the  singu- 
lar, whether  the  case  be  favourably  or 
unfavourably  regarded.  That  which 
is  singular  is,  as  its  name  indicates, 
unique,  standing  aloof  from  others, 
having  a  character  of  its  own.  Ex- 
TUAORDiNARY  is  that  which  is  out  of 
the  common  order  or  the  common 
measure,  uncommon,  unusual.  The 
extraordinary  is  unlike  its  kind.  The 
singular  is,  as  it  were,  a  kind  of  its 
own.  Rare  qualities,  exclusive  pro- 
perties, distinctive  features  make  the 
singular.  Excess  or  defect,  great- 
ness or  smallness,  in  relation  to  an 
established  or  natural  standard,  make 
the  extraordinary.  The  extraordinary 
strikes  by  comparison,  the  singular 
by  not  admitting  of  it.  The  force  of 
the  magnet  is  singular.  The  power 
of  steam  is  extraordmary.  Every 
man  who  has  any  originality  or  inde- 
pendence of  ■  character  must  be  to 
some  extent  singular.  Every  man 
who  is  possessed  of  any  force  or 
energy  of  nature  is  to  some  certain 
extent  extraordinary.  One  may  be 
singular  in  trivial  things,  as,  for  in- 
stance, common  opinions,  or  style  of 
dress ;  but  the  extraordinary  is  more 
pronounced,  and  therefore  more  im- 
portant. Singular  is  an  epithet  of 
things,  fine,  delicate,  rare,  subtle,  ro- 


DI8CRIMINATED. 


68f» 


fined.  Extraordinary  of  things  lofty, 
beautiful,  sublime,  or  excellent.  When 
taken  in  bad  part,  Singular  offends 
nature,  truth,  simplicity,  justice,  pro- 
priety; Extraordinary  is  extrava- 
gant, disproportioned,  excessive,  un- 
congenial. The  singular  surprises,  the 
extraordinary  astonishes. 

SINUOUS.     Tortuous. 

The  difference  between  these  terms 
is  much  illustrated  by  a  simple  atten- 
tion to  their  etymology. 

The  Sinuous  (Lat,  stnus.  a  fold) 
goes  in  folds,  the  Tortuous  (Lat. 
torquire,  part,  tortus,  to  twist)  goes 
in  twists.  That  is  tortuous  which 
twists  about,  that  is  sinuous  which 
winds,  doubles,  and  re-doubles,  so  as 
to  form  deep  curves  or  folds.  A  wind- 
ing stream  which  scoops  hollows  in 
its  banks,  is  well  termed  sinuous.  A 
road  which  is  far  from  straight  may 
well  be  termed  tortuous.  Sinuous  is 
more  commonly  applied  to  things 
which  have  course  and  movement, 
while  Tortuous  expresses  the  charac- 
teristic form.  The  winding  stream 
has  its  sinuosities.  The  path  along 
its  bank  is  tortuous.  Tori uous  has  a 
moral  application  in  which  Sinuous 
does  not  share.  It  involves  ideas  of 
violence,  covertness,  disorder,  pur- 
posed indirectness,  evasion,  and  the 
like.  A  tortuous  policy  is  that  which 
aims  covertly,  indirectly,  evasively, 
and  is  wanting  in  straightforward- 
ness, ease,  and  simplicity. 

SITE.    Place.     Spot. 

The  Site  (Lat.  situs)  is  the  area  on 
which  stands  a  building  or  a  collec- 
tion of  buildings,  or  some  form  ot 
human  habitation,  permanent  or 
temporary,  and  is  not  employed  in 
any  other  relation ;  as  the  site  of  a 
mansion,  or  a  city,  or  an  ancient 
camp. 

Place  (Fr.  place,  Lat.  pUtea,  a 
street  or  open  court)  is,  in  its  broadest 
acceptation,  any  portion  of  space 
measured  off,  either  actually  or  by 
the  mind,  from  other  space. 

A  Spot  (originally  meaning  the 
mark  made  by  something  dropped 
or  8|»la.shed,  probably  one  of  many 


690 


similar  imitative  word^;  is  a  small 
extent  of  space  defined  with  exact- 
ness. "  1  search  for  the  site  of  an 
old  house.  1  know,  generally,  that 
this  is  the  place  to  look  for  it ;  yet  I 
cannot  find  the  spot." 
The  site,  the   wealth,  the  beauty  of  the 

place, 
Will  soon  inform  thee  'tis  imperious  Rome, 
Rome,  the  great  mistress  of  the  conquered 

world." 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 
«•  As  in  simple  space  we  consider  the  re- 
lation of  distance  between  any  two  bodies 
or  points,  so  in  our  idea  of  place  we  con- 
eider  the  relation  of  distance  betwixt  any- 
thing and  any  two  or  more  points,  which 
are  considered  as   keeping  the  same   dis- 
tance one' with  another,  and  so  considered 
as  at  rest." — LoCKE. 
••  A  jolly  place,  said  he,  in  times  of  old, 
But  something  ails  it  now;    the  spot  is 

cursed."  WoRDSWORTH. 

SITUATION.     Position. 

The  following  remarks  are  in  addi- 
tion to  what  has  been  observed  else- 
where on  these  two  words.  The  idea 
which  is  common  to  the  two  terms 
Situation  and  Position,  is  that  of 
resting  upon  something,  upon  some 
base.  Situation  expresses  the  idea  of 
occupying  a  place.  Position  that  of 
being  made  to  stand.  Situation  em- 
braces all  the  relations  of  a  thing, 
Position  that  of  dii-ection  only.  Situa- 
tion, which  is  a  thing  dependent  upon 
circumstances,  has  no  rule  to  deter- 
mine it.  Position  is  or  is  not  accord- 
ing to  rule.  A  situation  is  pleasant 
or  unpleasant,  easy  or  otherwise, 
happy  or  otherwise,  embarrassing  or 
otherwise.  A  position  just  or  other- 
wise, true  or  false,  right  or  wrong, 
du'ect  or  oblique.  We  find  ourselves 
in  a  situation,  and  take  up  a  position. 
The  situation  of  an  army  is  the  sum 
of  its  surrounding  circumstances,  its 
position  is  the  g^i'ound  it  has  taken  up 
with  a  view  to  attack  or  defence.  As 
employed  of  the  moral  state  and  cir- 
cumstances of  persons,PosiTiON  points 
rather  to  their  permanent,SiTUATroN  to 
their  occasional  state.  1  am  not  in  a 
situation  to  help  you,  would  mean 
that  the  circumstances  of  my  present 
condition  do  not  allow  it.  I  am  not 
in  a  position  to  do  so,  would  mean 
that  I  do  not  occupy  such  a  place  in 


SYNONYMS  [situation] 

life    as  would    give  me   a  vantage 
ground  in  any  such  attempt. 

SITUATION.     Site. 

Both  of  these  are  from  the  Lat 
citas,  a  situation.  A  thing  stands  in 
a  situation,  and  rests  upon  a  site. 
The  situation  embraces  all  the  loca' 
aspects  and  relationships  in  which  a 
thing  is  placed.  The  site  is  confined 
to  the  ground  on  which  it  is  erected 
or  reposes.  In  English  Site  has  no 
other  than  a  physical  meaning.  Situa- 
tion is  also  circumstantial.  We  use 
the  term  Site  whenever  there  is  a 
question  about  exact  location.  Hence 
the  term  expresses  inaccurately  the 
place  on  which  something  existed,  or 
within  the  area  of  which  it  was  con- 
fined. So  we  venture  to  speak  of  the 
site  of  an  ancient  town,  and  yet  more 
questionably  of  an  ancient  forest  or 
garden. 

SITUATION.    State. 

Situation  has  in  it  more  of  the 
accidental  and  transient.  State  more 
of  the  habitual  and  pennanent;  an 
awkward  situation,  a  bad  state  ol 
health.  Sometimes,  however,  the 
situation  is  permanent  and  the  state 
variable,  but  this  is  when  they  are 
affected  by  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
objects  of  which  they  are  predicated. 
The  situation  of  a  house  is  permanent 
because  the  house  itself  is  fixed.  A 
man  may  be  in  a  precarious  state  of 
health,  because  human  life  is  a 
changeable  and  uncertain  thing. 
Nevertheless,  taken  by  itself,  the 
state  is  more  lasting  than  the  situa- 
tion. The  situation  results  from  the 
accidents  of  position.  The  state  is 
the  whole  intrinsic  manner  of  being. 
Situations  vary  infinitely.  States  are 
definite  though  abstract,  as  a  state  of 
health  or  disease,  want  or  competency, 
a  state  of  nature.  Situation  is  the 
fluctuating  condition  of  individuals. 
State  is  a  certain  condition  of  things. 
Without  money  in  your  pocket, 
though  you  may  have  plenty  at  home, 
you  may  chance  to  find  yourselr  m 
the  situation  of  a  poor  man ;  but  it 
will  be  no  slight  consolation  to  you 
in  your  temporary  difficulty  to  feel 
that  at  least  you  are  not  in  a  state  of 


[slack] 


poverty.  The  mind  is  in  a  situation 
of  tranquillity  when  it  is  removed 
beyond  the  reach  of  disturbing  in- 
fluences, it  is  in  a  state  of  tranquillity 
when  it  is  at  peace  with  itself.  The 
actual  exemption  from  troubles  con- 
stitutes its  situation  in  the  first  case, 
the  sum  of  the  conditions  necessary 
for  its  continued  peace  constitute  its 
Plate  in  the  second.  A  state  of  affairs 
gives  the  idea  of  something  less  likely 
soon  to  alter  than  a  situation  of  affairs. 
Your  affairs  are  in  a  good  situation 
when  they  afford  you  an  opportunity 
of  advantageous  action.  1  hey  are  in 
a  good  state  when  you  yourself  are 
prosperous. 

SKETCH.      Delineation.     Out- 

LINE. 

The  first  (Fr.  esquisse,  a  sketch)  fills 
up  the  outline  in  part,  giving  a  few 
broad  touches,  by  which  a  lively 
though  imperfect  idea  is  gained ; 
while  Outline  gives  no  more  than 
the  bounding  lines  of  the  scene  or 
picture.  It  is  not,  however,  neces- 
saiy  that  the  contour  of  a  perfect 
figure  should  be  given  by  an  outline, 
which  may  be  only  partial. 

Delineation  (Lat.  delineare,  to 
mark  out  a  line)  goes  further  than 
the  others,  having  for  its  aim  a  fuller 
conception  and  larger  representation. 
The  object  of  an  outline  is  to  give 
some  notion,  however  meagre ;  of  a 
sketch,  some  representation,  how- 
ever imperfect;  of  a  delineation, 
some  amount  of  accurate  knowledge. 
In  the  secondary  sense,  we  speak  of 
the  outline  of  a  plan,  work,  or  pro- 
ject;  a  sketch  of  an  object,  character, 
or  proceedings,  where  a  lively,  a  de- 
lineation where  an  accurate,  impres- 
sion is  sought  to  be  conveyed.  An 
outline  is  drawn  for  one's  own  guid- 
ance. A  delineation  is  given  for  the 
information  of  another.  Delineation 
lends  itself  better  to  mental,  as  sketch 
to  physical,  objects.  A  delineation  is 
an  imperfect  description ;  as  a  sketch 
is  an  imperfect  representation.  Out- 
line is  employed  of  things  literary  as 
well  as  artistic,  and  Sketch  of  the  pro- 
cess of  description.  Outlines  of  his- 
tory, sketches  of  character,  delinea- 
tions of  schemes  or  projects. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


691 


"  The  mpthod  of  Robens  was  to  sketch 
his  coaapositions  in  colours,  with  all  the 
parts  more  determined  than  sketches  gene- 
rally are.  From  this  sketch  his  scholars 
advanced  the  picture  as  far  as  they  were 
capable ;  after  which  he  retouched  the 
whole  himself."— Reynolds. 

"  Pen  the  contours  and  outlines  with  a 
more  even  and  acate  touch." — Eatklyn. 

"  We,  in  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists, 
have  a  complete  summary  of  His  triennial 
preaching  ;  we  have  joined  with  the  detail 
of  many  of  His  miracles  the  delineation  of 
His  character,  and  the  history  of  His  won- 
derful life  of  piety  and  love." — BxSHOP 
HORSLEY. 

SKIN.     Hide. 

The  Skin  (A.  S.  scin,  the  skin)  is 
the  external  membranous  covering  of 
animal  bodies.  Itis  used  generically 
for  the  same  covering,  whether  in 
life,  or  after  it  is  stripped  fi-om  the 
body,  as  green,  dry,  or  tanned. 

Hide  (A.  S.  hyd,  the  skiUfa  hide)  is 
also  used  of  the  skin  dressed  or  raw, 
but  commonly  used  of  the  undressed 
skins  of  pachydermatous  animals,  as 
oxen  and  horses,  and  especially  such 
as  are  prepared  as  leather.  It  is  only 
used  contemptuously  of  the  human 
skin. 

SLACK.     Loose. 

Slack  (A.  S.  sleac,  slctc,  slack, 
gentle)  is  used  in  secondary  physical 
senses,  as  a  slack  pace;  but  in  its 
primary  physical  sense  it  is  only  em- 
ployed of  such  cord-like  substances 
as  are  capable  of  eying  and  tension. 

Loose  (A.  S.  leas,  false,  loose,  loeak), 
on  the  other  hand,  has  a  wider  mean- 
ing, and  extends  to  substances  which 
do  not  admit  of  these,  as,  to  go  about 
loose,  which  means  unfastened.  "His 
coat  sits  loose."  In  the  moral  appli- 
cation we  speak  of  slackness  in  refe- 
rence to  energy  and  enterprise  ;  loose- 
ness, in  reference  to  principles  of 
conduct  or  obligation.  Looseness  is 
unfixedness.  Slackness  is  fixedness 
without  tension. 

"  What  means  the  bull. 
Unconscious  of  his  strength,  to  play  the 

coward. 
And  flee  before  a  feeble  thing  like  man. 
That  knowing  well  the  slackness  of  his  arm, 
Trusts  only  in  the  well-invented  knife." 
Blaxb. 

"  All  the   bonds   and    restraint*  oadet 


692 


SYNON  TMS  [slant] 


vrhieh  men  .ay.  He  so  far  loosed,  that  any 
man  might  be  free  who  would  concur  to  hia 
own  liberty  and  enlargement." — Barrow. 

SLANT.     Slope. 
A  Slant  (Sw.  slmta,  to  slide)  is  a 
deviation  from  a  perpendicular  line. 

A  SLOPE(acc.to  Wedgwood,  bang- 
ing like  a  slack,  Dut.  slap,  rope)  in- 
clines from  an  horizontal  plane,  and 
so  is  a  direction  downwards.  The 
masts  of  ships  are  often  purposely 
made  to  slant.  The  side  of  a  hill 
slopes.  The  inclined  plane  is  made  to 
slope. 
"The  slant  lightning,  whose  thwart  flame 

driv'n  down. 
Kindles  the  gummy  bark  of  fir  or  pine." 
Milton. 
•'  The  slope  of  faces,  from  the  floor  to  th' 

roof. 
As  if  one  master-spring  controlled  them 

all. 
Relaxed  into  a  universal  grin." 

COWPKR. 

SLEEP.     Slumber.     Doze. 

Sleep  (A.  S.  slap)  is  the  natural 
and  periodical  suspension  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  organs  of  sense. 

Slumber  (A.  S.  slumerian,  to 
slumber)  is  to  sleep  lightly,  except  in 
the  poetic  style,  in  Avhich  it  means 
sleep. 

"  He  at  last  fell  into  a  slumber,  and  thence 
into  a  fast  sleep." — Bunyan. 

"  From  carelessness  it  shall  fall  into  a 
slumber,  and  from  a  slumber  it  shall  settle 
into  a  deep  and  long  sleep." — South. 

Doze  (Icel.  dusa,  to  dose)  indicates 
an  unsound  sleep,  such  as  may  be 
taken  at  regular  hours  under  indispo- 
sition, or  at  irregular  hours  at  uncer- 
tain intervals. 

"  The  one  side  resembles  Cerberus  bark- 
ing for  a  sop.  The  other  resembles  him 
when,  after  he  has  received  it,  he  wraps 
himself  up  in  his  own  warm  skin  and 
enjoys  a  comfortable  doze." — Knox,  jEs- 
says. 

The  last  of  these  terms  is  too  familiar 
to  be  employed  in  secondary  mean- 
ings ;  but  we  speak  of  the  slumber 
of  indolence  and  the  long  sleep  of 
deatb. 

SLENDER.    Thin. 

Slender  (O.  Dut.  slindery  thin)  is 
thin  or  narrow  in  proportion  to  cir- 
cumference or  width,  as,  a  slender 


stem  or  stalk  of  a  plant.  ITie  propor- 
tion of  height  to  circumference  is  very 
considerable.  It  is  used  in  secondary 
senses,  as  =  feeble,  inconsiderable, 
meagre,  spare.  A  slender  hope,  ar- 
gument, pittance,  diet. 

Thin  (A.  S.  thyn,  thin,  lean)  is  the 
generic  term.  That  substance  is  thin 
in  which  there  is  relatively  a  small 
intei-val  between  the  opposite  sur- 
faces. A  thing  may  be  thin  and  short 
at  the  same  time;  but  Slender  de- 
notes proportionate  length.  Thin  has 
its  secondary  and  analogous  senses ;  as, 
the  opposite  to  dense,  thin  air,  or  thin 
crops;  flimsy,  as  a  thin  disguise  or 
pretext. 

Slight  (Ger.schlecht,  bad,  mean)  ha8 
the  wide  sense  of  wanting  in  force, 
mark,  and  so  in  strength  or  impor- 
tance; as,  a  slight  bruise,  a  slight 
figure ;  hence,  secondarily,  a  slight 
impression,  slight  importance. 

Slim  (Ger.  schlimm,  awry,  bad, 
weak,  sly)  is  restricted  to  the  human 
figure,  or  what  is  analogous  to  it,  th  at 
is,  to  objects  which  may  be  supposed 
to  stand  erect,  like  it,  as  a  tree  or  a 
column. 

"  Hire  middel  smal,  hire  armes  long  and 
sclendre."  Chaucek. 

"  Where  thinly  scattered  lay  the  heaps  ot 
dead."  Pope,  Homer. 

"  Nor  should  you  suffer  yourselves  to 
suspect  that  the  weight  of  this  argument  ia 
at  all  diminished  if  there  be  others  ac- 
counted in  the  rank  of  learned  men  who 
have  affected  to  think  slightly  of  the  reli- 
gion of  their  country." — Warburton. 

"  A  slim  excuse." — Barrow. 

SLOW.     Tardy. 

Slow  (A.  S.  sldw),  the  simple  and 
generic  tenn,  has  many  meanings 
which  are  not  comprised  by  Tardy 
(Lat.  tardus,  sbw)a,s,  wanting  rapidity 
of  movement,  a  slow  stream  ;  long  or 
late  in  happening,  as  the  time  comes 
slowly ;  not  ready  in  thought  or  in 
action,  as  slow  of  speech.  Tardy  is  a 
term  of  habit,  denoting  a  habit  of 
being  behindhand.  Tardiness  implieg 
only  a  slowness  antecedent  to  a  cer- 
tain point,  which  may  be  followed  by 
activity ;  but  slowness  is  characteris- 
tic of  movement,  operation,  and  pro 
cess  throughor*.. 


[sole] 


DISCRIMINATED, 


693 


"  Having  uttered  some  words  which  we 
were  very  soriy  we  could  not  nnderstand, 
he  went  back  to  his  companions,  and  the 
whole  body  slowly  retreated." — Cook's 
Voyages, 

"  Those  words  of  our  Lord  to  Nicodemns 
express  sfm^e  kind  of  marvel  at  his  slowness 
of  apprehension  :  '  Art  thou  a  master  of 
Israel  and  knowest  not  these  things  ? '  " — 
Watkrland. 

Tardiness  being  Latin,  and  so  a  more 
polite  term,  lends  itself  more  easily  to 
express  the  idea  of  slowness  in  its 
most  abstract  form.  Yet  merely  me- 
chanical motion  is  not  expressed  by 
Tardiness,  which  is  only  employed 
where  slowness  is  contemplated  in 
connexion  with  some  quality  which 
has  induced  it. 

"  His  tardiness  of  execution  exposes  him 
to  the  encroachments  of  those  who  catch  a 
hint  and  fall  to  work." — Idler. 

SMOOTH.     Even. 

Tha  t  is  Smooth  (  A .  S  .  sm^iSe,  smoelS , 
smooth)  which  is  so  Even  (A.  S.  ef'en) 
as  to  be  absolutely  free  from  all  in- 
equalities. That  is  even  which  is  free 
from  any  considerable  protuberances 
and  depressions.  A  polished  table- 
top  is  smooth.  A  country  in  which 
are  no  abrupt  undulations  is  even.  In 
their  secondary  application,  we  use 
Even  of  character  and  temper  in  a 
favourable,  Smooth  of  demeanour  in 
an  unfavourable,  sense.  A  smooth 
speech  or  smile  is  one  winch  avoids 
offence,  but  is  of  doubtful  sincerity. 
Evenness  of  disposition.  Smoothness 
of  tongue. 

"  So  the  carpenter  encouraged  the  gold- 
smith, and  he  that  smootketh  with  the  ham- 
mer him  that  smote  the  anvil." — English 
Bible. 

"  This  even-handed  instice 
Commends  the  itgredients  of  our  poisoned 

chalice 
To  our  own  lips."  SHAKESPEARE. 

SOCIAL.    Convivial.    Sociable. 

Social  (Lat.'socia/is,  sociu's,  a  com- 
ftanion)  has  the  senses  of  pertaining 
to  society,  or  the  aggregate  body  of 
the  public,  and  disposed  to  mix  in 
friendly  converse,  or  consisting  in  such 
converse.  It  is  therefore  a  term  of 
much  wider  extent  than  the  other 
two. 

The  convivial  (Lat.  eonvtvaliSf  per- 
taining to  aguestjCotiviva)  is tliR  social 


in  matters  of  feasting  or  festivity.  We 
speak  of  convivial  meetings  in  refe- 
rence to  the  enjoyments  of  the  table ; 
of  social  meetings,  in  reference  to  the 
interchange  of  kindly  or  congenial 
conversation.  Sociable  superadds  to 
the  idea  of  social,  as  a  per?onn;  quality, 
a  certain  aptitude  to  promote  the  ends 
of  conversation  and  society.  A  man 
fond  of  mixing  in  company,  but  of  a 
taciturn  disposition,  is  social,  not  so- 
ciable. Social  implies,  in  short,  ac- 
tive, Sociable,  passive,  aptness  for 
society.  He  is  social  who  associates 
with  others.  He  is  sociable  who  is 
capable  of  being  associated  with. 
IMan  is  a  social  animal ;  but  all  men 
are  not  sociable.  Social  is  a  property 
of  the  race ;  Sociable,  of  the  indivi- 
dual. Social,  therefore,  refers  to  the 
natural  desire  of  men,  collectively,  to 
congregate  in  society ;  Soci  ab  le,  to  the 
particular  inclination  of  some  to  con- 
tinual intercourse  with  tlieir  neigh- 
bours, or  with  fi'iends  and  acquain- 
tances, whom,  for  the  most  part,  they 
are  not  scrupulous,  diffident,  or  nice 
in  selecting.  Hence  Social  is  more  an 
epithet  of  manners  or  nature ;  Sociable 
of  persons. 

"  Thou,  in  thy  secrecy,  although  alone. 
Best  with  thyself  accompanied,  seek'st  not 
Social  communication ."  ^I  iLTON. 

"  Rather  he  was  a  man  of  great  benig- 
nity and  pleasantness,  and  sociableness  in 
his  conversation,  witness  his  freque.^t 
vouchsafing  his  presence  at  feasts  and  eu 
tertainments." — SHARP. 

"  Kind  laughter  and  conwitua/ joy.* 
Akekside. 

SOLE.    Solitary. 

Solitary  (Lat.  ioi^ffariws)  and  Sole, 
both  derived  from  the  Lat.  sohiSy 
atone^  differ  as  synonyms  in  express- 
ing the  former,  that  oneness  which  is 
the  result  of  external,  the  latter  of  in- 
ternal limitation.  "The  landscape 
did  not  furnish  even  a  solitary  tree." 
*'This  was  the  sole  ground  of  his  de- 
fence." This  comes  of  the  fact  that 
Solitary  commonly  expresses  physical 
isolation,  or  isolation  as  a  bare  fact ; 
Sole,  isolation  morally.  Solitary  is 
also  negative ;  Sole,  positive.  Soli- 
tary is  that  which  is  simply  unaccom- 
panied. Sole  denotes  that  which  is 
capable  of  acting  by  itself.  A  solitary 
instance  of  patriotism ;   or,  the  sole 


694 


defender  of  his  country's  cause.  That 
IS  sole  which  is  able  to  exist  alone. 
That  is  solidary  which  is  compelled  to 
exist  »part.  The  force  of  Sole  has 
been  exactly  hit  in  a  passage  given 
from  Sir  E.  Bering's  speeches  under 
the  article  Sole  in  Richardson's  Dic- 
tionary— 

"  This  ambition  of  a  sole  power,  this  dan- 
gerous soleship,  is  a  fault  in  our  Church  in- 
deed," 
"  Who  out  of  smallest  things  could  without 

end 
Have  raised  incessant  armies  to  defeat 
Thy  folly ;  or  with  solitary  hand. 
Reaching  beyond  all  limit,  at  one  blow. 
Unaided,   could   have  finished  thee,   and 

whelmed 
Thy  legions  under  darkness."    MiLTON. 

SOLICITUDE.  Care.  Concern. 
Anxiety, 

Care  (A.  S.  cdni)  is  the  most  in- 
definite of  these,  being  sometimes  at- 
tended with  pain,  and  sometimes  not, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  object 
and  the  tlegree  of  intensity  of  mental 
application ;  from  the  corroding  care 
which  besets  him  who  can  with  diffi- 
culty find  means  of  subsistence  for 
himself  and  his  family,  to  the  ordinary 
care  which  is  bestowed  upon  objects 
?vhich  ought  not  to  be  neglected  or 
injured,  and  is  altogether  painless. 

Solicitude  (Lat.  solicitudinem)^ 
Anxiety  (Lat.  anxius,  migere,  to 
throttle),  and  Concern  {Ft. concenter, 
to  belong  to,  Lat.  concernere,  to  sift 
together)  are  all  confined  to  the  mind, 
being  not,  like  care,  capable  of  a  prac- 
tical meaning.  Solicitude  is  made  up 
of  desire  and  a  feeling  of  uncertainty. 
Anxiety  is  made  up  of  fear  and  a 
feeling  of  uncertainty.  I  feel  solici- 
tude when  I  wish  strongly  that  some- 
thing shall  be  according  to  my  inten- 
tions, hopes,  or  plans,  yet  feel  the 
probability  of  its  not  being  so.  1  feel 
anxiety  when  I  desire  that  harm  or 
disappointment  may  not  come,  j^et 
feel  from  how  many  sources  it  may 
spring  up  at  any  moment.  Anxiety 
is  against  possible  evils.  Solicitude 
is  for  positive  good.  Solicitude  is  con- 
fined to  the  present  and  the  immediate 
future.  Anxiety  may  run  out  into 
the  distant  future.  Anxiety  is  with 
Bone  persons  habitual.    Solicitude  is 


SYNONYMS  [SOLICITUDEj 

felt  on  specific  occasions.  Concern 
is  very  sti-ong  interest,  and,  specifi- 
cally, such  excitement  of  feeling  as 
may  spring  out  of  this ;  but  as  it  is 
felt  only  in  connexion  with  persons, 
it  differs  from  the  others  in  being 
less  felt  in  regard  to  the  future,  and 
more  to  the  present,  and  even  the  past. 
I  may  feel  deeply  concerned,  not 
only  for  what  may  happen,  but  also 
for  what  has  happened  to  my  friend. 
Anxiety  and  solicitude,  on  the  other 
hand,  belong  only  to  the  future. 
"  Others,  in  virtue  placed  felicity — 
But  virtue  joined  with  riches  and  long  life; 
In  corporal  pleasure,  he,  and  careless  ease." 

MiLTOK. 
"  The  statesman,  lawyer,  merchant,  man 

of  trade, 
Pants  for  the  refuge  of  some  rural  shade. 
Where,  all  his  long  anxieties  forgot. 
Amid  the  charms  of  a  sequestered  spot, 
He  may  possess  the  joys  he  thinks  he  sees.*' 

COWPER. 

"  Hence  we  are  bid  to  work  out  our  sal- 
vation with  fear  and  trembling,  with  a  holy 
solicitude  " — ScoTX,  Christian  Life. 

"  I  sti'ove  a  thousand  ways  to  lessen  her 
care,  and  even  forgot  my  own  pain  in  a  con- 
cern for  hers."— Goldsmith. 

SOLID.  Firm.  Substantial. 
Compact. 

Solid  (Lat.  sWdiis)  denotes  that 
which  has  firm  texture  and  consis- 
tency of  parts.  It  is  opposed  to  liquid, 
fluid,  hollow,  or  incompact.  It  differs 
in  degree  according  to  the  degree  oi 
such  firmness  or  consistency,  accord- 
ing as  it  resists  partially  or  entirely 
efforts  made  to  penetrate  it. 

Substantial  (Lat.  substantia)  is 
opposed  to  that  which  has  no  consis- 
tency at  all.  All  objects  that  admit  oi 
being  handled  are  more  or  less  sub- 
stantial. 

Firm  (Lat.  firmus)  denotes  that 
which  either  in  its  integral  form  or  its 
component  particles  resists  movement 
or  displacement.  Meat,  in  distinction 
to  drink,  is  solid  food.  Substantial 
food  is  that  which  is  capable  of  giving 
fulness,  nourishment,  and  support  to 
the  body.  The  post  driven  fast  and 
deep  into  the  ground  is  firm.  The 
flesh  which  is  not  flabby  is  firm.  We 
use  these  terms  iu  secondary  senses 
Solid  attainments,  substantial  bene 
fits,  firm  convictions,  and  the  like 


sovereign]  discriminated. 


695 


"  The  idea  of  solidity  we  receive  by  onr 
touch,  and  it  arises  from  the  resistance 
which  we  find  in  a  body  to  the  entrance  of 
any  other  body  into  the  place  it  possesses 
till  it  has  left  it."—  LoCKE. 

"  For  if  you  speak  of  an  acquired,  rational, 
and  discursive  faith,  certainly  these  reasons 
which  make  the  object  seem  credible  must 
be  the  cause  of  it,  and  consequently  the 
strength  and  Jlrmiti/  of  my  assent  must  rise 
and  fall  together  with  the  apparent  credi- 
bility of  the  object." — Chillixgworth. 
"  Even  as  his  first  progenitor,  and  quits. 
Though  placed  in  Paradise  (for  earth  has 

still 
gome  traces  of  her  youthful  beauty  left). 
Substantial  happiness  for  transient  joy." 

COWPEB. 

That  is  Compact  (^Lat.  comyingtre^ 
part,  compactiis,  to  fasten  together)  of 
which  the  particles  are  densely  close, 
or  the  component  parts  so  arranged  as 
to  occupy  little  comparative  space.  It 
is  opposed  to  diffuse,  disjointed, 
flabby. 

"  A  different  spinning  every  different  web 
Asks  from  your  glowing  fingers  ;  some  re- 
quire 
The  more  compact,  and  some  the  looser 
wreath."  Dyer. 

SOLVE.  Resolve. 
These  are  the  simple  and  a  com- 
pound fonn  of  the  Lat.  solctre,  to 
loose  or  melt.  Solve  is  used  when 
there  is  but  one  fixed  and  positive 
explanation  to  be  arrived  at;  Re- 
solve, when  there  is  a  difficulty  to 
be  disposed  of. ,  We  solve  a  problem, 
b}-  doing  it.  We  resolve  a  difficulty 
by  undoing  it.  To  solve  is  simply  to 
remove  doubt  ordifficulty^  To  resolve 
is  to  remove  it  by  referring  it  to  first 
principles  or  corresponding  ones. 
Hence  the  phrase,  "  Resolve  into." 
**  A  body  of  very  considerable  weight 
has  to  be  raised.  How  is  the  pro- 
blem to  be  solved  ?  It  is  resolved, 
or  resolves  itself,  into  a  question  of 
mechanics." 

"  And  as  that  Thebau  monster  that  pro- 
posed 
Her  riddle,  and  him  who  solved  it  not  de- 
voured. 
That  once  found  out  and  solved,  for  grief 

and  spite. 
Cast  herself  headlong  from  th'  Ismenian 

steep. 
So,  struck  with  dread  and  anguish,  fell  the 
fiend."  MiLTOX. 

"  Positive  precepts,  though  we  are  used  to 
eoDsider  them  merely  as  prescribed,  and  to 


resolve  them  commonly  into  the  mere  will 
and  pleasure  of  the  Legislator,  yet  are  al- 
ways founded  upon  reasons  known,  perhaps, 
in  part  to  us,  but  perfectly  kno^-n  to  Ghid  ; 
and  so  they  are  ultimately  resolvable  into 
infinite  wisdom  and  goodness." — Water- 
LAXD. 

SORRY.     Grieved.     Hurt. 

Sorry  (see  Sorrow)  and  Guieved 
(Lat.  grUvdre,  to  burden)  differ  from 
the  nouns  sorrow  and  grief  in  being 
used  in  a  lighter  sense  and  of  more 
ordinary  matters.  We  are  commonly 
sorry  for  what  is  on  our  owb  account, 
and  grieved  on  account  of  another. 
To  be  gi-ieved  is  more  than  to  be 
sorry,  "  I  am  sorry  that  I  was  not 
at  home  when  you  called."  "  I  was 
much  grieved  to  hear  the  loss  he  had 
sustained." 

Hurt  (see  Hurt)  is  used  of  wounded 
feelings,  and  denotes  the  sense  of 
having  been  treated  unfairly,  incon- 
siderately, or  without  due  respect. 
We  are  sorry  for  circumstances.  We 
are  grieved  at  acts  and  conduct.  We 
are  hurt  by  treatment  or  beliaviour. 

"  I  am  sorr]/  for  thee,  frieud,  'tis  th» 
Duke's  pleasure." — Shakespeahe. 

"He  doth  not  willingly  afflict  uor  grievi 
the  children  of  men." — English  Bible. 

"  No  man  is  hurt,  at  least  few  are  so,  by 
hearing  his  neighbour  esteemed  a  worthy 
man."— Blair. 

SOVEREIGN.    SUPRE.ME. 

The  idea  involved  in  the  tenn  So- 
vereign (0.  Fr.  soverain,  Lat.  sHpi' 
rdmis)  is  that  of  the  greatest  power. 

The  idea  of  Supreme  (Lat.  stipre- 
muSy  from  the  same  root  super)  is  that 
of  the  highest  rank.  In  every  case 
and  application,  then,  the  thing  which 
is  supreme  is  the  most  raised,  whether 
this  be  in  authority,  power,  influence, 
or  efficacy.  So,  too,  independent  and 
absolute  authority  makes  sovereignty 
or  the  sovereign,  inasmuch  as  SLch 
authority  is  above  all.  Eveiy  thing 
is  inferior  in  rank  to  that  which  is 
supreme.  Every  thing  is  subject  to 
the  influence  of  that  which  is  sove- 
reign. A  sovereign  remedy  is  effica- 
cious in  the  supreme  degi-ee,  and  being 
regarded  not  as  to  rank  but  power  is 
therefore  called  sovereign  and  not 
supreme.  God  is  the  supreme  Being 
inasmuch  as  He  is  emphatically  the 


696 


self-existent  one,  He  is  the  sovereign 
lord  of  all  things  inasmuch  as  He  is 
the  Almighty,  and  the  moral  ruler  and 
governor  of  the  universe. 

SOUND.     Sane.     Healthy. 

Sound  ( A.S.  siind,  sound,  healthy) 
is  extended  to  all  bodies,  animate  or 
inanimate,  which  are  materially  in 
their  normal  condition  ;  not  subject, 
that  is,  to  rupture,  decay,  or  imper- 
fection. Hence  it  is  employed  in  a 
secondary  sense  of  what  is  efficient ; 
as,  a  sound  opinion ;  sound  advice  ; 
sound  sleep,  that  is  unbroken  ;  sound 
justice,  that  is  impartial. 

Sane  (Lat.  sdnus)  is,  in  modern 
English,  seldom  employed  of  the  body, 
but  only  of  the  mind.  A  sane  man 
is  a  man  of  sound  mind.  Sound  is  a 
term  conveying  some  degree  of  praise. 
Sane  is  no  more  than  the  opposite  to 
insane. 

Healthy  (A.S.  /ke/<S  )  denotes  more 
than  sound,  thougli  it  is  applicable 
only  to  the  frames  and  constitutions 
of  organized  things.  A  sound  body 
is  without  defect.  A  healthy  body  is 
in  the  enjoyment  of  life.  A  sound 
tree  grows.  A  healthy  tree  is  luxu- 
riant in  growth.  Soundness  may  be 
tested.  Healthiness  speaks  for  itself. 
It  is  analogously  applied ;  as,  a  heal- 
thy tone  of  public  morals. 
"  I  would  I  had  that  corporal  soundness 

now, 
As  when  thy  father  and  myself  in  friend- 
ship 
First  tried  our  soldiership." 

Shakespeark. 
"A  happiness  that  often  madness  hits  on, 
Which  sanity  and  reason  could  not  be 
So  prosperously  delivered  of."  Jbid. 

"  Charles  of  Sweden  is  of  a  very  vigorous 
and  health!/  constitution,  takes  a  pleasure 
in  enduring  the  greatest  fatigues,  and  is 
little  curious  about  his  repose." — Burnet. 

It  maybe  observed  that,  while  Sound 
and  Sane  are  only  expressive  of  pas- 
sive qualities,  Healthy  has  also  an 
active  force,  in  the  sense  of  imparting 
health ;  or  a  relative  force,  as  consis- 
tent with  health;  as,  a  healthy  drauglit, 
a  healthy  climate. 

SPEAK.     Talk. 

Communication  by  veibal  signs  is 
common  to  these  words.  Speak  (AS. 


SYNONYMS  [sound] 

sj)6caii)  is  indefinite,  and  may  involve 
one  word  or  many.  A  person  re- 
covering from  insensibility  may  be 
just  able  to  speak,  though  not  to 
talk  (A.S.  tal,  number ^  tale,  talk). 
which  is  to  speak  consecutively  ana 
on  divers  subjects.  The  word  is  allied 
to  "  tell."  Speech  is  of  one.  Talk 
may  be  shared  by  several.  To  speak 
is  a  characteristic  of  man ;  to  talk,  of 
loquacious  man. 

♦•  They  sat  down  with  him  upon  th^ 
gi'ouud  seven  days  and  seven  nights,  and 
none  spake  a  word  unto  him." — English 
Bible. 

"  Their  talk,  when  it  was  not  made  up  of 
nautical  phrases,  was  too  commonly  made 
up  of  oaths  and  curses." — MaCAULAY. 

SPECIAL  or  Especial.  Specific. 
Pauticulau.     Peculiar. 

Special  and  Specific  are  both  de- 
rived from  Lat.  sptcies;  Particular  is 
the  Lat.  parttculdriSf  partem,  a  part. 
Special  comes  under  general,  as  spe- 
cies under  genus.  A  general  rule  ap- 
plies to  the  largest  range  of  cases  ;  a 
special  rule,  to  a  narrower  range; 
while  Specific  and  Particular  point 
to  individual  cases,  yet  as  comingunder 
the  species  or  the  whole.  Pa  aricuLAR 
divides  the  individual  from  othei-s ; 
Specific  connects  it  with  what  is  pre- 
dicated concerning  it.  This  appears 
in  the  verbs  spec^'y  and  particularize. 
To  particularize  is  to  take  the  subject 
to  pieces,  and  show  what  it  is  made 
up  of.  To  specify  is  distinctly  to 
point  out  what  it  is  we  speak  about. 
vVe  specify  by  one.  We  particularize 
by  many  in  detail. 

Peculiar  (Lat.  pccHliaris,  relating 
topecfilium,one'sownpropertii)auali&ea 
that  which  belongs  to  an  individual 
or  to  a  class.  Particular  qualifies 
what  belongs  to  one  sort  or  kind  only, 
exclusively  of  others ;  hence  Peculiar 
stands  to  Particular  as  the  individual 
to  the  species  or  genus.  The  parti- 
cular flavour  of  the  pine-apple  is  that 
which  distinguishes  it  from  other 
kinds  of  fruit.  But  if  we  were  doubt- 
ful about  the  taste  of  a  particular 
pine-apple,  we  should  say  that  it  had 
a  peculiar  flavour.  As  to  the  sub- 
stantives, Particularo  ure  minor  cir- 
cumstances, which  constitute  the  de- 
tails of  complex  idea?  ">r  occurrences ; 


[SPECULATIONJ          DISCRIMINATED. 


697 


peculiarities  are  qualities  which  attach 
to  individual  objects  or  persons. 

"  But  it  is  rather  manifest  that  the 
essence  of  spirits  is  a  substance  specifically 
distinct  from  all  corporeal  matter  whatso- 
ever."— More. 

Both  Special  and  Specific  mean,  in 
the  first  instance,  pertaining  to  or  con- 
stituting a  species ;  but  Specific  gene- 
rally means  indicative  of  a  particular 
thing  ;  Special,  relating  to  a  particu- 
lar puipose.  "  1  mentioned  it  specifi- 
cally." "  I  have  resei-ved  it  specially.'' 
And  in  this  way  both  seem  often  to 
belong  to  individuals,  the  whole  idea 
of  species  being  lost.  A  specific  Act  of 
Parliament  is  one  definitively  pointed 
out.  A  special  Act  of  Parliament  is 
one  framed  to  meet  a  particular  case. 
Hence  Special  has  sometimes  the 
force  of  chief,  prominent,  and  the 
like,  as  being  that  to  which  observa- 
tion or  regard  is  more  particularly 
directed. 

*'  Our  Saviour  is  represented  everywhere 
in  Scripture  as  the  special  patron  of  the 
poor  and  afflicted." — Bishop  Atterburv. 

"  In  fact,  all  medicines   will   be  found 

goecific  in  the  perfection  of  the  science." — 
OLERIDGE. 

"  Of  this  prince  there  is  little  particular 
memory."— Bacon. 

That  which  is  particular  is  rftsfi»^iaV/et/ 
from  the  rest.  That  which  is  peculiar 
is  unlike  the  rest.  Particular  is  an 
absolute  term;  Peculiar  is  relative. 
A  particular  property  is  one,  and  not 
another.  A  peculiar  property  belongs 
to  one  thing,  and  not  to  another. 
"  The  gods  still  listened  to  their  constant 

prayer, 
And  made  the  jioets  their  peculiar  care." 
Pitt. 

SPECK.     Spot.     Mottle. 

A  Speck  (A.  S.  specca,  a  speck, 
blemish)  is  a  small  spot.  So  a  ground 
of  one  colour,  as  the  tawny  hide  of  a 
leopard,  would  be  called  Spotted,  if 
the  foreign  maculations  bore  some 
considerable  proportion  to  tlie  ground 
covered;  Speckled,  if  each  were 
inconsiderable  in  itself,  and  especially 
if  they  were  not  conspicuous.  If  they 
were  still  further  so,  and  the  colours 
were  diflferent,  or  of  diflferent  shades, 
it  would  be  said  to  be  Mottled  (O. 
Fr.  maltcl^,  curdled). 


SPECTATOR.  Beholder.  Ob- 
server. 

A  Spectator  (Lat.  spectator,  spec- 
tare,  to  look  on,  to  gaze  at)  is  a  looker 
on.  The  term  is  indefinite.  He  may 
be  concerned  or  unconcerned  with 
what  he  sees.  The  term,  however. 
implies  a  more  or  less  complex  cha- 
racter iu  that  which  engages  his  at- 
tention. 

The  Beholder  (A.  S.  behealdan,  U 
holdy  observe,  guard)  views  with  some 
degree  of  interest  what  he  sees.  The 
Observer  looks  on  attentively,  and 
takes  account  of  particulars,  and  re- 
ceives impressions,  on  which  he  sub- 
sequently rellects.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  spectator  is  interested  or  un- 
interested ;  the  beholder  is  attentive 
or  inattentive;  the  observer  is  close 
or  casual. 

"  Two  powers  divine  the  son  of  Atreiu 

aid. 
Imperial  Juno  and  the  martial  maid  ; 
But  high  in  heaven  they  sit,  and  gaze  from 

far. 
The  tame  spectators  of  his  deeds  of  war." 
Pope,  Homer. 

"  I  frequently  offered  to  turn  my  sight 
another  way,  but  was  still  detained  by 
the  fascination  of  the  peeper's  eyes,  who 
had  long  practised  a  skill  in  them  to  recall 
the  parting  glances  of  her  beholders" — 
Spectator. 

"  I  do  love 
To  note  and  to  observe,  though  I  live  ont 
Free   from   the   active    torrent ;    yet   I'd 

mark 
The  currents  and  the  passages  of  things 
For  mine  own  private  use,  and  know  the 

ebbs 
And  flows  of  state."  Ben  Jonson. 

SPECULATION.    Theory. 

Speculation  (Lat.  sptciildri,  lospy 
out,  explore)  is  closely  akin,  etvmolo- 
pically,  to  Theory,  which  is  the 
Greek  Qioifia,  from  Bioophv,  to  speculate. 
But  speculation  is  carried  on  by  the 
use  of  common  judgment  and  common 
sense  upon  the  transactions  of  life ; 
theory,  upon  scientific  matters  by  the 
exercise  of  the  scientific  faculties. 

"Sudden  fortunes,  indeed,  are  sometimes 
made  iu  such  places  by  what  is  called  the 
trade  of  speculation.  The  speculative  mer- 
chant exercises  no  one  regular  established 

or  well-known  branch  of  business." Smith 

Wealth  of  Natums. 

"  Theory  is  a  general  collection  of  infe^ 


698 


SYNONYMS  [spend] 


rences  drawn  from  facts  and  compressed 
into  principles." — Parr. 

SPEND.     ExPKND. 

Spend  (A.  S.  spendan,  to  consume, 
spend),  is  a  term  which  we  use  indefi- 
nitely; Expend  (Lat.  expendire,  to 
weigh  out  in  payment,  to  expend),  rela- 
tively. He  who  spends  simply  pays 
out.  He  who  expends  pays  out  from 
a  particular  source  and  on  a  particular 
object.  "  He  spent  so  much  at  col- 
lege," tells  no  more  than  the  amount. 
*' He  expended  so  much,"  would 
mean  such  a  proportion  of  his  income 
as  he  set  apart  for  some  purpose,  what- 
ever it  may  have  been.  Yet  it  deserves 
to  be  remarked  that  Expend  has  gene- 
rally the  character  of  sober  purpose. 
We  spend,  not  expend,  money  upon 
frivolities. 

"  Why  do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which 
is  not  bread  ?  " — English  Bible. 

"  This  duty  implies  a  due  esteem  and 
valuation  of  benefits,  that  the  nature  and 
quality,  the  measure  and  quantity,  the 
circumstances  and  consetjuences  of  them 
be  well  expended;  else  the  gratitude  is 
like  to  be  none,  or  very  defective." — Bar- 
row. 

SPONTANEOUS.  Willing.  Vo- 
luntary. 

These  terms  diminish  in  force  in 
the  order  here  given.  Spontaneous 
(Lat.  spontdneus,  of  one's  own  accord) 
is  employed  of  that  which  bursts  forth 
from  some  inherent  force  of  nature, 
and  may  be  even  independent  of  will ; 
as,  a  spontaneous  burst  of  applause. 
Hence  it  is  applicable  to  inanimate 
things.  Willing  expresses  a  free 
action  of  the  will  congenially  exer- 
cised ;  but  it  more  commonly  relates 
to  what  is  done  in  accordance  with 
the  desire  of  others ;  while  Volun- 
tary (Lat.  v'6limtarius)  implies  that 
the  motive  lay  in  oneself.  "  He  did 
i/:  voluntarily,"  that  is,  he  proceeded 
to  do  it  of  his  own  accord.  "  He  did 
it  willingly,"  that  is,  he  readily  ac- 
ceded to  the  request  or  proposal  to  do 
it.  Voluntary  is  not  so  strong  as 
Willing;  for  Willing  implies  a  pre- 
ference of  the  will ;  while  any  deed 
may  be  called  voluntary  which  is  not 
involuntary  or  compulsory. 

•♦  By  spontaneity  is  meant  inconsiderate 


action,  or  else  nothing  is  meant  by  it." — 
HOBBS. 

"  'Tis  impossible  but  they  must  wish  God 
would  be  pleased  particularly  to  signify  ex- 
pressly the  aceeptabloness  of  repentance, 
and  His  willingness  to  forgive  returning 
sinners." — Clarke. 

"  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  God 
acts  not  necessarily  but  voluntarily  with 
particular  intention  and  design,  knowing 
that  He  does  good,  and  intending  to  do  so 
freely  and  out  of  choice,  and  when  He  has 
no  other  constraint  upon  Him  but  this, 
that  His  goodness  inclines  His  will  to 
communicate  Himself  and  to  do  good." — 
Clarkk. 

SPRING.     Fountain.     Source. 

The  Spring  (A.  S.  spring,  a  spring, 
fountain-head)  is  the  hidden  origin  of 
the  stream  where  the  water  rises  me- 
chanically from  the  earth. 

The  term  Fountain  (Fr.fontaine),  as 
now  employed,  denotes  a  jet  or  stream 
of  water  artificially  produced.  The 
water  from  a  fountain  falls  splashing 
from  some  degree  of  elevation.  The 
Geyser  springs  of  Iceland  project 
themselves  to  a  considerable  heio;bt 
into  the  air  like  a  natural  fountain; 
but,  being  natural,  are  not  called 
fountains. 

The  Source  (Fr.  source,  Lat.  sursa, 
a  spring,  Braciiet;  from  surgere,  to 
rise)  of  a  stream  follows  upon  the 
spring,  and  is  measured  from  the 
point  where  the  water  begins  to  flow 
laterally.  The  two  latter  are  used  in  a 
secondary  sense ;  Source,  in  the  way 
of  that  Avhich  produces  a  continuous 
supply  ;  Fountain,  in  the  higher  and 
more  mystical  style,  as,  "  The  eternal 
Fount  of  truth  and  light;"  "The 
king  is  the  fountain  of  honour." 
Spring  is  used  less  often  directl;^,  aa 
Bentley,  "  A  secret  spring  of  spiritual 

joy-" 

*•  Upon  the  sprynge  of  freshe  wellea. 
She  stope  to  dwell  and  no  where  elles." 
GoWER. 
"  And  in  the  midst  of  all  a,  fountain  stood. 
Of  richest  substance  that  en  earth  might 
be. 
So  pure  and  shiny,  that  the  silver  flood 
Through    every    channel    running   one 

might  see."  Spknskb. 

"  If  there  is  anyone  English  word  which 
is  now  become  virtually  literal  in  its  meta- 
phorical application,  it  is  the  word  source. 
Who  is  it  that  ever  thonght  of  a  spring  or 
fountain  of  water  in  speaking  of  God  as  tb« 


[STATEj 


DISCRIMINATED. 


699 


source  of  existence,  of  the  sun  as  the  source 
of  light  and  heat,  of  land  as  one  of  the 
sources  of  national  wealth,  or  of  sensation 
and  reflection  as  the  only  sources  (accord- 
ing to  Locke)  of  human  knowledge  ? — pro- 
positions which  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
enunciate  with  equal  clearness  and  concise- 
ness in  any  other  manner." — Stewart. 

SPY.     Emissary. 

The  Spy  (Fr.  espier,  now  epier)  is  a 
less  formal  term  than  Emissary  (Lat. 
imissdrius,  an  emissary,  spy,  imitttre,  to 
send  forth).  A  spy  is,  "^indefinitely, 
one  set  to  watch  others.  In  war,  or 
between  hostile  nations,  the  spy 
enters  the  enemy's  camp  or  territory, 
but  for  the  mere  purpose  of  observa- 
tion. His  safety  depends  on  his  being 
unrecognized.  The  emissary  is  some- 
times not  afraid  of  being  recognized, 
and  mingles  in  the  councils  of  the 
enemy,  which  he  endeavours  to  in- 
fluence. The  commonest  and  meanest 
of  men  may  be  spies.  A  certain  de- 
gree of  intelligence  and  responsibility 
are  associated  with  the  emissary, 
who  is  more  fully  acknowledged 
by  those  who  depute  him,  though 
not  officially ;  while  spies  generally 
carry  on  their  business  on  their 
own  account.  A  clever  spy  may  be 
promoted  to  be  an  emissary.  A  per- 
son may  turn  spy  for  himself;  but 
appointment  makes  the  emissary. 
The  spy  plays  a  simple  and  negative 

Jmrt,  the  part  of  the  emissary  is  mani- 
old  and  active.  He  will  raise  false 
reports,  or  spread  suggestions,  and  is 
a  tool  of  agitation,  while  a  spy  is  only 
a  tool  of  information. 

"  As  esich  is  known  to  be  a  spy  upon  the 
rest,  they  all  live  in  continual  restraint, 
and  having  but  a  narrow  range  for  censure, 
they  gratify  its  cravings  by  preying  upon 
one  another." — Idler. 

"  But  as  pain  is  stronger  in  its  operation 
than  pleasure,  so  death  is  in  general  a  much 
more  affecting  idea  than  pain ;  because 
there  are  very  few  pains,  however  exqui- 
site, which  are  not  preferred  to  death  ;  nay, 
what  makes  pain  itself,  if  I  may  say  so, 
more  painful  is,  that  it  is  considered  as 
an  emissary  *x)  this  King  of  Terrors."— 
Burke. 

STAMMER.     Stutter. 

He  is  said  to  Stammer  (A.  S. 
stumor,  stammering)  who  from  any 
cause  speaks  inarticulately  and  dis- 
'ointedl}',  as  from  indecision,  want  of 


words,  or  natural  defect  of  speech. 
He  only  is  said  to  Stutter  (an  ono- 
matop  word,  compare  Gei-m.  stottern^ 
who  sutlers  from  the  last.  The  stam- 
merer utters  words,  though  with  diffi- 
culty. The  stutterer  is  frequently  un- 
able to  form  a  word  at  aU. 

STANDARD.    Criterion.    Test. 

A  Standard  (O.  Fr.  estendard, 
Lat.  extendere)  is  a  measure  of  quan- 
tity or  excellence. 

A  Criterion  (Gr.  npirnpiov,  a  stan- 
dard test)  is  a  measure  of  judgment; 
Test  (with  some  Lat.  testis,  a  witness  ; 
with  others,  Lat.  testiun,  a  clay  vessel, 
i.e.  chemist's  crucible,  a  measure  oj 
quality).  We  employ  a  "standard  to 
demonstrate  the  degree  of  excellence 
which  a  thing  may  have  reached.  We 
use  a  criterion  as  something  esta- 
blished and  approved,  by  which  facts, 
principles,  or  acts  are  tried,  in  order 
to  a  correct  judgment  respecting 
them.  A  test  is  a  trial  or  criterion  of 
the  most  decisive  kind,  by  which  the 
internal  properties  of  things  or  per- 
sons are  ti-ied  and  proved.  It  is  capa- 
ble of  a  more  purely  physical  applica- 
tion than  the  others,  as,  the  strength 
of  a  rope  may  be  tested  by  the  weight 
suspended.  Coins,  weights,  and  mea 
sures  are  fixed  by  governments  at 
certain  standards  for  the  sake  of  uni- 
formity in  commercial  transactions. 
Manners  are  a  criterion  of  station  and 
training.  Self-denial  is  in  most  cases 
a  test  of  sincerity. 

"  It  is  therefore  necessaiy  to  have  re- 
course to  some  visible,  palpable,  material 
standard,  by  forming  a  comparison  with 
which  all  weights  and  measures  may  be  re- 
duced to  one  uniform  size  ;  and  the  prero- 
gative of  fixing  this  standard  our  ancient 
law  vested  in  the  crown." — Blackstone. 

"  Our  knowledge  thei'efore  is  real  only  so 
far  as  there  is  a  conformity  between  our 
ideas  and  the  reality  of  things.  But  what 
shall  be  the  criterion?  How  shall  the 
mind,  when  it  perceives  nothing  but  its 
own  ideas,  know  that  they  agree  with 
things  themselves?" — Locke. 

"  Life  force  and  beauty  must  to  all  impart^ 
At  once  the  source,  the  end,  and  test  of 
art."  PoPB. 

STATE.    Condition.    Situation. 
State  (Lat.    stdtus,  position)    ex- 
presses an   habitual,  or  permanent. 


700 


SYNONYMS  [statue] 


Condition  (Lat.  conditionem,  condh-t. 
to  put  togethe"^)  an  accidental,  and 
Situation  (I^at.  situs,  a  site)  a  rela- 
tive, aggi'egate  of  personal  surround- 
ings or  circumstances  of  things.  A 
man  is  born  in  a  high,  low,  or  inter- 
mediate state  of  life.  His  house  is  in 
good  or  bad  condition,  as  it  wants 
much  or  little  repair.  If  it  is  in  a 
very  bad  state,  it  may  have  to  be 
pulled  down.  The  same  house  is  in 
an  eligible  or  ineligible  situation,  ac- 
cording to  the  relation  it  bears  to 
aspect,  neighbourhood,  and  the  like. 
If  one  is  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  the 
restoration  will  be  at  least  long ;  if  in 
a  bad  condition,  lighter  remedies  will 
be  sufficient.  All  three  terms  are  em- 
ployed of  social  relationship.  In  that 
case  a  situation  is  specific  office  or  em- 
ployment. The  condition  of  life  bears 
reference  to  social  rank ;  the  state  of 
life  to  social  occupation.  Money  will 
gometimes  make  men  forget  their 
humble  condition,  and  even  tempt 
them  to  forget  the  duties  of  that  state 
of  life  to  which  they  belong. 

"The  A'ery  nature  of  a  state  of  trial 
shows  us  the  necessity  of  being  satisfied 
with  God's  appointment  of  it." — GiLPlN. 

"  Whilst  the  Church  of  Christ  was  sub- 
ject to  insults  and  persecution  from  the 
Pagan  powers,  and  in  a  low  and  distressed 
condition,  the  Christians  assembled  toge- 
ther as  often  as  they  could,  and  took  all 
possible  care  to  instruct  and  animate  and 
comfort  and  relieve  one  another." — JoRTlK. 

"  Thus  situated,  we  began  to  clear  places 
in  the  woods,  in  order  to  set  up  the  astro- 
nomer's observatory,  the  forge  to  repair 
our  iron  work,  tents  for  the  sail-makers  and 
coopers  to  repair  the  sails  and  casks  in,  to 
land  our  empty  casks,  to  fill  water,  and  to 
cut  down  wood  for  fuel,  all  of  which  were 
absolutely  necessary  occupations." — Cook's 
Voj/ayes. 

STATUE.     Image. 

A  Statue  (Fr.  statue,  Lat.  stUtua) 
is  a  solid  substance  carved  or  moulded 
into  the  likeness  of  a  living  being. 
The  statue  is  more  or  less  erect, 
standing  or  sitting.  We  do  not  speak 
of  a  recumbent  statue. 

The  Image  (Lat.  imdg'inem)  is  a 
likeness  of  a  person  or  thing,  and  so 
may  be  of  an  inanimate  object.  The 
image  of  an  object  may  be  seen  in 
gliadow  on  a  wall.  In  regard  to 
similitudes  of  the  same  classes  of  ob- 


jects as  those  represented  by  statues, 
the  image  is  generally  smaller  than 
the  statue,  less  artistic,  and  more 
specifically  imitative. 

STAY.     Remain. 

To  Stay  (Lat.  stare,  to  stand)  is  to 
desist  from  motion. 

Remain  (Lat.  rtrndna-e)  is  to  per- 
severe in  rest.  Stay  is  not  used  of 
impersonal  objects  ;  as  we  say,  "when 
two  is  taken  from  four,  two  remains." 
To  stay  is  a  voluntary  act.  "  I  will 
gladly  stay  here ;"  or,  "  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  remain  here."  A  stone 
remains,  not  stays,  in  the  place  where 
it  is  put.  "  The  only  hope  that  re- 
mains," we  say,  not  stays.  Stay  is  in 
some  respects  absolute  ;  Remain,  re- 
lative. That  stays  which  no  will  is 
exerted  to  remove.  That  remaing 
which  is  left  after  the  exercise  of  some 
power  or  influence,  especially  such  aa 
remove  other  things  in  the  same  con- 
dition. Stay  has  often  a  reference  to 
future,  Remain  to  past,  movement. 
'*  I  was  so  fatigued  with  my  journey 
that  I  determined  to  stay  a  day 
longer;"  or,  "I  shall  not  remain 
here  more  than  another  day."  Practi- 
cally, the  words  are  often  inter- 
changeable. Remain  can  hardly  be 
employed  independently  when  the 
case  is  one  of  human  action,  but  re- 
quires the  addition  of  words.  "  I 
cannot  stay,"  or,  "I  cannot  remain 
here  any  longer." 

*'  After  a  stay  of  more  than  two  montha 
at  Concordia,  their  number  was  diminished 
nearly  one-half  by  8ickne«ss,  in  conseqnenc* 
of  the  fatigue  and  hardship  which  they  had 
sufi'ered  by  the  shipwreck ;  and  the  sur- 
vivors were  sent  in  a  small  vessel  to  Eu 
rope."— Cook's  Voyages. 

"  That  an  elder  brother  hath  power  otei 
his  brethren  remains  to  be  proved." — 
Locke. 

STEEPLE.  Tower.  Spire. 
Belfry. 

The  Steeple  (A.  S.  stipel)  of  a 
church  is  not,  strictly  gpeaVin^,  an 
architectural  feature  of  it.  It  is  the 
highest  portion  of  the  building,  ti»e 
steep  member,  and  may  be  a  tower  on 
a  spire. 

The  Tower  (Fr.  touVj  Lat.  turrim) 
is  the  steeple  when  it  is  of  a  rectan- 


[stout  J 


lylSCRIMINATED. 


701 


gular  form  or  round,  though  church 
towers  of  the  latter  kind  are  very  rare 
except  as  subordinate  towers  or  tur- 
rets. They  are  also  commonly  battle- 
mented. 

The  SwRE  (Fr.  spire,  Lat.  spira, 
Gr.  cTTrsr^a,  a  cod)  is  an  elongated 
pyramidal  erection,  based  upon  the 
tower,  and  belonging  especially  to 
the  two  intermediate  periods  of  eccle- 
siastical architecture,  the  first  and 
second  Pointed,  being  unknown  to 
the  early  Norman,  and  often  pur- 
posely omitted  in  the  Perpendicular 
style. 

A  Belfry  is  the  French  beffroi ; 
the  L.  Lat.  berfredus^  M.  H.  G. 
bervrit,  a  waich-tower  ;  which  it  is  in- 
teresting to  note,  if  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  warning  against  any  connexion 
with  bells,  with  which  it  is  sometimes 
associated.  It  is  at  present  the  part 
of  the  building  in  which  the  bells  are 
commonly  hung,  but  according  to  its 
etymology  it  means  not  what  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  modern  Italian  cam- 
vanile,hut  a  watch-tower,  or  tower  of 
defence. 

STOCK.     Store. 

A  Stock  (A.  S.  stoc,  a  stocky  tnmk) 
and  Store  (Fr.  estorer,  tobuildjuriiish, 
Lat.  instaurdre)  are  employed  to  denote 
a  supply  of  accumulated  property  or 
goods.  The  stock  is  that  which  is 
available  as  the  means  of  its  own  in- 
crease. The  store  is  that  to  which 
additions  have  to  be  made.  The  store 
is  the  result  of  industry  ;  the  stock  is 
the  source  and  foundation  of  it. 

"  The  revenue  or  profit  arising  from  stock 
nati rally  divides  itself  into  two  parts,  that 
which  pays  the  interest  and  which  belongs 
to  the  owner  of  the  stock,  and  that  surplus 
part  which  is  over  and  above  what  is  neces- 
sary for  paying  the  interest." — SMITH, 
Wea'-th  of  Nations. 

"  He  not  only  uses  the  whole  profit  of  the 
stock  which  he  employs  in  this  manner, 
but  a  part  of  the  stock  itself,  by  the  ex- 
pense and  loss  which  necessarily  attend  the 
storing  and  keeping  of  corn." — Ibid. 

STORM.    Tempest.    Hurricane. 

Stoam  (A.  S.  stomiy  storm,  tempest) 
being  of  northern  origin,  Tempest 
Lat.  tempcstas,  season,  or  weather),  bad 
weather,  of  southern  origin,  and 
4uBaicANE  V  originally  a  Carib  word. 


huracan)  of  tropical  origin,  express 
the  same  phenomenon,  varied  accord- 
ing to  the  peculiarities  of  different 
latitudes.  A  Storm  implies  violent 
wind  disturbing  clouds,  woods,  and 
seas,  with  rain,  or  perhaps  snow  oi 
hail.  Te3ipest  is  violent  wind  ac- 
companied by  rain,  thunder,  and 
lightning.  Hurricane  is  a  storm  of 
that  degree  of  intensity  which  is, 
strictly  speaking,  known  only  within 
the  ti-opics. 

**  A  daring  pilot  in  extremity, 
Pleased  with  the  danger  when  the  waves 

went  high. 
He  sought  the  storms."  Drtdkx. 

"The  afternoon  was  tempestttous,  with 
much  rain,  and  the  surf  everywhere  ran  so 
high,  that  although  we  rowed  almost  round 
the  bay,  we  found  no  place  where  we  could 
land." — Cook's  Voyages, 

"  I  shall  speak  next  of  hurricanes.  These 
are  violent  storms,  raging  chiefly  among 
the  Caribbee  Island?,  though  by  relation 
Jamaica  has  of  late  been  much  annoyed  by 
them.  They  are  expected  in  July,  August, 
or  September."— Dampier's  Voyages. 

STOUT.  Fat.  Corpulent.  Lusty 
Brawny. 

Stout  (Old  Fr.  estout,  estot,  bold)^ 
m  our  older  writers,  was  employed  to 
express  the  combination  of  physical 
strength  and  courage,  and  when  it 
stood  for  either  of  these  separately  it 
was  for  the  latter.  Traces  still  re- 
main of  this  use  in  such  phrases  as, 
"A  stout  hea|^;"  "A  stout  resis- 
tance." It  is  now  commonly  used  for 
thick-set  or  bulky,  but  not  in  excess, 
unless  this  is  specifically  said.  It  de- 
scribes an  appearance  characteristic 
of  strength  and  vigour.  It  is  em- 
ployed analogously  of  material  sub- 
stances ;  as,  a  stout  plank ;  stout 
cloth  ;  a  stout  vessel.  In  the  human 
subject  it  respects  the  state  of  the 
muscles  and  bones. 

Fat  (A.  S.  fcttt)  denotes  an  exhi- 
bition of  the  oleaginous  substance  de- 
posited in  the  cells  of  the  adipose  or 
cellular  membrane.  When  this  exista 
in  superabundance,  the  person  is  said 
to  be  Corpulent  (Lat.  corpiilentus, 
fleshy,  fat).  Fat  may  be  local  or 
partial.  Corpulent  applies  to  the 
whole  body. 

Lusty  (A.  S.  Imt,  desire^  delight)  ii 
less  in  use  now  than  formerly.     Likt 


702 


SYNONYMS 


[strain] 


Stout,  it  denotes  abundance  of  life  and 
vigour,  and  thus  differs  from  corpu- 
lence, which  may  be  the  effect  of  dis- 
ease. 

Brawny  (Old  Fr.  hraon,  a  -piece  of 
fiesh)  indicates  the  union  of  stoutness 
or  corporal  development  with  muscu- 
lar power. 
*•  He  was  to  wit  a  stout  and  stnrdy  thief. 

Wont   to   rob   churches   of  their  orna- 
ments. 
And  poor  men's  boxes  of  their  due  relief. 

Which  given  was  to  them  for  good  in- 
tents." Spenser, 

"  All  the  superfluous  weight  of  an  animal 
beyond  the  vessels,  bones,  and  muscles,  is 
nothing  hnt  fat ;  but  the  conversion  of  the 
aliment  into  fat  is  not  properly  nutrition, 
which  is  a  reparation  of  the  solids  and 
fluids."— Arbuthnot. 

"  Some  labour  fasting,  or  but  slightly  fed. 
To  lull   the   grinding    stomach's    hungry 

rage. 
Where  Nature  feeds  too  corpulent  a  frame, 
'Tis  wisely  done."  Akmstroi^g. 

"  Young  and  lusty  as  an  Eagle." — Eng- 
lish Bible. 

"  Brawny  limbs."— Washington  Irving. 

STRAIN.     Stress.     Sprain. 

Strain  (Lat.  stringeref  to  draw 
tight)  is  great,  perhaps  undue,  tension, 
but  in  a  normal  way  or  direction ;  as 
when  an  unusually  heavy  weight  is 
suspended  to  a  rope.  We  strain  the 
voice,  and,  figuratively,  we  strain  an 
expression  ;  that  is,  w%  put  a  great  or 
undue  stretch  upon  it,  so  as  to  make 
it  extend  to  some  meaning  which  it 
does  not  easily  and  naturally  express. 

Sprain  (O.  Fr.  espreindre,  Lat.  ex- 
primercy  to  press  out,  squeeze  out)  de- 
notes abnormal  and  usually  sudden 
straining  of  the  muscles  or  ligaments 
of  a  joint,  and  belongs  to  animal 
bodies. 

Stress  (Old  Eng.  stresse,  equivalent 
to  distress,  Lat.  distringere)  is  strain, 
pressure,  or  force  peculiarly  and  speci- 
fically exerted,  whether  mechanical  or 
voluntary;  as,  a  ship  puts  into  port 
under  stress,  that  is,  peculiar  pres- 
sure, of  weather.  We  lay  great  stress, 
that  is,  peculiarly  strong  accentuation, 
on  a  particular  word,  or,  in  a  secon- 
dary sense,  upon  an  observation,  re- 
mark, argument,  or  consideration.  'J'he 
distinctive  idea  of  Strain  is  force;  of 


Sprain,  distortion ;  of  SrftEss,  specif* 

force. 

"  Now  every  English  eye  intent 

On  Branksome's  armed  towers  was  bent ; 

So  near  they  were  that  they  might  know 

The  straining  harsh  of  each  cross  bow," 
Walter  Scott. 

"  The  single-twyned  cordes  may  no  such 
stresse  indure. 

As  caybles  brayded  threfold  may,  togethet 
wrethed  sure."  Surrey, 

"  The  sudden  turn  may  stretch  the  swell- 
ing vein, 

The    cracking    joint  unhinge,    or    ankle 
sprain."  Gay, 

STRAIT.     Narrow.     Tight. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  first  ot 
these  terms  seems  gradually  to  have 
dropped  more  and  more  into  disuse, 
till  it  bids  fair  to  part  with  itself 
in.-tjsxLJiirecl;iohs,  and  to  divide  its 
meaning  between^TiGHT  and  Narrow, 
neither  of  which  can  be  equivalent  to 
it.  The  fundamental  idea  of  the  Strait 
is  restriction.  If  restriction  from  de- 
viation, then  the  word  means  direct. 
If  restriction  from  expansion,  then  it 
means  Narrow. 

Narrow  (A.  S.  nearo,  narrow,  not 
related  to  "  near ")  is  altogether  in- 
definite, as  the  mere  opposite  to  broad ; 
as,  a  narrow  road,  a  nan-ow  ribbon. 

But  Strait  (Lat.  strictus,  from  stnn- 
gt^re,  to  strain  or  draw  tight,  Old  Fr. 
estroit,  Mod.  Fr.  ^troit)  denotes  that 
kind  of  narrowness  which  is  accom- 
panied by  some  degree  of  practica' 
pressure,  confinement,  restriction,  or 
inconvenience.  So  we  speak  of  strait- 
ened cii'cumstances ;  a  strait  waist- 
coat. 

Tight  (Old  Eng.  part,  passive  of 
the  verb  to  tie)  denotes  that  which  is 
firmly  held  together  in  its  compo- 
nent parts,  as  a  tight  cask;  fitting 
close  to  another  body,  as  a  tight  coat ; 
stretched  as  a  rope,  as  opposed  to 
loose.  It  is  in  the  second  of  these 
senses  that  it  is  synonymous  with 
Strait  and  Narrow. 

"  Strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the 
way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there 
be  that  find  it."— English  Bible. 

Tight  originally  meant  well  adapted 
and  close  fitting.  The  notion  of  vio- 
lent compression  is  an  after-growtb 
in  the  use  of  the  word- 


[strife] 

•'  While  they  are  among  the  English  they 
wear  good  clothes,  and  take  delight  to  go 
Deat  and  tight."— BAMPisn's  Voyages. 

"  Placed  so  tightly  as  to  squeeze  myself 
in  half  my  natural  dimensions,"— Knox. 

STREAM.    Current.    Tide. 

Stream  (A.  S.  stredm)  denotes  the 
uniform  movement  of  a  fluid  or  liquid 
body,  or  a  body  which,  being  com- 
posed of  separate  moving  parts  or 
particles,  may  be  regarded  as  fluid ; 
as,  for  instance,  a  crowd  in  a  certain 
direction.  It  conveys  the  idea  of 
uniform  force  operating  as  a  cause, 
and  a  consequent  steadiness  in  the 
movement  of  the  body. 

Current  (Lat.  currentem,  rimningf 
part,  of  currcre,  to  run)  expresses  no 
more  than  a  flow  of  some  degree  of 
force,  and  may  be  unsteady  as  to 
strength  and  direction.  Hence  we 
sa}',  "  a  steady  stream,"  "  shifting 
currents."  Smaller  currents  some- 
times run  in  diiferent,  and  even  con- 
trar}'^,  directions  to  the  main  stream. 

Tide  (Old  Eng.  tide,  meaning  time, 
cf.  Ger.  zeit,  ti7ne)  is  periodical  flux 
and  reflux  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean, 
or  other  waters  connected  with  it.  It 
originally  meant  season.  So  Fuller: 
*'  At  the  tide  of  Christ  his  birth."  In 
poetry  or  poetical  speecli  the  periodi- 
cal idea  is  dropped,  and  that  ofjiow 
only  retained.  The  secondary  uses  of 
the  terms  coiTespond  with  the  pri- 
mary. We  go  with  the  stream  when 
we  make  our  opinions  or  actions  ac- 
cord witli  prevalent  powers  and  in- 
fluences. We  speak  of  the  current  jf 
popular  opinion  as  something  which 
may  at  any  time  change  its  direction ; 
of  the  current  of  our  thoughts,  mean- 
ing their  temporary  direction  and 
flow ;  and  of  the  tide  of  folly  or  of 
fashion,  as  a  periodically  recurrent 
force. 

"  Strenms    never   flow    in    vain ;    where 

streams  abound. 
How  laughs  the  land,  with  various  plenty 

crowned ! "  CoWPKR, 

"It  is  extremely  vexatious  to  a.  man  of 
eager  and  thirsty  curiosity  to  be  placed  at 
a  great  distance  fi'om  the  fountain  of  intel- 
ligence, and  not  only  never  to  receive  the 
current  of  report  till  it  has  satiated  the 
greatest  part  of  the  nation,  but  at  last  to 
&ud  it  muddied  in  its  course  and  corrupted 


DISCRIMINATED. 


703 


with  taints  or  mixtures  from  every  channel 
through  which  it  &fmed,"—Bambler. 
"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men. 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  for- 
tune ; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries." 
Shakkspkark. 

STRENUOUS.     Energetic. 

Strenuous  (Lat.  strhmus,  active, 
vigorous)  stands  to  Energetic  (see 
Energy)  as  effort  does  to  force.  The 
strenuous  endeavour  is  that  which  is 
made  with  vigour  and  perseverance, 
directed  to  the  gaining  of  a  certain 
end  in  a  certain  way;  while  the  ener- 
getic endeavour  is  only  that  which  is 
made  with  lively  efibrt.  Hence 
Strenuous  is  only  used  of  conscious 
labour,  and  not  abstractedly.  Mea- 
sures and  steps  may  be  energetic,  but 
not  strenuous ;  though  legislators  may 
make  strenuous  efforts  to  carry  certain 
measures,  and  give  them  legal  force. 
An  energetic  attempt  may  be  mis- 
directed; but  a  strenuous  attempt, 
whether  successful  or  not,  indicates 
a  strength  of  purpose  well  applied. 
Energetic  qualifies  both  disposition 
and  act.  Strenuous  act,  but  not  dis- 
position. An  energetic  act  or  person. 
A  strenuous  endeavour,  not  a  strenu- 
ous person.  The  idea  of  energy  is 
simple ;  that  of  strenuousness  is  com- 
plex, being  made  up  of  fearlessness 
and  perseverance,  besides  energy. 
"  But  what  more  oft  in  nations  grown  cor 

rupt. 
And  by  tneir  vices  brought  to  servitude. 
Than  to  love  bondage  more  than  liberty. 
Bondage  with  ease  than  strenuous  liberty?" 

Milton. 
The  original  idea  of  Energy,  as  de- 
rived from  the  Greek  philosophy,  was 
the  power  and  mode  of  operation 
peculiar  to  each  thing  in  the  order  of 
Nature. 

"  If,  then,  we  will  conceive  of  God  truly, 
and  as  far  as  we  can  adequately,  we  must 
look  upon  Him  not  only  as  an  eternal, 
but  also  as  a  Being  eternally  energetic," — 
Grew. 

STRIFE.   Contention.  Discord. 

Strife  (Ger.  streben,  to  strive)  dif- 
fers from  Contention  (Lat.  conten- 
tionem,  a  strainings  a  contest)  more  in 
the  matter  of  dignity  than  anything 
else      SrniFr  'ta  the  plniaor  and  com 


704 


moner  word,  employed  of  plainer  and 
commoner  tilings,  and  carries  with  it 
the  idea  of  lew,  noisy  contention 
about  things  which  are  not  worth  the 
words  and  temper  spent  upon  them. 
Strife  is  vulgar  contention  about 
trifles,  and  with  the  selfish  and  narrow 
end  of  mere  personal  superiority  or 
mastery  in  talk.  Contention  involves 
the  idea  of  something  better  worth 
fighting  for — some  desired  possession 
or  end.  Both  words  are  commonly- 
used  in  an  unfavourable  sense,  though 
not  exclusively ;  for  we  speak  some- 
times of  a  generous  strife  or  conten- 
tion in  a  matter  of  right. 

Discord  (Lat.  discordia)  differs 
from  Strife  as  the  negative  from  the 
positive.  Discord  involves  want  of 
unity  or  harmony  of  will  or  feeling, 
and  shows  itself  in  an  inability  to  act 
in  concert.  Strife  is  positive  and  ac- 
tive, expressed  by  Avords  and  acts  of 
violence,  and  is  emphatically  emula- 
tive; while  it  is  quite  possible  that 
discord  may  exist  without  emulation. 
Strife  commonly  arises  from  a  quarrel- 
some temper,  and  contention  from  a 
selfish  disposition. 

"  Where  there  is  then  no  good 
For  which  to  strive,  no  strife  can  grow  np 

there 
From  faction ;  for  none  sure  will  claim  in 

hell 
Precedence,  none  whose  portion  is  so  small 
Of  present  pain,  that  with  ambitious  mind 
Will  covet  more,"  Milton. 

"  Contentions  and  strivings  about  the 
law." — English  Bible. 

Discord,  unlike  strife  and  contention, 
may  be  not  only  exhibited  by  persons, 
but  is  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things, 
though  where  this  is  the  case  with 
things  moral,  it  is  better  expressed 
by  the  word  discordance.  In  the  fol- 
lowing passage  Discord  is  used  for  an 
inherent  or  essential  disharmony,  and 
discordance  for  the  operation  or  mani- 
festation of  it : — 

"While  genuine  revelation  and  sound 
philosophy  are  in  perfect  good  agreement 
with  each  other,  and  with  the  actual  con- 
stitution of  the  universe,  the  errors  of  the 
religious  on  the  one  side,  and  the  learned 
on  the  other,  run  in  contrary  directions ; 
and  the  discordance  of  these  errors  is  mis- 
taken for  a  discord  of  the  truths  on  which 
they  are  severally  grafted."  —  Blsiiop 
HORSLHY. 


SYNONYMS  [strive] 


STRIVE.  Contend.  Vie.  Strug- 
gle.    Endeavour. 

To  Strive  {see  Strife)  is  the  most 
common  and  generic  of  these  terms. 
It  sio-nifies  simply  to  use  effort,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  the  verb  repre- 
senting the  idea  of  the  noun  effort. 
To  make  an  effort  is  to  strive.  It  may 
express  such  effort  relatively  to,  or 
irrespectively  of,  any  efforts  oi  others ; 
as,  to  strive  to  gain  an  honest  living, 
or  to  strive  for  a  prize  or  mastery,  it 
commonly  involves  a  desirable  object, 
or  what  is  deemed  so. 

Contend  (Lat.  contendere,  to  stram, 
to  contend)  denotes  such  effort  as  is 
contravened  by  other  effort.  The 
uppermost  idea  in  Strive  is  effort ;  in 
Contend,  competition. 

Vie  (]  A.  S.  wigan,  to  contendy  or, 
according  to  some,  Fr,  envier,  to  chal- 
^nge,  a  term  of  gamesters,  Lat.  inv'i- 
tare)  is,  as  its  derivation  shows,  a  sort 
of  contending ;  but  it  does  not  imply, 
as  Contend  does,  the  substantial  ac- 
quisition of  anything,  but  something 
which  is  indirectly  advantageous,  or 
thought  to  be  so ;  as,  to  vie  with 
another  in  the  good  opinion  of  a  third 
party;  or  to  vie  with  others  in  beauty, 
or  the  exhibition  of  wealth,  gi-andeur, 
hospitality,  and  so  on.  It  is  capable, 
as  the  others  are  not,  of  application  to 
inanimate  things ;  as  flowers  may  vie. 
Struggle  (?  A.  S.  streccan,  to 
stretch)  denotes  such  striving  as  pro- 
ceeds from  necessity,  either  from  the 
absolute  need  of  the  thing  struggled 
for,  or  from  the  disproportionof  power 
to  the  means  requisite  for  attaining 
the  object.  Hence  there  is  a  desul- 
toriness  or  irregularity  in  Struggle 
which  contrasts  with  a  steadiness  and 
regularity  in  Strive. 

Endeavour  still  preserves,  though 
perhaps  faintly,  the  force  of  its  deri- 
vation (Fr.  en  devoir,  to  put  in  duty, 
and  so  act  on  principle).  The  charac- 
teristic idea  of  Endeavour  is  now 
principle,  though  not  necessarily  con- 
scientious principle.  To  endeavour  is 
to  strive  to  do  that  which  falls  to  ua 
to  do  under  the  circumstances,  that 
which  bears  a  relation  to  our  duty, 
wants,  or  requirements.  It  is  a  word 
ol'    the   widest   possible  application. 


[study] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


Ended rour  is  consistent,  thoughtful, 
and  prolonged  effort.  We  endeavour 
to  do  a  thing  when  we  combine  with 
effort  a  calculation  of  all  available 
means  wlich  may  be  brought  to  bear 
on  tlie  accomplishment  of  our  pur- 
pose. 
"  The  state  that  strives  for  liberty,  though 

foiled. 
And   forced   t'  abandon  what  she  bravely 

sought. 
Deserves  at  least  applause  for  her  attempt. 
And  pity  for  her  loss."  CoWPKR. 

To  Contend  is  sometimes  used  in  the 
simple  sense  of  vigorously  maintain; 
as,  "  To  contend  for  the  sufficiency  of 
the  Scriptures  as  a  rule  of  faith." 
Here,  however,  indirect  opposition, 
at  least,  though  not  direct  competi- 
tion, is  implied.  It  may  be  observed 
that,  while  Strive  is  employed  of  sim- 
ple physical  effort  without  any  com- 
petition, as,  to  strive  to  ascend  a 
precipitous  mountain,  Contend  is  not 
so  employed,  but  only  of  matters  of 
truth,  argument,  and  the  like ;  as,  "  to 
contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints." 

*'  When  the  wills  of  divers  men  produce 
such  actions  as  are  reciprocally  resistant  one 
to  the  other,  this  is  called  contention," — 
HOBBS. 

"  We  are  all  embarked  in  one  bottom, 
and  have  our  mutual  dangers  to  struggle 
with."— Gilpin. 

There  was  in  Old  English  a  noun  vie, 
meaning  a  challenge ^  which  is  now 
cbsolete. 

"  Though  some  of  the  more  potent  chiefs 
may  vie  with  the  king  in  actual  possessions, 
they  full  very  short  in  rank  and  in  certain 
marks  of  respect,  which  the  collective  body 
have  agi-eed  to  pay  the  monarch." — Cook's 
Voyages. 

The  Old  English  phrase,  in  connexion 
with  the  word  Endeavour,  was  a 
reflexive  verb,  "to  endeavour  one's 
self; "  in  French,  se  mettre  en  devoir. 

"  Let  us  endeavour  ourselves  diligently  to 
keepe  the  presence  of  His  Holy  Spirit." — 
Homily  for  Rogation  Week. 

••  Daily  endeavour  ourselves  to  follow  the 
blessed  steps  of  His  most  holy  life." — Eng- 
lish Prayer  Book,  Collect  for  Second  Sunday 
after  Easter. 

"That  by  the  grace  of  God  they  will 
evermore  eruieavour  themselves  faithfully  to 
observe  such  things  as  they  by  their  own 
confession  have  assented  unto." — Ibid., 
CtnfirtHation  Service. 


705 
In- 


stubborn.     0BST1N.4TE. 

VETERATE. 

These  terms  stand  to  each  other  as 
the  negative  to  the  positive.  To  per- 
sist in  one's  own  ways  of  thought  or 
action,  in  spitf;  of  the  efforts  or  wishes 
of  others,  is  common  to  both.  But 
an  Obstinate  man  will  do  what  he 
has  determined  upon  (Lat.  obstinatusy 

gart.  of  obstinare,  to  be  resolved  on).  A 
TUBBORN  man(A.S.  styb,  stybb,  stub; 
the  stump  of  a  tree)  will  not  do  what 
others  would  have  him  do.  Stubborn- 
ness is  an  asinine  exhibition  of  passive 
obstinacy.  A  stubborn  resistance,  in 
the  secondary  sense,  might  be  shown 
by  the  walls  of  a  castle  against  the 
besiegers ;  an  obstinate  resistance,  by 
the  defenders. 

"  Thus  the  main  difficulty  is  answered  ; 
but  there  is  another  near  as  stubborn,  which 
this  solution  likewise  removes." — Wab- 
BUBTON. 

"  But  stubbornness  and  an  obstinate  dis- 
obedience must  be  mastered  with  force  and 
blows  ;  for  this  there  is  no  other  remedy." 
— LocKB,  On  Education. 

Inveterate  (Lat.  iiivtttrdtuSj  part. 
of  invtterare,  to  keep  J  or  a  long  timej  to 
render  pei'vianent)  unlike  the  others  is 
not  applied  directly  to  persons  but  to 
qualities.  It  marks  that  which  by 
length  of  time  and  habit  has  taken  as 
it  were  deep  root,  or  has  become  so 
fixed  as  to  be  difficult  of  removal  or 
eradication.  Customs,  habits,  preju- 
dices, I'eelings,  abuses,  diseases  be- 
come inveterate.  Bacon  used  the  term 
in  no  unfavourable  sense  when  he 
spoke  of  "an  inveterate  and  received 
opinion." 
"  Heal  the  inveterate  canker  of  oar  wound." 

Shakespeakk. 
Its   force  now   is   always    unfavour- 
able. 

STUDY.     Learn. 

Learn  {see  LEARNI^G)  has  a  two- 
fold sense  which  we  may  call  a  lighter 
and  a  graver.  In  its  lighter  sense  it 
means  to  acquire  information  without 
effort,  perhaps  accidentally.  In  ita 
graver  to  acquire  with  effort  a  know- 
ledge of  facts  or  principles. 

Study  (Lat.  stiidium,  desire,^},  sta- 
dia, studies)  always  implies  effort. 
To  study  is  to  labour  in  order  to  be- 
come wise,  to  learn  is  sc  to  labour 


706 


with  success.  Quick  minds  commonly 
learn  easily,  and  are  often  averse  to 
study.  To  study  is  a  more  concen- 
trated application  of  the  mind,  so 
that  one  can  only  study  one  thing  at  a 
time,  while  one  may  learn  many. 
The  more  one  learns  the  more  one 
knows.  But  unhappily  it  sometimes 
happens  that  the  more  one  studies  the 
fess  one  seems  to  know.  Some  things 
men  study  without  learning  them, 
and  some  they  learn  without  study. 
Not  those  who  have  studied  most  are 
most  learned,  but  those  who  have 
learned  most.  Youth  is  the  time  for 
study,  but  it  is  only  in  mature  years 
that  we  really  learn,  when  the  mind 
is  formed  to  digest  what  is  committed 
to  the  memory. 

STUPID.     Dull. 

Stupio  (hsLt.  stiipXdus ;  stiipire,  to  be 
stupefied,  amazed,  dull)  denotes  that 
sluggish,  lumpish  character  of  intellect 
which  comes  of  natural  want. 

Dull  (A.  S.  dol,  foolish,  mistaken) 
is  not  quite  the  same.  It  implies 
slowness,  but  not  necessarily  defi- 
ciency of  intellect.  A  boy  apparently 
dull  may  understand  a  subject  well, 
and  retain  it  when  once  he  has  mas- 
tered it.  The  stupid  boy  will  never 
grasp  it  at  all.  Dulness  is  the  heavy- 
clod,  which  may  be  tilled  and  ferti- 
lized. Stupidity  is  the  hard  rock,  on 
which  nothing  will  grow.  Dulness 
often  sees  surely  but  slowly.  Stupi- 
dity is  always  gaping  through  a  fog. 
Dulness  is  at  worst  a  want  of  adequate 
perception.  Stupidity  is  a  mental  in- 
sensateness.  Dulness  belongs  to  the 
province  of  knowledge  ;  stupidity,  to 
matters  of  the  practical  understanding 
in  the  affairs  of  life. 

"But  bycause  that  in  cunning  I  am 
young,  and  can  yet  but  ereepe,  this  lewd 
ABC  have  I  set  into  learning ;  for  I  cannot 
passen  the  telling  of  three  as  yet;  and  yf 
God  will,  in  short  time  I  shall  amend  this 
levrdnesse  in  joyning  of  syllables,  which 
thyng  for  duhiesse  of  witte  I  may  not  in 
three  letters  declare."— Chaucer,  Testa- 
ment of  Love. 

"  Is  not  your  father  grown  incapable 
Of  reasonable  affairs  ?  Is  he  not  stupid 
With  age?"  ShAKKSPKARE. 

SUB.IECT.     Object. 

Thege  terms  are  made  from  different 


SYNONYMS  [stupid] 


forms  of  the  Lat.  jttch'e,  part,  jacttia^ 
to  cast ;  the  one  being  what  is  cast  or 
placed  under,  the  other  what  is  cast 
or   placed    over    against.     The   tenn 
Object    commonly    represents    that 
which  is  perceived  by  the  sight- 
sensible  images  of  things  ;  Subject, 
that  which  the  mind  deals  with  and 
reflects  upon.   A  shell  lying  upon  the 
beach  is  an  object  of  the  sea-shore. 
When  taken  up  and  observed,  it  be- 
comes the  subject  of  contemplation  or 
remark.     The  object  when  reflexion 
is  combined  with  observation  becomes 
a  subject,  as  in  the  following  : — 
"  An  eye  like  his,  to  catch  the  distant  goal. 
Or,  ere  the  wheels  of  verse  begin  to  roll. 
Like  his  to  shed  illuminating  rays 
On  every  scene  and  subject  it  surveys." 
COWPKR. 
"Philosophically,  object  is   a  term  for 
that  a'bout  which   the  knowing  subject  is 
conveitiant ;    what    the    schoolmen    have 
styled  the  materia  circa  quam." — Sir  W. 
Hamilton. 

SUBORDINATE.  Subject.  Sub- 
servient. 

Subordinate  (Lat.  sub,  under,  or- 
dindtus,  arrano-ed)  respects  the  station 
and  ofiice  of  one  person  to  another, 
and,  when  employed  of  things,  denotes 
an  inferior  relative  degree  of  impor- 
tance. In  society  some  act  in  higher, 
others  in  subordinate,  capacities.  A 
man's  integrity  and  honour  are  para- 
mount, his  ease  and  comfort  subordi- 
nate, considerations.  Where  subor- 
dination carries  with  it  submission  or 
obedience,  this  comes  from  the  specific 
nature  of  the  orders  or  gi-aaes  as 
being  interrelated. 

Subject  is  amenable  to  power  or 
influence  founded  upon  a  law  of  re- 
lationship natural  or  conventional; 
as,  a  child  is  subject  to  his  parents. 

Subservient  (Lat.  suhservire,  to  be 
subject  to)  bears  reference  to  the  pro- 
motion of  ends.  One  thing  is  subser- 
vient to  another  when  it  helps  to  bring 
it  about.  One  person  is  subservient 
to  another  when  he  allows  himself  to 
be  made  a  tool  of.  The  leading  idea 
in  subordination  is  relative  impor- 
tance ;  in  subjection,  relative  power 
in  subservience,  relative  instrumen 
tality. 

"Qod  hs^th  bestowed,  for  Hia  own  wi« 


[suffer] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


707 


reasons,  different  talents  on  different  men  ; 
to  one  man  He  hath  given  ten,  to  another 
only  one.  Now,  this  subordination,  in  fact, 
oervades  all  the  works  of  God." — Gilpin. 

*'  Every  man,  being  as  has  been  showed, 
naturally  free,  and  nothing  being  able  to 
put  him  into  subjection  to  any  earthly 
power,  but  only  his  own  consent,  it  is  to  be 
considered  what  shall  be  understood  to  be 
a  sufficient  declaration  of  man's  consent  to 
make  him  subject  to  the  laws  of  any  govern- 
ment."— LoCKK, 

SUBORN.     Bribe. 

Of  these,  Bribe  (O.Fr.  bribe,  a  gift, 
a  piece  of  bread)  is  the  simplest  and 
most  comprelieusive.  Anything  may 
be  termed  a  bribe  which  is  given 
with  a  view  to  corrupt  the  conduct  of 
another  in  whatsoever  station  or  rela- 
tionship. 

Suborn  (Lat.  sUbomure,  to  furnish, 
tu  furnish  secretly,  sub,  under,  and 
ornare,  to  arrange)  means  primarily  to 
procure  or  provide  in  a  furtive  or 
underhanded  way,  till  it  came  to  be 
restricted  to  the  legal  application  of 
procuring  a  person  to  take  a  false 
oath.  The  idea  of  a  gift  of  value, 
which  is  essential  to  Bribe,  does  not 
belong  to  Suborn.  A  false  witness 
may  be  suborned  by  any  pensuasion 
or  inducement.  He  is  only  bribed 
when  he  receives  a  valuable  considera- 
tion. 

"  Subornation  of  perjury  is  the  offence  of 
procuring  another  to  take  such  a  false  oath 
as  constitutes  perjury  in  the  principal." — 
Blackstonk. 

"  The  Roman  law,  though  it  contained 
many  severe  injunctions  against  bribery, 
as  well  for  selling  a  man's  vote  in  the 
Senate  or  other  public  assembly  as  for  the 
barteringof  common  justice,  yet,  by  strange 
indulgence  in  one  instance,  it  tacitly  en- 
couraged this  practice,  allowing  the  magis- 
trate to  receive  small  presents,  provided 
they  did  not  in  the  whole  exceed  a  hun- 
dred crowns  in  the  jeaT,"—Ibid. 

SUBSIDE.    Abate. 

These  words,  as  here  compared, 
imply  a  coming  down  from  a  previous 
«tate;  but  Abate  (Fr.  abattre,  to  beat 
down)  refers  to  degrees  of  force  or 
intensity;  Subside  (haX.  subsidtre,  to 
tit  down,  to  settle  down)  to  degrees  of 
quantity,  agitation,  or  commotion. 
To  abate  is  to  diminish  in  force.  To 
subside  is  to  settle  down  either 
materially  or  analogously.   The  wind 


abates.  The  sea  subsides.  The  popu- 
lar rage  abates.  The  popular  tumult 
subsides.  There  are  cases  in  which 
both  words  would  be  equally  applic- 
able, according  to  the  point  of  view 
from  which  we  regarded  the  subject. 
Anger  might  be  said  to  abate  or 
to  subside ;  the  former  in  regard  to 
its  violence,  the  latter  in  regard  to 
the  agitation  and  disturbance  of  mind 
which  accompany  it.     {See  Abate.) 

"  It  is  indeed  very  difficult  to  conceive 
how  anything  which  was  not  deposited  here 
at  its  creation,  or  brought  here  by  the 
diligence  of  man,  could  find  its  way  to  a 
place  so  severed  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
by  seas  of  immense  extent,  except  the 
hypothesis  which  has  been  mentioned  on 
another  occasion  be  adopted,  and  the  rock 
be  supposed  to  have  been  left  behind  when 
a  large  tract  of  country  of  which  it  was  part 
subsided  by  some  convulsion  of  Nature, 
and  was  swallowed  up  in  the  ocean." — 
Cook's  Voyages. 

SUFFER.     Bear.     Endure. 

When  Suffer  (Lat.  sufferre,  sub, 
under,  and  ferre,  to  bear)  is  used  as 
an  intransitive  verb,  it  implies  no 
more  than  simply  to  be  in  pain  of 
body  or  mind.  So  to  suffer  pain 
(transitively)  means  simply  to  feel  it. 

Bear  and  Endure  (A.  S.  biraii, 
and  Fr.  endurer,  Lat.  indiirdre)  im- 
ply some  degree  of  fortitude  in  the 
feeling,  when  used  metaphorically, 
or  of  moral  pressure.  We  might 
say,  "  My  suffering  is  greater  than  I 
can  bear."  In  its  literal  and  physical 
sense,  Beau  means  to  receive  the 
weight  or  pressure  of  a  thing, 
whether  in  a  literal  or  a  metaphorical 
sense,  which  may  be  light  or  heavy, 
painful,  or  not.  Suffer,  Bear,  and 
Endure  have  also  the  secondary  sense 
of  tolerate,  or  sustaining  with  com- 
placency. In  such  cases  Bear  is  the 
common  and  generic  term,  and  a  dif- 
ference may  be  noted  between  Suffer 
and  Endure.  "  I  cannot  suffer  his 
remarks  to  pass  unnoticed,"  has  the 
sense  of  allow  or  permit.  *'  I  can- 
not endure  such  conduct,"  has  the 
sense  of  "  I  cannot  bear  up  under  it. 
It  grieves  me."  We  speak  of  moral 
sufferance  and  physical  endurance; 
the  former  is  active,  the  latter  pas- 
sive. When  employed  of  moral  sub- 
i   jects,  as,  for  instance,  the  conduct  of 


708 


SYNONYMS  [SUITOTJ] 


men,  Suffer  has  a  much  lighter  force 
than  Endure.  *"  I  cannot  suffer  such 
behaviour,"  would  imply  that  the 
speaker  had  it  in  his  power  authori- 
tatively to  stop  it.  "1  cannot  endure 
it,"  would  mean  that  is  excessively 
irksome  or  annoying  to  me,  and  that 
I  should  be  glad  to  be  rid  of  it.  Bear 
is  sometimes  to  endure  becomingly, 
as  Endure  is  to  bear  resolutely. 

'•  Thon  hast  given  ine  to  possess 
Life  in  Myself  for  ever ;  by  Thee  I  live, 
Thongk  now  to  Death  I  yield,  and  am  his 

due. 
All  that  of  Me  can  die;   yet,  that  debt 

paid. 
Thou  wilt  not  leave  Me  in  the  loathsome 

grave. 
His  prey,  nor  suffer  My  unspotted  soul 
For  ever  with  corruption  there  to  dwell." 
Milton. 
"  From  henceforth  let  no  man  trouble 
me,  for  I  hear  in  my  body  the  marks  erf  the 
Lord  Jesus." — English  Bible. 

"  And  I  am  sure  it  will  be  no  comfort  to 
them  in  another  world  that  they  were  ac- 
counted wits  for  deriding  those  miseries 
which  they  then  feel  and  smart  under  the 
severity  of.  It  wUl  be  no  mitigation  of 
their  dames  that  they  go  laughing  into 
them ;  nor  will  they  endure  them  the 
better  because  they  would  not  believe 
them."— Stillingflekt. 

SUITOR.     Lover.     Wooer. 

The  Suitor  (Fr.  suitey  a  following) 
is  the  more  dignified;  Lover  (A.  S. 
lufy  love)  is  the  more  ordinary ; 
Wooer  (A.  S.  wogan,  to  woo,  marry) 
is  the  more  warm  and  eager.  The 
latter  is  confined  to  the  courting  of 
the  tender  sex ;  the  former,  not.  W^e 
have  lovers  of  money,  lovers  of  plea- 
sure, and  suitors  at  court  for  the 
favours  of  monarchs. 

"But  Cinyras,  who  daily  sees 
A  crowd  of  noble  suitors  at  his  luiees. 
Among  so  many  knew  not  whom  to  choose. 
Irresolute  to  grant,  or  to  refuse." 

Dryden,  Ovid. 

"The  Revolution  showed  them  (the 
Tories)  to  have  been  in  this  respect  no- 
thing but  a  genuine  court  party,  such  as 
might  be  expected  in  a  British  govern- 
ment, that  is,  lovers  of  liberty,  but  greater 
lovers  of  monarchy." — HuMK. 

"  Yet  was  she  fair,  and  in  her  countenance 
Dwelt  simple  truth  in  seemly  fashion. 
Long   thus  I  wQo'd  her  with  due  obser- 
vance. 
In  hope  unto  my  pleasure  to  have  won. 
Bet   was   as  far  at  last  as    when  I  first 
be^un."  SvsNSEB. 


SULLY.     Soil.     Tarnisk. 

Sully  and  Soil  are  both  demed 
from  the  French  souiller,  to  soil,  dirty ; 
Lat.  siicUldre,  to  wallow  like  a  pig ;  but 
Soil  is  the  more  comprehensive,  and 
admits  of  a  simply  physical  applica- 
tion ;  while  Sully  is  almost  confined 
to  the  moral.  We  speak  of  su41ying 
brightness  and  purity ;  of  soiling 
cleanliness,  or  the  natural  hue  and 
condition.  A  soiled  garment.  A 
sullied  reputaani.. 

Tarnish  (tr.  ternir,  to  tarnish) 
points  not  to  external  disfigurement 
by  the  contact  of  foreign  matter, 
but  to  the  marring  of  the  intrinsic 
colour  or  brightness.  Dirt  soils  com- 
mon things.  Impurity  sullies  things 
spotless.  Damp  tarnishes  colour  or 
brightness.  Brightness  and  honour 
may  be  sullied,  cleanness  and  virtue 
soiled,  brightness  and  reputation  tar- 
nished. 

"  The  over-daring  Talbot 
Hath  sullied  all  his  gloss  of  former  hononi 
By  this  unheedfal,  desperate,  wild  adven- 
ture." Shakespeare. 

It  may  be  observed  that,  in  their 
secondary  applications.  Tarnish  be- 
longs only  to  the  account  in  whict 
hnman  character  is  held ;  Soil  and 
Sully,  to  the  character  itself  as  well, 
by  intrinsic  defilement  or  corruption. 

*'  Beside  them  both,  upon  the  soiled  grass. 
The  dead  corse  of  an  armed  knight  was 

spread. 
Whose  armour  all  with  blood  besprinkled 

was." 


"  So  far  as  they  either  want  anything  oi 
original  exactness,  or  have  lost  any  of  their 
first  freshness,  and  are,  as  it  were,  faded 
and  tarnished  by  time,  so  far  are  they  ob- 
scure."— Locke. 

SUMMIT.  Top.  Apex.  Vertex. 
Culmination. 

Of  tliese  the  simplest  and  most 
generic  is  Top  (A.  S.  top,  a  ball,  a 
tuft  at  the  top  of  anything ;  Bosworth) 
which  is  simply  the  uppermost  por- 
tion of  anything  having  some  cha- 
racter of  verticJility. 

The  Summit  (Fr.  tommet)  is  the  top 
regarded  as  the  extreme  point  of  ele- 
vation. The  term,  therefore,  is  not 
applicable  in  other  cases  than  those  in 
which  may  be  recognized  a  gradation 


[SUPPLTj 

of  ascent  The  summit  is  the  final 
point  in  a  series  of  points  of  altitude. 

The  Apex  (Lat.  dpex)  is  the  sum- 
mit regarded  abstractedly,  that  is  as  the 
highest  point,  but  without  reference  to 
the  ascending  scale  of  altitude  from 
which  it  is  possible  to  divorce  it ;  as, 
e.g.  a  futile  attempt  may  be  illustrated 
by  trying  to  make  a  pyramid  stand 
upon  its  apex. 

The  Vertex  (Lat.  vertex)  is  the 
highest  point  or  part,  as  the  crown  of 
the  head  or  the  highest  part  of  the 
heavens. 

The  Culmination  (Lat.  ciilmen,  cul- 
minis  or  cWimen,  a  top)  is  the  vertical 
point  regarded  as  the  point  of  con- 
summation or  arrival.  It  is  to  move- 
ment what  Vertex  is  to  position. 
Apex,  Vertex,  and  Top  are  physical, 
except  by  metaphorical  application. 
Summit  and  Culmination  nave  their 
recognized  moral  meanings,  as  the 
summit  of  ambition,  which  is  the 
highest  point  to  which  it  can  rise  or 
aspire,  the  culminating  point  of  suc- 
cess or  reputation,  which  is  the  point 
of  perfect  attainment  or  honour. 

SUPERSEDE.     Overrule. 

Supersede  (Lat.  siipersidere,  to  sit 
above  J  to  be  superior  to)  is  employed 
both  of  persons  and  facts  or  opera- 
tions; Overrule,  only  of  the  will  of 
persons  consciously  exercised.  When 
the  subject  of  the  verb  Supersede  is  a 
person,  the  object  is  commonly  a  per- 
son, as  when  one  supersedes  another 
in  an  appointment ;  when  a  thing, 
the  object  also  is  commonly  a  thing ; 
as,  "  What  he  has  done  supersedes 
the  necessity  of  further  action  on  my 
part."  What  is  superseded  is  a  fact 
or  a  person.  What  is  overruled  is  a 
power  or  an  operation,  or  a  person  in 
•ogard  to  them.  To  overrule  is  to 
bring  to  pass  by  interference  results 
lot  purposed  or  contemplated  by  the 
igent.  Hence  to  Supersede  has  often 
A  negative,  while  Overrule  has  a 
positive  effect.  He  who  supersedes, 
causes  that  a  thing  shall  not  be  done. 
He  who  overrules,  causes  that  it  shall 
be  done  in  his  own  way. 

"  It  seems  neither  decorons  in  respect  to 
God,  nor  congraooa  to  reason,  that  He 
■hoold  do  all  things  Himself  immediately 


DISCRIMINATED. 


709 


and  miraculonsly.  Nature  being  qnitesttper 
seded,  and  made  to  signify  nothing."— Cui> 
WORTH. 

•♦  Had  not  th'  Eternal  King  Omnipotent 
From  His  stronghold  of  heaven  high  over- 
ruled 
And  limited  their  right."  Milton. 

SUPERNATURAL.  Preter- 
NATURAL.  Superhuman.  Miracu- 
lous. 

That  is  Supernatural  (Lat.  supra 
ndturam)  which  is  above  the  order  oi 
nature;  that  is  Preternatural  (Lat. 
prater  naturam)  which  is  beyond  the 
common  operation  of  nature  ;  that  is 
Superhuman  (Lat.  supra,  above,  and 
huTndnus,  human)  which  is  beyond  the 
power  of  man;  that  is  Miraculous 
(Lat.  niiraciilum,  a  marvel)  which  is 
connected  with  some  act  overruling 
the  course  of  nature.  Supernatural 
and  Superhuman  are  applicable  to  per- 
sons as  well  as  properties,  powers,  and 
acts.  Preternatural  and  Miracu- 
lous not  to  persons  but  only  to  the  rest. 
It  is  plain  that  all  may  combine  in  the 
same  event  or  transaction.  Thus  to 
raise  the  dead  is  supernatural,  as 
being  not  a  fact  of  natural  experience, 
preternatural  as  being  the  result  of  no 
known  powers  of  nature,  superhu- 
man as  that  which  man's  knowledge 
and  strength  could  not  effect,  and 
miraculous  as  an  astounding  transac- 
tion modifying  the  existing  laws  ol 
nature  as  known  to  us,  or  suspending 
them,  as  introducing  some  new  law 
over  and  above  them. 

SUPPLY.  Furnish.  Phovide. 
Administer.     Equip. 

Supply  (Lat.  supplerCy  to  Jill  up)  is, 
literally,  to  fill  up ;  hence,  to  fill  up  a 
deficiency,  or  furnish  what  is  want- 
ing. Hence  it  stands  related  to  wanty 
as  Furnish  (Fr./bwna'r,  to  furnish)  to 
use.  What  is  wanting  to  make  a  thing 
complete  must  be  supplied.  What  is 
required  for  immediate  or  eventual 
use  must  be  furnished.  "  I  want  a 
horse.  My  friend  furnishes  me  tviih 
one."  "  I  have  lost  my  horse.  Mt 
friend  supplies  me  with  another."  A 
house  is  furnished,  not  supplied,  urith 
chairs  and  tables.  A  larder  ir  not 
well  furnished,  but  well  supplied  with 
provisions.    Furnish  does  not  neces- 


710 


SYNONYMS 


[supportJ 


«arily  refer  to  any  antecedent  want, 
it  denotes  simply  the  place  ready  for 
use;  as,  "His  book-shelves  were 
well  furnished  with  books."  Hence 
common  wants  are  said  to  be  supplied. 
Superfluous  luxuries  are  furnished. 
Fortune  furnishes  the  rich  man's  table 
with  delicacies;  while  the  poor  man 
can  hardly  supply  his  family  with  the 
common  necessaries  of  life. 

Provide  (Lat.  provtdere,  to  see  be- 
fore one's  self,  to  provide)  is  to  furnish 
or  supply  with  care  or  calculation,  as 
against  the  future,  or  so  as  to  secure 
gufficiency  or  proportion  in  the  thinjj 
provided. 

«♦  Why  are  useful  things  good  ?  Because 
tbey  minister  to  the  supply  of  our  wants  and 
desires.  Why  is  this  swpp/y  good  ?  Because 
it  satisfies  the  mind.  Why  is  satisfaction 
good?  Here  you  must  stop." — Search, 
Light  of  Nature. 

"  His  writings  and  his  life  furnish  abun- 
dant proofs  that  he  was  not  a  man  of  strong 
sense." 

"  The  pleasures  of  a  healthy  infant  are  so 
manifestly  provided  for  by  another,  and  the 
benevolence  of  the  provision  is  so  unques- 
tionable, that  every  child  I  see  at  its  sport 
affords  to  my  mind  a  kind  of  sensible  evi- 
dence of  the  finger  of  God,  and  of  the  dis- 
position which  directs  it."— Paley. 

Administer  (  Lat.  ad  and  ministrare , 
manus,  the  hand)  is  to  afford,  give, 
furnish  or  supply,  but  according  to  a 
rule  and  proportion  of  giving,  and  so 
is  not  employed  but  of  things  subject 
to  human  arrangement  and  control. 
It  is  more  than  to  dispense,  for  it  is  to 
dispense  with  discretion  and  manage- 
ment. We  may  supply,  furnish,  or 
dispense  by  a  single  act  and  on  a  single 
occasion,  but  we  administer  by  a  series 
of  acts  and  in  the  continuous  discharge 
of  official  duty. 

Equip  (connected  with  skiff  and 
$hip)  is  to  fit  out  with  what  is  required 
for  action.  Men  are  equipped  for  a 
jouniey  or  expedition  when  they  are 
supplied  with  all  that  they  can  require 
for  it.  Ships  are  equipped  when  they 
are  manned,  rigged,  provisioned, 
armed,  and  the  like,  and  troops  when 
they  are  i)rovided  with  all  necessaries 
for  active  service.  The  form  of  the 
word  EoiJip  and  the  modern  use  of 
equipage  tempt  a  confusion  with  the 
Latin  equu$f  a  horse. 


"Then  well  equippeda,  rapid  bark  prepared." 

Hooi^. 
"  For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest. 
That  which  is  best  administered  is  best." 
POPK. 

SUPPORT.     Sustain. 

The  idea  of  keeping  up  so  as  to  pre- 
vent from  falling  is  common  to  these 
terms. 

Support  (Lat.  supportdre,  to  carry 
aw&y)  is  applicable  to  anything  super- 
imposed, whether  heavy  or  light. 

Sustain  (Lat.  sustmlre,  to  uphold) 
implies  a  certain  degree  of  weight  in 
the  thing  sustained.  Sustain  implies 
also  greater  continuance  than  Support. 
Support,  as  regards  persons,  conveys 
the  idea  of  help,  which  is  foreign  to 
Sustain.  So  we  might  say,  "  The  sup- 
port which  you  render  me  will  enable 
me  to  sustain  my  many  heavy  losses." 
To  sustain  is  often  a  more  complex 
matter  than  to  support.  Common 
food,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
is  sufficient  to  support  life.  When 
the  body  is  in  the  last  stage  of  ex- 
haustion, it  will  require  extraordinary 
skill  and  care  to  sustain  life.  Both 
are  used  in  secondary  senses.  Thus 
we  may  support  a  resolution  by 
simply  voting  for  it.  It  is  a  harder 
matter  to  sustain  an  argument  in  its 
favour. 

"  The  question  is  not  whether  a  thing  be 
mysterious,  for  all  things  are  mysterious, 
but  whether  the  mystery  be  supported  by 
evidence."— GiLPliT. 

"  He  is  not  Creator  only  once,  but  per- 
petual Creator,  being  the  sustainer  and 
preserver  of  the  whole  universe." — Water- 
land. 

SURFACE.     Superficies. 

These,  which  are  the  same  word, 
the  latter  being  Latin,  the  former  a 
French  modification  of  it,  differ  as 
the  more  common  from  the  scientific. 
The  Superficies  is  the  scientific  sur- 
face. The  Surface  is  the  popular 
superficies.  A  surface  is  of  such  or 
such  a  colour,  smooth  or  rough.  A 
superficies  is  plane,  and  contains  such 
or  such  extent. 

SURPRISE.  Astonishment. 

Consternation. 

Both  these  terms  express  feelings 
which  arise  from  that  wnich  happens 


[symmetry] 


unexpected ly.  They  differ  in  mode 
and  in  degree. 

We  Me  Surprised  (Fr.  surpris,  sur- 
prendre,  Lat.  super,  prehendtre,  to  come 
upon  suddejily)  if  that  happens  which 
we  did  not  anticipate,  oi-  that  does 
not  happen  which  we  did.  Surprise 
thus  contradicts  calculation  or  expec- 
tation. A  greater  degree  of  unac- 
countableness  in  the  cause,  or  of 
importance  in  the  etiect,  raises  the 
surprise  into  Astonishment  (Old 
Fr.  estonner,  Mod.  Fr.  iionner).  We 
are  surprised  at  what  was  unexpected. 
We  are  astonished  at  what  is  above 
our  comprehension.  We  are  surprised 
to  find  a  person  in  the  house  whom 
we  thought  had  gone  out.  We  are 
astonished  at  meeting  one  whom  we 
had  thought  to  be  in  a  distant  land  or 
dead.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  light 
and  pleasant  surprise.  Astonishment 
is  no  light  thing — in  short,  astonish- 
ment is  extreme  surprise  mixed  with 
fear,  admiration,  or  some  emotion 
which  exercises  considerable  influ- 
ence. The  singular  surprises,  the 
marvellous  astonishes.  You  are  sur- 
prised by  the  delicacy  of  a  work,  as- 
tonished at  the  grandeur  of  a  piece  of 
architecture ;  cleverness  surprises, 
genius  astonislies.  Surprise  is  more 
m  the  senses  and  may  pass  away 
quickly,  astonishment  is  more  in  the 
reason,  and  may  even  increase  by  re- 
flexion. We  are  (((/ce/i  by  surprise.  We 
are  struck  with  astonishment.  We  are 
not  surprised  by  what  we  expected, 
nor  astonished  by  what  we  are  fami- 
liar with.  Astonishment  is  more  in 
the  senses,  and  comes  of  things  blam- 
able  or  uncongenial.  Surprise  is  in 
the  mind,  and  comes  of  things  extra- 
ordinary. 

Consternation  (Lat.  consterndre,  to 
throw  into  confusion,  to  dismaij)  is  more 
in  the  heart  and  conies  of  things  dis- 
tressing. The  first  of  these  words  is 
seldom  used  but  in  a  neutral  sense,  the 
second  equally  in  a  bad  or  good,  the 
third  in  a  bad.  The  unexpected  sur- 
prises, that  which  surprises  by  its 
greatness,  astonishes,  that  which  over- 
whelms, throws  us  into  consternation. 
We  are  surprised  suddenly,  but  some 
degree  of  reflexion  upon  a  thing  is  ne- 
cessary to  astonishment.  Silly  persons 


DlSCRIMIiNx^TED. 


711 


and  children  are  easily  surprised,  those 
only  who  are  capable  of  weighirg  cir- 
cumstances are  astonished.  Consterna 
tion  is  produced  by  a  very  grievous  as- 
tonishment which  finds  us  unprepared 
and  powerless  to  act. 

"  The  ship  strack.  The  shock  threw  ua 
all  into  the  utmost  conster7iatioH."—CooK'a 
Voyages. 

"  Whatever  presents  itself  in  a  sudden 
and  unexpected  manner  has,  in  most  cases, 
a  much  greater  effect  upon  us  than  subjects 
of  very  superior  importance  for  which  we 
have  been  gradually  prepared.  The  more 
sudden,  that  is,  the  greater  the  improbabi- 
lity of  its  appearing  at  that  instant,  and  the 
more  unexpected,  that  is,  the  greater  dis- 
tance the  train  of  thought  was  from  the 
expectancy,  the  more  violent  will  be  the  first 
percussion  ;  and  this  circumstance  will  give 
peculiar  energy  to  the  exciting  cause,  what- 
ever its  ])ecniiar  complexion  may  be.  A 
strong  impulse  is  given  by  the  very  mode 
of  its  appearance  previous  to  our  being  able 
to  acquire  a  distinct  knowledge  of  its  nature. 
This  impulse  is  the  emotion  we  term  swr- 
prise. " — CoGAN. 

"Astonishment  is  that  state  of  the  soul  in 
which  all  its  motions  are  suspended  with 
some  degree  of  horror."— Burke. 

SWELL.     Heave. 

To  Swell  (A.  S.  sweUaii)  is  to  di- 
late so  as  to  exhibit  increased  bulk  or 
surface.     It  is  indefinite  as  to  scale  or 
degi-ee.    The  ocean  swells,  and  some-  _ 
ti-.ues  the  little  finger. 

To  Heave  (A.  S.  hebban,  to  lift, 
heave)  necessarily  implies  a  scale  of 
magnitude  and  more  accelerated  mo- 
tion. The  waves  of  the  ocean  heave 
and  swell.  They  heave  as  they  are 
bodily  thrown  upwards ;  they  swell, 
as  by  that  means  a  greater  superficies 
belongs  to  each  wave.  The  bosom 
struggling  with  emotion  heaves,  and 
swells  as  a  consequence  of  the  heav- 
ing. 

"Though  the  waters  thereof  rage  and 
sivell,  and  though  the  mountains  shake  at 
the  tempest  of  the  same."— English  Psalms. 

"  Back  to  th'  assembly  roU'd  the  thronging 

train. 
Desert  the  ships,  and  pour  upon  the  plain, 
Mui'muring  they  move,  as  when  old  Ocean 

roars. 
And  heaves  huge  surges  to  the  trembbng 

shores."  Pope,  Homer. 

SYMMETRY.     Proportion. 
Proportion   isee   Proportion;   k« 


712 


fiYNONYMS 


[SrSTEMj 


that  abstract  relation  in  dimenMons, 
of  which  Symmetry  (Gr.  ruixfxiTpla.) 
is  an  external  manifestation.  Both 
denote  a  due  and  harmonious  admea- 
surement of  the  parts  to  each  other 
and  to  the  whole ;  though  Proportion 
means  also  this  relation,  without  of 
necessity  implying  that  it  is  harmo- 
nious, and  applies  also  to  numbers  as 
well  as  magnitude ;  while  Symmetry 
is  only  employed  of  the  latter.  Sym- 
metry is  harmonious  proportion  in 
structure  or  construction.  It  is  the 
grnceful  conformity  of  the  parts  to  the 
whole,  or  the  members  to  the  body. 
Symmetry  is  artistically  of  two  kinds 
— respective  and  uniform.  In  the 
former,  opposite  sides  are  equal  to 
each  other;  in  the  latter,  the  same 
balance  co-ordinates  the  whole.  It  is 
of  the  former  that  mention  seems  to  be 
made  in  the  following : — 

"  Symmetry  and  proportion  contribute 

Sreatly  to  order,  because  the  one  gives 
espatch  to  the  eye  by  enabling  it  to  take 
in  objects  by  pairs,  and  the  other  smooths 
the  passage  over  them  by  mutual  depen- 
dence of  parts."— Skaech,  Light  of  Na- 
ture. 

SYSTEM.     Method. 

System  (Gr.  ava-TnfJi.a.,  an  organized 
whole)  regards  fixed  subjects  which 
•hare  rational  dependence  or  con- 
nexion. 

Method  (Gr.  jm.e9o5o?,  scientific  in- 
urdry,  method)  regards  fixed  processes. 
System  is  logical  or  scientific  colloca- 
tion. Method  is  logical  or  scientific 
procedure.  But,  inasmuch  as  a  mode 
of  procedure  may  be  itself  harmonized, 
System  is  frequently  used  in  place  of 
Method.  We  sometimeh  say,  "to  go 
systematically  to  work,"  meaning 
methodically.  Method  lays  down 
rules  for  scientific  inquiry,  and  is  the 
way  which  leads  to  system.  "  All 
method,"  says  Sir  W.  Hamilton,  "  is  a 
rational  progress — a  progress  toward 
on  end. '^  When  Watts  says,  "The  ' 
best  way  to  learn  any  science  is  to  1 
begin  with  a  regular  system,  or  a  short  ' 
and  plain  scheme  of  that  science  well 
drawn  up  into  a  narrow  compass,"  he 
is  recommending  a  tnethcd. 


T. 

TACIT.     Silent,     Implicit. 

Tacit  (  Lat,  tUcttiu,  siUnt^  tachrt,  to 
be  mute)  is  employed  only  of  things 
abstract,  as,  a  tacit  consent,  agreement, 
recognition. 

Silent  (Lat.  part,  s'ilentem,  from 
silere,  to  be  silent)  characterizes  either 
persons  or  things  as  opposed  in  the 
former  case  to  talkative  or  talking, 
and  in  the  latter  to  noisy  or  sounding. 

"  Friendship,  when  strict,  comprehends  a 
tacit  agreement  and  covenant  between 
those  who  enter  into  it,  to  look  upon  the 
concerns  of  each  other  in  a  great  measure 
as  their  own." — Secker. 

Silence  may  have  the  effect  of  affirma- 
tion and  consent,  or  the  opposite.  In 
the  one  case,  it  would  be  equivalent 
to  tacit  assent ;  in  the  other  to  tacit 
denial.  It  has  the  latter  effect  in  the 
following : — 

"What  the  compilers  recommended 
chiefly  to  our  faith,  he  silently  passes  over, 
and  instead  of  recommendmg  the  same 
doctrine,  seems  to  throw  it  quite  out."— 
Waterland. 

Implicit  (Lat.  implicttuSy  part,  of 
rmplicare,  to  involve)  expresses  that 
which  has  force  by  virtue  of  being 
contained  in  something  else,  and  is 
opposed  to  developed  or  expressed. 
That  which  is  tacit  may  liave  a  nega- 
tive force,  and  depend  upon  what  is 
not  done  or  said.  That  which  is  im- 
plicit has  a  positive  though  indirect 
force  by  virtue  of  what  is  said  or  done. 
Implicit  is  a  term  which  belongs  to 
statements  of  truth  or  fact ;  Tacit,  to 
the  relations,  intercourse,  and  dealings 
of  men  ;  an  implicit  assertion,  a  tacit 
understanding. 

"  Which  (faith)  they  generally  taught, 
consisted  in  an  implicit  believing  whatever 
the  Church  proposed,  without  any  explicit 
knowledge  of  particulars."— Burnkt. 

TACITURNITY.    Silence. 

As  at  present  employed,  Silence  is 
more  general  and  less  specifically  ex- 
pressive than  Taciturnity  (see  above). 

Silence  may  be  occasional  or  ha- 
bitual. 

Taciturnity  (Lat.  tacit urnttatem) 
is  hibirual.    A  man  may  be  at  once 


[taxlyJ 


DISCRIMINATED. 


713 


talkative* and  silent;  but  he  cannot 
be  at  once  talkative  and  taciturn.  He 
is  silent  who  does  not  speak.  He  is 
taciturn  who  Bhuns  to  speak. 

"  Here,  I  have  said,  at  least  I  should  pos 

sess 
The  poet's  treasure,  silence,  and  indulge 
The  dreams  of  fancy,  tranquil  and  secure." 
COWPER, 
"  Let  it,  however,  be  remembered   by 
those  who  bring  such  instances  in  their  own 
justification,  that  the  cause   of  Addison's 
taciturnity  was  a  natural  diffidence  in  the 
company  of  strangers."— Knox,  Essays. 

We  may  infer  from  such  a  saying  as 
the  above,  that  taciturnity  may  spring 
from  other  causes  besides  constitu- 
tional temperament.  Even  a  talkative 
person  would  be  taciturn  on  any  oc- 
casion OH  which  he  imposed  a  certain 
degree  of  silence  upon  himself;  but 
this  is  a  limited  use  of  the  term  Taci- 

Tl'RNITV. 

TAJ.lSiAIAN.    Aaiulet. 

The  Talisman  (Ar.  telesm)  differs 
from  the  Amulet  (  L.  Lat.  amnlitnm, 
Ar.  hanidlet)  in  being  something  not 
necessarily  worn  upon  the  person.  A 
ring  or  a  staff  may  be  a  talisman,  if  a 
divinity,  a  genie,  a  fairy,  or  a  magician 
be  said  to  have  consecrated  it.  The 
amulet  is  commonly  suspended  round 
the  neck  or  sewed  in  the  garments, 
and  inseparably  accompanies  the  in- 
dividual. The  talisman  has  greater 
powers,  is  a  more  potent  charm,  than 
the  amulet.  The  amulet  is  defensive. 
It  is  srpposed  to  preserve  from  danger, 
sickness,  death.  The  talisman  is  more 
active.  It  works  wonders,  is  powerful 
against  others,  transports  from  place 
to  place,  or  renders  invisible.  Amu- 
lets belong  to  the  region  of  history 
and  fact,  at  least  in  part,  talismans 
are  purely  ideal  and  magical.  Amulets 
are  commonly  certain  recognized 
articles,  as  with  the  Arabs  a  verse  of 
the  Koran  on  a  slip  of  parchment. 
Anything  may  become  a  talisman. 

TALLY.     Correspond.     Match. 

Tally  is  from  the  French  tadkr^  to 
cut.  The  old  tally  was  a  cut  or 
notched  stick  kept  by  the  purchaser, 
inswering  to  another  in  the  possession 
of  the  seller ;  a  mode  of  keeping  ac- 
counts anterior  to  the  common  use  of 


writing.  Hence,  metaphorically,  one 
thing  is  said  to  tally  with  another 
where  a  certain  agreement  exists  be- 
tween them,  whether  physical  or 
moral.  Agreeably  to  its  derivation, 
Tally  expresses  that  kind  of  corre- 
/  spondence  which  has  the  nature  ot 
evidence.  A  tally  is  evidential  agree- 
ment. Such  a  juxtaposition  ot  two 
things  as  amounts  to  a  probability  or 
proof  of  some  proposition  stated  rela- 
tive to  one  of  the  two.  Evidence 
which  goes  to  substantiate  in  one 
shape  what  independent  evidence 
substantiates  in  another  shape,  is  said 
to  tall}'.  So,  for  instance,  an  act  of  an 
individual  may  tally  with  what  one 
has  heard  of  his  character  and  habits 
generally,  and  so  goes  to  confirm  that 
account. 

"  Then  the  mention  of  the  Sacrament  aa 
taken  in  the  antelucan  meetings  tallies 
exactly  with  Tertutlian's  account  of  the 
Eucharist."— Watkrland. 

Correspond  (Lat.  con-f  together, 
and  rispondire,  to  answer)  is  a  wider 
term,  including  the  sense  of  Tally.  It 
expresses  adaptation  in  design  and 
use;  congruityor  harmony  of  appear- 
ance, character,  arrangement,  state- 
ment, description,  and  the  like.  It 
expresses  agreement  of  the  most  re- 
mote kind,  as  where  actions  are  said 
to  correspond  with  professions,  or 
the  contrary,  or  results  with  expecta- 
tions. 

Match  (A.  S.  mcECca,  a  mate,  one  of 
the  same  make)  is  confined  to  physical 
objects  and  facts,  and  is  not  applic- 
able to  inferences  drawn  from  the 
latter.  One  colour  matches  another 
(in  nature  and  appearance).  One 
man  matches  another  (in  skill  or 
strength).  To  match  is  to  produce  as 
similar  or  equal ;  or,  intransitively,  to 
show  one's  selfor  itself  as  such.  Ideas, 
for  instance,  tally  with  descriptions, 
or  correspond  to  one  another;  but 
they  never  match.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  might  say,  "  It  would  be 
difficult  to  match  such  villainy;' 
that  is,  to  place  a  similar  instance  oi 
fact  by  the  side  of  it. 

"  Each   object  must  be  fixed  in  the  dn« 

place, 
Anrl    {liflTering    parts    have  correspcndinti 

grace ; 


714 


Till,  by  a  cnrions  art  disposeJ,  we  find 
One  perfect  whole,  of  all  the  pieces  joined." 
Dryden. 

"  No  history  or  antiquity  can  match  his 
policies  or  his  conduct." — South. 

TASK.     Work. 

Task  (Old  Fr.  tasche,  mod.  of  which 
tdche,  a  task)  is  to  Work  (A.S.  weorc) 
as  the  specific  to  the  general.  A  task 
is  a  definite  amount  of  labour,  mental 
or  physical,  imposed  by  another,  or 
self-imposed.  \Vork  in  some  form 
falls  to  all,  and  to  every  man  every 
day.  A  task  falls  to  him  specifically 
and  occasionally.  A  series  of  minor 
tasks  may  make  up  the  work  of  the 
day. 

"  Dare  to  be  wise,  begin  ;  for  once  begun. 
Your  taiili  is  easy;  half  the  work  is  done." 
Francis,  Horace. 

TASTE.    Tact. 

These  stand  to  each  other  as  percep- 
tion and  discrimination  to  treatment 
and  management. 

Taste  (Old  Fr.  taster)  is  nice  per- 
ception, the  faculty  of  discerning 
beauty  and  excellence,  especially  in 
art  and  manners. 

Tact  (Lat.  tactus,  touch)  is  delicacy 
and  sensibility  in  the  special  point  of 
dealing  with  others,  according  to  the 
variety  of  human  character  and  cir- 
cumstances. Hence,  tact  is  the  prac- 
tical application  of  taste  in  the  affairs 
of  life.  But  taste  only  discriminates 
excellence ;  tact  is  subtle,  deals  with 
conflicting  varieties  of  temper  in  per- 
sons, and  sagaciously  recognizes  the 
most  politic  and  eflfective  line  of  con- 
duct under  the  circumstances  of  the 
person  and  the  case.  It  is  possible  to 
have  the  most  delicate  taste  without 
tact.  In  such  a  case,  the  man  of  taste 
would  be  merely  offlended  by  the  un- 
toward character  of  a  transaction  or 
of  those  engaged  in  it,  without  having 
the  practical  skill  to  adjust  it.  Taste 
sees  the  harmony  and  disharmony  of 
things.  Tact  deals  with  inharmonious 
elements  in  human  character  and  con- 
duct, and  accommodates  them  to  its 
own  ends.  Thus  tact  involves  taste, 
though  taste  does  not  of  necessity  in- 
volve tact. 


SYKONYMS  [task] 

TASTE.  Flavour.  Relish. 
Savour. 

Of  these,  Taste  (Old  Fr.  taster 
JMod.  tdter^  lo  touch  or  feel)  is  the 
most  generic  and  indefinite,  denoting, 
generally,  the  faculty  or  the  feeling 
excited  by  the  application  of  certain 
substances  to  the  tongue.  It  may  be 
pleasant,  unpleasant,  or  neutral. 

Flavour  (Low  'Lo.t.Jiavorem,  a  yel- 
low hue,  but  possibly  the  meaning  of 
flavour  has  been  modified  by  O.  Fr. 
Jiairer,  to  exhale  an  odour,  Lat.  fra- 
grare :  Skkat,  Etym.  Diet.) is  predomi- 
nating, peculiar,  or  distinctive  taste, 
and  is  sometimes  extended  to  com- 
prise the  meaning  of  distinctive  odour 
as  well  as  taste,  in  consonance  with 
the  Latin  fragrare,  to  he  fragrant. 
There  is  a  certain  taste  common  to  all 
apples,  and  a  certain  flavour  belong- 
ing to  specific  kinds. 

Relish  (Fr.  re-,  lecher,  to  lick  again) 
is  the  continued  enjoyment  of  the  taste, 
and  is  sometimes  an  artificial  flavour, 
or,  at  least,  artificially  employed.  It 
may  be  a  flavour  introduced  as  acces- 
scry  to  another,  or  a  stimulant  to  it. 
Flavour  is  either  naturally  inherent, 
or  artificially  imparted,  and  in  either 
case  is  inherent  in  the  substance  it- 
self. Relish  is  used  analogously  of 
tlie  enjoyment  of  any  pleasure. 

Savour  (Lat.  sdporem,  from  sapcre, 
to  taste  or  savour)  is,  in  modem  Eng- 
lish, of  less  common  use,  designating 
that  which  tastes  as  well  as  smells. 
The  term  Savour  is,  however,  very 
commonly  employed  in  the  secondary 
sense,  to  which  it  is  now  nearly  con- 
fined ;  as  when  we  say  that  a  man's 
actions  savour  of  vanity,  that  is,  betray 
indications  of  it.  The  savour  is  to  the 
flavour  as  the  manifestation  of  the 
character  to  the  character  itself. 

'*  The  organ  of  taste  is  the  tongue  and 
palate  ;  bodies  that  emit  light,  sounds,  and 
smells  are  seen,  heard,  and  smelt  at  a  dis- 
tance ;  but  bodies  are  not  tasted  but  by 
immediate  application  to  the  organ ;  for  till 
our  meat  touch  our  tongues  or  palates  we 
taste  it  not,  how  near  soever  it  be.'"— 
Locke. 

"  Had  there  been  a  taste  in  water,  be  ii 
what  it  might,  it  would  have  infected 
everything  we  eat  or  drink  with  an  impor- 
tunate repetition  of  the  same  flavour.  "— 
Palky. 


TAX] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


715 


"Oo  whither  Fate  and  Inclination  strong 
Leads  thee ;  I  shall  not  lag  behind,  nor  err 
The  Tray ;  then  leading,  such  a  scent   I 

draw 
Of  carnage,  prey  innumerable,  and  taste 
The  savour  of  death  from  all  things  there 

that  live."  MiLTOK. 

••  On  which  with  eager  appetite  they  dine ; 
A  savoury  bit  that  served  to  relish  wine," 
Dryden,  Ovid. 

TAUNT.  Reproach. 
A  Taunt  (Fr.  tancer,  to  rebuke, 
Low  Lat.  tentiare,  z^contentiare,  from 
contendere)  is  a  species  of  Reproach, 
involving^  severity  and  insult.  Re- 
proach is  dictated,  commonly,  by  a 
strong  sense  of  justice  or  of  wrong 
received  or  exhibited  towards  another, 
or  of  wrong  done  in  any  way.  Taunt 
involves  a  desire  to  annoy,  as  by  con- 
temptuousness,  provocation,  or  sar- 
casm. We  may  reproach  unselfishly. 
Taunt  is  always  selfish,  and  is  a  kind 
of  derision.  Strictly  speaking,  no- 
ticing is  a  reproach  to  a  man  but  his 
own  actions ;  but  we  sometimes  ta ^nt 
others  with  the  meanness  of  their 
birth.  Hence  the  common  retort  that 
what  one  is  taunted  with  is  no  re- 
proach. 

"  Being  taunted  by  the  way  that  he  (John 
Davies)  was  a  Papist,  he  denied  not  but  that 
in  Oxon  he  was  instructed  in  the  Romish 
religion  by  his  tutor,  and  confirmed  in  the 
same  by  Sir  Christopher  Blount,  one  of  the 
conspirators,  while    he  was   in   the    Irish 
wars." — "Wood,  Athenm  Oxon. 
"  Consenting  to  the  safeguard  of  your  ho- 
nour, 
I  thought  your  marriage  fit ;  else  imputa- 
tion 
For  that  he  knew  you  might  reproach  your 

life, 
And  choke  yonr  good  to  come." 

Shakespeare. 

TAUTOLOGY.     Repetition. 

Tautology  (Gr.  rauToXoyia,  to  ahro, 
rnxnoj  the  same  thingy  and  Xf'yav,  to  saij) 
is  vain  and  vicious  Repetition  (Lat. 
reficiere,  to  repeat).  Repetition  is 
generic  ;  tautology,  specific.  Repeti- 
tion may  be  needless  and  faulty,  or 
it  may  be  necessary  and  emphatic. 
"  That  is  truly  and  really  tautology 
where  the  same  thing  is  repeated, 
though  under  never  so  much  variety 
of  expression."  And  this  variety  of 
expression  is  necessary  to  the  term, 
for  mere  repetition  of  the  same  words 


I  or  phrases  is  not  in  itself  tautology^ 
but  tiresome  repetition  or  reiteration. 
Yet  Warburton  says : 

"A  repetition  of  this  kind,  made  in  dif- 
ferent words,  is  called  a  pleonasm,  but  when 
in  the  same  words,  as  it  is  in  the  text  in 
question,  if  there  be  any  repetition  at  all,  it 
is  then  a  tautology." 

Richardson,  in  his  Dictionary,  com- 
prises both  forces  of  the  word,  when 
he  says  that  tautology  is  "  a  repeti- 
tion, or  repeated  use  of  the  same 
words,  or  words  of  the  same  or  equi- 
valent signification."  And  this,  per- 
haps, is  the  best. 

TAX.  Assessment.  Lmpost.  Rate. 
Duty.  Custom.  Due.  Tribute 
Toll.     Charge.     Levy. 

All  these  terms  denote  payments  in 
some  form  or  another,  made  by  the 
people  to  the  government,  or  by  sub- 
jects to  those  who  exercise  power  and 
authority  over  them. 

Tax  (Fr.  taxer,  Lat.  taxdre,  to  value, 
is  the  most  generic,  and  so  admits  very 
readily  of  a  secondarj'^  application ;  as, 
a  tax  upon  corn,  and  a  tax  upon  pa- 
tience. It  denotes  no  more  than  a 
compulsory  payment  according  to  an 
estimate,  commonly  in  money,  and  for 
defraying  the  general  or  any  specific 
expenses  of  the  ruling  body,  as,  an 
education  tax. 

"  A  farmer  of  toxes  is  of  all  creditors 
proverbially  the  most  rapacious." — MacAU- 
LAY. 

Assessment  (Lat.  asstdhre,  part,  as- 
sessus,  to  sit  by  or  near,  as  asses'ior)  is  a 
valuation  of  pi-operty  or  profits  for 
the  purpose  of  taxation,  or  tne  specific 
sum  so  raised.  It  is  made  by  autho- 
rized persons  according  to  their  dis- 
cretion, as  distinguished  from  a  fixed 
sum  demanded  by  law. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  civil  wars  be- 
tween Charles  the  First  and  his  Parlia- 
ment, the  latter  having  no  other  sufficient 
revenue  to  support  themselves  and  their 
measures,  introduced  the  practice  of  laying 
weekly  and  monthly  assessments  of  a  spe- 
cific sum  upon  the  several  counties  of  tne 
kingdom."— BlaCKSTONE, 

The  Impost  (Fr.  impost,  Lat.  im- 
ponere,  impo^tus,  to  impose)  is  a  term 
of  wide  signification,  comprising 
state-enforced  payments,  both  of 
money  and  in  kind. 


716 


*'  Trade  was  restrained,  or  the  privilege 
granted  on  the  payment  of  tolls,  passages, 
portages,  pontages,  and  innnmerable  other 
vexatious  impetts,  of  which  only  the  bar- 
barons  and  almost  unintelligible  names 
•nbsist  at  this  day."— Burke. 

Rates  (Lat.  rUtus,  reckoned')  are 
payments  upon  assessed  property  or 
supplies,  and  are  now  confined  to  the 
smaller  local  taxes  of  parishes  or 
local  districts,  as,  rates  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor,  upon  -water,  gas,  houses, 
highways.  We  do  not  speak  of  nates 
upon  land  or  commodities. 

"  I  collect  out  of  the  Abbay  Booke  of 
Burton  that  xx  one  were  ratable  at  two 
marks  of  silver." — Camdek. 

Duty  (O.  Fr.  deu,  owed,  Lat.  di- 
bere,  to  owe),  literally,  that  which  is 
given  as  a  due  or  debt,  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  a  tax  paid  upon  the  importa- 
tion, exportation,  and  consumption  of 
goods,  aa  Custom  (O.  Fr.  costume — 
with  intermediate  changes — from  Lat. 
consiietiuitnem)  is  upon  the  same  in 
reference  to  importation  and  exporta- 
tion only,  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  Custom  House,  especially  in  re- 
gard to  the  payment  on  exciseable 
?oods.  The  ordinary  use  of  the  term 
)uTY  is  familiar  enough.  There  was 
a  time  when  the  term  was  used  to 
mean  that  which  was  fairly  due  to 
individuals. 

♦'  When   thou  receivest  money  for  thy 
la'ionr  or  ware,  thou  receivest  thy  duty. " 
— Tyndale. 
Or,  more  legally — 

"  The  man  shall  give  unto  the  woman  a 
ring,  laying  the  same  upon  the  book,  with 
the  accustomed  duty  to  the  priest  and 
clerk." — English  Rubric. 

Due  (see  Duty)  differs  slightly 
from  Duty  in  denoting  what  munici- 
palities, companips,  or  private  per- 
sons are  entitled  to  claim  on  the 
ground  of  certain  authority,  office, 
occupation,  or  specific  rights  ;  as,  the 

Eort  dues  paid  by  ships  on  entering  a 
arbour;  or  church  dues  for  religious 
services,  now  called  often  "  fees,"  as 
of  old  "duties." 

TniBUTE  (Lat.  tribuere,  to  give,  and 
that  from  tr\biis,  f'-om  the  old  Roman 
custom  of  voting  money  by  tribes)  is 
enforced  and  arbitrary  payment  of  a 
governor  upon  subjpctv«(,  or  of  a 
government  upon  a  province,  espe- 


SYN0NYM8  ["^^^^^^s] 

cially  when  subjugated  in  war.  Tri- 
BUTE  lends  itself  more  readily  than 
any  other  of  these  terms  to  the  secon- 
dary meaning  of  a  deferential  offer- 
ing, and  in  this  sense  loses  all  charac- 
ter of  compulsoriness,  and,  indeed, 
denotes  a  voluntary  oflfering. 
"  As    such    we    loved,    admired,    almost 

adored. 
Gave  all  the  tribute  mortals  could  afiFord." 
DRYDEIi. 

Toll  (A.  S.  tol,  tribute,  tax)  meant, 
anciently,  the  payment  of  a  sum  of 
money  for  the  privilege  of  buying 
and  selling  within  the  bounds  of  a 
manor;  afterwards,  more  generally, 
a  tax  upon  any  liberty  or  privilege, 
and,  at  present  especially,  for  that 
of  passing  over  a  bridge  or  along  a 
hio^hway,  or  of  vending  goods  in  a 
fair  or  market. 

Charge  (O.  F.  charger,  to  load)  is 
now  commonly  restricted  to  payments 
on  land  or  incomes  accruing  from 
land  in  rental ;  as  a  rent-charge. 

Levy  (Fr.  lever,  to  raise)  is  the 
most  widely  applicable  term  of  all, 
being  employed  of  taxes,  tolls,  tri- 
butes, contributions,  fines,  and  troops. 

TEDIOUS.     Irksome. 

Irksome  is  from  the  Old  English 
verb  to  irk,  meaning  to  tire  and  to  be- 
come tired.  Compare  the  Lat.  urgere, 
to  urge,  and  perhaps  the  word  loork. 
So  Shakespeare : 
'•  To  see  this  sight,  it  irks  my  very  soul.' 

Tedious,  from  the  Latin  teedium 
{wearinsss,  loathing),  denotes  weari- 
ness caused  by  time.  The  nature  of 
the  thing  to  be  done  makes  it  irksome. 
The  time  taken  up  in  doing  it  makes 
it  tedious.  Hence  Tedious  denotes 
what  is  felt  after  a  work  is  begun  or 
a  process  commenced ;  while  Irksome 
may  denote  the  feeling  which  pre- 
vents one  from  undertaking  it  at  all. 
"  The  tedious  length  of  nine  revolving 
years."  Pope. 

"All  things  considered,  it  was  perhaps 
less  irksome  to  live  the  life  of  a  hermit  in 
a  solitary  den  than  to  submit  to  tb« 
humours  of  a  bigot,  a  fanatic,  and  a  merci- 
less tyrant. " — JORTIN. 

TEEM.     Abound. 

Abound  (Lat.  ofrunda re)  is  generic. 


[tknacity] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


717 


having  the    wide  meaning  of    pos- 
sessing largely. 

Tkem  (Saxon  tyinan,  to  teem,  propa- 
gate) is  specific.  It  is  to  abound  in 
such  a  way  as  to  be  prolific  of  life,  or 
in  a  tnanner  analogous  to  this.  A 
river  abounds  in  fish,  as  to  their  quan- 
tity. It  teems  with  fish,  as  to  their 
Quality  of  living  animals.  For,  in  old 
English,  the  word  to  Teem  meant  to 
be  pregnant  or  to  produce,  as  Shake- 
speare— 

"  If  she  must  teem, 
Create  her  child  of  spleen." 

Dryden's  use  of  the  term  is  literally 
correct  when  he  speaks  of 
"  Teemiiig  birds," 

i.e.,  alive  and  engendering  them  in 
abundance. 

"  His  mind  teeming  with  schemes  of 
future  deceit  to  cover  former  villainy." — 
Waxtkr  Scott. 

TEMPORARY.  Transient. 
TuANsiTORY.    Fleeting.     Fugitive. 

Temporary  (Lat.  temp'6rdriusy  from 
teinpusy  time)  denotes  not  only  that 
which  lasts  but  for  a  time,  as  opposed 
to  permanent,  but  that  which  was  in- 
tended only  so  to  last,  A  temporary 
substitute  will  be  superseded  when  a 
permanent  one  has  been  found.  The 
cessation  of  that  which  is  temporary 
has  been  foreseen  and  calculated 
upon,  perhaps  pre-arranged. 

TRANSTENT(Lat.  transtre,  topassover) 
denotes  that  which,  by  its  awn  nature 
or  inherent  force,  rapidly  passes  by, 
and  so  is  of  no  long  continuance. 

Transitory  (Lat.  transltorius, 
adapted  to  passing  through,  fleeting) 
adds  to  the  mere  idea  of  transience 
that  character  by  virtue  of  which  a 
thing  is  transient. 

Fleeting  expresses  the  idea  of 
Transitory  in  a  more  vivid  manner 
(Icelandic  yZif^to,  quick),  placing,  as 
it  were,  before  the  mind's  eye  the 
tendency  and  the  fact  at  the  same 
time.  What  is  transient  is  in  itself 
momentary  or  of  short  duration. 
What  is  transitory  is  liable  to  pass 
away.  Brevity  is  more  denoted  by 
the  former ;  uncertainty,  by  the  lat- 
ter. Short-lived  enjoyments  are  tran- 
sient; but  it  is  of  the  nature  of  all 


earthly  pleasures  to  be  transitory. 
Fleeting  is  still  more  strong  than 
Transient.  That  is  transient  which 
stays  but  for  a  little  while.  That  is 
fleeting  which  hardly  stays  at  all,  but 
seems,  even  while  we  contemplate  or 
possess  it,  to  be  hurrying  past  or 
away.  Transitory  is  capable  only  of 
a  moral  and  abstract  use,  while  Tran- 
sient and  Fleeting  are  applicable  to 
objects  of  physical  sense,  as  sights, 
sounds,  or  colours. 

"For  this  purpose  a  large  space  had 
been  cleared  before  the  temporary  hut  ol 
this  chief,  near  our  post,  as  an  area  where 
the  performances  were  to  be  exhibited." — 
Cook's  Voyages. 
"  Give  them  as  much  as  mortal  eyes  can 

bear, 
A  transient  view  of  Thy  full  glories  there." 

Dryden. 
"  And  thou,  fair  Freedom,  taught  alike  to 

feel 
The    rabble's    rage,    and    tyrants'   angry 

steel ; 
Thou  transitory  flower,  alike  undone 
By  proud  contempt,  or  favour's  fostering 

sun. 
Still  may  thy  blooms  the  changeful  clime 
endure."  Goldsmith. 

"  'Tis  sooner  past,  'tis  sooner  done. 
Than  summer's  rain,  or  winter's  sun  ; 
"blost fleeting  when  it  is  most  dear, 
'Tis  gone  while  we  but  say,  'tis  here." 
Carkw. 
While  the  rest  express  shortness  of 
duration  only  as  a  fact  or  quality  in- 
herent   in    things,    Fugitive    (Lat. 
filgitivus)  has  the  additional  force  of 
expressing  such  as  results  from  cha- 
racter or  disposition  in  living  beings. 
"  The  fickleness  and  fugitiveness  of  ser- 
vants justly  addeth  a   valuation  to   their 
constancy  who  are  standards  in  a  family," 
—Fuller's  Worthies. 

TENACITY.       PERTINACirY. 

Tenacity  (Lat.  taidcitatem,  from 
thiere,  to  hold)  is  that  quality  which 
leads  to  holding  a  thing  close  and 
letting  it  go  with  reluctance.  It  is 
employed  of  the  physical  and  the 
moral  properties. 

Pertinacity  (Lat.  perttnax,  very 
tenacious,  adv.  pertindciter)  is  exclu- 
sively a  moral  quality.  Tenacity  is 
passive  ;  pertinacity  active.  We  are 
tenacious  in  desiring  to  keep ;  per- 
tinacious, in  persisting  to  act.  Men 
may  be  tenacious  in  a  good  sense,  as, 


718 


SYNONYMS  [tender] 


to  be  tenacious  of  the  right  or  the 
truth,  or  of  what  personally  concerns 
themselves,  as  to  be  tenacious  of  one's 
i-eputation.  Pertinacious  is  always 
somewhat  unfavourable.  Peutinacity 
is  an  excessive  sticking  to  one's  pur- 
pose. Persistence  at  the  blameable 
or  weak  point  becomes  pertinacity. 

"  Tenaciousness,  even  of  a  resolution 
taken  for  opposition's  sake,  serves  either 
to  good  or  to  bad  purposes ;  when  to  the  for- 
mer, it  is  called  steadiness  and  bravery ; 
when  to  the  latter,  perverseness  and  obsti- 
nacy."—SkaeCH,  Light  of  Nature. 
"The  tenacity  of  wax.'' — Ibid, 
"  For  to  be  like  God  was  the  first  temp- 
tation which  robbed  man  of  his  innocence, 
and  so  pertinaciously  was  this  urged  upon 
these  two  apostles  by  the  men  of  Lystra, 
that  it  is  said  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  could 
Bcarcely  refrain  them  from  doing  sacrifice  to 
them."— South. 

TENDER.    Offer. 

We  Offer  (see  Offer)  absolutely 
or  acceptance. 

We  Tender  (Fr.  tendre,  Lat.  ten- 
dh-e,  to  stretch)  when  we  offer  con- 
tingently upon  the  pleasure  of  another 
to  accept  with  satisfaction  to  himself; 
as,  to  tender  something  in  satisfaction 
of  a  debt.  There  is  more  of  formality 
in  tendering ;  more  of  voluntariness 
in  offering.  We  offer  in  the  first  in- 
stance. We  commonly  tender  in  re- 
tirrn.  So  we  are  said  to  tender  (not 
to  offer)  or  to  return  thanks. 

"  His  tendering  upon  so  fair  and  eajsy 
terms  an  endless  life  in  perfect  joy  and 
bliss,  his  furnishing  us  with  so  plentiful 
means  and  powerful  aids  for  attainmg  that 
.  happy  state— how  pregnant  demonstrations 
are  these  of  unspeakable  goodness  towards 
us."— Barrow. 

That  which  is  offered  to  me  I  may  de- 
cline or  accept  as  I  please ;  that  which 
is  tendered  if  it  be  just,  adequate,  suit- 
able, I  am  under  an  obligation  to 
accept. 

TERRITORY.     Dominion. 

Both  terms  indicate  extensive  tracts 
of  country;  but  Dominion  (see  Do- 
minion) points  to  the  sovereignty 
over  the  land.  Territory  (Lat.  terri- 
lOriuniy  a  district)  to  its  extent  and  to 
the  jurisdiction  short  of  actual  sove- 
reignty exercised  over  it.  We  speak 
of  the  dominions  of  a  king ;  of  the 
territories  of  a  republic,  state,  city,  or 


company.  The  Queen's  dominions. 
Tlie  territory  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. 

"  The  kingdom  of  England,  over  which 
our  municipal  laws  havejurisdiction.includes 
not  by  the  common  law  either  Walei,  Scot- 
land, or  Ireland,  or  any  other  part  of  the 
king's  dominions,  except  the  territory  oi 
England  alone.  " — Blackstonk. 

THEOLOGIAN.     Divine. 

The  Theologian  (Gr.  flsoXoyoj,  one 
who  speaks  ydiscourses, of  God)  studies;  the 
DiviyiE{luB,t.  divinuSfdivine)  teaches.  It 
constitutes  a  theologian  to  be  learned  in 
theology,  whether  he  expound  or  not ; 
but  the  divine  teaches  in  public  or 
writes,  and  is  an  ecclesiastic,  while 
the  theologian  may  be  a  layman.  The 
theologian  is  sometimes  an  official 
referee  on  matters  of  theology. 

"  The  old  theologians  and  divines,  who  of 
all  philosophers  are  the  most  ancient." — 
Holland,  Plutarch. 

THINK.     Believe. 

To  Think  (A.  S.  thencan,  to  think, 
reason)  is  used  in  three  senses  :  1,  to 
express  the  ordinary  operation  of  the 
intellect;  2,  an  opinion  formed  in  the 
mind ;  and  3,  a  belief  in  something  as 
nearly,  but  not  quite,  certain.  As, 
"  Man  is  a  thinking  being."  "  I  think 
him  a  sensible  man."  "  I  think  that 
he  has  left  the  house." 

To  Believe  (prefix  be  ior  se-lyj'an, 
to  believe)  has  also  two  meanings  :  1, 
a  decided  faith  ;  the  other,  nearly 
synonymous  with  the  third  meaning 
of  Think,  but  with  a  rather  stronger 
conviction.  "  I  believe  so  ;  "  or,  "  1 
think  so,  but  am  not  certain."  In  this 
sense,  Believ  e  rises  upon  Think.  For 
instance,  I  ask  another,  "  Were  these 
words  uttered  in  the  course  of  the 
conversation?"  Answer:  "I  think 
so."  Question :  "  But  do  you  say 
that  you  believe  they  were?  In  this 
way,  to  think  is  to  be  disposed  to  be- 
lieve ;  and  to  believe  is  to  have  made 
up  one's  mind  to  think. 

THOUGHT.    Idea.  Imagination. 

Cogitation. 

The  Idea  {see  Idea)  represents  the 
object;  the  Thought  (see  Think) 
considers  it;  the  Imagination  (Lat. 
Xmdginationem)    forms    it.     The    Irst 


[threat] 


paints;  the  second  examines  and 
weighs ;  the  third  too  often  betrays. 
We  have  ideas  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
or  any  material  objects  which  we  have 
seen.  We  have  thoughts  on  moral 
subjects.  We  form  imagination  by 
combining  ideas.  The  imagination  is 
our  own,  the  thought  may  be  bor- 
rowed from  another.  An  idea  should 
be  just  and  true,  a  thought  fine,  an 
imagination  brilliant.  In  argument, 
especially,  men  are  bound  to  simplify, 
adjust,  and  clear  up  their  ideas. 
Thoughts  ought  not  to  be  far-fetched. 
Imaginations  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  realities.  The  idea  belongs  both 
to  the  external  object  and  to  the  mind 
which  entertains  it.  A  thought  is  an 
act  ofjudgment  and  comparison  among 
many  ideas.  Thoughts  are  more  per- 
sonal than  ideas  ;  for  some  ideas  exi^t 
necessarily.  It  cannot  be  said  of  any 
thoughts  that  they  so  exist;  and  so 
we  are  not  always  responsible  for  false 
ideas,  though  we  are  to  be  blamed  for 
entertaining  wrong  thoughts.  Right 
thoughts  are  based  upon  exact  ideas. 
A  thought  is  made  up  of  the  combina- 
tion of  an  idea  and  a  sentiment ;  and 
so  great  and  noble  thoughts  come  not 
only  fi-om  the  intellect  but  the  heart. 
An  idea  has.  as  it  were,  an  indepen- 
dent existence.  A  thought  does  not 
live  fully  till  it  is  expressed.  A  good 
idiUB.  is  felicitous,  appropriate,  or  use- 
ful one.  A  good  thought  is  the  germ 
of  a  good  action. 

Cogitation  (Lat.  cogitdtionem,  a 
thinking,  reflexion)  is  a  term  scientific 
and  metaphysical.  It  is  the  employ- 
ment of  the  mind  in  continuous  thought. 
Cogitation  is  associated  with  volition 
and  sensation  as  faculties  of  human 
nature.  It  is  a  somewhat  old-fashioned 
word,  and  wears  a  pedantic  air.  Cogi- 
tation is  as  it  were  the  taking  counsel 
with  one's  self. 

"  He  that  calleth  a  thing  onto  his  mind 
whether  by  impression  or  recordation  cogi- 
tateth  and  considereth,  and  he  tiat  em- 
ployeth  the  faculty  of  his  fancy  also  cogita- 
teth,  and  he  that  reasoneth  doth  in  like 
manner  cogitate  and  devise." — Bacon. 

"  I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  arrogance 
to  say  that  perhaps  we  should  make  greater 
prepress  in  the  discovery  of  rational  and 
contemplative  knowledge,  if  we  sought  it  m 
the  fountain,  in  the  consideration  of  things 


DISCRIMINATED 


719 


themselves,  and  made  use  rather  of  our  owu 
thoughts  than  other  men's  to  And  it." — 
Locke. 

•'  Whatsoever  the  mind  perceives  in  itself, 
or  as  the  immediate  object  of  perception, 
thought,  or  understanding,  that  I  call  idea" 
—Ibid. 

"  Every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of 
his  heart  was  only  evil  continually." — Kiig- 
lish  Bible. 

THOUGHTFUI^.     Considerate. 

The  Thoughtful  person  {see  Think) 
considers  carefully,  and  acts  with  re- 
flexion in  regard  to  the  circumstances 
of  a  case. 

The  Considerate  person  (Lat. 
cons'iderdre,  to  consider)  does  the  same 
in  reference  to  the  relation  borne  to  it 
by  other  persons.  We  should  be 
thoughtful  of  particulars  and  details, 
considerate  towards  the  feelings  and 
position  of  others.  There  is  reflexion 
in  thoughtfulness ;  anticipation,  in 
considerateness.  Considerateness  may 
be  positive  or  negative,  or,  in  other 
words,  may  show  itself  in  kindness 
or  forbearance.  Thoughtfulness  of 
others  is  considerateness.  But  there 
is  also  another  difference.  Thought- 
fulness  does  not  overlook  circum- 
stances, considerateness  does  not  over- 
look their  consequences.  He  who  is 
thoughtful  is  not  likely  to  forget ;  he 
who  is  considerate  is  not  likely  to 
leave  things  unprovided  for. 

"  Thoughtfulness  concerning  our  deport- 
ment, our  welfare,  that  of  othei*s,  and  the 
public,  so  far  as  it  will  really  be  of  use,  is 
a  duty  of  indispensable  obligation." — 
Secker. 

There  was  a  time  when  Considerate 
meant  simply  reflexive,  without  any 
reference  to  others ;  as, 

"  We  apply  it  (the  term  enthusiasm), 
through  an  indolent  custom,  to  sober  and 
considerate  asserters  of  important  truths  as 
readily  as  to  wild  and  extravagant  conten- 
ders about  them."— Byrom,  On  Enthu- 
siasm. 

And  so  Milton — 

•'  Considerate  pride,  waiting  revenge  ; " 
that  is  pensive,  brooding. 

'*  ^neas  is  patient,  considerate,  and  car© 
fal  of  his  people."— DRTDElf. 

THREAT.    Men  AC  K. 

Tlaese   words    being  derived,    th« 


720 


SYNONYMS 


[throwj 


forme/  from  a  Saxoi),  the  latter  from 
a  Latin  root,  differ,  as  such  words  so 
related  commonly  do,  in  representing, 
the  foi-mer,  the  physical  and  ordinary, 
the  latter,  the  moral  and  more  remote 
or  dignified. 

Threat  (A.  S.  threat,i,a  host ;  2,  a 
ihreatenmg)  may  be  used  of  small  or 
great  evils.  So  of  the  verb  Threaten. 
One  boy  may  threaten  to  strike  an- 
other. On  the  other  hand  we  speak 
of  the  land  as  Menaced  (0.  Fr. 
menace,  Lat.  itiindcem,  adj.  full  of 
threats)  with  the  evils  of  war  or  famine. 
Hence  to  menace  involves  the  action 
of  conscious  beings;  while  Threaten 
is  used  of  common  influences  and  phe- 
nomena. The  clouds  are  said  to 
threaten  (not  to  menace)  rain.  A 
threat  may  be  confined  to  words,  and 
a  menace  to  acts :  a  threatening  letter, 
a  menacing  attitude. 
"  Threatened  this  moment  and  the  next 
implored." 

"  Is  it  not  experience  which  reudem  a 
dog  apprehensive  of  pain  when  you  menace 
him,  or  lift  up  the  whip  to  beat  him  t " — 
HuMB,  On  the  Human  Understanding. 

THROW.  Hurl.  Toss.  Cast. 
Flino. 

Throw   (A.   S.   thrdwaii)  denotes 
method  and  some  amount  of  aim. 
"  I  have  thrown 
A  brave  defiance  in  King  Henry's  teeth." 
Shakespeare. 

Hurl,  a  certain  amount  of  force, 
and  weight  in  the  thing  hurled.  It 
is  a  contraction  of  hurtle,  and  retains 
the  force  of  dashing  or  striking  against, 
contained  in  Fr.  heurter. 

"  And  oft  the  swain. 
On  some  (sheep)  impatient  seizing,  hurls 
them  in."  Thomson. 

Cast  (Icel.  kasta,  to  cast)  is  more 
dignified,  and  has  less  of  effort,  mean- 
ing sometimes  little  more  than  to  let 
go ;  as,  to  cast  anchor. 

"  Let  us  cast  lots  for  it  whose  it  shall 
be." — English  Bible, 

Toss  denotes  no  great  violence  or 
distance,  but  a  sudden  rapid  throw- 
ing, as  of  a  light  body. 

"  They  look  upon  little  matters  as  un- 
worthy the  notice  of  God,  and  esteem  it  de- 
rogatory from  the  Divine  Slajesty  to 
suppose  Him  attentive  to  the  crawlings  of 


an  emmet,  or  tossings  of  a  feather  in   a 
tempestuous  air." — Search. 

To  Fling  (one  of  many  similar  imi- 
tative words,  as  fiog,  Sw.  'Jlenga,  to 
beat,  Lat.  in-,Ji'igcre :  Wedgwood)  is  to 
cast  forth  from  self,  commonly  with 
an  effort  of  will. 
•'  Tis  Fate  who  flings  the  dice,  and  as  she 

flings. 
Of  kings  makes  peasants  and  of  peasants 
kings."  Dryden. 

TIME.     Duration. 

Duration  (Lat.  durare,  to  last) 
cannot  be  conceived  but  in  relation 
to  some  object. 

Time  (Lat.  tempus)  exists  by  itself, 
absolute  and  independent.  Time  has 
been  personified  by  mythologists  and 
poets.  Duration  is  to  time  what  ex- 
tent is  to  space.  It  is  the  space  or 
time  occupied  between  the  beginning 
of  a  thing  and  the  end.  But  tliis  dis- 
tinction is  not  all.  The  word  Time  is 
often  used  in  this  sense.  Duration  is 
not  only  a  certain  quantity  of  time, 
but  such  a  quantity  regarded  under 
one  especial  aspect.  While  a  time  in 
this  sense  may  contain  a  thousand 
different  events,  and  stands  related  to 
a  preceding  and  a  subsequent  time, 
Duration  applies  only  to  a  solitary 
fact  separated  and  isolated  in  time. 
We  are  to  some  extent  masters  of  our 
time,  and  may  employ  it  as  we  will ; 
our  duration  upon  earth  is  not  a 
matter  of  our  own  power. 

TIME.    Season. 

Time  (A.  S.  tima ;  time,  season)  is 
here  the  generic  term. 

Season  (Fr.  saison,  Lat.  sdtionem, 
sowing-time)  is  a  certain  time ;  that  is, 
time  measured  not  merely  chronolo- 
gically, but  in  reference  to  anything 
to  which  it  is  especially  adapted.  A 
season  is  a  fit  period ;  as,  youth  is  the 
season  of  enjoyment. 

"  Our  conception  of  time  originates  in 
that  of  motion;  and  particularly  in  those 
regular  and  equable  motions  carried  on  in 
the  heavens,  the  parts  of  which,  from  their 
perfect  similarity  to  each  other,  are  correct 
measures  of  the  continuous  and  successive 
quantity  called  time,  with  which  they  are 
conceived  to  co-exist.  Time,  therefore, 
may  be  defined  the  perceived  number  •' 
successive  movements." — QiLLiES,  An»ly 
sis  of  Aristotle's  Ethics. 


LTlllESOMEj 


"  Still   sing  the   God  of  smsons   as   they 

roll. 
For  me,  when  I  forget  the  darling  theme. 
Whether  the  blossom  blows,  the  summer 

ray 
Russets  the  plain,  inspiring  autumn  gleams. 
Or  winter  rises  in  the  blackening  east. 
Be   my  tongue  mute,  my  fancy   paint  no 

more. 
And,  dead  to  joy,  forget  my  heart  to  beat," 
Thomsox. 

TIMELY.  Seasonable.  Oppor- 
tune. 

Timely  means  in  good  time;  Sea- 
i^.NABLE,  in  right  time.  Timely  aid 
is  thai  which  comes  b-fore  it  is  too 
late.  Seasonable  aid,  that  which  meets 
the  nature  of  the  occasion. 

"And  Brett,  with  his  men,  manfully 
endured  their  charge  till  more  English  and 
Portuguese  coming  timely  in  to  their  suc- 
cour, beat  them  back  into  the  city." — Cam- 
DEX, 

"Mercy  is  seasonable  in  the  time  of 
affliction." — Ecclesiasticus,  English  Bible. 

The  difference  is  slight  between 
these  and  Opporiuxe  {Lvit.oyiportunxis) 
which  seems  to  express  more  the 
occurrence  of  that  which  by  its  time- 
liness aids  some  particular  project  or 
specific  course  of  things.  Like  Timely 
and  unlike  Seasonable,  it  qualifies  a 
case  rather  than  a  class  of  cases. 
Things  are  opportune  for  the  occa- 
sion, and  not  as  a  rule.  The  shower 
which  falls  seasonably  and  in  timely 
preservation  of  a  crop  may  be  iHop- 
portune  as  regards  a  party  of  plea- 
sure. 

"  The  murkiest  den. 
The   most  opportune  place,  the  strong'st 

suggestion 
Our  worser  senses  can,  shall  never  melt 
Mine  honour  into  lust^" 

Shakespeare. 

TIMID.  Timorous.  Afraid. 
Pusillanimous. 

Afraid  ({or  a ffrai/ed,  part,  of  ajfiav, 
(0  frighten,  O.  Fr.  effveier)  denotes  a 
temporai-y  state. 

Timid  and  Timorous  (Lat.  tiinere, 
to  be  afraid)  denote  qualities  or  habits. 
Timid  is,  however,  sometimes  em- 
ployed of  the  state  of  mind  at  the 
■moment,  without  denoting  a  perma- 
nent quality.  Timorous  is  only  used 
of  the  permanent  quality.  Timid 
"♦"ids  itself  better  to  express  physical, 


DISCRIMINATED. 


21 


and  TiMoiioLS,  moral  timidity.  A 
timorous  disposition  is  opposed  tt  an 
adventurous  one;  a  timid  disposition, 
to  a  courageous  one.  Extreme  cau- 
tion in  statesmen  shows  itself  in  timo- 
rous measures  and  a  timorous  policy. 
Tliough  of  no  small  moral  courage, 
yet  some  men,  in  conditions  of  phvsi- 
cal  danger,  have  shown  themselves 
timid  as  children. 

Pusillanimous  (Lat.  pusilldinmiSf 
faint-hearted)  is  applied  to  moral 
beings  acting  on  an  important  scale, 
as  also  to  their  spirit,  measures,  con- 
duct, policy.  The  term  is  not,  for 
instance,  applicable  to  timid  children, 
but  to  those  in  whom  courage  and 
decision  might"  be  expected  or  re- 
quired as  manly  and  responsible 
agents!. 

"  We  are  apt  to  speak  of  a  low  and  pusil- 
lanimous  spirit  as  the  ordinary  cause  by 
which  dubious  wai-s  terminated  in  humilia- 
ting treaties."— Burke. 

TIRESOME.  Wearisome.  Te- 
dious.    Troublesome. 

Tiresome  and  Troublesome  are 
applicable  both  to  things  and  per- 
sons. 

Wearisome  and  Tedious  only  t', 
things,  and  the  acts  of  persons,  ''"ne 
force  of  that  which  is  tiresome  (  A .  S. 
tirian,  to  vex,  irritate)  is  more  active 
and  energetic,  produciag  a  feeling  of 
physical  annoyance  and  exhaustion 
of  patience.  Wearisome  (A.S.  ivcrig, 
vceary,  depressed)  is  said  of  things 
more  continuous  in  their  operation, 
and  producing  the  impression  ol 
monotony  and  want  of  relief.  A 
refractory  child  is  tiresome ;  a  long 
journey  through  an  uninteresting 
country  is  wearisome.  Tedious  (Lat. 
ta:dium,  neuriitess,  loathing)  denotes 
the  weary  length  of  time  occupied  ; 
Troublesome,  that  which  causes 
trouble  (Fr.  tronbler,  Lat.  tnrhidare, 
to  disturb,  turbiilu,  a  crowd),  discom- 
posure, annoyance,  or  difficulty  in 
our  own  minds,  as  when  the  same 
cliild,  by  his  refractoriness,  sets  us  a 
difficult  task  in  managing  him.  Such 
things  as  vain  repetitions,  importu- 
nate requests,  slight  disappointments 
and  checks  are  tiresome.  Monoto 
nous  tasks  and  journevs  are  wean 

S   A 


722 


some.  Prolix  speeclies  are  tedious. 
Complicated  tasks,  and  problems  dif- 
ficult to  solve,  or  threads  difficult  to 
unravel,  are  troublesome. 

"  This  being  a  religion  founded  only  on 
temporal  sanction,  and  burdened  with  a 
minute  and  tiresome  ritual,  had  the  people 
known  it  to  be  only  preparatory  to  another, 
founded  on  better  promises  and  easier  ob- 
servances, they  would  never  have  borne 
ihe  yoke  of  the  law."— Warburton. 

"  But  no  worthy  enterprise  can  be  done 
by  us  without  continual  plodding  and 
icearisomeness  to  our  faint  and  sensitive 
abil  i  ties. " — Milton. 

"It  reqnired  no  such  metaphysical  appa- 
ratus as  Clarke  employs,  somewhat 
tediously,  to  prove  that  all  perfections, 
natural  and  moral,  must  be  attributes  of 
the  self-existent  all-perfect  Author  of  all 
being."— BOLINGBROKE. 

"We  found  walking  here  exceedingly 
troublesome,  for  the  ground  was  co^-ered 
with  a  kind  of  grass,  the  seeds  of  which 
were  very  sharp,  and  bearded  backwards." 
— Cook's  Voyages. 

TOLERATE.     Suffer.     Permit. 

One  Tolerates  (Lat.  loltrare) 
things  when,  having  the  power  to 
8top  them  or  to  escape  from  them, 
one  refrains  to  do  either. 

One  Suffers  thera  (Lat.  sufferre) 
when  one  does  not  resist  or  oppose 
them,  either  as  overlooking  or  con- 
niving at  them,  or  as  feeling  one's 
inability  to  prevent. 

One  Permits  them  (Lat.  permitttve) 
when  one  gives  some  degree  of  con- 
sent to  them. 

Tolerate  and  Suffer  are  only  used 
ofwhatisbad,  or  believed  to  be  so,  or 
painful  and  disagreeable ;  Permit,  of 
things  good,  bad,  or  in  themselves 
indifferent.  We  are  sometimes  in- 
duced to  tolerate  evils  and  incon- 
veniences lest  worse  things  happen 
to  us.  We  suffer  as  feeling  that 
greater  harm  may  accrue  from  resis- 
tance, or  that  tlie  remedy  may  be 
worse  than  th/3  disease.  Human  laws 
may  never  permit  what  the  divine 
law  forbids,  though  they  sometimes 
forbid  what  that  law  permits. 

TOMB.     Grave.     Sepulchre. 

Tomb  (Fr.  tomhe,  L.  Lat.  tumba)  at 
present  implies  a  construction  having 
walls  of  stone  or  other  such  durable 
material;  while 


SYNONYMS  [TOLEUATEJ 

Grave(A.S.  ^rcef,  from  grqfan,  to 
carve,  to  dig)  denotes  no  more  than  a 
simple  excavation  of  the  earth  for  the 
reception  of  a  dead  body. 

Sepulchre  (Lat.  sqmkhrnm,  fron 
sepi'lire,  to  bury)  being  a  word  oJ 
Latin  origin,  and  so  carrying  out 
minds  back  to  times  when  the  dead 
were  buried  in  ancient  fashions,  as, 
for  instance,  in  sepulchres  hewn  out 
of  the  rock,  is  naturally  a  word  of 
rare  use,  and  occurs  principally  in 
connexion  with  some  special  truth 
or  reflexion.  In  such  expressions 
the  grave  represents  in  a  simple  man- 
ner the  end  of  mortal  life  ;  the  tomb, 
the  silence  and  inactivity  of  death  ;• 
the  sepulchre,  the  conventional  asso- 
ciations of  death  and  burial,  lo  go 
down  to  the  grave.  The  silence  of 
the  tomb.  The  sepulchres  of  departed 
kings. 

TOME.     Volume. 

One  Volume  (Lat.  voldmen,  a  roll, 
a  book)  may  contain  many  Tomes 
(Lat.  tomus,  Gr.  rifj-oc),  or  one  tome 
may  contain  many  volumes.  The 
tome  is  distinguished  by  the  divi- 
sions of  the  work,  the  volume  bj  the 
arrangements  of  the  binder. 

TONE.     Sound. 

Sound  (Lat.  si^nus,  sound)  is  no 
more  than  the  effect  produced  upon 
the  auditory  nerves  by  the  vibration 
of  the  waves  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
is  determined  by  the  physical  struc- 
ture of  the  organ,  or  more  generally 
by  the  physical  character  of  the  sub- 
stance or  cause  producing  it.  A  sound 
is  loud  or  soft. 

The  Tone  (Gr.  tovoj,  a  sxretchtng, 
tightening,  a  tone,  rfituv,  to  stretch)  is 
the  character  of  the  sound,  which 
does  not  belong  to  it  till  it  has  reached 
that  point  of  regularity  and  distinct- 
ness of  vibration  wliich  constitute  a 
musically  appreciable  note.  The 
sound  of  a  musical  instrument  is  loud 
or  soft;  the  tone  is  high  or  low-pitched, 
melodious  or  not,  and  the  like.  Hence 
the  term  Tone  is  capable  of  a  secon- 
dary meaning,  according  to  which  it 
exjiresses  the  accordance  of  words  or 
acts  with  a  certain  condition  of  mind, 
temper,  disposition,  character,  and  tb« 


[touchJ 

like :  as,  a  hi^h  tone   of  mind ;  the    j 
general  tone  of  his  writings. 

"To  almost  every  sentiment  we  utter, 
more  especially  to  every  strong  emotion. 
Nature  hath  adapted  some  peculiar  tone  of 
voice,  insomuch  that  he  who  should  tell 
another  that  he  was  very  angry,  or  much 
grieved,  in  a  tone  which  did  not  suit  snch 
emotions,  instead  of  being  believed,  would 
be  laughed  at."— Blair. 

"  That  which  is  conveyed  into  the  brain 
by  the  ear  is  called  sonnd,  though  in  truth, 
nntil  it  come  to  reach  and  affect  the  percep- 
tive part,  it  be  nothing  but  motion.  The 
motion  which  produces  in  us  the  perception 
of  sound  is  a  vibration  of  the  air,  caused  by 
an  exceeding  short  hut  quick  tremulous  mo- 
tion of  the  body  from  which  it  is  propagated, 
and  therefore  we  consider  and  denominate 
them  as  bodies  sounding." — LoCKE. 

TORMENT.    TouruRE. 

Both  are  modifications  of  the  Lat. 
verb  torqnere,  to  twist.  As  now  em- 
ployed, Torture  is  an  excess  of 
Torment.  So  in  the  verbs,  to  tor- 
ment is  only  a  little  stronger  than  to 
annoy ;  while  to  torture  is  to  put  to 
extreme  agony.  Both  are  employed 
both  of  the  body  and  of  the  mind. 

"  Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear,  because 
fear  hath  torment." — English  Bible. 

"Such  passion  here. 
Such  agonies,  such  bitterness  of  pain. 
Seem  so  to  tremble  through  the  tortured 

stone. 
That  the  touched  heart  engrosses  all  the 

view. 
Almost  unmarked  the  best  proportions  pass 
That  ever  Greece  beheld." 

Thomsox. 

TORPID.     Benumbed. 

The  latter  (Old  Eng.  num,  dull, 
stupid)  denotes  a  temporary  and  even 
transient  state,  as  when  the  fingers 
are  benumbed  with  cold. 

Torpid  (Lat.  torpidus,  benumbed) 
denotes  a  more  continued  condition, 
and  is  only  applicable  to  creatures  in 
their  whole  nature,  while  Benumbed 
is  applicable  to  portions  of  their  or- 
ganization. Hibernating  animals  (  Lat. 
hdierndre,  to  winter),  their  iaculties 
being  easily  benumbed  by  cold,  lie 
torpid  through  the  winter.  In  the 
secondary  sense.  Benumbed  denotes 
the  operation  of  an  external  influence  ; 
Torpid,  a  natural  sluggishness  of 
ituental  constitution  or  feeling. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


723 


"  For  ere  the  beech  and  elm  have  cast  iheii 

leaf 
Deciduous;  when  now  November  dark 
Checks  vegetation  in  the  torpid  plant 
Exposed  to  his  cold  breath,  the  lack  begins." 
COWPEU. 

"  Some  on  a  broken  crag  were  strugglijjg 

cast. 
And  there  by  oozy  tangles  grappled  fast ; 
Awhile  they  bore  the  o'erwhelming  billow  s' 

rage. 
Unequal  combat  with  their  fate  to  wage. 
Till  all  benumbed  and  feeble  they  forego 
Their  slippery  hold,  and  sink  to  shades  be 

low."  Falconer,  Shipwreck. 

T  O  T  A  L.  Sum.  Aggregate. 
Amount. 

Total  (Lat.  totus,  whole)  is  purely 
arithmetical,  or  quantitative. 

Sum  (Lat.  summa)  is  not  so.  We 
speak  of  the  sum  of  considerations, 
observations,  and  the  like. 

Aggregaie  (Lat.  aggrtgare,  part. 
aggrtgatus,  to  gather  into  a  Jiock)  ia 
less  formal  in  its  force,  and  points 
simply  to  the  result  of  many  items, 
particulars,  individuals,  or  objects 
brought  together,  so  as  lo  form  a  col- 
lective mass  or  whole,  whatever  may 
have  been  the  nature  of  the  process, 
voluntary  or  involuntary,  uniform  or 
casual,  mental  or  mechanical,  which 
may  have  brought  them  together. 
The  total  is  the  result  of  computation, 
the  sum  is  the  amount  of  addition, 
the  aggregate,  the  collection  of  num- 
bers or  quantity. 

The  Amount  (O.  Fr.  amonter,  t^ 
amount  to)  is  the  relative  sum  or  total 
in  number  or  quantity ;  the  sum  or 
total  as  it  at  present  stands,  or  the 
point  to  which  it  has  at  present  reached. 
Hence,  such  phrases  as  "  the  whole 
amount,"  "  the  full  amount,"  "  the 
present  or  actual  amount."  The  total, 
the  sum,  and  the  aggregate  are  final. 
The  amount  may  possibly  be  increased 
by  subsequent  additions,  or  may  not 
amount  to  so  much,  or  may  amount 
to  more  on  some  future  occasion.  An 
aggregate  of  annual  subscriptions  is 
not  likely  to  amount  to  exactly  the 
same  sum  in  two  successive  years.  The 
total  of  each  year  will  be  difierent. 

TOUCH.     Contact. 
Touch  (Fr.  touche)  involves  both 
the  net  or  faculty  and  the  state. 


724 


Contact  (Lat.  cuiningire,  part. 
coHttictits,  to  touch  upon)  refers  only  to 
the  state.  A  substance  is  soft  to  the 
touch  when  it  comes  in  contact  with 
us.  The  physical  condition,  apart 
from  all  volition  or  sensation,  is  all 
that  is  denoted  by  contact. 

"  The  fifth  and  last  of  our  senses  is  touch, 
a  sense  spread  over  the  whole  body,  though 
It  be  most  eminently  placed  in  the  tip  of  the 
fingers.  By  this  sense  the  tangible  qualities 
of  bodies  are  discerndQ,  as  hard,  soft,  smooth, 
rough,  dry,  wet,  clammy,  and  the  like. 
But  the  most  considerable  of  the  qualities 
that  are  perceived  by  this  sense  are  heat 
and  cold." — LoCKK. 

"  The  basking  sharks  will  permit  a  boat 
to  follow  them  without  accelerating  their 
motion,  till  it  comes  almost  within  contoci." 
—Pennant,  British  Zoology. 

TOUCHING.     Pathetic. 
That  which  is  Touching  (Fr.  tou- 
cher)  moves  the  mind   in  a  tender 
manner  by  striking  it  as  it  were  in  a 
sensitive  part. 

The  Pathetic  (Gr.  7ra9jiT»;to?,  sensi- 
tive) moves  it  by  the  action  of  tender 
sentiments  continuously  exhibited. 
The  pathetic  has  an  uniform  tendency 
to  take  effect  upon  all  persons  suscep- 
tible of  tender  feelings,  while  that 
may  be  touching  in  one  case  which 
would  not  be  in  another,  as  when 
certain  tender  associations  are  excited 
in  connexion  with  personal  experience. 
That  which  is  touching  finds  its  way 
gently  to  the  heart,and  mduces  a  sweet- 
ness of  sympathy.  That  which  is 
pathetic  conquers,  subdues  it,  carries 
it  away,  sometimes,  in  spite  of  itself, 
fillsit,perhaps,with  painful  sensations. 
While  it  is  possible  to  smile  at  the 
touching,  one  weeps  at  the  pathetic. 
A  touching  appeal  conciliates,  a  pa- 
thetic appeal  overpowers.  An  expres- 
sion,  or  a  single  idea  may  be  touch- 
ing; but  representations,  prolonged 
addresses  are  pathetic.  There  is 
something  complex,  elaborate,  sus- 
tained in  the  pathetic,  and  a  pathetic 
simplicity  is  a  sort  of  contradiction  of 
ideas;  on  the  other  hand,  a  touching 
simplicity  is  most  natural.  The  exhibi- 
tion of  the  noble,  the  generous,  the 
affectionate,  and  other  such  senti- 
ments may  be  touching,  but  the  pre- 
sence of  some  degree  of  grief  or  pain 
,«•  anxiety  is  needed  to  make  up  the 


SYNONYMS  [touching] 


pathetic.  The  artless  expression  of  a 
child's  love  for  its  parent  has  in  it 
nothing  pathetic,  yet  may  be  very 
touching.  The  touching  excites  only 
tenderness,  the  pathetic  may  rouse 
indignation  against  the  cause  of  the 
misery  or  suffering. 


TRACK.  Trace.  Vestige.  Foot- 
step. 

Track  (Fr.  true,  from  traquer,  a 
hunting  term,  to  beat  a  uoody  to  sur- 
round) is  a  mark  or  impression  left  by 
some  body  or  bodies,  animate  or  not, 
that  have  passed  along  a  given  line  ol 
movement ;  as,  the  track  of  a  ship  in 
the  sea  ;  of  a  caravan  in  the  sand.  It 
is  not  a  path  or  road,  but  the  indica- 
tion of  a  line  of  travel  (where  it  is  on 
land)  which  may  become  such.  A 
track  is  a  new  path,  as  a  path  is  a 
beaten  track.  A  track  may,  however, 
be  no  more  than  a  line  of  travel  with- 
out visible  trace. 

Trace,  which  has  the  same  origin, 
is  a  line,  or  series  of  marks  or  prints. 
It  is  more  vague  than  Track,  and  is 
sometimes  used  subjectively,  that  is,  as 
expressive  of  purely  mental  investi- 
gation, while  Track  is  always  objec- 
tive, or  external.  We  speak  of  the 
track  of  wheels,  hoofs,  or  human 
feet,  and  of  the  traces  of  some 
body  which  we  cannot  verify  particu- 
larly. A  track  is  a  plain,  a  trace  is 
an  uncertain  and  defective,  indica- 
tion. 

A  Footsi  Kp  is  a  stepping-place  of 
the  foot,  and  may  be  made  by  present 
feet. 

A  Vestige  (Lat.  vestigium,  afoot- 
step)  is  a  footstep  of  the  past,  and 
seldom  used  but  in  a  secondary  mean- 
ing. In  this  secondary  way,  we 
speak  of  a  vestige  as  an  isolated  mark ; 
while  a  trace  implies  more  or  less  ot 
continuity  and  connexion.  When  as 
ocular  evidences  of  the  past  vestiges 
increase  in  number  and  connectedness, 
they  become  traces.  A  skeleton  dug 
up  in  an  uninhabited  island,  would 
be  a  vestige  of  human  life  at  some 
unknown  period  of  the  past ;  but  the 
finding  in  the  same  neighbourhood  of 
domestic  utensils,  weapons,  and  the 
like,  would   be  to  discover  traces  of 


[train] 


the  former  occuiiation  of  the  country. 
In  its  secondary  application,  Footstep 
rather  serves  as  an  emblem  of  Rure- 
ness  and  guidance  than  of  uncertainty. 
It  is  well  when  men  tread  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  great  and  wise  and 
good  that  have  gone  before  them. 

"  From  the  Spanish  trade  in  the  South 
Seas  running  aH  in  one  track,  from  north 
to  south,  with  very  little  deviation  to  the 
eastward  or  westward,  it  is  in  the  power  of 
two  or  three  cruisers,  properly  stationed  in 
diflferent  parts  of  this  track,  to  possess  them- 
selves of  eveiy  ship  that  puts  to  sea." — 
Ansox's  Voyages. 

"  And  such  is  Virgil's  episode  of  Dido  and 
^neas,  where  the  sourest  critic  must  ac- 
knowledge that  if  he  had  deprived  his  ^Kneis 
of  so  great  an  ornament  because  he  found 
no  traces  of  it  in  antiquity,  he  had  avoided 
their  unjust  censure,  but  had  wanted  one 
of  the  greatest  beauties  of  his  poem." — 
Drykex. 

'*  There  may,  perhaps,  be  some  reason  to 
suppose  that  men  became  gradually  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  and  effects  of  fire 
by  its  permanent  existence  in  a  volcano, 
there  being  remains  of  volcanoes,  or  ves- 
tiges of  their  effects,  in  almost  every  part 
of  the  world." — CooK'S  Vo 


DISCRIMINATED. 


725 


"  How  on  the  f&Meving footsteps  of  decay 
Youth  presses  1 "  Bryant. 

TRADE.  CoMMERCF.  Traffic. 
Dealing. 

Trade  (It.  tratta,  a  hill  of  exchange, 
trading  of  ships),  denotes,  in  the  first 
instance,  simple  drawing  from  the 
source  of  supply,  whether  at  home  or 
from  abroad.  It  is  the  exchange  of 
commodities  for  money. 

Commerce  (Fr.  commerce,  Lat 
commercium,  trade)  is  trade  on  a  large 
scale  between  different  places  and 
communities,  involving  the  acces- 
sories of  such  trade,  the  rules  and 
mode  of  carrying  it  on.  Treaties  be- 
tween different  nations,  brokerage, 
ship  insurances,  and  many  other  such 
things,  associate  themselves  with  the 
use  of  the  comprehensive  term  Com- 
M  erce.  An  extensive  and  flourishing 
commerce  has  often  followed  in  tracks 
first  opened  by  a  few  enteiprising 
traders. 

Traffic  (Fr.  trafc,  It.  traffico)  is 
specific  and  local  trade,  as  along  a 
particular  line  of  road,  or  between 
two  towns.  It  is  extended  in  common 
nnrlance  to  comprise  not  only  trading, 


but  travel  or  intercourse.  We  speak 
of  the  traffic  along  a  main  street  as 
comprehending  every  sort  of  passenger 
and  carriage  frequenting  it.  It  con- 
sists in  buying  and  selling  the  same 
things  at  profit.  It  is  often  used  of 
sordid  or  iniquitous  dealing,  as  a 
traffic  in  slaves,  that  is  in  the  liberty 
of  men,  or  in  the  chastity  of  women. 

Dealing  (A.  S.  d&lan,  a  part,  por- 
tion) is,  in  its  primary  sense,  a  divid- 
ing or  distributing,  hence  dealing  is 
the  doing  of  a  distributing  or  retailing 
business,  as  distinguished  from  that  of 
a  manufacturer  or  producer.  Dealers 
in  particular  goods  or  articles  buy 
them  up  in  portions,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  market,  and  make  profit  on 
them  in  detail. 

"  Thy  sin's  not  accidental,  but  utrade." 
Shakespeare. 

"  The  greatness  of  a  state  and  the  happi- 
ness of  its  subjects,  how  dependent  soever 
they  maybe  supposed  in  some  respects,  are 
commonly  allowed  to  be  inseparable  with 
regard  to  commerce;  and  as  private  men 
receive  gi-eater  security  in  the  possession  of 
their  trade  and  riches  from  the  power  of 
the  public,  so  the  public  becomes  powerful 
in  proportion  to  the  opulence  and  extensive 
commerce  of  private  men." — HuME,  Essay 
on  Commei'ce. 

"  As  soon  as  he  came  aboard,  he  gave  leave 
to  his  subjects  to  traffick  with  us  ;  and  then 
our  people  bought  what  they  had  a  mind 
to."— Dampier's  Voyages. 

"  They  buy  and  sell,  they  deal  and  traf- 
fic."— South. 

TRAIN.     Procession.    Retinue. 

In  a  Train  (Fr.  train,  from  tniire, 
Lat.  trahtre,  to  draw)  there  are  per- 
sons of  all  conditions;  indeed,  the 
fundamental  idea  of  Train  is  no  more 
than  a  continuation  of  connected 
things  in  movement.  Where  trains 
are  personal,  they  are  composed  of 
different  individuals, all  subordinate  to 
c«ie  leading  person.  But  Ave  speak 
of  trains  of  many  things ;  as  a  train  of 
ideas. 

It  is  in  the  personal  sense  that  it  is 
synonymous  with  Retinue  (Fr.  re- 
tenne,  from  retenir,  to  retain).  Retinue 
is  applicable  only  to  persons.  We  may 
not  speak  of  a  retinue  of  carriages. 

The  idea  of  Procession  (Lat.  pro* 
cessionem,  a  going  or  marching  onwards) 
is  that  of  a  number  of  persons  or  con- 


726 


SYNONYMS  [TRANSACT] 


?picuous  objects,  as  carriages,  ban- 
ners, moving  in  order  and  in  line. 
The  term  is,  however,  civil,  and  not 
military.  Retinue  strictly  denotes  the 
retained  or  engaged  followers.  A 
prince  entering  a  public  hall  with  his 
own  retinue  might  be  joined  by  the 
authorities  of  the  place,  who  would 
follow  in  his  train. 

"If  we  look  immediately  into  ourselves, 
and  reflect  on  what  is  observable  there,  we 
shall  find  our  ideas  always,  whilst  we  are 
awake  or  have  any  thought  passing  in  train, 
one  going  and  another  coming  without  in- 
termission."— Locke. 

'*  Ranked  in    procession   walk    the    pious 

train. 
Offering  first-fruits,  and  spikes  of  yellow 
grain."  Dryden,  Ovid. 

"  The  great  Lard  Mortimer  erected  again 
the  round  table  at  Kenilworth,  after  the  an- 
cient order  of  King  Arthur's  Table,  with  the 
retinue  of  an  hundred  knights  and  an  hun- 
dred ladies  in  his  house,  tor  the  entertain- 
ing of  such  adventui'ers  as  came  thither 
from  all  parts  of  Christendom." — Dray- 
TON. 

TRANSACT.    Nkgotiate. 

We  Transact  (Lat.  transigtre,  part. 
transacUis,  to  can-y  through,  transact) 
business  generally. 

We  Negotiate  (Lat.  negotiari,  to 
carry  on  business)  a  particular  busi- 
ness. No  more  is  involved  in  Trans- 
action than  the  performance  of  a  com- 
plex action  by  more  than  one  person. 
Negotiate  implies  that  in  the  ti-ans- 
action  there  is  an  adjustment  of  mutual 
interests.  Doing  makes  transaction ; 
while  deliberating  is  necessary  for  ne- 
gotiation. Terms  and  a  common 
basis  have  to  be  found  in  negotiation, 
as  well  as  a  common  end.  Transac- 
tion is  general,  negotiation  is  com- 
mercial or  political. 

"  In  a  country  fully  stocked  in  propor- 
tion to  all  the  business  it  had  to  transact, 
as  gi-eat  a  quantity  of  stock  would  be  em- 
ployed in  every  particular  branch  sis  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  trade  would  per 
mit."— Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  A  negotiator  must  often  seem  willing  to 
hazard  the  whole  issue  of  his  treaty,  if  he 
wishes  to  secure  any  one  material  point."— 
BURKK. 

TRANSACTION.     Proceeding. 
A  Transaction  is  something  done 
and  completed. 


A  Proceeding  (see  Proceeding)  is 
either  yet  incomplete,  or  is  contem- 
plated in  its  stages  or  continuity,  not 
in  its  consummation.  The  transac- 
tions of  the  reign  of  such  a  monarch 
denote  what  was  done  in  that  reign. 
The  proceedings  involve  the  acts  in 
detail,  motives,  and  mutual  behaviour, 
as  exhibiting  justice  or  injustice, 
civilization,  or  the  want  of  it,  and  the 
like,  and  are  regarded  as  events  in 
progress.  We  speak  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  individuals,  and  of  the  trans- 
actions of  companies  or  of  individuals 
collectively.  Transaction  is  some- 
times used  in  the  sense  of  an  account 
of  a  complex  proceeding,  as  transac- 
tions of  a  philosophical  society. 

"  'Tis  said  they  all,  with  one  consent, 
Agreed  to  draw  up  th'  instrument. 
And,  for  the  general  satisfaction, 
To  print  it  in  the  next  transaction." 
Butler. 

TRANSCRIBE.     Copy. 

To  Transcribe  (Lat.  transcnb^re) 
is  to  write  over  from  something  else. 
It  applies  only  to  writing  and  print- 
ing, or  the  engraving  of  letters,  as 
inscriptions.  Nor  does  it  denote  of 
necessity  a  similarity  of  style  in  the 
printing  to  the  original,  but  only  an 
accurate  representation  of  the  words 
and  matter. 

Copy  (Lat.  copia,  plenty,  a  multipli- 
cation of  the  original)  goes  beyond 
writing,  as,  for  instance,  to  painting, 
and,  moreover,  implies  something  of 
the  character  and  appearance  of  the 
original  as  reproduced.  One  may 
transcribe  for  the  purpose  of  neatness, 
cleanliness ;  one  copies  for  the  sake 
of  use  and  convenience. 

"  We  can  distinguish  in  the  present  case, 
as  perhaps  a  good  critic  may,  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  author  from  those  of  his  tran- 
scribers."— WaTERLAiVD. 

"  This  order  has  produced  great  numbei* 
of  tolerable  copyers  in  painting,  good 
rhymers  in  poetry,  and  harmless  projector* 
in  politics." — Tatler. 

TRANSGRESS.  Infringe.  Vio- 
late.    Contravene. 

That  whicn  is  Transgressed  (Lat. 
transgredi,  part,  iransgressus,  to  step 
beyond)  is  the  moral  law  generally,  or 
any  command  to  which  moral  autho- 


[tiianspoutJ 


rity  belongs,  as  if  a  child  should 
transgress  the  command  of  his  parent. 

That  which  is  Violated  (Lat.  vio- 
lare,  to  treat  witli  violence,  to  profane) 
is  a  known  law,  obligation,  or  com- 
pact. 

That  which  is  Isfiunged  (see  In- 
fuinoe)  is  civil  laws  and  rights,  re- 
gulations of  minor  force,  such  as  the 
customs  of  society. 

"  Human  laws  oblige  only  that  they  be 
not  despised,  that  is,  that  they  be  not  trans- 
aressed  yrithont  a  reasonable  cause ;  but  the 
laws  of  God  must  be  obeyed  in  all  cases,  and 
there  is  no  cause  to  break  them,  and  there 
can  be  no  necessity  upon  us  to  commit  sin." 
—Bishop  Taylor. 

\'ior.ATE  has  a  wider  application  than 
either  Transouess  or  Infringe.  It 
not  onlyinvol ves  a  more  defiant  and  for- 
cible contradiction  and  disobedience, 
but  it  extends  to  other  matters  than 
tliose  of  law  and  custom,  as  to  princi- 
ples, and  abstract  truth,  justice,  and 
right.  That  which  ought  to  restrain 
may  be  transgressed ;  that  which  ought 
to  be  respected  may  be  infringed ; 
that  which  ought  to  be  held  sacred 
may  be  violated. 

"  When  it  comes  to  be  these  men's  own 
case  to  be  oppressed  by  violence  or  over- 
reached by  fraud,  where,  then,  are  all  their 
pleas  against  the  eternal  distinction  of  right 
and  wrong  ?  How,  on  the  contrary,  do  they 
then  cry  out  for  equity,  and  exclaim  against 
injustice !  How  do  they  then  challenge 
and  object  against  Providence,  and  think 
neither  God  nor  man  severe  enough  in 
punishing  the  violators  of  right  and  truth  1" 
—Clarke. 

"  We  promise  that  such  a  course  shall  be 
taken  with  him  as  may  sufficiently  testify 
that  we  no  less  heinously  brook  the  viola- 
tion of  your  right  than  the  infringement  of 
our  own  authority."— MiLTOX. 

CoSTRWESiios  {htit.contra,against, 
vcn'ire,  to  come)  has  regard  to  positive 
rule,  order,  discipline,  administration. 
One  contravenes  what  is  laid  down  or 
put  forth  authoritatively.  One  in- 
fringes in  those  cases  in  which  dis- 
obedience involves  breach  of  faith  and 
disregard  of  contract,  formal  or  im- 
plied ;  as  a  subject  infringes  the  laws 
of  the  realm,  or  a  prince  infringes  the 
liberties  of  his  subjects.  Transgres- 
sion is  where  there  is  law  of  any  kind, 
natural,  social,  political,  conven- 
tional, divine.  Violation  audaciously 
attacks  what   is   essential  in  nature. 


DISCRIMINATED. 


72? 


manners,  society,  religion.  The  un- 
disciplined spirit  contravenes,  the  un- 
faithful infringes,  the  licentious  ti'ans- 
gresses,  the  reckless  violates.  Contra- 
vention is  a  fault  or  offence ;  infraction 
an  act  of  dishonesty  and  injustice. 
Transgression  of  disobedience  or  crime. 
Violation  is  enormity  and  brutality. 

"  So  plain  a  proposition  ....  was  not 
likely  to  be  contravened." — SoUTHEY. 

TRANSPARENT.  Translucent. 
Pellucid. 

That  is  Transparent  (Lat.  trans, 
beyond,  and  parire,  to  appear)  which 
admits  of  objects  on  the  other  side  of 
it  being  seen  distinctly.    That  is 

Translucent  (Lat.  translucentem, 
part,  of  translucire,  to  be  translucent 
or  transparent)  which  merely  admits 
of  a  penetration  or  passage  of  light 
througli  it.  Fine  glass  and  pure 
water  are  transparent,  so  are  fine 
fabrics,  as  gauze,  which  implies  a 
discontinuity  of  substance.  In  this 
way  a  leafless  hedge  may  be  trans- 
parent, but  this  discontinuity  would 
prevent  the  application  of  the  term 
translucent  or  diaphanous  (Gr.  J<a, 
through,  and  <pa,iviiv,  to  show)  which  is 
its  Greek  equivalent.  Some  stones, 
as,  for  instance,  that  called  jade,  are 
translucent. 

Pellucid  (Lat.  pellmidus,  for  per- 
lucidus,  transparent)  in  our  older 
writers  was  used  in  the  sense  of 
Transparent.  It  now  denotes,  as  in 
the  term  "  pellucid  stream,"  that 
which  is  in  its  nature  transparent, 
but  in  fact  can  only  be  seen  clearly 
into,  and  not  through,  admitting, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  perfect 
penetration,  but  not  passage  through, 
of  light. 

TRANSPORT.     Transfer. 

Transport  (Lat.  transportdre,  to 
carry  over  or  beyond)  is  indefinite, 
Transfer  (Lat.  transferre,  to  bear  over 
or  beyond)  is  definite.  Hence  the 
former  term  may  be  used  indepen- 
dently ;  the  latter  involves  the  men- 
tion of  the  person,  point,  or  locality 
to  which  the  transference  is  made. 
Convicted  felons  were  transported  for 
life,  that  is,  carried  beyond  the  seae, 
I'lit  when  thev  arrived  at  tlieir  destiny 


728 


SYNONYMS  [tREACIIEUOUS] 


tion,  if  the  penal  settlement  were 
ovor-8tockeil,  it  was  necessary  to 
transfer  them  to  another.  Transport 
has  only  a  physical  employment. 
Those  things  on\y  are  transported 
which  are  materially  movable.  Trans- 
fer is  applicable  to  those  things  which 
have  a  consistence  and  fixity,  but  only 
in  a  secondary  sense.  Goods,  mer- 
chandise, and  the  like  are  transported 
when  they  are  taken  away,  trans- 
ferred when  they  are  consigned  to 
other  keeping.  Houses  and  public 
buildings  are  not  commonly  trans- 
ported, but  a  court  of  law,  a  public 
office,  a  queen's  drawing-room  may 
be  transferred  or  removed  to  a  diffe- 
rent building. 

TREACHEROUS.  Traitorous. 
Treasonable. 

Treacherous  (Fr.  trtchene,  trick- 
eru)  is  moral,  and  respects  private  re- 
lationship between  man  and  man. 

Traitorous  (Lat.  traditdrem,  a  be- 
trayer, from  trddh'e,to  deliver  or  betray) 
is  civil,  social,  or  political,  and  re- 
spects the  relationship  between  man 
and  any  person  or  power  to  which  he 
owes  allegiance,  or  any  cause  to  the 
support  of  which  he  is  bound  by 
fealty  or  honour. 

That  is  Treasonable  (Fr.  trahtson; 
treason,  trahir,  to  betray)  which  comes 
under  what  has  been  authoritatively 
defined  to  be  of  the  nature  of  treason. 
A  man's  conscience  tells  him  when  he 
is  treacherous.  His  conscience  or  his 
understanding  would  tell  him  when 
he  had  been  traitorous  ;  but  he  might 
have  done  a  treasonable  act  through 
ignorance,  and  without  intent  to  com- 
mit treason,  and  so  find  that  he  had 
unwittingly  made  himself  amenable 
to  the  law. 

TREATMENT.     Usage. 

Treatment  (Fr,  traiter,  to  treat, 
Lat,  tractdre)  is  casual  or  occasional, 
or  at  least  imj)lies  no  more,  unless 
more  be  said. 

Usage  (Fr,  nsage)  is  continuous 
and  habitual.  A  man  may  meet  with 
ill-treatment  in  a  crowd.  Some  do- 
mestic animals  suffer  much  from  ill- 
usage.  It  may  be  observed  that 
treatment  is  employed  of  favourable 


or  unfavourable  treatment.  Usage  is 
not  emj>loyed  in  a  favourable  sense. 
Ill-usage  is  also  stronger  than  ill- 
ti'eatment.  The  former  is  always 
positive  and  demonstrative  ;  the  latter 
may  be  through  contempt  and  neg- 
lect. 

TRICK.  Artifice.  Stratagem. 
Subterfuge.     Manceuvre. 

Of  these.  Trick  (0.  Fr.  tricher,  to 
trick)  is  the  simplest  and  most  generic, 
the  rest  being  modifications  of  this 
fundamental  and  simple  idea.  Trick 
commonly  involves  deception  for  self- 
interest. 

An  Artifice  (Lat.artificium,  handi- 
craft) is  an  elaborate,  artful,  or  in- 
genious trick.  As  artifice  turns  upon 
false  manipulations,  arrangements,  or 
appearances,  so  Stratagem  (Gr. 
a-rf&Thynfxa,  a  piece  of  generalship) 
turns  upon  false  judgments  and 
movements.  It  is  an  artifice  planned 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  practical 
end.  Children  play  tricks.  Design- 
ing persons  have  recourse  to  artifice. 
Those  who  convert  life  into  a  compli- 
cated game  employ  stratagem. 

Subterfuge  (Lat.  subterfiigere,  to 
fee  by  stealth)  is  something  under 
cover  of  which  one  makes  an  escape. 
It  is  an  artifice  employed  to  escape 
censure,  or  to  elude  the  force  of  an 
argument,  or  to  j  ust  ^"^  opinions  or  ac- 
tions. Trick  expiesses  more  directly 
deceptive  ingenuity  in  the  agent, 
which  may  or  may  not  practically 
affect  others.  A  trick  at  cards  need 
not  do  so.  On  the  other  hand,  an 
artifice  touches  the  condition  of'others 
to  their  misleading.  The  three  first 
involve  acts ;  the  subterfuge  may  be 
by  words  or  acts,  and  commonly  is 
made  up  of  both.  The  term  Trick 
has  other  meanings,  as  a  vulgar  or 
unseemly  habit;  and  such  manipula- 
tion in  art  as  is  calculated  to  produce 
a  telling  effect  by  means  not  strictly 
artistic  is  sometimes  called  a  trick. 

"  As  his  pre-eminence  depends  not  npon 
u  trick,  he  is  free  from  the  painful  sus- 
jiicions  of  a  juggler,  who  lives  in  perpe- 
tual fear  lest  his  trick  should  be  dis- 
covered."— Rkyxolds. 

The  trick  is  generally  something 
f)etty.     The  artifice  is  more   elaho- 


Ltry] 


DTSCROtlNATEI). 


729 


rate  and  aignified.  A  trick  is  a  cheat 
on  the  senses;  an  artifice,  on  the 
understanding;  a  stratagem,  on  the 
reason  or  judgment.  A  clever  trick 
dupes  us.  An  ingenious  artifice  mis- 
leads us.  A  deep  stratagem  captivates 
or  entraps  us.  A  subterfuge  is  either 
transparent,  or,  if  successful,  leaves 
us  in  the  lurch. 

"  The  skill  of  artifice,  or  office  mean." 
Milton. 

"  I  always  consider  his  (the  Spectator) 
making  them  and  their  dress  so  frequently 
the  subject  of  his  lucubrations  an  innocent 
ttratagem  to  draw  their  attention  to  his 
book,  and  thus  to  allure  them  to  the 
noblest  speculations  on  subjects  moral  and 
divine." — Knox. 

"  By  a  miserable  subterfuge,  they  hope 
to  render  this  proposition  safe  by  denying 
itfi  authority." — BuRKE. 

In  Manceuvre  (Fr.  manceuvre, 
from  Mediaeval  Lat.  mdnu-optra^work 
of  the  hand,  contr.  to  mtinopera ;  see 
6rachet)  is  involved  primarily  the 
idea  of  complicated  movements  skil- 
fully conducted,  and  only  secondarily 
that  of  deception.  The  manoeuvres 
of  a  fleet  may  be  to  test  seamanship, 
aptitude  for  fighting,  and  the  like.  A 
manceuvre  -which  deceives  is  a  strata- 
gem. The  stratagem  is  the  work  of 
an  individual,  the  manceuvre  com- 
monly though  not  necessarily  of  a 
body. 

"  Here  I  could  not  shake  off  old  habits  so 
far  as  to  resist  the  temptation  of  getting 
into  a  post-chaise  for  the  last  stage,  by 
which  manoeuvre  I  took  the  credit  of 
having  travelled  like  a  gentleman." — Ob- 
server. 

TRUTH.     Veracity.     Verity. 

Truth  (A.  S.  treowdhe,  treodh, 
frywdh)  regards  things. 

Veracity  (Lat.  virdcem,  true)  re- 
gards the  true  representation  of  things. 
We  speak  of  the  truth  of  history, 
and  the  veracity  of  the  historian. 
The  thing  said  is  true  or  not.  The 
relator  is  veracious  or  otherwise.  I 

"  Those  propositions  are  true  which  ex- 
press things  as  they  are ;  or  truth  is  the 
conformity  of  those  words  or  signs  by  which 
thing*  are  expressed  to  the  things  them- 
selves."—WoOLASTON. 

"  Truth  or  falsehood  lying  always  in  some 
affirmation  or  negation,  mental  or  verbal, 
our  ideas  are  not  capable  any  of  them  of 
l<eing  false  till  the  muid  passes  some  judg- 


ment upon  them,  that  is,  affirms  or  denies 
something  of  them." — Locke. 

"To  the  honour  of  their  author  (Sue- 
tonius), it  must  be  said  that  he  appears  to 
have  advanced  nothing  through  flattery  or 
resentment,  nor  to  have  suppressed  any- 
thing through  fear,  but  to  have  paid  au 
undaunted  regard  to  veracity."— Kaox. 

TRY.     Attempt.     Endeavour. 

To  Try  is  generic  (  Fr.  trier,  to  cull, 
pick  out,  Lat.  trltdre,  to  beat  the  corn 
from  the  chaff). 

Attempt (O.  Fr.  atempter,  tounder- 
take,  Lat.  atteutare),  and  Endeavour 
(  Fr.  mettre  en  devoir,  to  put  in  duty) 
are  specific.  We  cannot  attempt 
without  trying,  though  we  may  try 
without  attempting.  We  attempt 
with  an  intention  to  compass  a  cer- 
tain end.  When  we  try,  we  are  alto- 
gether uncertain  as  to  the  result. 
An  endeavour  is  a  svstematic  or  con- 
tinuous attempt.  A  single  attempt 
may  be  fruitless,  yet  at  last  we  may 
succeed  in  our  endeavours.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  all  three  of  these 
terras  imply  a  partial  failure  wliere 
they  are  used  of  the  past,  though  not 
of  the  future.  I  shall  try,  attempt, 
or  endeavour,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  leaves  the  issue  uncertain.  I 
tried,  attempted,  or  endeavoured,  im- 
plies that  success  did  not  follow, 
ina.sinuch  as  if  it  had,  it  would,  of 
course,  have  been  stated  rather  than 
the  fact  of  the  ti-ial. 

"  A  natural  and  unconstrained  behaviour 
has  something  in  it  so  agreeable, that  it  is  no 
wonder  to  see  people  endeavouring  after  it. 
But  at  the  same  time  it  is  so  very  hard  to 
hit  when  it  is  not  born  with  us,  that  people 
often  make  themselves  ridiculous  in  at- 
tempting it." — Addison. 

Both  Attempt  and  Endeavour  are 
weightier  words  than  TRV,and  involve 
more  dignified  or  more  difl^cult  ends. 
One  may  try  to  do  a  very  common- 
place thing.  One  attempts  what  is 
worthy  to  be  called  an  aim,  though 
not  necessarily  a  high  one.  Specific 
and  definite  design  is  not  so  strongly 
implied  in  Try  as  in  Attempt.  We 
attempt  to  do  or  get  something  in  par- 
ticular which  is  the  object  of  our 
effort.  We  sometimes  try  when  we 
wish  to  ascertain  a  result  of  which  we 
are  ignorant.  Crabb  says  that  when 
a  burglar   attempts  to  break   into  a 


730 


SYNONYMS  [tumid] 


house  he  ti-ies  the  locks ;  but  this  is 
another  application  of  the  word  Trv, 
to  test  or  put  to  the  proof. 

TUMID.    TuuGiD. 

Tumid  (Lat.  ttimtdus,  swelling,  tii- 
m'cre,  to  sxcell)  denotes  a  swelling  pro- 
ceeding from  an  alteration  of  the  in- 
ternal structure ;  as,  tumid  flesh,  the 
tumid  waves. 

Turgid  (Lat.  turgtdus,  infialed,  tur- 
gh-e,  to  swell)  is  that  which  wears  a 
swollen  or  inflated  aspect.  Both  are 
employed  in  a  moral  sense  ;  as,  a  tur- 
gid style,  turgid  language ;  tumid  ex- 
pressions. 

"  The  tumid  hills,— Miltox. 

"  Turgidity  of  the  eyes.— Arbuthnot. 

TUMULTUOUS.    Tumultuary. 

Tumultuous  expresses  that  tumult 
nas  taken  place,  and  is  actually  going 
on  ;  TuMULiuARY,  no  more  than  that 
there  is  a  tendency  to  tumult.  The 
former  expresses  confusion  and  vio- 
lence and  noise ;  the  latter,  disorderli- 
ness  and  sedition.  A  rabble  is  tumul- 
tuary in  disposition,  or  favours  tumul- 
tuary measures,  before  it  breaks  out 
into  tumultuous  acts. 

"  The  workmen,  accordingly,  vejy  seldom 
derive  any  advantage  from  the  violence  of 
those  iM?«wZiuoMS  combinations,  which  gene- 
rally end  in  nothing  but  the  punishment  or 
ruin  of  the  ringleaders." — Smith,  Wealth 
of  Nations. 

"  Insolence  and  noise. 
The  tempest  of  tumultuary  joys." 

COWPER. 

TURGID.     Bombastic. 

As  applied  to  persons  and  their 
style,  Turgidity  {see  Tumid)  denotes 
an  inflated  diction;  Bombastic  (Low 
Lat.  bombax,  cotton,  Gr.  0ofx^u^,  a  silk- 
worm) that  particular  turgidity  which 
is  connectedi  with  personal  pomposity 
and  self-importance,  and  exaggerates 
not  only  style,  but  facts.  A  style  is 
bombastic  which  is  inflated  and  non- 
sensical. It  is  turgid  when  its  expres- 
sions are  pompously  inflated,  though 
it  may  be  not  otherwise  than  sound  in 
sense. 

••  The  twgidness  of  a  young  scribbler." — 
Warbubton. 

'•  A  theatrical,  bombastic,  windy  phraseo- 
logy of  heroic  virtue."  -BuRKB. 


TWIRL.   Twist.    Twine.  Whirl. 

Twirl  (A.  S.  thwirily  anything  that 
is  twirled,  as  a  churn-staff  or  jiail)  in- 
volves the  exercise  of  force  so  as  to  be 
circulatory,  and  commonly  comes  from 
the  hand  or  fingers. 

Twist  (A.  S.  twi,  two)  is  to  turn 
sharply  from  a  given  line,  without  of 
necessity  completing  a  circle,  as  to 
twist  a  stick  is  to  destroy  its  straight- 
ness.  To  twirl  is  to  turn  it  rapidly 
round  in  the  air.  The  former  does 
not  lend  itself  to  secondary  meanings. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  are  said  to 
twist  words  when  we  bend  them  vio- 
lently to  our  own  meaning.  Whirl 
is  rapidly  to  twist  circularly,  having 
so  far  the  meaning  of  Twirl,  but  more 
equably,  with  more  violence,  and  in  a 
larger  circle.  Twine  is  continuous 
and  steady,  while  twist  is  a  single  and 
perhaps  violent  act;  and  has  reference 
to  a  conversion  of  condition,  by  which 
two  or  more  things  flexible  and  weaker 
may  become  one  thing  comparative'ii 
inflexible  and  strong. 

TYPE.     Form. 

The  Type  (Gr.  'zvirog,  a  hloWyformy 
or  impression,  rvTrrsiv,  to  beat)  is  a  cha- 
racteristic Form  (  Lat. /bnna) ;  that  is, 
it  is  the  aggregate  of  characteristic 
qualities,  either  an  ideal  representa- 
tion or  an  actual  specimen,  combining 
all  the  particulars  of  the  class  which 
it  is  employed  to  illustrate. 
"  Great  Father  of  the  gods,  when  for  our 

crimes 
Thou  send'st  some  heavy  judgment  on  the 

times. 
Some  tyrant  king,  the  terror  of  his  age. 
The  type  and  true  vice-gereut  of  thy  rage. 
Thus  punish  him."       I^YDEN,  Fersius. 

"But  supposing  the  self-subsistence  of 
matter  from  eternity,  could  the  world,  fuH 
of  innumerable  forrtis,  spring  by  an  im 
petus  from  a  dead  formless  priucijile  ? " 
—Bates. 

TYRO.     Novice. 

The  Tyro  (Lat.  tiro,  a  recruit)  is 
primarily  a  young  soldier;  hence  a 
beginner  in  some  branch  of  study  with 
which  he  is  therefore  but  slightly  ac- 
quainted. 

A  No  VIC  E  ( Lat.  n'6vicrus,  new,  fresh) 
is  one  who  is  new  in  any  business. 
Sometimes  one  newly  received  into 


[undertaking]     discriminated. 


731 


the  church  or  a  religious  community. 
According  to  their  origins  are  the 
uses  of  the  terms.  A  tyro  is  frf  sh  and 
unskilled,  a  novice  is  new  and  uu- 
familiarized.  One  who  is  bj  no  means 
a  tyro  at  learning  may  be  a  novice  at 
college. 


u. 

UGLINESS.     Deformity.     Dis- 

PIOUREMENT. 

These  terms  agree  in  expressing 
that  character  which  is  the  opposite 
of  beauty.  Ugliness  (A.  S.  oga, 
dread,  adj.  oga- lie)  is  the  generic  term 
of  whicli  the  others  express  species. 

As  applied  to  persons,  DEFonMiry 
{dtfoiiriitutem)  belongs  to  the  figure, 
ugliness  to  the  countenance.  Ugli- 
ness is  superficial  as  of  colour,  defor- 
mity is  of  disproportion  of  parts. 

Disfigurement  (Lat.  dis-,  and 
fighnij  form)  conveys  the    idea   of 

f)artial  deformity  by  some  specific 
isature  regarded  by  itself  or  super- 
imposed.    See  Deface. 

UNCERTAINTY.  Suspense. 
Doubt. 

Doubt  (Lat.  diiViiare,  to  doubt) 
indicates  the  absence  of  sufficient  study 
and  inquiry  ;  Uncertainty  (see  Cer- 
iain),  the  absence  of  judgment 
formed;  Suspense  (Lat.  suspensus, 
liovernigf  hesitatiiig),  the  absence  of 
determination,  lie  is  doubtful  who 
hesitates  fi'om  ignorance.  He  is  un- 
certain who  hesitates  from  irresolu- 
tion. He  is  in  suspense  who  cannot 
decide.  It  has  to  be  remarked,  how- 
ever, that  of  late  the  term  Suspense 
has  come  to  mean  that  anxiety  of  mind 
which  comes  from  ignorance  of  the 
intentions  of  another,  where  our 
interests  hang  on  those  intentions. 
Formerly  the  king  would  be  said  to  be 
in  suspense  who  had  not  made  up  his 
mind  whether  or  not  to  pardon  the 
offender.  Now  the  offender  is  said  to 
be  in  suspense  until  his  fate  is  made 
known  to  him.  1  tinay  be  observed  that 
Doubt  is  a  term  of  more  restricted  ap- 
plication than  Uncertainty.     Doubt 


is  subjective  only,uncfci«^inty  is  both 
subjective  and  objective.  Doubt  ex- 
ists only  in  the  human  mind,  but  un- 
certainty both  in  the  mind  and  the 
object  contemplated.  A  man  is  un- 
certain of  the  duration  of  his  life 
because  life  itself  is  uncertain. 

"  All  which  together  seldom  or  never  fail 
to  produce  that  various  and  doubtful  signi- 
fication in  the  names  of  substances  which 
causes  such  uncertainty,  disputes,  or  mis- 
takes when  we  come  to  a  philosophical  use 
of  them."— Locke. 

In  the  following  passage  we  have 
the  union  of  the  old  sense  of  Suspense 
and  the  new. 

"  While  a  great  event  is  in  suspense, 
the  action  warms,  and  the  very  suspense, 
made  up  of  hope  and  fear,  maintains  n« 
nnpleasing  agitation  in  the  mind." — Bo- 
lingbbokb. 

"  Modest  doubt  is  called 
The  beacon  of  the  wise." 

Shakespeare. 

UNDER.     Below.     Beneath. 

That  which  we  are  Under  (A.  S. 
under)\s  that  by  which  we  are  covered, 
overhung,  or  overtopped.  That  which 
we  are  Below  {he-  and  /aw)  is  simply 
something  which  is  higher  than  our- 
selves. That  which  we  are  Beneath 
(A.  S.  bene^an)  is  much  higher  than 
we. 

UNDERTAKING.  Enterprise. 
Expedition. 

A  work  projected  is  the  idea  com- 
mon to  both  these  terms ;  but  an 
Undertaking  denotes  something 
which  involves  reflexion  and  pei-seve- 
rance  with  other  mental  and  moral 
qualities. 

Enterprise  (Fr.  entreprise,  entre- 
prendre,  to  undertake)  involves  the 
personal  qualities  of  activity,  courage, 
endurance,  and  the  like.  Undertakings 
are  usuaJly  the  works  of  individuals. 
Enterprises  may  be  made  conjointly 
by  bodies  of  men.  An  undertaking 
lies  more  in  the  path  of  ordinary  duty. 
We  go  out  of  our  way  to  make  enter- 
prises. Undertakings  may  be  from  a 
sense  of  obligation ;  enterprises  are 
more  speculative,  and  turn  on  some 
prospect  of  personal  gain.  Tlie  un- 
dertaking may  be  arduous  ;  the  enter- 
prise, hazardous.     Yet  the  verb  un 


732 


dertake  has  so  broad  a  manning  that 
it  is  a  common  phrase,  "  to  umlertake 
an  enterprise." 

"  These  critics,  by  their  very  imperfect 
know!e(5ge  of  the  Hebrew  language,  which 
in  their  time  had  been  a  dead  ianguiige 
among  the  Jews  themselves  for  many  ages, 
»nd  by  their  prejudices  against  our  Saviour, 
were  but  ill  qualified  for  their  arduous  zm- 
der taking. "—Bisnop  Horsley. 
"And  yet  the  undertakers,  nay,  performers 
Of  such  a  brave  and  glorious  enterprise 
Are  yet  unknown." 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

The  Expedition  (Lat.  exptdire,  ex- 
pedttus,  to  despatch)  involves  as  essen- 
tial that  which  in  Undertaking  and 
Enterprise  is  only  accidental,  the  idea 
of  distance  in  the  matter  undertaken. 
An  expedition  is  an  excursion  for 
some  object  of  consequence,  as  the 
procuring  of  something  of  value,  con- 
quest, search,  or  scientific  discovery. 
It  is  understood,  if  nothing  be  ex- 
pressed to  the  contrary,  to  be  under- 
taken by  a  body  of  persons. 

"The  expedition  miserably  failed." — 
Prescott. 

UNINTELLIGIBLE.  Incom- 
prehensible.    Inconceivable. 

These  three  terms  denote  equally 
that  which  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
human  understanding,  but  they  have 
their  shades  of  difference. 

Unintelligible  (Lat.  intelligtre,  to 
understand)  relates  to  the  expression  ; 
Incomprehensible  (Lat.  incomprthen- 
sibWis)  to  the  nature  of  the  human 
mind  ; 

Inconceivable  (Lat.  m-,  not,  conci- 
pcre,  to  conceive)  to  the  force  of  the 
imagination.  That  which  is  unintel- 
ligible wants  distinctness  and  expres- 
sion. It  is  confused,  obscure,  answers 
to  nothing  and  states  nothing.  In- 
distinct articulation,  the  combination 
in  the  same  statement  of  woi'ds  bear- 
ing incongruous  or  contradictory 
forces,  is  unintelligible.  The  unin- 
telligible is  to  be  disregarded  and 
avoided.  It  is  often  far  otherwise 
with  the  incomprehensible  and  the 
inconceivable.  The  incomprehensible 
is  above  or  beyond  the  grasp  of  the 
understanding,while  the  unintelligible 
is  no  object  for  its  exercise.  The  in- 
eonceivnble  is  that  forthe  understand- 


SYNONrMS         [uNINIELLIGIBLE] 

ing  of  which  no  grouiids  can  be  fur- 
nished or  supposed . 


UNION.    Junction. 

Union  (Lat.  fmio7?em)  relates  to  two 
or  more  things  which  are  found  to 
resemble,  agree  with,  or  suit  one  an- 
other. 

Junction  (Lat.  junctionem)  is  of 
two  or  more  things  which  are  brought 
to  a  close  proximity  to  one  another. 
Union  denotes  the  being  one,  Junc- 
tion the  being  joined,  hence  a  con- 
formity belongs  to  union,  collocation 
to  junction.  A  junction  which  is  so 
close  as  to  pass  into  identity,  or  the 
production  of  a  third  thing,  is  a  union ; 
the  union  of  blue  and  yellow  makes 
green.  The  junction  of  rivers,  the 
junction  of  armies  results  in  their 
union.  The  idea  of  junction  is  more 
material  than  union,  which  is  more 
metaphysical ;  for  that  is  union  which 
has  not  division,  while  that  is  junction 
which  has  not  separation.  Union  is 
force  in  individuals,  in  associations,and 
in  communities.  Vast  areas  of  com- 
mon intercourse  have  been  opened  by 
the  junction  of  two  lines  of  railway. 

UNIVERSAL.     General. 

What  is  Universal  (Lat.  wiiverstis 
all  taken  collectively)  includes  every 
particular. 

What  is  General  includes  the  ma- 
jority of  particulars.  A  general  rule 
(Lat.  gtnus,  gentris,  kind)  admits  of 
exceptions.  What  is  universal  has  no 
exceptions.  Universal  is  opposed  to 
individual ;  general,  to  particular. 
"  The  foresight  of  government  is 
directed  to  the  general  welfare." 
''  The  Providence  of  God  contemplates 
the  universal  good."  ''The  faculty 
of  speech  is  general,  not  universal, 
among  men."  The  general  is  totality 
in  the  gross,  the  universal  is  totality 
in  detail. 

"  For  Catholic  in  Greek  signifies  wntrersflr/; 
and  the  Christian  Church  was  so  called,  as 
consisting  of  all  nations  to  whom  the  Qos))el 
was  to  be  preached,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  Jewish  Church,  which  consisted  for  the 
most  part  of  Jews  only." — SIilton. 

A  Ithough  universalitydoes  not,  sf  ric*.ly 
speaking,  admit  of  degrees,  yet  it  is 
sometiines  loosely  so  employed.     In 


DISCKIMINATED. 


[utility] 


that  way,  that  is  general  which  is 
most  universal,  as  in  the  following: — 
"  A  writer  of  tragedy  must  certainly  adapt 
himself  to  the  general  taste,  because  the 
dramatic,  of  all  kinds  of  poetry,  ought  to 
be  most  uviversally  relished  and  under- 
stood. "—MasoN. 

UNLIKE.  DiFFi  RiiNT.  {See  Dif- 
ference.) 

Different  (Lat.  differre,  to  differ) 
IS  applicable  both  to  quality  and 
number ;  hence  two  things  may  be 
different  ^ numerically)  without  being 
Unlike  (in  character),  furthermore, 
Unlike  is  negative;  Different  is  posi- 
tive. Unlike  is  wanting  in  simi- 
larity; Different  is  possessing  dis- 
similarit3^  Thinga  which  come  under 
the  same  genus  or  species  are  called 
different,  not  unlike;  while  things 
specifically  distinct  are  said  to  be  un- 
like. So  a  rose  is  utterly  unlike  a 
stone.  But  both  blue  and  green 
being  colours,  we  say,  "  Blue  is 
different  from  gi-een."  Unlikeness  is 
the  absence  of  details  in  common. 
Difference  is  general  dissimilarity. 

URBANITY.     Suavity. 

Both  are  forms  of  polite  behaviour. 
Both  are  more  appropriately  said  of 
elders  or  superiors  than  of  juniors  or 
inferiors.  Urbanity  (Lat.  urbanXtd- 
tein,  rejinementy  urbdnus,  belonging  to 
a  town  or  cilii)  is  more  than  Suavity 
(Lat.  iudvitdteni,  su-eetness,  pleasitnt- 
veis),  and  indeed  comprises  it.  Sua- 
vity belongs  to  the  disposition  ;  urba- 
nity, to  the  manners  and  demeanour. 
Suavity  shows  men  as  gentle  in  them- 
selves. Urbanity  makes  them  agree- 
able to  others.  Suavity  is  a  matter 
of  looks  and  voice ;  urbanity,  of 
observation  and  words. 

"  You  cannot  read  and  taste  his  (Horace's) 
beauties  without  improving  your  urbanity 
of  manners,  together  with  your  knowledge 
of  polite  literature."— Kn<jx. 

"  I  know  not  whether  the  curiosa  felici- 
tas,  or  that  charm  of  his  writings  which  re- 
sulted from  study  and  happiness  united, 
may  not  be  said  to  consist  in  delicacy  of 
sentiment  and  suavity  of  expression." — 
Ibid. 

UTILITY.  Service.  Use.  Avail. 
Usefulness. 

Utility  (Lat.  ntWitatem,  from  idiUf, 
useful)   18    that    abstract  quality    of 


733 


anything  which  makes  it  of  Use,  or 
useful  in  the  concrete.  If  an  im- 
provement were  made  in  a  machine, 
we  should  speak  of  the  utility  of  tlie 
invention,  and  of  the  machine  itself 
as  being  of  gieater  use  or  more  useful. 
That  is  useful  which  we  habitually 
want  for  familiar  ends,  as  a  useful 
walking-stick,  or  which  meets  more 
rare  and  important  ends,  and  fulfils 
them  in  a  higher  manner,  and  with 
wider  applicability.  A  useful  thing 
is  good  for  a  purpose  only. 

A  Serviceable  (Fr.  service;  service) 
thing  is  good  in  itself,  having  many 
properties  of  usefulness.  Hence  Ser- 
viceable is  commonly  said  of  those 
things  which  have  to  meet  more  com- 
plex or  urgent  requirements,  or  which 
aid  us  in  effectively  compassing  some 
peculiar  end.  In  the  case  of  the  use- 
ful this  requirement  is  ordinary  ;  in 
the  serviceable,  it  is  extraordinary,  or 
at  least  uncommon.  But  Useful  has  a 
more  abstract  and  general  application 
than  Serviceable.  Useful  know- 
ledge is  that  knowledge  which  has  in 
it  anavailableness  for  practical  pur- 
poses, serviceable  knowledge  would 
mean  that  sort  of  information  which 
came  in  to  help  us  under  given  cir- 
cumstances. Useful  points  more  di- 
rectly to  the  quality  of  the  tiring.  Ser- 
viceable to  the  fact  that  it  is  ready  for 
use  whenever  it  may  be  needed.  A 
distinction  has  to  be  observed  between 
utility  and  Usefulness.  Utility  is 
the  active.  Usefulness  the  passive, 
term.  Our  utility  is  shown  by  what 
we  actually  do ;  our  usefulness,  by 
what  we  are  able  to  do.  Utility  is 
usefulness  exerted.  Utility  is  in  ac- 
tion ;  usefulness  in  inherent  nature, 
character,  property,  or  quality.  Use 
is  the  habitual  or  systematic  application 
of  that  which  has  usefulness. 

"In  common  life  we  may  observe  that 
the  circumstance  of  utility  is  always  ap- 
pealed to,  nor  is  it  supposed  that  a  gi-eater 
eulogy  can  be  given  to  any  man,  than  to 
display  his  usefulness  to  the  public,  and  to 
enumerate  the  services  which  he  has  per- 
formed to  mankind  and  to  society." — 
HUMK. 

Avail  (Fr. a, i.e.,  ad,  to,  and  valoir, 
valer,  to  be  of  tvorth,  to  be  useful)  ex- 
presses  practical  value,  and,  like  the 


734 


SfNONYMS 


term  value,  is  wholly  indefinite.  It 
points  to  that  kind  of  usefulnesH  or 
serviceableness  which  depends  not  on 
adaptation  or  instrumentality,  but  on 
the  inherent  efficacy  of  things  to  effect 
a  purpose.  As  if  it  should  be  said, 
"  Entreaties  and  tears  availed  no- 
thing." 

"  But  prayer  against  His  absolute  decree. 
No  more  avails  than  breath  against  the 

wind 
Blown  stifling  back  on  him  that  breathes  it 


forth. 


Milton. 


V. 


VAIN.     FUUITLESS.     iNTEFFECTUAt,. 

Useless. 

Vain  (Lat.  vdnus)  extends  to 
thoughts,  deeds,  and  efforts.  That  is 
vain  which  wants  substance,  reality, 
solidity. 

Fruitless  (Lat.  fructus,  fruit)  is 
generally  applied  to  an  undertaking 
which  fails,  not  from  inherent  weak- 
ness or  unsoundness,  but  fi-om  some 
external  obstacle,  accidental  or  de- 
signed, which  has  frustrated  it.  A 
man  may  give  the  best  possible  advice 
to  another  ;  but  where  prejudice  and 
obstinacy  exist  such  advice  will  be 
fruitless.  On  the  other  hand.  Useless 
points  to  what  is  in  itself  and  perma- 
nently uncalculated  to  compass  the 
end  proposed,  often  implymg  that 
means  are  employed  which  do  not  suit 
the  case,  or  efforts  that  are  misdirected 
or  misemployed.  Fruitless  points  to 
the  disappointment  of  the  agent  as 
well  as  the  failure  of  the  act. 

Ineffectual  (Lat.  in-,  not,  ejf'ec- 
tus,  an  effect)  has  no  reference  to  this, 
and  is  employed  in  simple  reference 
to  cause  and  effect,  to  cases  in  which 
the  means  employed  are  inadequate 
to  the  end  proposed.  An  ineffectual 
attempt  fads.  A  fruitless  attempt 
disappoints  as  well  as  fails.  A  vain 
attempt  ought  never  to  have  been 
made. 
"  Full  sure,  he  thought,  Troy's  fatal  hour 

arrived. 
Ta/w  thought  1  he  knew  not  the  designs  of 


[vain] 

'ks  and  Trojajis  he  or- 


That  both  to  Gr» 

dained 

Hard  conflicts  yet,  and  agonies  and  groans." 
COWPER,  flind. 

"  One  can  scarcely  read  such  accounts  as 
these  without  condemning  the  vain  efforts 
of  dying  patriotism  which  laboured  so  fruit- 
lessly (may  one  not  almost  say  so  weakly?) 
to  protract  the  liberty  of  such  a  people."— 
Bishop  Hurd. 

"  But  yet  the  most  careful  endeavours  do 
not  always  meet  with  success,  and  even  our 
blessed  Saviour's  preaching,  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake,  was  ineffectual  to  many." 
— Stillingfleet. 

"  Nature  never  makes  excellent  things 
for  mean  or  no  uses ;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be 
conceived  that  our  infinitely  wise  Creator 
should  make  so  admirable  a  faculty,  which 
comes  nearest  the  excellency  of  His  own 
incomprehensible  being,  to  be  so  idle  and 
uselessly  employed,  at  least  a  part  of  its 
time  here,  as  to  think  constantly  without 
remembering  any  of  those  thoughts,  with- 
out doing  any  good  to  itself  or  others,  or 
being  any  way  useful  to  any  other  part  of 
the  creation." — Locke. 

VALOUR.     Courage. 

One  may  have  Valour  (Lat.u^Y/tje, 
to  be  strong)  without  Courage  (Fr. 
courage,  cxur,  the  heart)  ;  but  the  man 
of  courage  will  not  be  found  destitute 
of  valour.  Valour  is  great  boldness 
in  confronting  the  attacks  of  a  perso- 
nal enemy,  and  may,  after  all,  in  per- 
sons whose  trade  is  not  war,  be  very 
seldom,  if  ever,  called  for.  But 
courage  is  required  every  day,  and  all 
the  day  long,  against  many  things 
which  are  not  swords  or  clubs,  viz., 
the  trials,  difficulties,  and  privations 
of  life,  or  the  approach  of  death — 
there  is  no  room  here  for  valour,  but 
all  must  be  met  with  courage.  Valour 
is  chivalrous  action,  perhaps;  but 
courage  is  chivalrous  feeling  as  well. 
And  so,  e.g.,  where  the  man  of  valour 
despises  only  the  perils  of  vengeance, 
the  man  of  courage  may  despise  its 
satisfactions. 

VANISH.     Disappear. 

Vanish  (Lat.  vanesc^rgf  to  pass  away, 
to  disappear)  betokens  a  rapid  Dis- 
APPEARANCE(Lat.  dis-, apart,  and  Eng. 
appear);  while  disappearance  is  gene- 
ric, and  may  be  gradual  or  sudden. 
Ordinary  laws,  movements,  or  jausea 
lead  to  tilings  disappearing  ;  sudden, 
unusual,  or  strange  causes,  to  their 


[version] 

▼anishing.  That  which  vanishes  is 
eommonlv  not  expected  to  appear 
again.  That  which  disappears  may 
do  so  periodically,  and  periodically  re- 
appear. 

"  For  when  he  bowed 
His  hoary  head,  and  strove  to  drink  the 

flood. 
Vanish' d,  absorb'd,  and  at  his  feet  adust. 
The  soil  appeared,  dried  instant  by  the 

gods."  CowPER,  Odyssey. 

"  Thus  then  he  disappeared,  was  rarifyed. 
For  'tis  improper  speei-h  to  say  he  dy'd. 
He  was  exhal'd  ;  his  great  Creator  drew 
His  spirit,  as  the  sun  the  morning  dew." 
Dryden. 

VARIATION.       Change.       V.^- 

niETY. 

VAniATiON  (Lat.  viiviatibnem)  con- 
si.sts  in  being  sometimes  of  one  fashion 
or  appearance,  and  sometimes  of  an- 
other. 

Change  (Fr.  changer.  Low  Lat. 
crtm/>mre)  consists  in  simply  ceasing  to 
be  of  the  same.  Hence  change  may 
be  to  an  opposite  quality  or  state, 
while  variation  is  within  the  limits 
of  the  same  kind.  Variation  may  be 
frequent  change  within  limits.  The 
inconstant  are  liable  to  change,  the 
fickle  and  capricious  to  variation.  As 
successive  cnanges  in  the  same  sub- 
ject constitute  variation,  so  a  multi- 
tude of  different  objects  is  needed  to 
constitute  variety.  The  variation  of 
the  magnetic  needle.  A  variety  of 
colours.  Modes  of  human  conduct 
exhibit  variation.  Natural  species 
exhibit  varieties. 

Venal.     Mercenary. 

Venal  (Lat.  vinalis,  offered  for  sate) 
IS  a  far  stronger  term  than  Merce- 
nary (Lat.  mercinariuSy  hired  for 
wages).  The  mercenary  character  is 
influenced  by  desire  of  gain,  rather 
than  by  other  influences.  The  venal 
character  is  ready  to  sacrifice  honour 
to  gain,  and,  as  it  were,  to  sell  himself 
for  profit.  The  mercenary  man  merely 
calculates  the  profit  of  all  he  does. 
\'  ENALStands  to  Mercenary  as  sale  to 
hire.  The  barbarian  troops  who 
served  in  the  Roman  army  for  pay 
were  mercenary.  The  Praetorian 
guards,  who  would  murder  one  em- 
peror or  elect  another  for  the  highest 
bribe   were  venal.    The  venal  person 


DISCRIMINATED. 


735 


parts  with  his  individuality  ;  the  mer- 
cenary only  partially  surrenders  him- 
self. A  saying  of  Brissot  is  quoted, 
"  My  pen  is  venal,  that  it  may  not  be 
mercenary ; "  as  if  he  had  said,  "  1  sell 
my  writings,  that  1  may  not  have  to 
let  out  my  pen." 

"Oh,  through  her  strain 
Breathe    thy    pathetic    eloquence,   that 

moulds 
Th'  attentive  senate,  charms,  persuades^ 

exalts, 
Of    honest    zeal    th'  indignant    lightning 

throws, 
And    shakes    Corruption    on    her    venal 

throne."  Thomsox. 

"  Thus  needy  wits  a  vile  revenue  made, 
And  verse  became  a  mercenary  trade." 
Dryden. 

VENIAL.     Pardonarle. 

Venial  (  Lat.  vtnia,  indulgence,  par- 
don) is  nearly  equivalent  with  1'ar- 
DONABLE  {see  Pardon).  Pardonable, 
however,  may  be  employed  of  things 
ofless  moment  than  Venial.  We  speak 
of  venial  sins  or  offences;  of  pardon- 
able weaknesses,  oversights,  mis- 
takes, and  the  like.  This  comes  of 
the  circumstance  that  Venial  is  a  tech- 
nical term  theologically.  Venial  are 
opposed  to  mortal  sins. 

"  There  is  no  certainty  of  distinction  be- 
tween the  mortal  and  venial  sins,  there 
being  no  catalogues  of  one  and  the  other, 
save  only  that  they  usually  reckon  but 
seven  deadly  sins,  and  the  rest  are,  or  may 
be  easily  by  the  ignorant  supposed  to  be, 
venial;  and  even  those  sins  which  are  under 
those  seven  heads  are  not  all  mortal,  for 
there  are  amongst  them  many  ways  of 
changing  their  mortality  into  veniality." — 
Bishop  Taylor. 

"  That  most  interesting  and  pardonable 
of  human  weaknesses,  love." — Dickens. 

VERSION.     Translation. 

There  are  certain  characteristic 
points  of  usage  in  connexion  with 
these  two  words  which  it  is  easier  to 
note  than  it  would  be  to  define  strictly 
wherein  the  difference  lies. 

In  tlie  first  place,  Version  (Lat. 
vertire,  to  turn,  to  trauslute)  is  com- 
monly employed  of  ancient  renderings 
of  books  from  one  language  to  an- 
other; while  Translation  (Lat. 
translatwnem)  is  commonly  used  of 
such  renderings  into  a  modern  lan- 
guage.     A    committee   is   appointed 


736 


SYNONYMS  [vexation] 


for  the  re-translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  translators  of  the  Septua- 
giiit  version  are  unknown.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  term  Version  seems 
to  lend  itself  peculiarly  to  express 
any  translation  of  the  Bible ;  so  that 
we  may  without  impropriety  say  that 
when  such  translators  have  finished 
their  work,  we  shall  be  in  possession 
of  a  new  version  of  the  Scriptures. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  should  not 
speak  of  a  new  version  of  the  works 
of  Homer.  A  version  implies  less 
strongly  than  translation  the  personal 
action  of  the  translator.  When  ver- 
sion is  so  referred  to  it,  has  a  somewhat 
different  sense.  An  individual's  trans- 
lation of  a  passage  takes  in  the  ideas 
of  peculiar  style,  with  its  degi-ees  of 
superiority  or  inferiority  ;  his  version 
of  the  passage  would  mean  his  view 
of  its  right  representation.  A  diffe- 
rent witness  will  give  a  different  ver- 
sion of  a  transaction.  The  translation 
is  the  production  of  the  translator.  It 
is  more  or  less  lively,  accurate,  faith- 
ful to  the  original ;  the  version  is  a 
literary,  natural,  or  historical  form  in 
which  a  work  appears,  and  is  de- 
posited. It  is  more  or  less  ancient, 
authentic,  scarce,  and  the  like. 

VEXATION.  MoRTiFicATior, 
Chagrin. 

Vexation  (Lat.  vexare,  to  vei} 
rises  from  troubles  of  a  teasing  na- 
ure,  especially  such  as  are  repeated 

or  recurrent.    It  is  the  petty  crossing 

of  our  wishes  and  views. 

Mortification  (Lat.  mortificare, 
to  hilt,  to  cause  death)  relates  to  what 
is  more  closelypersonal,asour  hopes, 
pride,  and  the  like.  That  vexes  which 
annoys;  that  mortifies  which  both 
disappoints  and  humiliates  us;  or, 
while  it  vexes  us,  interferes  with  our 
self-complacency,  and  reverses  what 
we  had  set  our  minds  upon.  This  is 
in  accordance  with  the  etymology  of 
the  term  Mom  ify.  This  means  first  to 
destroy  the  vital  power  and  functions, 
then  to  do  this  in  a  partial  manner,  as 
to  abate  their  vigour  by  fasting  or 
other  bodily  discipline,  the  purpose  of 
this  being  to  bring  the  passions  into 
Bubjection.  and  the  soul  into  a  state 


of  humiliation.  The  term  Mortify  is 
used  of  such  circumstances  as  dis- 
appointed or  humiliated  us. 

Chagrin  (literally,  a  galling  as  by 
hard  leather)  is  a  combination  of  both 
the  others.  Chagrin  is  the  French 
form  shagreen,  the  Eng.  of  the  Turkish 
sagri,  the  well-known  preparation. 

"  Hear  me,  and  touch  Belinda  with 
chagrin." — PopK. 

'*  Her  taxes  are  more  injudiciously  and 
more  oppressively  imposed,  more  vexa- 
tiousiy  collected." — BuRKE. 

"  How  often  is  the  ambitious  man  mor^t- 
fied  with  the  very  praises  he  receives,  if 
they  do  not  rise  so  high  as  he  thinks  they 
ought  1  "— AXrDISON. 

VIBRATION.     Oscillation. 

The  former  (Lat.  vibrare)  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  inherent  elasticity  of  sub- 
stances, the  latter  (Lat.  oscillationeniy 
a  swinging)  is  the  effect  of  gravitation. 
Time  is  measured  by  the  oscillations 
of  the  pendulum  ;  tone  is  determined 
and  constituted  by  a  certain  number 
of  vibrations  in  a  given  time.  A  bell 
which  is  swung  may  diustrate  at  the 
same  time  vibration  and  oscdlation — 
vibration  by  the  elasticity  of  the  metal 
when  struck  by  the  clapper,  oscilla- 
tion when  set  swinging. 

VICE.     See  Crime. 

VICISSITUDE.    Change. 

As  Change  (Fr.  changer,  L.  Lat. 
itmihiare)  is  generic,  so  Vicissitude 
(Lat.  vtcissttiid^nem,  change,  alterna- 
tion) is  change  of  state  in  those  things 
by  which  men  are  affected  ;  as  the 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  or  the  seasons. 
Mere  alteration  of  state  is  change  in 
the  literal  and  physical  sense.  Vicis- 
situde is  that  which  exhibits  the  cha- 
racter of  changefulness. 

"  Such  are  the  vicissitudes  of  the  world 
through  all  its  parts,  that  day  and  night, 
labour  and  rest,  hurry  and  retirement  en- 
dear each  other;  such  are  the  changes  that 
keep  the  mind  in  action.  We  desire,  we 
pursue,  we  obtain,  we  are  satiated,  we 
desire  something  else,  and  begin  a  new 
pursuit." — llnmbler. 

VICTORY.  Conquest.   Triumph. 

Success. 

Victory  (Lat.  victoria)  is  the 
bringing  of  defeat  upon  an  enemy  or 
an  nnttigoiiiat. 


[virtue] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


737 


Conquest  (Lat.  conqmrh-e,  part. 
conqivmtus,  to  annex)  is  the  bringing 
by  force  of  some  person  or  possession 
into  one's  own  power. 

Triumph  (Lat.  triumphiis)  is  the 
external  demonstration  of  victory  by 
formal  public  ceremonial,  or  by  a  de- 
meanour of  exultation. 

Success  (Lat.  successus)  is  the  ar- 
rival of  a  person  or  a  project  at  the 
appointed  termination.  Some  degree 
of  struggle  against  difficulties  is  im- 
plied in  success,  but  it  is  indefinite ; 
and  success  may  be  due  as  much  (or 
even  more)  to  fortune  as  to  courage, 
energy,  or  skill. 

VIEW.    Survey. 

To  View  (O.  Fr.  veu,  part,  of  voir, 
to  see)  and  to  Survey  (0.  Fr.  surveuir, 
to  overlook)  both  denote  looking,  lor 
the  purpose  of  examination  ;  but  View 
is  an  instantaneous  taking  in  of  the 
whole  of  an  object.  Survey  denotes 
a  gradual  and  measured  inspection  of 
it  in  detail.  To  view  a  thing  is  to 
look  at  it ;  to  survey  is  to  look  over  it. 

"  In  her  arch'd  recess 
He  slept  the  night  beside  her,  and  by  day 
Reclining  on    the  rocks  that    lined    the 

shore. 
And  viewing  wishfully  the  barren  deep. 
Wept,    groaned,    desponded,    sighed,    and 
wept  again."      Cowper,  Odyssey. 

"  Let  observation,  with  extensive  view. 

Survey  mankind  from  China  to  Peru, " 
Johnson. 

VIGOROUS.     Strong.     Robust. 

The  Vigorous  person  (Lat.  vigor , 
farce,  vigour)  may  be  Strong  of  mind, 
the  Robust  person  (Lat.  robustus)  is 
only  called  so  in  reference  to  his 
bodily  constitution.  Energy  and  ac- 
tivity belong  to  the  vigorous.  The 
vigorous  is  energetic  in  doing,  the 
sti'ong  is  powerful  in  enduring.  Vigo- 
rous expresses  activity  of  mind  or 
body,  which  may  be  shown  casually, 
while  Strong  and  Robust  belong  to 
permanent  states — the  former  of 
muscle,  the  latter  of  temperament 
and  constitution.  A  man  may  do  a 
vigorous  thing  from  sudden  excite- 
ment or  courage.  He  may  be  mus- 
cularly  strong  without  being  constitu- 
tionally robust.  The  strong  man  can 
lift  a  great  weight ;  the  robust  man 


can  bear  fatigue ;  a  vigorous  man 
would  attack  violently.  A  strong 
man  would  bear  up  under  what  might 
overwhelm  another. 

VIOLENCE.     Force. 

Violence  (Lat.  vi^lentia)  is  undue 
or  abnormal  Force,  whether  of  the 
powers  and  influences  of  Nature  or  of 
the  will  of  sentient  beings.  The  vio- 
lence of  men  exceeds  law.  The  vio- 
lence of  the  elements  exceeds  the 
avei-age.     (See  Force.) 

"  Violences  and  extremities  of  Nature." 
—Bishop  Taylor. 

VIRTUAL.     Potential. 

Virtual  (Lat.  virtus,  strength  or 
goodness)  belongs  to  that  which  is 
present,  though  not  in  fact ;  Poten- 
tial (Lat.  potent ia,  power)  to  that 
which  is  present,  but  not  in  act.  Vir- 
tual is  opposed  to  formal,  potential 
to  actual.  The  virtual  is  strong  but 
indefinite.  The  potential  is  pojiver- 
ful  but  inactive.     A  man  is  virtually 

g resent  by  his  proxy — tliat  is,  though 
e  is  not  present  in  fact,  the  effect  is 
as  if  he  were.  Man's  duration  is 
potentially  infinite  or  eternal — that  is, 
though  it  be  not  actually  so,  it  is 
capable  of  being  made  so.  Virtuality 
is  practical  effectiveness,  potentiality 
is  implicit,  that  is,  undeveloped  sus- 
ceptibility, capability,  or  power. 

VIRTUE.    Honour. 

It  will  be  hardly  necessary  to  ob- 
serve that  Honour  (Lat.  hiinorem)  is 
here  taken  for  the  principle  and  not 
the  award  of  honour,  in  which  sense 
it  is  synonymous  with  gloi-y  and/am«, 
q.V. 

Virtue  (Lat.  virtutem)  is  the  act- 
ing upon  the  rule  "  Do  to  others  as 
you  would  that  they  should  do  to 
you."  Virtue  is  moral  excellence, 
that  which  gives  moral  merit  and 
value.  Hence  the  degree  of  virtue  in 
an  action  will  depend  upon  the  cir- 
cumstances and  the  person.  A  temp- 
tation to  dishonesty  resisted  by  a  rich 
man  may  be  a  common  duty,  in  a 
poor  man  the  same  thing  might  be  a 
high  virtue.  The  virtuous  man  actJ? 
from  a  recognition  of  the  force  of 
truth  and  right,  which  he   believes 

3    B 


738 


SYNONYMS 


[visceba] 


ought  to  have  tne  precedence  of  all 
other  motives,  as  being  tlie  most 
worthy ;  the  man  of  honour  thinks 
and  feels  in  a  noble  kind  of  way.  He 
is  not  a  creature  of  obedience  or  re- 
flexion, or  of  imitation ;  but  he  thinks 
and  speaks  and  acts  with  a  sort  of 
loftiness  which  makes  him  his  own 
director,  a  law  unto  himself.  Honour 
is  an  instinct  of  virtue,  defective  in 
principle,  yet  frank  and  unflinching. 
It  is  a  natural  quality,  yet  capable  of 
being  developed  by  education,  ca- 
pable of  laying  down  principles  and 
following  examples. 

VISCERA.  Intestines.  En- 
trails.    Bowels. 

Of  these  the  generic  term  is  En- 
trails (Fr.  entrailles).  It  comprises 
the  rest.  The  Viscera  (Lat.  viscera) 
are  those  internal  organs  which  are 
destined  to  produce  the  changes  need- 
ful to  health  or  life.  Such  are  the 
heart 
like. 

The  Intestines  (Lat.  intestimis, 
intus,  within)  are  properly  certain 
substances  internally  fleshy  and  ex- 
ternally membranous,  which  serve  the 
purpose  of  digesting,  purifying,  and 
distributing  the  chyle,  and  voiding 
the  excrements.  The  viscera  are 
different  bodies  charged  each  with  its 
own  proper  functions.  The  intestines 
form  one  continuous  body,  though 
divided  into  specific  portions. 

Bowels  (Fr.  boyau,  O.  Fr.  boyel) 
only  differs  from  Intestines  as  the 
popular  term  from  the  scientific. 

VISITANT.     Visitor. 

Visitors  (L.  Lat.  visitdtorem,  visi- 
tare,  to  visit)  are  always  persons. 

Visitants  is  employed  with  more 
of  poetic  latitude  to  denote  any  living 
creatures  which  visit.  An  angel  might 
be  called  a  celestial  visitant.  The 
birds  which  come  back  in  the  spring 
may  be  called  the  visitants  of  the 
grove. 

He  alone. 
To  find  where  Adam,  sheltered,  took  his 

way, 
Not  unpereeived  of  Adam,  who  to  Eve, 
While  the  great  visitant  approached,  thus 
spake."  Milton. 


"  Distingnishinfe  the  familiar  inet,^  or 
relation  fi-om  the  most  modest  visitor"  — 
Tatler. 

VOTE.       SUFVRAGE. 

Vote  (Fr.  vote,  Lnt.  votum,  a  vow) 
is  generic. 

Suffrage  (Lat.  suffrdgium,  a  vote) 
is  specific.  A  vote  may  be  given  on 
any  subject,  being  a  formal  or  consti- 
tutional expression  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  a  member  of  a  body  in  regard 
to  the  actions  or  interests  of  the  body. 
A  suffrage  is  a  vote  on  certain  mat- 
ters, as  on  a  controverted  opinion,  or 
on  the  appointment  of  a  person  to  an 
office  of  trust.  The  suffrage  seems  to 
imply  more  than  the  support  implied 
by  a  vote.  A  suffrage  is  an  expres- 
sion of  sentiment,  so  sti'ong  that  it 
carries  sometimes  the  meaning  of  a 
petition.  It  may  be  added  that  suf- 
frage is  nothing  until  it  is  expressed. 
Vote  denotes  a  power  or  privilege  as 
well  as  the  exercise  of  it.  A  man  has 
a  vote  and  gives  it.  He  gives  his 
suflfrage. 

"  To  vote  in  this  way,  to  vote  incorrup- 
tibly,  to  vote  on  high  motives,  to  vote  on 
large  principles,  to  vote  honestly,  requires 
a  great  amount  of  information." — F.  W. 
Robertson. 

"  I  ask  your  voices  and  your  suffrages." — 
Shakespeare. 

"  I  firmly  believe  that  there  is  a  pnrga- 
tory,  and  that  the  souls  therein  detained 
are  helped  by  the  suffrages  (prayers)  of 
the  faithful."— Creeti  of  Pius  IV. 

VOUCH.     Attest. 

Vouching  (0.  Fr.  voucher,  to  call— 
Lat.  v)icdre — a  third  person  to  repre- 
sent one's  self  when  attacked  in  one's 
rights  ;  an  old  law  term)  is  a  kind  of 
Attestation  (Lat.  attestdri,  to  hear 
witness)  in  which  the  witness  volun- 
tarily undertakes  to  make  himself  re- 
sponsible for  the  truth  of  what  he 
says.  Hence  the  term  is  sometimes 
employed  in  the  sense  of  making  a 
promise  for  another,  or  undertaking 
that  he  shall  do  something.  Attesta- 
tion relates  to  the  past,  or  what  has 
happened  ;  Vouch,  also  to  the  future, 
or  what  has  been  undertaken  to  be 
done. 

"  I  wi'ite  concerning  a  man  so  fresh  in 
all  people's  remembrance,  that  is  so  lately 
dead,  and  was  so  much  and  so  well  known* 


[waste] 

that  I  shall  have  many  vouchers  who  will 
be  ready  to  justify  me  in  all  that  I  am  to 
relate." — Bub>'ET. 

"  AttestaH-m  of  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes  to  the  fore-appoiuted  place  of  our 
Savi«or"3  nativity."— Bishop  Hall. 


W. 

WANDER.  Deviate.  Err. 
Stray.     Swerve.     Diverge. 

Wander  (A.  S.  wandvian,  to  ivan- 
der)  is  indefinite  and  continuous.  It 
is  the  continuous  result  of  mind  or 
purpose.  It  does  not  imply  a  dere- 
liction of  any  straight  line  or  ap- 
pointed course,  thouo^h  certain  wan- 
derings are  of  this  nature.  In 
wandering  there  is  discontinuity  of 
progress,  whether  the  case  be  one  of 
bodily  or  mental  wandering.  It  does 
not  involve  of  necessity  any  departure 
from  a  line  of  obligation  or  right. 

Deviate  (  Lat.  de,from,  and  via,  a 
way)  is  definite  and  instantaneous. 
A  person  or  thing  has  deviated  the 
moment  that  it  has  left  an  appointed 
or  regular  line  of  movement,  plan,  or 
rule.  It  is,  unlike  Wander,  applicable 
to  merely  mechanical  movement. 

"  There  Nature  deviates,  and  here  wan- 
ders vni\."  Pope. 

Err  (Lat,  errdre,  to  wander,  to  err) 
is  always  purely  intellectual,  involv- 
in;^  a  misconception  or  miscalculation 
of  truth.  It  is  employed  only  in  a 
secondary  sense  of  moral  things  in 
relation  to  an  analogous  line  or  path 
of  rectitude. 

Stray  (O.  Fr.  estrayer,  L.  Lat. 
extrarius,  a  strayed  beast)  denotes 
illicit  wandering,  as  from  a  direct 
course,  or  from  a  constituted  com- 
pany, or  fi-om  prescribed  limits.  It 
is  the  result,  not  so  much  of  delibe- 
rate purpose,  as  of  the  absence  of 
purpose,  and  the  effect  of  heedless- 
ness. It  is  the  fault  of  the  young,  the 
idle,  and  the  thoughtless  to  stray, 
as  it  is  the  lot  of  humanity  at  large 
to  err. 

Swerve  (Sw.  svarfa,  to  turn:  La- 
tham ;  cf.  Du.  swei^ven,  to  wander)  is 
♦o  deviate  from  the  line  of  right  pur- 


DISCRIMINATED. 


739 


posely  and  consciously,  or  mechani- 
cally. 

*'Alas!  where  at  this  moment  is  the 
Church  of  France  ?  Her  altars  demolished, 
her  treasures  spoiled,  her  holy  things  pro- 
faned, her  persecuted  clergy  and  her  plun- 
dered prelates  icandercrs  on  the  earth." — 
Bishop  Horsley. 

"We  have  erred  and  strayed  from  Thy 
ways  like  lost  sheep," — English,  Prayer 
Book. 

"  Our  affections  and  passions  put  fre- 
quently a  bias  so  secret  and  yet  so  strong 
on  our  judgments,  as  to  make  tht-m  swerve 
from  the  direction  of  right  reason." — 
BoLINGBROKE. 

Diverge  (Lat.  divergiunij  a  point 
of  separation,  dis-  2indvergire,to  incliiu 
or  tend),  unlike  the  others,  is  applic- 
able not  only  to  one,  but  also  to  two 
or  more  moving  objects  or  lines.  It 
may  be  a  conscious  or  unconscious 
process,  and  unlike  Devi.ate  denotes 
nothing  of  error  or  wrong.  I  deviate 
from  the  path  when  I  do  not  know  it 
or  lose  sight  of  it,  I  diverge  from  it 
to  take  another. 

"  The  centre  of  six  ways 
Diverging  each  from  each  like  equal  rays." 
OOWPKR. 

WARRANT.     Guarantee. 

These  words  are  etymologically 
identical,  warrant  being  the  English 
form  of  the  French guarantir  ;  and  in 
their  primary  senses  they  are  identi- 
cal also,  namely,  to  undertake  that 
something  shall  be  forthcoming  from 
another ;  as  the  payment  of  a  debt  or 
the  performance  of  a  duty.  Hence, 
to  undertake  to  secure  anything  to  an- 
other.  But  to  Warrant  has  passed 
beyond  this  into  the  sense  of  holding 
a  person  harmless  for  doing  an  act ; 
hence,  to  authorize. 
"Canst  thou,  and  honoured  with  a  Chris- 
tian name. 
Buy  what    is    woman-born,  and   feel    no 

shame. 
Trade  in  the  blood  of  innocence,  and  plead 
Expedience  as  a  warrant  for  the  deed  ?  " 
COWPER. 

"  The  treaty  of  Nimeguen,  of  which  the 
King  of  England  was  i/tiarantee." — BiTR- 
XET. 

WASTE.    Squander.    Dissipate. 

The  two  last  are  modes  of  the  first. 
To  Waste  (A.  S.  wtstan)  is  primarily 
to  desolate,  then  to  wear  away ;  then 
to   spread,   or  gpread  unwarilv,  un- 


740 


STNONTMS 


[watch] 


necessarily  or  without  return.  He 
wastes  w'  o  lavishes.  He  also  very 
often  waL-ces  who  neglects. 

Squander  (probably  a  nasalized 
form  of  scatter,  with  which  in  East 
Anglia  squander  is  synonymous  ;  and 
compare  O.  Germ,  schwenden,  to 
vanish,  dwindle)  is  always  active  and 
positive — to  spend  lavishly  or  pro- 
fusely without  need  and  without  re- 
turn. As  to  squander  is  to  waste  m 
the  gross,  so  to  Dissipate  (Lat.  diss^i- 
pare,  to  scatter,  to  squander)is  to  waste 
in  detail,  bit  by  bit.  Want  of  plan 
may  lead  to  squandering.  Want  of 
self-constraint  in  the  purchase  of 
pleasure  in  all  forms  leads  to  dissi- 

Eiting.  Extravagance  squanders, 
evity  dissipates.  Waste  is  more 
general  than  Squander  and  Dissipate. 
VVe  may  waste  resources  of  any  kind ; 
as  time,  opportunities,  power,  talents. 
We  are  not  said  to  squander  or  dissi- 
pate anything  but  money,  or  such  re- 
sources as  are  analogous  to  it. 

"  What  honour  that. 
But  tedious  waste  of  time,  to  sit  and  hear 
So  many  hollow  compliments  and  lies — 
Outlandish  flatteries  ?  "  MiLTON. 

"  And   such  expense   as    pinches  parents 

blue. 
And  mortifies  the  liberal  hand  of  love. 
Is  squandered  in  pursuit  of  idle  sports 
And  vicious  pleasures."  CowPER. 

"  We  see  the  vanity  of  the  living  in  their 
boundless  provision  for  futurity,  and  in  the 
dissipation  of  the  large  fortunes  of  covetous 
persons  by  the  extravagance  of  the  heirs." 
—Priestley. 

WATCH.     Observe. 

Watching  (identical wiihwaking), 
(A .  S.  wacan,  to  awake,  act.  and  neut., 
and  wcKcan,  to  watch),  is  a  strict,  con- 
stant, close,  and  eager  Observation 
(Lat.  ohservkre). 

We    Observe  with    coolness    the 

?)resent  state  of  a  case.  We  watch 
or  what  is  to  take  place  hereafter. 
Where  we  are  interested  we  observe. 
Where  we  are  suspicious  we  watch. 

WATCHFUL.  Wakeful.  Vigi- 
lant. 

He  is  Wakeful  who  does  not  or 
cannot  sleep ;  or,  in  a  more  extended 
sense,  whose  senses  are  alive  and 
ready  to  be  acted  upon. 


He  is  Watchful  who  is  careful  to 
observe  closely. 

He  is  Vigilant  (Lat.  vigilare,  to 
keep  awake)  who  is  actively  watchful. 
A  policeman  must  be  wakeful,  or  he 
will  go  to  sleep  on  his  rounds ;  he 
must  be  watchful,  or  much  will 
escape  his  notice  which  he  ought  to 
have  observed,  or  robberies  will  be 
committed  which  might  have  been 
prevented.  He  must  be  vigilant,  if 
he  has  taken  upon  himself  to  act  as  a 
detective.  We  speak  of  a  watchful 
observer;  of  a  vigilant  inquirer. 

"  He  must  watchfully  look  to  his  own 
steps  who  is  to  guide  others  by  his  autho- 
rity and  example." — Barrow. 

"  It  is  not  iron  bands  nor  hundred  eyes. 
Nor  brazed  walls,  nor  many  MJrt/ce/MZ  spies." 
Spenser. 
"  While  we  watch  vigilantly  over  every 
political  measure,  and  communicate  an 
alarm  through  the  empire  with  a  speed 
almost  equal  to  the  shock  of  electricity, 
there  will  be  no  danger  that  a  king  should 
establish  despotism,  even  though  he  were 
to  invade  the  rights  of  his  people  at  the 
head  of  a  standing  army." — Knox 

WAVE.  Billow.  Surge. 
Breaker. 

Wave  (A.  S.  weeg,  a  wave)  is 
generic,  being  an  oscillating  mass  or 
ridge  of  fluid,  commonly  water, 
though  we  speak  analogously  of 
waves  of  the  atmosphere  and  of  light. 
The  rest  are  specific. 

Billow  (Dan.  bolge,  connected 
with  bulge,  bilge,  bole,  bellu,  &c.  &c.) 
is  the  largest  kind  of  sea-wave. 

Surge  (Lat.  surgere,  to  nse)  is  a 
swelling  and  subsiding  wave,  the 
term  being  more  commonly  used  in 
the  plural. 

Breaker  is  a  wave  of  which  the 
top  is  separated  into  foam,  and  broken 
off  from  the  body  of  the  wave  either 
by  the  force  of  the  wind  or  the  im- 
pact of  the  body  of  water  upon  rocks 
or  a  shallow  bottom. 

WEALTH.  Affluence.  Opu- 
lence.    Riches. 

Wealth  (A.  S.  wela,  well  beings 
riches)  is  the  simplest  and  the  geneno 
term,  denoting  at  first  prosperity, 
weal  as  opposed  to  woe,  and  after- 


[wisdom] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


741 


wards  large  possessions  of   money, 
poods,  or  land. 

Affluence  (Lat.  afflucre,  to  flow 
toivards)  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
large  sources  and  unfailing  supplies 
of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  espe- 
cially of  those  elegances  and  luxu- 
ries which  are  the  tokens  of  wealth. 

Opulence  (Lat.  'dpiilentia,  riches) 
carries  with  it  the  idea  of  abundance, 
as  Riches  (Fr.  richesse,  the  noun 
being  therefore  in  English  properly 
singular,  not  plural)  of  value.  Riches 
expresses  an  abundance  of  valuable 
things  in-espectively  of  ownership,  as 
Wealth  may  express  the  same ;  while 
Affluence  and  Opulence  are  not 
spoken  of  irrespectively  of  the  subjects 
of  them  ;  -es,  riches  is  a  snare  to  many ; 
the  wealth  of  London  is  enormous. 
Affluence,  Opulence,  and  Riches 
are  used  only  in  the  sense  of  material 
possessions.  Affluence  is  hardly  ap- 
plicable, like  Opulencl,  to  localities. 
Opulent  (not  affluent)  provinces  or 
cities.  So  much  more  strictly  rela- 
tive to  persons  are  wealth,  affluence, 
and  opulence,  that  men's  condition 
might  be  spoken  of  as  one  of  either 
of  these ;  but  it  would  be  impossible 
to  speak  of  a  condition  of  riches. 
Riches  and  opulence  diflFer  in  that 
riches  is  an  abundance  of  good  things, 
opulence  is  the  assemblage  of  enjoy- 
ments which  riclies  can  procure.  A 
miser  is  rich,  not  opulent.  Possession 
and  enjoyment  are  the  two  conditions 
of  opulence. 

"  That  wealth  consists  in  money,  or  in 
gold  and  silver,  is  a  popular  notion  which 
naturally  arises  from  the  double  action  of 
money  as  the  instrument  of  commerce  and 
as  the  measure  of  xaAue."— Smitk,  Wealth 
of  Natio7is. 

"Though  an  unwieldy  affluence  may 
afford  some  empty  pleasure  to  the  imagi- 
nation, yet  that  small  pleasure  is  far  from 
being  able  to  countervail  the  embittering 
cares  that  attend  an  overgi-own  fortune." — 

BOYLK. 

The  wealth  of  the  Medici  made  them 
masters  of  Florence,  though  it  is  probable 
that  it  was  not  considerable  compared  to 
the  united  property  of  that  opulent  repub- 
lic."—HuMK. 

'*  With  the  greater  part  of  rich  people, 
the  chief  enjoyment  of  riches  consists  in  the 
parade  of  riches,  which,  in  their  eye,  is 
aerer  so   complete  as   when  they  appear 


to  possess  those  decisive  marks  of  opulence 
which  nobody  can  possess  but  themselves." 
—Smith,  Wealth  of  Nations. 

WIND.  Breeze.  Blast.  Gale. 
Gust. 

Of  these.  Wind  (A.  S.  wind)  is 
the  most  comprehensive  and  indefi- 
nite. 

Bkeeze  (Fr.  brise,  It.  brezza,  Sp. 
brisa  (N.  E.  wind),  origin  unknown: 
Littr£)  is  a  gentle,  orderly  wind. 

Blast  (A.  S.  blcsst)  denotes  vio- 
lence or  effort  of  blowing ;  as  the  blast 
of  a  trumpet,  of  bellows,  of  artillery. 

A  Gale  (Icel.  gola,  a  breeze)  is  a 
strong  but  steady  wind. 

A  Gust  (Icel.  giifitr)  is  a  wind  at 
once  violent  and  fitful,  or,  rather,  it  is 
itself  a  fit  of  wind. 

WISDOM.     Prudence. 

Prudence  (Lat.  prudentiu,  for  pravi- 
dentia)  is  a  reasonable  foresight. 

Wisdom  (A.  S.  vnsdom)  makes  us 
act  and  think  to  the  purpose.  Pru- 
dence prevents  us  from  acting  and 
thinking  to  the  contrary.  The  one  is 
positive  and  the  other  negative.  The 
one  seeks  to  find  the  rio;ht  way  for  ac- 
complishing its  ends,  the  other  seeks 
to  make  itself  acquainted  with  foe 
wTong  with  a  view  to  avoiding  it. 
The  wise  man  employs  what  seems  to 
be  the  best  means  of  success,  walking 
by  the  light  of  reason.  The  prudent 
man  takes  the  way  that  he  thinks  the 
most  sure,  and  trusts  not  himself  to 
unknown  paths.  Wisdom  is  higher 
than  prudence,  for  it  has  truth  for  its 
object,  while  prudence  proposes  hap- 
piness. Wisdom  is  reason  made  per- 
fect by  knowledge.  Prudence  is  right 
reason  applied  to  the  conduct  of  life, 
and  therefore  comes  largely  from  ex- 
perience of  life.  Wisdom  is  theo- 
retical, prudence  practical.  Of  all 
the  qualities  of  the  mind  wisdom  is 
the  highest,  and  prudence  the  most 
usefiil.  Wisdom  is  not  properly  a 
virtue,  but  only  so  far  as  it  is  brought 
to  bear  upon  morals.  Prudence  is  one 
of  the  cardinal  virtues,  sharing  its 
place  with  temperance,  justice,  and 
rectitude.  Wisdom  shows  generally 
the  end  and  the  way.  Prudence,  with 
its  practical  knowledge  and  expeci- 


742 


ence,  will  often  point  out  ways  with 
which  wisdom  does  not  happen  to  be 
cognizant.  Wisdom  enlightened  by 
knowledge  dictates  ti'ue  precepts. 
Prudence  aided  by  experience  recom- 
mends reasonable  rules.  Wisdom 
takes  high  and  broad  views,  prudence 
deals  with  details  of  conduct  and 
counts  its  steps.  The  one  thinks  well, 
the  other  acts  well.  It  was  this  wis- 
dom that  Solomon  asked  from  on  high. 
And  so  wisdom  guides  while  prudence 
cautions.  It  may  be  said  that  wisdom 
contains  prudence  as  a  part  of  itself. 
One  cannot  be  wise  without  being 
prudent,  but  one  may  be  after  a  sort 
prudent  without  being  wise.  So  we 
speak  of  the  Almighty  as  perfectly 
wise,  not  prudent;  for  they  are  strong 
who  are  wise,  but  the  weak  may  be 
prudent.  Yet  though  prudence  is 
only  apart  of  wisdom,  wisdom  is  with- 
out it  worse  than  imperfect.  Pru- 
dence is  wisdom's  practical  safeguard. 

WISH.     Desire. 

In  Wish  (A.  S.  wtscan,  to  wish,  to 
adopt)  the  feeling  is  gentler,  and  the 
object  more  remote. 

In  Desire  (Fr.  d^sir,  Lat.  desidt- 
riiim)  the  feeling  is  more  eager,  and 
.he  object  more  at  hand.  Wishes  are 
at  most  warm  and  strong.  Desires 
may  be  impetuous  and  ungovernable. 
In  expressing  one's  feelings  toward 
others  over  whom  we  have  authority, 
it  is  a  much  milder  fonn  of  command 
to  eay,  "  1  wish  you  to  do  this,"  than 
to  say,  "  I  desire  you  to  do  this," 
though  the  feeling  prompting  the  in- 
junction may  be  the  same.  The  former 
is  the  gentler,  the  latter  the  more 
authoritative  mode  of  speech.  Desire 
errs  on  the  side  of  a  want  of  regulation, 
wishes  on  the  side  of  misapprehension 
of  good  and  of  undue  number. 

"  A  icish  is  an  inactive  desire.  It  is  the 
result  of  that  longing  after  happiness  so  na- 
tcral  to  man  in  cases  where  no  expecta- 
tions can  be  formed,  no  efforts  can  be 
made."—  Cog  an. 

"  Desire  influential  to  action  may  be  de- 
fined that  uneasy  sensation  excited  in  the 
mind  by  the  view  or  by  the  contemplation 
of  any  desii'able  good  which  is  not  in  our 
possession,  which  we  are  solicitous  to  ob- 
tain, and  of  which  tlie  attainment  appears 
at  least  possible."— iiid. 


SYNONYMS  [wish] 

WITNESS.    Dep  NtNT. 

The  Witness  (A.  S.  witnes,  know- 
ledge, testimony)  is  he  who  knows 
from  personal  perception  or  observa- 
tion, and,  in  an  extended  sense,  a 
person  who  for  legal  purposes  attests 
generally ;  while  Deponent  (Lat. 
dtpdnere,  to  lay  down  ;  and,  afterwards, 
to  bear  witness)  is  one  who  gives  his 
evidence  in  a  court  of  law.  Every 
deponent  is  a  witness  ;  but  every  wit- 
ness is  not  a  deponent,  as,  for  in- 
stance, he  who  witnesses  the  signing 
of  a  document.  Witness  is  the  ge- 
neric, Deponent  the  specific  and  tech- 
nical term.  In  law  the  deponent  is 
one  who  gives  written  testimony  un- 
der oath,  which  is  called  a  deposition, 
to  be  used  in  the  trial  of  a  case  before 
a  court  of  justice,  as  distinguished 
from  the  aflSant  who  makes  an  affidavit 
or  declaration  under  oath  to  establish 
the  truth  of  his  statement. 

"  There  is  satisfactory  evidence  that 
many  professing  to  be  original  witnesses  of 
the  Christian  miracles  passed  their  lives  in 
labours,  dangers,  and  sufferings,  voluntai-ily 
undergone  in  attest«tion  of  the  accounts 
which  they  delivered,  and  solely  in  conse- 
quence of  their  belief  in  the  truth  of  those 
accounts,  and  that  they  also  submitted  from 
the  same  motives  to  new  rules  of  conduct." 
— Pai^y. 

"  The  pleader  having  spoke  his  best, 
Had  witness  ready  to  attest. 
Who  fairly  could  on  oath  depose. 
When  question  on  the  fact  arose. 
That  every  article  was  true  ; 
No  further  these  deponents  knew." 

Swirr. 

WOOD.  FoRBST.  Grove.  Brake 
Thicket.     Copse. 

A  space  of  ground  covered  by  trees 
is  the  idea  common  to  these  terms  ; 
but  a  Wood  (A.  S.  wudu)  is  smaller 
than  a  Forest  (Fr.  f'oret,  Lat.  ftirest is, 
unenclosed  woodland;  see  Bracket's 
account),  more  cared  for  and  culti- 
vated. The  wood  is  near  human 
dwellings  and  often  visited.  It  is 
traversed  by  frequent  footsteps.  It 
is  bright  with  wild  flowers,  and  re- 
sounds to  the  songs  of  birds.  The 
forest  is  wild,  remote,  and  unfamiliar, 
prhaps  impenetrable,  little  trodden 
by  human  feet,  the  resort  of  the 
hunter,  the  haunt  of  wild  animals. 
In  its  original  meeoing  the  forest  did 


[wrath] 


DISCRIMINATED. 


743 


not  necessarily  imply  trees,  though  , 
trees  naturally  grew  in  most  unculti-  \ 
vated  solitudes.  The  term  forest  | 
meant  a  space  of  ground  kept  ibr  the  i 
chase,  and  belonging  to  the  king  or  a  i 
noble,  and  subject  to  peculiar  laws. 

The  Grove  (A.  S.gi-df),  connected 
with  the  verb  grave  and  groove,  is  ety- 
mologically  a  place  cut  out  among 
trees.  The  grove  differs  from  the 
wood  and  the  forest.  It  is  commonly 
frequented.  Its  trees  are  cultivated 
to  their  full  heiglit,  and  it  is  cleared 
of  all  underwood.  It  was  of  old  the 
site  of  the  temple  of  some  deity,  or 
was  a  shady  retreat  of  students  and 
philoBophers. 

WORK.     Labour.     Toil. 

Work  (A.  S.  weorc,  tao^/c,  labour) 
is  the  generic  term.  It  may  be  hard 
or  light. 

Labour  (Lat.  lUborem)  is  hard 
work. 

Toil  (0.  Du.  Uiyl,  labour,  connected 
with  ti'.lj  A.  S.  tilian)  is  grievous 
work. 

WORLDLY.  Secular.  Tem- 
poral. 

Worldly  (A.  S.  woruld-lic)  means 
relating  to  the  world,  especially  rela- 
ting to  this  world  or  life  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  life  to  come ;  as  worldly 
pleasures,  affections,  maxims,  actions, 
and  the  like. 

Secular  (Lat.  scBciildris  ;  seciiUun, 
the  age  or  fashion)  means  relating  to 
tlie  world,  in  the  sense  of  worldly 
fashions,  habits,  or  modes  of  living. 

Temporal  (Lat.  temporalis,  tempiLs, 
time)  means,  literally,  lasting  for  a 
time,  as  distinguished  from  eternal. 
In  common  parlance.  Worldly  is  op- 
posed to  heavenly ;  Temporal,  to  eter- 
nal ;  Secular,  to  ecclesiastical  or  reli- 
gious. Secular  is  morally  an  indiffe- 
rent term.  The  same  may  commonly 
be  said  of  Temporal;  but  Worldly 
has  generally  a  bad  sense,  as  a  worldly 
spirit  is  one  which  is  imbued  by  sordid 
principles  of  gain,  and  is  wanting  in 
high-mindedness  or  purity  of  motive. 
The  Upper  House  of  Parliament  in 
Great  Britain  consists  of  Lords  spiri- 
tual and  temporal.     The  office  of  a 


clergyman  is  ecclesiastical;  that  of  a 
schoolmaster  in  itself  secular,  though 
the  two  are  often  combined  in  the  same 
person. 

"  When  we  have  called  off  our  thoughts 
from  worldly  pursuits  and  enga|fements, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  are  we  at  liberty  to 
fix  them  on  the  best,  the  most  deserving 
and  desirable  of  objects,  God." — Atter- 
BURY. 

"  For  it  is  to  be  considered  that  men  of  a 
secular  life  and  conversation  are  generally 
so  engaged  in  the  business  and  affairs  of 
this  wyrld,  that  they  very  rarely  acquire 
skill  enough  in  religion  to  conduct  them- 
selves safely  to  heaven  through  all  those 
difficulties  and  temptations  that  lie  in  their 
way."— Scott,  Christian  Life. 

"  This  act 
Shall  bruise  the  head  of  Satan,  crush  his 

strength, 
Defeating  Sin  and  Death,  his  two  main 

aims. 
And  fix  far  deeper  in  his  head  their  stings. 
Than  temporal  death  shall  bruise  the  Vic- 
tor's heel. 
Or  them  whom  He  redeems."    MiLTON. 

WRATH.  Anger.  Choler.  Ire. 
Rage. 

An  impatience  and  disturbance  ot 
spirit  against  others  is  characteristic 
of  these  terms.  Wrath  (A.  S.  wrek^, 
wrath)  is  commonly  connected  with 
a  proud,  vindictive,  or  imperious  na- 
ture. We  speak  of  the  wrath  of 
kings  and  mighty  men,  and  so  the 
term  hardly  seems  to  harmonize  with 
the  idea  of  anger  in  inferior  mortals. 
We  speak  especially  of  the  wrath  of 
the  Almighty.  The  term  Wrath,  un- 
like Anger,  is  inapplicable  to  the  pas- 
sions of  inferior  animals.  Wrath  is 
violent  and  continuous  anger,  accom- 
panied by  vindictiveness,  or,  at  least, 
by  a  desire  of  inflicting  punishment 
upon  its  object. 

"  A  revenger  to  execute  lurath  upon  him 
that  doeth  evil." — English  Bible. 

Anger,  on  the  other  hand  (Lat. 
angorem,  compression  of  the  neck,  from 
angere,  to  choke,  Gr.  ayxitv,  lo  press 
tightly),  is  the  term  to  express  the 
common  feeling  of  men,  who  are 
ready  to  feel  keen  displeasure  against 
wrong,  real  or  supposed,  whether  in 
the  case  of  others  or  themselves. 
Anger  may  be  selfish  or  disinterested. 

"Anger  is  the  strong  jmssiou  or  emotion 
impressed  or  excited  By  a  sea»e  of  iniujrv 


744 


SYNONYMS 


WREATH 


received  or  in  contemplation,  that  is,  by  the 
ideaof  something  of  a  pernicious  nature  and 
tendency  being  done  or  intended  in  viola- 
tion of  some  supposed  obligation  to  a  con- 
trary conduct." — CoGAN. 

Choleu  (Fr.  colere,  Lat.  chMcra, 
bile;  from  Gr.  y^oXepa,  the  cholera) 
denotes  the  constitutional  aspect  of 
anger,  or  the  feeling-  as  it  affects  tlie 
frame,  gestures,  and  countenance  of 
men.  The  choleric  is  quick  to  Anger, 
by  force  of  natural  tempei-ament. 

"  His  constitution,  indeed,  inclined  him  to 
be  choleric;  but  he  gained  so  perfect  an 
ascendant  over  his  passion  that  it  never 
appeared,  except  sometimes  in  his  counte- 
nance upon  a  very  high  provocation." — 
BOTLE. 

Ire  (Lat.  ira)  may  be  taken  as  some- 
times a  poetic  equivalent  of  Anger. 
But  anger  is  more  severe  and  enduring; 
ire,  more  explosive,  less  reasoning, 
pretending  less  of  cause  and  ground 
of  offence. 

"  Breaches  through  which  the  wrath  of 
an  ire/w^  judge  may  hereafter  break  in  upon 
us."— South. 

Rage  (Fr.  rage,  Lat.  rdbies)  is  a 
vehement,  ungovernable  ebullition  of 
anger  akin  to  the  influence  of  a  dis- 
ease, breaking  forth  into  extravagant 
expressions  and  violence  of  demean- 
our. Wrath  may  be  justifiable,  and 
anger  may  be  just ;  but  rage  is  a  dis- 
temper of  the  soul  to  be  regarded  only 
with  abhorrence. 

"  Anger,  in  the  excess  of  its  violence, 
when  it  is  excited  to  a  degree  of  frenzy,  so 
that  the  mind  has  totally  lost  self-com- 
mand, when  it  prompts  to  threats  and  ac- 
tions extravagant  and  atrocious,  is  termed 
ra^e."— CoGAN. 

WREATH.   Garland.    Chaplbt. 

Wreath  (A.  &.wr(zdh)  is  anything 
coacinuously  twisted  into  substantial 
form  or  which  wears  such  an  appear- 
ance, as  a  wreath  of  vapour  or  of 
flowers. 

The  Garland  (0.  Fr.  garlande)  is 
a  wreath  of  leaves,  flowers,  or  fea- 
thers. 

Chaplet  (O.  Fr.  chapelet,  a  little 
head-dress)  is  a  garland  or  wreath  to 
be  worn  on  the  head.  The  chaplet  is 
placed  on  the  person  or  a  statue.  The 
nirland  is  commonly  carried  in  the 
hand,  and  the  wreath  deposited  for 
decoration  or  oommemoration  in  some 


particular  locality,  or  suspended  upon 
some  object. 

WRENCH.    Wrest.    Wring. 

Wrench  (A.  S.  wrencan)  denotes 
the  combination,  in  the  exercise  ol 
force,  of  pulling  and  twisting. 

Wrest  (A.  S.ti)r«5fan)  denotes  the 
same  thing,  but  superadds  the  idea  of 
disengagement.  A  thing  is  commonly 
said  to  be  wrenched  out,  and  wrested 
away,  the  action  of  wresting  originat- 
ing in  a  desire  to  twist  the  thing  out 
of  some  position  or  possession  in  which 
it  is  held. 

Wring  (A.  S.  wringan)  denotes 
the  exercise  of  a  force  by  twisting, 
which  does  not  pass  beyond  the  struc- 
ture of  the  thing  or  substance  twisted ; 
as  to  wring  one's  hands,  to  wring  a 
wet  cloth.  To  wring  and  to  wrench 
may  be  the  work  of  accident  or  de- 
sign; to  wrest,  always  of  design.  The 
two  former  are  only  used  in  physical 
and  analogous  senses.  To  wrest  has 
also  the  moral  meaning  of  distort,  as 
by  violent  twisting  to  misinterpret 
words. 

WRITER.  Penman.  Author. 
Scribe. 

Of  these,  the  most  generic  is  Wri- 
ter, meaning  one  who  writes,  whether 
by  writing  be  meant  literary  composi- 
tion or  the  mere  formation  of  letters 
by  the  pen,  or  any  similar  process 
(A.  S.  writaii). 

Penman  is  a  man  who  handles  a 
pen  (Lat.  penna,  a  feather),  and  pro- 
perly means  one  skilled  in  the  use  of 
the  pen  mechanically — a  master  oi 
caligraphy. 

Author  (Lat.  auetor)  is  one  whose 
pen  or  writing  is  the  medium  of  ori- 
ginal thoughts.  The  term  has  a 
familiar  and  a  more  dignified  mean- 
ing. A  writer  of  a  letter  is  not  termed 
technically  an  author,  unless  the  letter 
passed  into  a  literary  form.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  who  wrote  the  letter 
might  be  called,  in  the  general  sense 
of  the  term,  the  author  of  it,  if  its 
contents  were  canvassed. 

ScRiBK  ( Lat.  scrihh-e,  to  write)  is  a 

f)rofes8ional  writer  officially  and  pub- 
icly  appointed,  or  pxercining  the  art 


(_zeal] 


DISCRIMINATED, 


746 


of  transcribing  or  writing  from  dicta- 
tion as  a  trade.  The  office  belongs  to 
ancient  times  and  foreign  countries, 
rather  than  to  ourselves. 

"  The  crncifixion  of  Christ  under  Pontius 
Pilate  is  related  by  Tacitus,  and  divers  of 
the  most  remarkable. circumstances  attend- 
ing it,  such  as  the  earthquake  and  miracu- 
lous darkness,  were  recorded  iu  the  public 
Roman  registers,  commonly  appealed  to  by 
the  first  Christian  writers,  as  what  could 
not  be  denied  by  the  adversaries  them- 
selves."—Clarke. 

"  Sanderson  calls  him  a  common  penman, 
who  penciled  the  dialogue  (probably  the 
decalogue)  in  the  Dutch  Church,  London, 
bis  first  rise  of  preferment." — WALPOI.E, 
Anecdotes  of  fainting. 

"  Aa  authorless  pamphlet." — Fitllkr. 

"  Scribe  was  a  name  which,  among  the 
Jews,  waa  applied  to  two  sorts  of  officers  : 
1.  To  a  civil ;  and  so  it  signifies  a  notary  or, 
in  a  large  sense,  any  one  employed  to  draw 
up  deecS  and  writings.  2,  This  name  scribe 
signifies  a  church  officer,  one  skilful  and 
conversant  in  the  law  to  interpret  and  ex- 
plain it.  '—South. 


Y. 

YIELD.    Submit. 

To  Yield  (A.  S.  geldan,  to  pay, 
yield)  is  to  suiTender  one's  self  in  con- 
sequence of  external  pressure— 

**  I  was  not  born  to  yield,  thou  haughty 
Scot." 

It  differs  somewhat  from  Submit.  At 
least  Milton  makes  a  distinction: 
**  And  courage  never  to  submit  or  yield." 
To  Yield  is  less  voluntary  than  to 
Submit.  We  yield  when  our  force  haa 
been  vainly  exerted  against  force 
which  has  proved  superior  to  our  own. 
We  sometimes  submit  because  it  is 
prudent,  or  not  altogether  unconge- 
nial, or  because  we  recognize  superior 
authority.  I  yield  because  I  am  com- 
pelled; I  choose  whether  I  will  sub- 
mit or  not.  Yielding  is  therefore 
final  and  complete.  It  is  possible  that 
submission  may  be  partial.  In  yield- 
ing, the  characteristic  idea  is  the 
mastery  over  one's  own  will ;  in  sub- 
mission, the  placing  one's  self  at  the 
jvili  of  another.    It  is  true  that  we 


may  yield  to  moral  as  well  as  to  phy- 
sical force,  as  we  may  yield  to  en- 
treaty ;  still  it  ia  always  force  to  which 
we  yield.  One  yields  after  a  struggle, 
one  may  submit  wi^jiout  resistance. 

YOUNG.  Juvenile.  Puerile. 
Youthful. 

Young  (Lat.  jUvUnis)  denotes  the 
age  of  youth  ;  the  rest  its  characteris- 
tics. Juvenile  denotes  the  character 
of  youth  in  regard  to  its  tendencies, 
training,  pursuits,  and  the  like ;  Pue- 
rile (Lat.  puevy  a  boy),  the  character 
of  such  actions  or  thoughts  as  savour 
of  youth  in  grown-up  persons,  whose 
judgment  and  tastes  are  presumed  to 
be  mature.  Youthful,  on  the  other 
hand,  denotes  the  normal  character  of 
youth,  and  expresses  the  quality  which 
rightly  and  naturally  belongs  to  the 
period  of  youth,  and  may  be  expected 
to  manifest  itself  in  connexion  with 
the  earlier  times  of  human  life.  Young 
is  simply  opposed  to  old. 

"  I  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old  ; 
yet  never  saw  I  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor 
his  seed  begging  their  bread."— English 
Psalms. 

*'  Here  (in  '  Romeo  and  Juliet ')  is  one  of 
the  few  attempts  of  Shakespeare  to  exhibit 
the  conversation  of  gentlemen,  to  represent 
the  airy  sprightliness  of  juvenile  elegance." 
— Johnson. 

"  'Tis  sure  a  practice  that  savours  much 
of  pedantry,  a  reserve  of  puerility  we  have 
not  shaken  off  from  school."— Brown, 
Vulgar  Errors. 

"  Is  she  not  more  than  painting  can  ex- 
press. 
Or  youthful  poets  fancy  when  they  lore  ?  " 
ROWK. 


ZEAL.    Ardour.     Fervour. 

Zeal,  in  reference  to  these  other 
synonyms,  is  specific,  while  they  are 
characteristic  or  habitual.  Zeal  (Fr 
ztle,  Gr.  ^nXoi)  is  passionate  ardour 
in  favour  of  a  person  or  a  cause. 

A RDOu R  (  Lat.  ardor ;  ardere,  to  buiii ) 
is  simply  warmth  or  heat  of  passion 
in  love,  pursuit,  or  exertion. 

Fervour  (LaL  fervor  ;fervere,  to  2m 


746 


SYNONYMS   DISCRIMINATED. 


[zeal] 


hot)  denotes  the  constitutional  state 
or  temperament  of  individuals.  We 
speak  of  the  fervour  of  passion,  decla- 
mation, supplication,  desire,  as  de- 
monslrative  of  warmth.  Ardour  is 
more  deeply  seated  ;  as  ardent  friend- 
ship, love,  zeal,  devotedness.  "The 
ardour  of  his  friendship  prompted  the 
fervour  with  which  lie  spoke.  ' 

"  There  is  nothing  in  which  men  more 
dec«ive  tiiemselves  than  in  what  the  world 


calls  zeal.      There  are  so  many  passions 
which   hide    themselves   under  it,  and  so 
many  mischiefs  arising  from  it,  that  some 
have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  it  would  have 
been  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  if  it  had 
never  been  reckoned  in  the  catalogue  ol 
virtues." — Spectator. 
"Ail  martial  fii-e  herself,  in  every  breast 
She  kindled  ni'dours  infinite,  and  strength 
For  ceaseless  fight  infused  into  them  all." 

COWPER. 

"  Wing'd  with  the  fervour  of  her  love." 
Shaksspeake 


INDEX, 


Abandon,  1 
Abandoned,  3 
Abase,  4 
Abasement,  6 
Abash,  7 
Abate,  lessen,  7 

subside,  707 

Abatement,  304 
Abbey,  276 
Abbreviate,  16 
Abdicate,  664 
Abduction,  23 
Aberrant,  8 
Aberration,  555 
Abettor,  9 
Abeyance,  350 
Abhor,  10 
Abide,  10 
Ability,  11 
Abject,  base,  149 

niean,  562 

Abjure,  13 
Abnegation,  314 
Abnormal,  8 
Abode,  470 
Abolish,  14 
Abominable,  404 
Abominate,  10 
Aboriginal,  515 
Abortive,  517 
Abound,  71 1) 
Above,  15,  598 
Abridge,  16 
Abridgment,  16 
Abrogate,  14 
Abrupt,  17 
Abscond,  651 
Absent,  18 
Absolute,  19 
Abbolution,  20,  6^8 
Absolre,  31 


Absorb,  496 
Absorbed,  18 
Abstain,  22 
Abstemious,  23 
Abstinence,  22 
Abstinent,  23 
Abstract,  abridgynent,  lo 

to  distinguish,  345 

Abstracted,  18 
Abstraction,    abduction, 
23 

estrangement,  394 

Abstruse,  24 
Absurd,  24 
Abundant,  279 
Abuse,  misuse,  26 

invective,  532 

Abusive,  677 
Academy,  26 
Accede, '27 
Accelerate  28 
Accent,  30 
Access,  32 
Accessible,  72 
Accession,  512 
Accessory,  9 
Accept,  30 
Acceptable,  31 
Acceptance,  31 
Acceptation,  31 
Accinent,  casually,  32 

chance,  218 

qiudity,  638 

Accidental,  210 
Acclamation,  238 
Accommodate,  61 
Accommodating,  236 
Accompany,  34 
Accompaniment,  33 
Accomplice,  9 
Accomplish,  34 
Accomplishments,  48 
Accord,  80 


Accordance,  564 
Accordant,  268 
Accordingly,  266 
Accost,  36 
Account,  bill,  37 

narrative,  37 

consideration,  269 

importance,  505 

sake,  673 

Accountable,  39 
Accredit,  41 
Accrue,  44 
Accumulate,  477 
Accurate,  395 
Accuse,  222 
Accustom,  43 
Acerbity,  48 
Achieve,  accomplish,  34 

finish,  43 

Achievement,  410 
Acid,  44 
Acknowledge,  own,  'tl 

recognize,  653 

Acquaint,  519 
Acquaintance,  45 
Acquiesce,  27 
Acquire,  46 
Acquirement,  47 
Acquirements,  48 
Acquisition,  47 
Acquisitive,  465 
Acquisitiveness,  361 
Acquit,  21 
Acquittal,  S36 
Acrid,  4-i 
Acrimony,  48 
Act,  action,  49 

to  do,  348 

to  operate,  591 

Action,  an  act,  49 

gesture,  50 

battle,  152 

Actire,  btuitt  195 


748 


INDEX. 


Active,  diligent,  329 
Activity,  alertness,  86 

energy,  379 

Actor,  50 
Actual,  50 
Actuate,  S'J 
Acute,  54 
Adage,  641 
Adapt,  to  adjust,  6X 

to  fit,  435 

Add,  55 

Addict,  "^ee 

Addition,  512 
Address,  to  accost,  36 

speech,  56 

dexteritu,  323 

direction,  331 

Adduce,  57 
Adequate,  58 
Adhere,  24i 
Adherence,  60 
Adherent,  60 
Adhesion,  60 
Adhesive,  61 
Adjacent,  273 
Adjective,  387 
Adjoining,  273 
Adjourn,  6i0 
Adjudge,  1.'58 
Adjunct,  33 
Adjure,  263 
Adjust,  61 
Administer,  709 
Administration,  223 
Admirable,  62 
Admissible,  63 
Admission,  63 
Admit,  to  receive,  63 

to  allow,  63 

Admittance,  63 
Admonish,  64 
A  dopt,  65 
Adore,  65 
Adorn,  66 
Adroit,  67 
Adroitness,  323 
Adscititious,  122 
Adulation,  437 
Adulterated,  281 
Advance,  to  adduce,  57 

to  proceed,  631 

to  promote,  635 

Advancement,  636 
Advantage,  68 
Advent,  69 
Adventitious,  122 
Adventure,  60 


Adventurous,  69 
Adversary,  379 
Adverse,  contrary,  70 

reluctant,  657 

Adversity,  71 
Advert,  91 
Advertence,  91 
Advertise,  71 
Advice,  71 
Advise,  to  admonish,  6  i 

to  inform,  519 

Advisedly,  72 
Advocate,  617 
Affable,  72 
Affair,  73 
Affect,  concern,  73 

to  assume,  74 

Affecting,  606 
Affection,  127 
Affectionate,  75 
Affiance,  belief,  161 

dependence,  314 

Affinity,  75 
Affirm,  125 
Affix,  76 
Affliction,  77 
Affluence,  740 
Afford,  to  allow,  91 

(0  yield,  78 

Affray,  645 
Affront,  526 
Afraid,  721 
After,  79 
Age,  295 
Aged,  591 
Agent,  417 
Aggrandizement,  636 
Aggravate,  400 
Aggregate,  723 
Aggressor,  80 
Aggrieve,  annoy,  100 

exasperate,  400 

Agility,  86 
Agitate,  682 
Agitation,  80 
Agony,  601 
Agree,  to  assent,  27 

accord,  80 

Agreeable,  81 
Agreement,  82 
Agriculturist,  425 
Aid,  n.,  481 

v.,  481 

Ailment,  338 
Aim,  83 
Air,  manner,  83 
atmosphere,  85 


Air,  character,  220 
Alacrity,  86 
Alarm,  n.,  85 

v.,  449 

Alertness,  86 
Alien,  441 

Alienation,  estrangement 
394 

madness,  555 

Alike,  387 
All,  87 
Allay,  106 
Allege,  57 
Allegiance,  88 
Allegory,  414 
Alleviate,  106 
Alliance,  88 
Allied,  247 
Allot,  90 
Allow,  to  admit,  63 

to  permit,  90 

to  bestow,  91 

Allude,  91 
Allure,  383 
Alluring,  130 
Ally,  260 
Almanack,  200 
Almost,  92 
Also,  92 
Alter,  219 
Alteratioij,  219 
Altercation,  645 
Alternative,  231 
Altitude,  370. 
Always,  continually,  92 

ever,  395 

Amalgamate,  244 
Amalgamation,  256 
Amass,  477 
Amazement,  94 
Ambassador,  92 
Ambiguous,  93 
Ambition,  254 
Ambuscade,  94 
Ambush,  94 
Amenable,  accountable,  3i 

■  docile,  348 

Amend,  93 
Amendment,  280 
Amends,  252 
Amiable,  95 
Amicable,  95 
Amount,  723 
Ample,  spacious,  95 

copious,  279 

Amulet,  713 
Amusement,  96 


INDEX. 


749 


Analogous,  43'2 
Analogy,  97 
Analysis,  97 
Anathema,  290 
Ancestors,  l-tO 
Ancient,  591 
Ancillary,  1.^7 
Anecdote,  37 
Anger,  T^iS 
Angle,  280 
Angry,  60rt 
Anguish,  601 
Animadvert,  171 
Animal,  98 
Animate,  to  inspire,  98 

to  cheer,  2'26 

to  excite,  403 

Animation,  99 
Animosity,  48 
Annals,  485 
Annex,  55 
Annexed,  60 
Annotation,  582 
Announce,  99 
Annoy,  100 
Annoyance,  343 
Annul,  14 
Anomalous,  101 
Answer,  101 
Answerahle,  39 
Antagonist,  379 
Antecedent,  625 
Anterior,  625 
Antic,  102 
Anticipate,  629 
Antipathy,  474 
Antiquated,  591 
Antique,  591 
Anxiety,  694 
Apartment,  102 
Apathy,  514 
Ape,  570 
Aperture,  594 
Apex,  708 
Aphorism,  641 
Apology,  103 
Apophthegm,  641 
Apostate,  659 
Appal,  341 
Apparatus,  104 
Apparel,  355 
Apparent,  104 
Apparition,  454 
Appeal,  56 
Appear,  678 
Appearance,  10^ 
Appease,  106 


Appellation,  577 
Append,  55 
Appendage,  33 
Appetite,  490 
Applaud,  623 
Applause,  108 
Application,  108 
Apply,  76 
Appoint,  to  allot,  90 

to  constitute,  270 

— —  to  nominate,  582 
Apportion,  90 
Apposite,  109 
Appraise,  109 
Appreciate,  109 
Apprehend,  110 
Apprehension,  alarm,  85 

Jear,  427 

Apprise,  519 
Approach,  access,  32 

approximate.  111 

Approbation,  111 
Appropriate,      sidiahle, 
111 

to  usurp,  112 

Approval,  111 
Approve,  623 
Approximate,  111 
Apt,  ready,  112 

meet^  564 

Aptitude,  113 
Arbiter,  537 
Arbitrary,  19 
Arbitrator,  537 
Arbour,  113 
Architect,  190 
Archives,  113 
Ardent,  194 
Ardour,  fei-vouVf  431 

zeal,  745 

Arduous,  113 
Argue,  to  debate,  299 

to  show,  685 

Argument,  114 
Ai'ise,  to  ascend,  120 

to  flow,  438 

to  proceed,  631 

Aristocracy,  114 
Ai-mament,  489 
Armistice,  115 
Arms,  115 
Army,  489 
Aroma,  414 
Arouse,  403 
AiTaign,  222 
Arrange,  to  adjust,  61 
to  range,  648 


Array,  356 
Arrest,  486 
ArriT?al  69 
An-ive,  115,  249 
Arrogance,  115 
Arrogate^  112 
Art,  pjojession,  633 
— —  knowledge^  540 
Artful,  117 
Article,  118 
Articles,  458 
Articulate,  636 
Artifice,  728 
Artificer,  120 
Artificial,  119 
Artist,  120 
Artizan,  120 
As,  266 
Ascend,  120 
Ascendancy,  empire,  121 

influence,  519 

Ascertain,  121 
Ascititious,  122 
Ascribe,  122 
Ashes,  122 
Ask,  request,  123 

inquire,  522 

Aspect,  appearance,  106 

view,  124 

Asperity,  48 
Aspersion,  20. 
Assail,  128 
Assailant,  80 
Assassinate,  53''. 
Assault,  v.,  128 

n.,  593 

Assemblage,  124 
Assemble,  248 
Assembly,  124 
Assent,  27 

affirm,  125 

Assert,  to  affirm,  125 

to  maintain,  557 

Assessment,  715 
Asseverate,  125 
Assiduous,  329 
Assign,  adduce,  57 

allot,  90 

Assist,  481 
Assistant,  126 
Associate,  251 
Association,  alliance,  88 

society,  126 

Assortment,  220 
Assuage,  106 
Assume,  affect,  74 
appropriate,  112 


750 


INDEX. 


Assume,  presume,  627 
Assurance,  boldiiess,  179 

hope,  488 

Astonishment,  710 
Asylum,  127 
Atmosphere,  85 
Atom,  604 
Atonement,  408 
Atrocious,  480 
Attach,  affix,  76 

connect,  264 

Attached,  60 
Attachment,  127 
Attack,  i'.,  128 

n.,593 

Attain,  46 
Attainments,  48 
Attempt,  n.,  368 

v.,  729 

Attend,  hearken,  477 

accompany,  34 

Attention,  application, 

108 

care,  480 

Attentive,  129 
Attest,  738 
Attire,  355 
Attitude,  129 
Attractions,  130 
Attractive,  130 
Attribute,  ascribe,  122 

quality,  638 

Audacity,  179 
Augmentation,  512 
Augur,  131 
August,  460 
Auspicious,  133 
Austere,  681 
Austerity,  133 
Authentic,  135 
Author,  744 
Authoritative,  imperative, 

134 

antheniic,  135 

Authority,  136  ' 
Authorize,  137 
Auxiliary,  137 
Avail,  733 
Avarice,  131 
Avaricious,  581 
Avenge,  131 
Aver,  125 
Average,  137 
Averse,  adverse,  70 
■         reluctant,  6^7 
Aversion,  disgmt,  3-10 
hatred,  474 


Avidity,  361 
Avocation,  375 
Avoid,  391 
Avouch,  125 
Avow,  'W 
Await,  407 
Awaken,  403 
Award,  138 
Aware,  138 
Awe,  85 
.A  wful,  352 
Awkward,  139 
Awry,  287 
Axiom,  641 
Azure,  139 


B 

Babble,  140 
Bad,  140 
Badge,  141 
Badly,  141 
Baffle,  142 
Balance,  143 
Balk,  333 
Ball,  143 
Band,  143 
Bane,  144 
Banish,  144 
Bank,  246 
Bankruptcy,  145 
Banquet,  146 
Banter,  147 
Barbarism,  642 
Barbarous,  147 
Bare,  mere,  1  Id 

naked,  577 

Bargain,  82 
Barren,  148 
Barter,  149 
Base,  vile,  149 

foundntioUy  150 

Bashful,  151 
Basis,  150 
Bastard,  2Bj 
Battle,  152 
Bawling,  238 
Be,  ^06 
Beam,  153 
Bear,  afford,  78 

suffer,  707 

Bearing,  83 
Beast,  98 
Beat,  strike,  154 

defeat,  154 

Beatification,  154 


Beatitude,  470 
Beautiful,  155 
Because,  266 
Become,  467 
Becoming,  156 
Beg,  123 
Beggar,  157 
Begin,  157 
Beginning,  157 
Beguile,  300 
Behaviour,  1.59 
Behind,  79 
Behold,  159 
Beholder,  697 
Belfry,  700 
Belief,  161 
Believe,  718 
Below,  731  ■ 
Bemoan,  162 
Bend,  548 
Beneath,  731 
Benediction,  163 
Benefaction,    donatio 
163 

endowment,  377 

Beneficent,  164 
Benefit,  68 
Benevolence,  165 
Benevolent,  164 
Benignity,  165 
Bent,  bias,  166 

crooked,  287 

Benumbed,  723 
Bequeath,  167 
Bereave,  168 
Beseech,  123 
Besides,  also,  92 

except,  402 

moreover,  57'4 

Bestow,  allow,  91 

give,  455 

Betimes,  361 
Betoken,  131 
Betray,  300 
Better,  507 
Beverage,  356 
Bewail,  162 
Bewilderment,  94 
Beyond,  above,  15 

over,  598 

Bias,  166 
Bid,  168 
Big,  169 
Bigot,  382 
Bill,  37 
Billow,  740 
Bind,  tie,  169 


INDEX. 


761 


Bind,  oblige,  170 
Bishop  171 
Biting,  213 
Bitter,  44 
Blame,  171 
Blameless,  53:^ 
Blanch, 173 
Bland,  453 
Blandishment,  437 
Blank,  375 
Blast,  741 
Blaze,  43.5 
Bleach,  173 
Blemish,  174 
Blend,  261 
Blessedness,  470 
Blessing,  benedictiotiy  163 

happiness,  470 

Blind,  '241 
Blink,  175 
Bliss,  470 
Blithe,  227 
Block,  175 
Blood-thirsty,  175 
Bloody,  175 
Bloom,  176 
Blossom,  176 
Blue,  139 
S.  under,  39( 
Blunt,  245 
Board,  176 
Boast,  176 
Boatman,  17? 
Bodily,  280 
Body,  177 
Boisterous,  177 
Bog,  559 
Bold,  178 
Boldness,  179 
Bombasiic,  730 
Bondage,  207 
Boon,  68 
Boorish,  233 
Booth,  180 
Booty,  614 
Border,  boundary,  180 

brim,  185 

Bore,  214 
Bough,  182 
Bound,  border,  180 

circuw scribe,  233 

jump,  538 

Boundary,  180 
Boundless,    unbounded, 
182 

immense,  499 

Bountiful,  164 


Bowels,  738 
Bower,  113 
Brace,  n,,  182 
Brace,  v.,  182 
Brag,  176 
Brake,  742 
Branch,  182 
Brandish,  183 
Brave,  6o/ii,  178 

challenge,  217 

Brawl,  645 
Brawny,  701 
Breach,  183 
Break,  rend,  183 

breach,  183 

Breaker,  740 
Breed,  184 
Breeding,  366 
Bi'eeze,  741 
Bribe,  707 
Brief,  683 
Bright,  184 
Brilliant,  184 
Brim,  185 
Bring,  186 
Brink,  185 
Biisknesi,  86 
Brittle,  187 
Broad,  187 
Brou,  645 
Broker,  417 
Brook,  188 
Bruise,  188 
Brutal,  147 
Brute,  98 
Buckler,  683 
Bud,  189 
Buffoon,  189 
Build,  189 
Builder,  190 
Building,  365 
Bulk,  190 
Bulky,  191 
Burden,  load,  191 

cargo,  209 

Burdensome,  191 
Burial,  192 
Burlesque,  192 
Burning,  194 
Burnish,  195 
Burst,  183 
Bush,  195 
Business,  affair,  73 

employment,  375 

profession,  633 

Bustle,  472 
;  Busy.  195 


But,  489 
Butchery,  561 
Butt,  195 
Buxom,  227 
Buy,  196 
Bjrword,  641 


C. 


Cabal,  196 
Cabalistical,  576 
Cabin,  197 
Cajole,  197 
Calamity,  198 
Calculate,  199 
Calendar,  200 
Call,  bid,  168 

invoke,  200 

Callous,  585 
Callousness,  514 
Calm,  v.,  106 

«.,  201 

Calumny,  203 
Can,  562 

Cancel,  abolish,  14 
— ■ —  efface,  367 
Candid,  478 
Canonization,  154 
Cant,  204 
Canvass,  217 
Capability,  11 
Capacious,  95 
Capacity,  11 
Capital,  230 
Caprice,  204 
Captious,  205 
Captivate,  20« 
Captivity,  207 
Capture,  208 
Carcase,  177 
Cardinal,  230 
Care,  charge,  223 

heed,  480 

solicitude,  694 

Careful,  213 

Careless,  inattentive,^/} 

listless,  551 

Caress,  209 
Cargo,  209 
Caricature,  192 
Carping,  205 
Carnage,  561 
Carousal,  146 
Carriage,  209 
Can-y,'  186 
Case,  cause,  210 


752 


INDEX. 


Case,  example,  398 

— —  occurrence,  588 

Cash,  210 

Cast,  character,  220 

throw,  720 

Casual,  210 

Casualty,  S2 

Catalogue,  211 

Catastrophe,  198 

Catch,  212 

Categorical,  409 

Cause,  ca^e,  210 

create,  283 

-' —  reason,  651 

Caustic,  213 

Caution,  64 

Cautious,  213 

Cave,  214 

Cavern,  214 

Cavilling,  205 

Cavity,  214 

Cease,  215 

Cede,  215 

Celebrate,  216 

Celebrated,  423 

Celerity,  646 

Celestial,  480 

Censorious,  205 

Censure,  171 

Ceremonial,  444 

Ceremonious,  4-14 

Ceremonj,  216 

Certain,  50 

Certify,  584 

Cessation,  close,  243 

intermission,  530 

Chafe,  217 
Chaffer,  149 

•Chagi'in,  736 
'  Challenge,  217 
Chamber,  102 
Champion,  218 
Chance,  accident,  218 

happen,  470 

Change,  barter,  149 

variation,  219,  735 

in  alter,  219 

vicissitude,  736 

Changeable,  511 
Changeablencss,  204 
Chaplet,  744 
Character,  letter,  220 

reputation,  220 

stamp,  220 

disposition,  343 

Characteristic,  222 
Characterize.  316 


Charge,  to  accuse,  222 

care,  223 

tax,  715 

Charlatan,  224  I 

Charm,  206 

Charming,  310 

Charms,  130 

Chase,  224 

Chasm,  183 

Chasten,  225 

Chastise,  225 

Chastisement,  643 

Chastity,  225 

Chat,  140 

Chattels,  458 

Chatter,  140 

Cheat,  226 

Check,  665 

Cheer,  226 

Cheerful,  227 

Cherish,  229 

Chide,  171 

Chief,  main,  230 

leader,  476 

Chiefly,  230 
Childish,  231 
Chimerical,  231 
Choice,  231 
Choke,  232 
Choler,  743 
Choose,  233 
Chronicles,  485 
Qiurlish,  233 

Cinders,  122 

Circle,  596,  143 

Circuit,  orbit,  596 

round,  670. 

Circulate,  638 

Circumscribe,  233 

Circumspect,  213 

Circumstance,    situation, 
235 

occasion,  588 

Circumstantial,  236 

Circumvention,  446 

Cite,  bid,  168 

quote,  647 

Civic,  236 

Civil,  polite,  236 

civic,  236 

Civilization,  289 

Claim,  237 

Clamorous,  553 

Clamour,  238 

Clandestine,  677 

Clash,  239 

Clasp,  239 


Class,  2  K) 

Classification,  1^ 
Clause,  612 
Clean,  240 
Cleanly,  240 
Clear,  absolve,  21 

apparent,  104 

bright,  184 

to  explain,  24^ 

fair,  419 

Clearness,  611 
Cleave,  241 
Clemency,  566 
Clench,  615 
Clever,  520 
Cleverness,  11 
Climb,  120 
Cloak,  241 

Clog,  242 
Cloister,  276 
Close,  n.,  243 
v.,  433 

near,  579 

to  shut,  687 

Clothes,  355 
Clothing,  355 
Clown,  607 
Cloy,  462 
Clumsy,  139 
Clutch,  212 
Coadjutor,  12e 
Coalesce,  244 
Coarse,  245 
Coast,  246 
Coax,  197 
Coerce,  170 
Coeval,  246 
Cogent,  '140 
Cogitation,  718 
Cognate,  247 
Cognizance,  141 
Cohere,  244 
Coherent,  247 
Coin,  210 
Coincide,  80 
Cold,  247 
Collate,  247 
Colleague,  251 
Collect,  248 
Collected,  201 
Collection,  124 
College,  26 
Collision,  239 
Colloquy,  277 
Colossal,  455 
Colour,  dye,  248 
hue,'490 


INDEX. 


753 


Uolomable,  598. 
Column,  61  i 
Combat,  152 
Combatant,  218 
Combination,  alliance,  88 

cabal,  196 

Combine,  264 
Combustion,  435 
Come,  115,  '2W 
Comedy,  192 
Comely,  249 
Comfort,  cheer,  226 

pleasure,  617 

Comical,  356 
Command,  249 
Commanding,  134 
Commemorate,  216 
Commence,  157 
Commencement,  157 
Commend,  623 
Commendable,  546 
Commensyrate,  adequate 
58 

coeval,  246 

Comment,  582 
Commentaiy,  582 
Commerce,  725 
Commercial,  250 
Commiseration,  566 
Commission,  41 
Commit,  intru)it,  250 

perpetrate,  251 

Commodious,  276 
Commodity,  458 
Common,  251 
Commonly,  447 
Commonwealth,  650 
Commotion,  262 
Communicate,  501 
Communication,  5i. 
Communion,  529 
Community,  126 
Compact,  agreement,  82 

solid,  694 

Companion,  251 
Company,  assembly,  124 

band,  143 

Comparatively,  252 
Compare,  247 
Compartment,  252 
Compass,  596 
Compassion,  566 
Compatible,  268 
Compel,  170 
Compendium,  16 
Compensation,  252 
'''orapetent,  adequate,  58 


Competent,  qualified,  644 
Competition,  254 
Complain,  254r 
Complaint,  338 
Complaisant,  236 
Complete,  enlire,  384 

finish,  43;> 

Completion,  271 
Complex,  256 
Complexity,  255 
Compliant,  586 
Complication,  255 
Compliment,  437 
Comply,  27 
Component,  270 
Compose,  256 
Composed,  calm,  •z<ji 

sedate,  677 

Compositeness,  255 
Composition,    mixture, 

256 

frame,  4^15 

Compound,  complex,  256 

to  compose,  256 

Compounding,  255 
Comprehend,  apprehend, 

110 

comprise,  256 

Comprise,  256 
Compromise,  61 
Compunction,  660 
Compute,  199 
Comrade,  251 
Concavity,  214 
Conceal,  482 
Concealment,  677 
Concede,  215 
Conceited,  370 
Conceive,  110 
Conception,  ^ajici/,  421 

idea,  493 

Concern,  affair,  73 

affect,  73 

interest,  530 

solicitude,  6j4 

Concert,  concord,  259 

contrive,  275 

Conciliate,  258 
Concise,  succinct,  258 

laconic,  541 

precise,  6^5 

short,  683 

Conclude,  433 
Conclusion,  close,  24.  > 

inference,  518 

Conclusive,  259 
(  (Concomitant,  33 


Concord,  harmony,  259 

melody,  564 

Concur,  80 
Concussion,  683 
Condemn,  171 
Condensed,  258 
Condescending,  72 
Condition,  article,  118 

state,  699 

Condolence,  566 
Condone,  404 
Conduce,  259 
Conduct,  behaviour,  159 

to  direct,  330       ^ 

to  lead,  547 

Confabulation,  277 
Confederacy,  88 
Confederate,  260 
Confer,  455 
Conference,  277 
Confess,  44 
Confide,  250 
Confidence,  488 
Confidential,  420 
Confine,  border,  180 

circumscribe,  233 

Confined,  578 
Confinement,  207 
Confirm,  corroborate,  260 

establish,  393 

Conflagration,  435 
Conflict,  260 
Conform,  27 
Conformation,  443 
Confound,  to  abash,  7 

to  confuse,  261 

Confront,  261 
Confuse,  to  abash,  7 

to  confound,  261 

Confused,  516 
Confusion,  262 
Confute,  263 
Congenial,  81 
Conglomeration,  256 
Congratulate,  263 
Conjeccure,  468 
Conjuncture,  crisis,  287 

occasion,  588 

Conjure,  adjure,  263 

to  pray,  624 

Connect,  264 
Connexion,  529 
Conquer,  264 
Conqueror,  265 
Conquest,  736 
Consanguinity,  75 
Conscientious,  265 
Si. 


754 


INDEX. 


Conscious,  138 
Consciousness,  428 
Consecrate,  266 
Consent,  27 
Consequence,  importance, 

505 

inference,  518 

result,  666 

Consequently,  ^66 
Conserve,  486 
Consider,  563 
Considerate,  civil,  236 

thoughtful,  719 

Consideration,  ^67 
Considerations,     obsei-m- 

tions,  "267 

notes,  583 

Consign,  250 
Consistent,  coherent,  247 

compatible,  268 

Console,  226 
Consonant,  268 
Conspicuous,  104 
Conspiracy,  196 
Constancy,  268 
Consternation,  alarm,  85 

surprise,  710 

Constituent,  270 
Constitute,  appoint,  270 

to  create,  283 

Constitution,  445 
Constrain,  170 
Construct,  189 
Construction,  365 
Consult,  270 
Consume,  270 
Consummation,  271 
Contact,  723 
Contagion,  271 
Contain,  comprise,  256 

hold,  271 

Contaminate,  272 
Contemn,  676 
Contemplate,  beliold,  159 

meditate,  563 

Contemporary,  246 
Contemptible,  615 
Contemptuous,  337 
Contend,  to  debate,  299 

to  strivi,  704 

Contention,  703 
^Contentment,  273 
Contest,  260 
Contiguous,  273 
Continence,  225 
Continency,  225 
Contingency,  32 


Contingent,  210 

Continual,  273 

Continually,  92 

Continuance,  274 

Continuation,  274 

Continue,  to  last,  544 

to  persevere,  610 

Continuity,  274 

Continuous,  273 

Contract,  to  contract,  16 

agreement,  82 

! to  shrink,  687 

Contracted,  578 

Contradict,  274 

Contrariety,  325 
j  Contrary,  70 
;  Contrast,  325 
;  Contravene,  726 
:  Contribute,  259 
!  Contrition,  660 
I  Contrivance,  407 

Contrive,  275 

Control,  charge,  223 

to  restrain,  665 

I  Controversy,  114 
!  Controvert,  275 
j  Contumacious,  585 

Contumely,  587 

Convene,  276 

Convenient,  276 

Convent,  276 

Conventional,  119 

Conversant,  277 

Conversation,  277 

Converse,  277 

Convert,  to  change,  219 

proselyte,  278 

Convey,  186 

Convict,  to  detect,  279 

criminal,  286 

Convince,  279 

Convivial,  693 

Convoke,  276 

Cool,  247 

Copious,  abundant,  279 

diffuse,  328 

Copiously,  544 

Copse,  742 

Copy,  example,  398 

to  imitate,  496 

to  transcribe,  726 

Cordial,  478 

Corner,  280 

Coronet,  323 

Corporal,  280 

Corporeal,  280 

Corpse,  177 


Corpulent,  701 
Correct,  to  amend,  93 

to  chasten,  225 

accurate,  395 

Correction,  280 
Correlative,  576 
Correspond,  713 
Corroborate,  260 
Corrupt,    to  contaminatt 
272 

to  putrefy,  644 

to  seduce,  678 

Corruption,  315 
Coruscation,  436 
Cost,  280 
Costly,  625 
Costume,  355 
Cottage,  197 
Counsel,  71 
Count,  to  calculate,  199 

to  number,  585 

Countenance,yace,  416 

sanction,  673 

Counterfeit,  spurious,  28J 

r  to  imitate,  496 

Country,  542 
Countryman,  607 
Couple,  n.,  182 

v.,  182 

Courage,  734 
Courageous,  178 
Course,  current,  245,  282 

passage,  604 

road,  668 

Court,  486 
Coui-teous,  72,  2^^ 
Covenant,  82 
Cover,  4S2 
Covetous,  581 
Covetousness,  131 
Coward,  282 
Coxcombical,  439 
Coy,  151 
Crack,  183 
Crafty,  117 
Crave,  124 
Craven,  282 
Craziness,  5£i 
Create,  283 
Credit,  belief,  161 

character,  220 

Crew,  143 
^rime,  284 
I'rimiual,  adj.,  286 

n.,  286 

Criminate,  222 
Crisis,  «07 


INDEX. 


J6h 


Critorion,  699 
Criticism,  287 
Crooked,  287 
Cross,  448 
Crowd,  288 
Crown,  323 
Cruel,  147 
Crush,  188 
Cry,  238 
Culmination,  708 
Culpable,  289 
Culprit,  286 
Cultivation,  289 
Culture,  289 
Cunning,  117 
Cupidity,  131 
Curb,  666 
Cure,  290 
Curious,  abstruse,  24 

hiquisitive,  523 

Current,  course,  282 

stream,  703 

Curse,  290 

Cursory,  desultory,  291 

histit,  473 

Curtail,  16 
Curved,  287 
Custody,  539 
Custom, /aiftioH,  291 

tax,  715 

Cycle,  596 


D. 

Daily,  293 
Dainty,  293 
Damage,  491 
Damp,  293 
Damsel,  294 
Dandyish,  439 
Danger,  294 
Dangerous,  295 
Dare,  challenge,  217 

venture,  295 

Daring,  178 

Dark,  295 

Dastard,  282 

Date,  295 

Daub,  296 

Daunt,  341 

Dead,  296 

Deadly,  297 

Dealing,  intercourse,  529 

trade,  725 

Dearth,  675 
Death,  297 


Debar,  298 
Debase,  4 
Debate,  299 
Debauch,  272 
Debilitate,  380 
Decay,  300 
Decease,  2i'7 
Deceit,  301 
Deceitful,  117 
Deceive,  300 
Deceiver,  506 
Decency,  302 
Decent,  156 
Deception,  301 
Decide,  to  determine,  302 

to  judge,  302 

Decision,  665 
Decisive,  259 
Declaim,  302 
Declare,  to  announce,  99 

to  profess,  633 

to  pronounce,  637 

Decline,  decay,  300 

to  refuse,  656 

Decorate,  66 
Decorum,  302 
Decoy,  383 
Decrease,  7 
Decree,  303 
Decry,  304 
Dedicate,  266 
Deduce,  316 
Deduction,    subtraction, 

304 

inferetice,  518 

Deed,  49 
Deface,  305 
Defalcation,  305 
Defamation.  203 
Defeat,  bajfle,  142 

beat,  154 

Defect,  174 
Defection,  527 
Defective,  305 
Defence,  103 
Defend,  306 
Defender,  617 
Defer,  306 
Deference,  307 
Deficient,  305 
Defile,    to    contaminate, 

272 

gorge,  308 

Definite,  detenninate,  308 

positive,  308 

Definition,  308 
Definitive,  308 


Deform,  305 
;  Deformity,  7Sl. 
'  Defraud,  226 
I  Defray,  309 
!  Defunct,  296 
I  Defy,  217 

Degenerate,  321 

Degrade,  4 

De^ee,  240 

Dejected,  671 

Dejection,  309 

Delay,  306 

Delegate,  to  accredit,  41 

representative,  662 

Deleterious,  584 

Deliberate,    to    consult, 
270 

to  debate,  299 

Deliberately,  72 

Delicacy,  293 

Delicate,  309,  433 

Delicious,  310 

Delight,  206 

Delighted,  456 

Delightful,  310 

Delineation,  691 

Delinquent,  590 

Deliver,  rescue,  311 

surrender,  312 

pronounce,  312,  63t 

Deliverance,  312 

Delivery,  312 

Delude,  300 

Deluge,  312 

Delusion,  301 

Demand,  claim,  237 

require,  663 

Demeanour,  air,  83 

behaviour,  159 

Demise,  bequeath,  167 

death,  297 

Demolish,  313 

Demonstrate,  685 

Demur,  313 

Demurrer,  313 

Denial,  314 

Denomination,  577 

Denote,  688 

Denounce,  171 

Deny,  contradict,  274 

disavotv,  333 

refuse,  656 

Department,  252 

Departure,  297 

Dependence,  314 

Depict,  316 

Deplore,  162 


756 

Deponent,  742 
Deportment,  209 
Depose,  4 
Deposit,  617 
Deposition,  637 
Depravation,  315 
Depraved,  3 
Depravity,  315 
Depreciate,  304 
Depredation,  669 
Depress,  4 
Depression,  309 
Deprive,  bereave,  168 

debar,  298 

Depth,  315 
Depute,  41 
Deputy,  ambassador,  92 

representative,  662 

Derange,  315 
Derangement,  555 
Deride,  667 
Derive,  316 
Derogate,  316 
Describe,  316 
Description,  37 
Descry,  317 
Desecration,  633 
Desert,  abandon,  1 

desolate,  318 

merit,  568 

Design,  purpose,  317 

plan,  616 

Designate,  558 
Designation,  577 
Designing,  117 
Desirable,  371 
Desire,  742 
Desist,  22 
Desolate,  318 
Desolation,  649 
Despair,  319 
Despatch,  28 
Desperate,  488 
Desperation,  319 
Despicable,  615 
Despondency,    dejection, 
309 

despair,  319 

Despotic,  19 
Destination,  319 
Destine,  90 
Destiny,  destination,  319 

fate,  319 

Destitute,  devoid,  320 

forlorn,  443 

Destitution,  623 
Uestroy,  conaume,  270 


INDEX. 

Destroy,  demolish,  313 
Destruction,  609 
Destructive,  320 
Desuetude,  321 
Desultory,  291 
Detach,  disengage,  339 

separate,  680 

Detail,  321 
Details,  321 
Detain,  486 
Detect,  convict,  279 

descry,  317 

Deter,  321 
Deteriorate,  321 
Determinate,  308 
Determination,  664 
Determine,  to  decide,  302 

to  judge,  302 

Detest,  10 
Detestable,  404 
Detract,  316 
Detraction,  203 
Detriment,  disadvantage^ 
33% 

hurt,  491 

Detrimental,  584 
Devastation,  649 
Develop,  clear,  241 

unfold,  322 

Deviate,  739 
Device,  372 
Devise,  bequeath,  167 

contrive,  275 

Devoid,  320 
Devolve,  42 
Devote,  266 
Devout,  322 
Dexterity,  323 
Dexterous,  67 
Diadem,  323 
Dialect,  544 
Dialogue,  277 
Dictate,  323 
Diction,  613 
Dictionary,  324 
Die,  to  decay,  300 

to  expire,  408 

Diet,  324 

Dift'erence,  variety,  325 

dissent,  343 

quarrel,  6io 

Different,  divers,  347 

unlike,  733 

Difficult,  113 
Difficulty,  326 
Diffidence,  327 
Diffident,  bashj'ul,  151 


Diffident,  lowlyy  554 
Diffuse,  328 
Digest,  16 
Dignity,  loftiness,  328 

majesty,  556 

Digression,  386 
Dilate,  329 
Dilatory,  329 
Diligent,  329 
Dim,  295 
Dimensions,  560 
Diminish,  7 
Diminutive,  551 
Diocesan,  171 
Dire,  352 
Direct,  to  conduct,  330 

straight,  331 

Direction,  addresSj  331 

guide,  469 

Directly,  331 
Disability,  332 
Disadvantage,  332 
Disaffection,  332 
Disagreement,  diffe^-ence^ 
325 

dissent,  343 

Disallow,  298 
Disappear,  734 
Disappoint,  333 
Disapprobation,  333 
Disapproval,  333 
Disaster,  198 
Disavow,  333 
Disbelief,  334 
Discard,  334 
Discern,  317  -  - 
Discernment,  334 
Discharge,  defray,  309 

discard,  334 

acquittal,  336 

to  fulfil,  449 

Disciple,  60 
Discipline,  225 
Disclaim,  333 
Disclose,  divulge,  336 

promulgate,  636 

Discompose,  142 
Disconcert,  142 
Disconnect,  680 
Discontinue,  215 
Discord,  703 
Discordant,  344 
Discourage,  321 
Discourse,  address,  56 

conversation,  277 

Discover,  descry,  31** 
disclose,  336 


INDEX. 


757 


Discover,  ^nd,  432 
Discovery,  337 
Discredit,  337 
Discreet,  213 
Discretion,  334 
Discriminate,  345 
Discrimination,  334 
Discursive,  328 
Discuss,  299 
Disdain,  pride,  629 
— —  scoi-n,  676 
Disdainful,  337 
Disease,  338 
Diseased,  574 
Disembodied,  498 
Disengage,  339 
Disentangle,  339 
Disfavour,  337 
Disfigure,  305 
Disfigurement,  731 
Disg^-ace,  to  abase,  4 

discredit,  337 

Disguise,  339 
Disgust,  dislike,  340 

nausea,  579 

Dishearten,  321 
Dishonest,  540 
Dishonour,  to  abase,  4 

discredit,  337 

Disinclination,  340 
Disjoin,  680 
Dislike,  disgust,  SiO 

hate,  473 

Disloyalty,  332 
Dismal,  340 
Dismay,  341 
Dismiss,  334 
Disorder,  confusion,  '262 

to  derange,  315 

disease,  338 

Disown,  333 
Disparage,  304 
Disparity,  341 
Dispassionate,  342 
Dispatch,  472 
Dispel,  342 
Dispense,  342 
Disperse,  dispel,  342 

scatter,  675 

Display,  685 
Displease,  589 
Displeasure,  343 
Dispose,  597 
Disposition,  bent,  166 

character,  3^13 

Disprove,  263 
Dispute,  controvert,  275 


Dispute,  debate,  299 

quarrel,  645 

Disqualification,  332 
Disqualify,  298 
Disregard,  580 
Dissatisfaction,  343 
Dissemble,  disguise,  339 

feign,  429 

Dissembler,  493 
Disseminate,  638 
Dissent,  313 
Dissertation,  392 
Dissipate,  739 
1  Dissolute,  344 
Dissonant,  344 
Distant,  344 
Distaste,  340 
Distemper,  338 
Distend,  329 
Distinct,  104 
Distinction,  325 
Distinctive,  222 
Distinguish,  descry,  317 

discriminate,  o'iS 

signalize,  687 

Distinguished,  373 
Distract,  345 
Distracted,  18 
Distraction,  345 
Distress,  77 
Distribute,  342 
District,  346 
Distrust,  327 
Disturbance,  262 
Disuse,  321 
Diuraal,  293 
Dive,  346 
Diverge,  739 
Divers,  3-17 
Diversion,  96 
Diversity,  325 
Divert,  345 
Diverted,  18 
Divide,  680 
Divination,  468 
Divine,  heavenly,  480 

sacred,  671 

a  theologian,  718 

Diviner,  348 
Division,  603 
Divulge,  to  disclose,  336 

to  promuls;ate,  636 

Do,  348 
Docile,  3-18 
Doctrine,  348 
Document,  349 
Dogma,  348 


Dogmatical,  009 

Dole,  349 

Doleful,  349 

Domestic,  350 

Domicile,  470 

Dominion,  authority,  136 

empire,  373 

territory,  718 

Donation,  163 

Doom,  319 

Dormancy,  350 

Double-dealing,  359 

Doubt,  hesitation,  350 

uncertainty,  731 

Doubtful,  350  " 

Dower,  351 

Doze,  692 

Drag,  351 

Drain,  351 

Drama,  351 

Draught,  abridgment,  16 
drink,  356 

Draw,  351 

Dread,  alarm,  85 

fear,  427 

Dreadful,  352 
Dream,  667 
Dreary,  340 
Dregs,  353 
Drench,  354 
Dress,  355 
Drift,  tendency,  356 

import,  504 

Drink,  356 
Droll,  356 
Droop,  357 
Drop,  357 
Dross,  353 
Drowsy,  358 
Drunkenness,  358 
Dubious,  350 
Due,  715 
Dull,  dismal,  340 

stupid,  706 

Dumb,  358 
Dupe,  300 
Duplicity,  359 
Durable,  359 
Duration,  274 
Dutiful,  586 
Duty,  obligation,  36(' 

office,  590 

tax,  715 

Dwell,  10 
Dye,  248 


758 


INDEX. 


Each,  all,  87 

every,  395 

Eager,  360 
Eagerness,  361 
Early,  361 
Earn,  46 
Earnest,  eager,  360 

pledge,  361,  61" 

Earth,  542 
Ease,  quiet,  362 

easiness,  362 

Easiness,  362 
Ebb,  300 
Ebullition,  362 
Eccentric,  aberrant,  8 

singular,  363 

Economical,  364 
Ecstasy,  365 
Edge,  185 
Edict,  303 
Edification,  366 
Edifice,  365 
Education,  366 
Educe,  366 
Efface,  367 
Effect,  accomplish,  34 

result,  666 

Effective,  368 
Effects,  458  . 
Effectual,  368 
Effeminate,  430 
Effervescence,  362 
Efficacious,  368 
Efficient,  368 
Effigy,  368 
Effort,  368 
Efirontery,  179 
Egotistical,  370 
Elaborate,  434 
Elder,  370 
Elderly,  591 
Election,  231 
Elegant,  249 
Element,  630 
Elevate,  549 
Elevation,  370 
Elicit,  366 
Eligible,  371 
Eliminate,  366 
Elocution,  371 
Eloquence,  371 
Elucidate,  408 
Elude,  391 
'Ema.n&te,  flow,  438 
proceed,  631 


Emancipation,  371 

Embarrass,  clogy  242 

perplex,  609 

Embellish,  66 

Embers,  122 

Embezzlement,  305 

Emblem,  372 

Embrace,  adopt,  65 

clasp,  239 

compnse,  256 

Embryo,  372 

Emend,  93 

Emerge,  534 

Emergency,  287 

Eminent,  373 

Emissary,  699 

Emit,  373 

Emolument,  451 

Emotion,  agitation,  80 

feeling,  428 

Emphasis,  30 

Empire,  ascendancy,  121 

kingdom,  373 

reign,  374 

Empiric,  224 

Employ,  374 

Employment,  ,'>75 

Empower,  137 

Empty,  375 

Emulation,  254 

Enable,  137 

Enactment,  376 

Enchant,  206 

Enchanter,  556 

Encircle,  233 

Encomium,  602 

Encompass,  233 

Encounter,  attack,  128 

onset,  593 

Encourage,  cheery  226 

excite,  403 

promote,  635 

Encroach,  376 

Encumber,  242 

Encyclopaedia,  324 

I'^nd,  aim,  83 

close,  243 

finish,  433 

Endeavour,  efort,  368 

to  try,  729 

to  strive,  704 

Endemic,  386 

Ending,  243 

Endfess,  377 

Endow,  377 
,  Endowment,  377 
I  ]<:ndue,  H77 


Endurance,  378 
Endure,  to  last,  544 

to  suffer,  707 

Enduring,  359 
Enemy,  379 
Energetic,  703 
Energy,  379 
Enervate,  380 
Enfeeble,  380 
Enforce,  380 
Engagement,  battle,  152 

employment,  375 

promise,  635 

Engagmg,  130 
Engender,  184 
Engine,  555 
Engrossed,  18 
Enhancement,  512 
Enjoyment,  617 
Enlarge,  329 
Enlighten,  381 
Enliven,  226 
Enmity,  474 
Enormous,  490 
Enough,  58 
Enrapture,  206 
Enslave,  206 
Ensnare,  384 
Ensue,  439 
Ensure,  381 
Entail,  503 
Entangle,  implicate,  3f>S 

perplex,  609 

Enterprise,  adventure,  69 

undertaking,  731 

Enterprising,  69 
Entertain,  382 
Entertainment,     amuse* 
ment,  96 

banquet,  146 

Enthusiast,  382 
Entice,  383 
Entire,  384 
Entitled,  644 
Entrance,  384 
Entrap,  384 
Entreat,  123 
Entreaty,  612 
Entrust,  41 
Enucleate,  366 
Enumerate,  199 
Enunciation,  385 
F^nvious,  385 
Environ,  233 
Envoy,  92 
Epicure,  386 
Epidemic,  38f 


INDEX. 


759 


Cpiiode,  386 
Epistle,  387 
Epithet,  387 
Epitome,  16 
Epizotic,  386 
Epoch,  295 
Equable,  387 
Equal,  even,  387 

equivalent^  389 

Equip,  709 
Equitable,  419 
Equity,  388 
Equivalent,  389 
Equivocal,  93 
Equivocate,  389 
Era,  295 
Eradicate,  389 
Erase,  367 
Erect,  to  build,  189 

to  establish,  393 

to  lift,  549 

Err,  739 

EiTand,  390 
Erratic,  8 
Error,  390 
Erudition,  540 
Eruption,  391 
Escape,  391 
Eschew,  391 
Escort,  34 
Especial,  696 
Especially,  230 
Espy,  317 
Essay,  effort,  368 

treatise,  392 

Essence,  392 
Essential,  579 
Establish,  393 
Esteem,  109 
Estimable,  95 
Estimate,  to  appraise, 

tj  calculate,  199 

Estrangement,  394 
Eternal,  377 
Eulogy,  602 
Evade,  391 

Even,  equal,  387 

smooth,  693 

Event,  235 
Eventual,  545 
Ever,  395 
Everlasting,  377 
Every,  all,  87 

each,  395 

Evidence,  637 
Evident,  104 
Evil.  bad.  140 


109 


Evil,  ill,  395 

Evince,  685 

Evoke,  200 
I  Evolve,  366 
!  Exact,  accurate,  395 

: to  extort,  396 

i  Exaggeration,  397 

I  Exalt,  549 

i  Examination,  397 

Example,  398 
i  Exasperate,  400 

Excavation,  214 

Exceed,  401 
I  Excel,  401 
!  Excellence,  40J 
I  Excellent,  62 
I  Except,  402 
;  Exceptional,  8 

Excess,  402 

Excessive,    immoderate, 

•  inordinate,  522 

Exchange,  149 
Excite,  animate,  403 

awaken,  403 

Exclamation,  238 
Exclude,  298 
Exculpate,  21 
Excursion,  535 
Excuse,  apology,  103 

pardon,  404 

pretence,  628 

Execrable,  404 
Execration,  290 
Execute,  34 
Exemplification,  398 
Exemplify,  408 
Exempt,  446 
Exemption,  500 
Exercise,  405 
Exert,  405 
Exertion,  368 
Exhale,  373 
Exhaust,  351 
Exhibit,  685 
Exhibition,  684 
Exhilarate,  226 
Exhort,  405 
j  Exigency,  287 
Exile,  144 
Exist,  406 
Exonerate,  21 
Exorbitant,  522 
Expand,  329 
Expatiiate,  144 
Expect,  407 
Expectancv,  3.V) 


Expectation,  488 
Expedient,  reamrse,  407 

Jit,  407 

Expedite,  28 
Expedition,  quichiess,  64tf 

undertaking,  731 

Expeditious,  329 
Expend,  698 
Expense,  280 
Experience,  368 
Experiment,  attempt^  368 

trial,  408 

Experimental,  408 
Expert,  67 
Expiation,  408 
Expire,  408 
Explain,  clear,  241 

elucidate,  408 

Explanation,  308 
Explanatory,  409 
Explicit,  409 
Exploit,  410 
Exploitation,  397 
Exploration,  397 
Explosion,  391 
Expostulate,  255 
Expound,  410 
Express,  explicit,  409 

signify,  410 

Expression,    ennnciatioHy 

385 

termy  411 

phrase,  612 

Expressive,  687 
Expunge,  367 
Exquisite,  62 
Extant,  50 
Extend,  dilate,  329 
— —  reach,  650 
Extensive,  411 
Extent,  412 
Extenuate,  412 
Exterior,  412 
Exterminate,  38S 
External,  412 
Extirpate,  389 
Extol,  623 
Extort,  396 
Extract,  366 
f2xtraneou8,  412 
Extraordinary,     remark' 

able,  413 

singubr,  689 

Extravagant,      prodigal, 

413 

inordinate,  522 

Extreme,  close,  243 


760 


INDEX. 


Extreme,  intense,  529 
Extremity,  243 
Extricate,  339 
Extrinsic,  412 
Exuberant,  555 
Exult,  414 
Eye,  159 


Fable,  414 
Fabric,  edifice,  365 

• manufacture,  415 

Fabricate,  to  build,  189 

to  forge,  442 

Fabrication,  414 

Fabulous,  421 

Face,  to  confront,  261 

front,  416 

— —  countenance,  416 
Facetious,  416 
Facile,  348 
Facility,  362 
Fact,  235 
Faction,  cabal,  l9-( 

■  party,  604 

Factions, '417 

Factitious,  119 

Factor,  417 

Faculty,  417 

Failing,  417 

Failure,  bankruptcy,  145 

failing,  417 

Faint,  418 
Fair,  goodly,  419 

jxist,  419 

Faith,  161 
Faithful,  420 
Faithless,  420 
Fall,  357 
Fallacious,  421 
False,  421 
Falsehood,  421 
Falsified,  281 
Falsity,  421 
Falter,  422 
Fame,  reputation,  422 

report,  423 

glo^^,  A57 

Familiar,  conversant,  277 

free,  423 

Familiarity,  45 
Familiarize,  4^ 
Family,  489 
Famine,  675 
Famous,  celebrated,  ■12.S 
renowned,  659 


Fanatic,  382 
Fanciful,  424 
Fancy,  caprice,  204 

imagination,  424 

Fantastical,  424 
Far,  344 
Fare,  424 
Farmer,  425 
Fascinate,  206 
Fashion,  custom,  291 

form,  443 

Fast,  abstinence,  22 

firm,  425 

'hard,  425 

Fasten,  426 

Fastidious,  426 

Fastness,  646 

Fat,  701 

Fatal,  297 

Fate,  319 

Fatigue,  weariness,  426 

to  jade,  534 

Fault,  blemish,  174 

failing,  417 

Faulty,  289 
Favour,  426,  460 
Favourable,  133 
Fealty,  486 
Fear,  alarm,  85 

apprehension,  427 

Fearful,  352 
Fearless,  178 
Feasible,  427 
Feast,  banquet,  146 

festival,  431 

Feat,  410 
Feature,  428 
Feeble,  428 
Feed,  229 
Feeling,  428 
Feign,  429 
Felicitate,  263 
Felicity,  470 
Fellowship,  430 
Felon,  286 
Female,  430 
F'eminine,  430 
Fen, 559 
Fennent,  362 
Fermentation,  362 
Ferocious,  430 
Fertile,  431 
Fervour,  ardour,  431 

zeal,  745 

Festival,  431 
Festivity,  431 
Fetch,  186 


Fetter,  242 
Feud,  645 
Fickle,  511 
Fickleness,  204 
Fiction,  414 
Fictitious,  artificial,  119 

counterfeit,  281 

Fidelity,  268 
Fierce,  430 
Fiery,  194 
Figure,  effigy,  368 

form,  443 

metaphor,  569 

Figurative,  432 
Final,  conclusive,  259 

latest,  545 

Find,  432 

Fine,  beautiful,  155 

—  nice,  309 

—  delicate,  433 

—  to  mulct,  433 
Finical,  439 
Finish,  achieve,  4S 

close,  433 

Finished,  434 
Finite,  435 

Fire,  435 
Firm,  fast,  425 

solid,  69^ 

Firmness,  268 
Fit,  expedient,  '107 
to  adapt,  435 

—  meet,  564 
Fitness,  113 

Fix,  to  establish,  39.3 

to  fasten,  4^6 

Flag,  357 
Flagitious,  480 
Flagrant,  480 
Flame,  435 
Flare,  436 
Flash,  436 
Flat,  436 
Flatterer,  437 
Flattery,  437 
Flavour,  714 
Flaw,  174 
Fleeting,  71? 
Fleetness,  64r' 
Flesh,  5(i2 
F'lexible,  618 
Flicker,  436 
Flightiness,  549 
Fling,  720 

Flourish,     to    brandish, 
183 
—  to  thrive,  iSS 


INDEX. 


761 


Flow,  to  arise,  438 

• to  gusli ,  469 

to  proceed,  631 

Flower,  176 

Fluctuate,  313 

Fluid,  439 

Flutter,  602 

Foe,  379 

Foetus,  372 

Fog,  476 

Foible,  417 

Foil,  142 

Follow,  to  succeed,  439 

to  imitate,  496 

Follower,  60 
Folly,  518 
Foment,  229 
Fond,  75 
Fondle,  209 
Fondness,  127 
Food,  diet,  324 

fare,  494 

Fool,  494 
Foolish,  24 
Footstep,  724 
Foppish,  439 
Forbear,  22 
Forbid,  298 
Force,  energy,  379 

violence,  737 

Forcible,  440 
Forebode,  131 
Forecast,  441 
Forefathers,  440 
Forego,  440 
Foregoing,  625 
Foreign,  412 
Foreigner,  441 
Forerunner,  4  H 
Foresight,  441 
Forest,  742 
Forestall,  629 
Foretell,  4-12 
Forethought,  441 
Forfeit,  4:>;i 
Forge,  442 
Forgetfulness,  '142 
Forgive,  404 
Forlorn,  443 
Form,  ceremony,  216 

character ,  220 

to  create,  283 

Jjgure,443 

— —  to  frame,  445 

type,  730 

Fonner,  625 
Formal,  444 


Formidable,  352 
Forsake,  1 
Forthwith,  331 
Fortify,  533 
Fortitude,  378 
Fortuitous,  210 
Fortunate,  happy,  471 

prosperous,  640 

Fortune,  218 
Forward,  635 
Forwards,  444 
Foster,  229 
Found,  393 
Foundation,  15:) 
Fountain,  698 
Fraction,  444 
Fracture,  444 
Fragile,  187 
Fragment,  444 
Fragrance,  44-1 
Frail,  187 
Frailty,  417 
Frame,  constitution,  445 

form,  445 

Frank,  478 
Fraud,  446 
Fray,  645 
Freak,  204 
Free,  to  deliver,  311 

familiar,  423 

independent,  426 

exempt,  426 

Freedom,  447 
Freight,  209 
Frenzy,  ecstasy,  365 

madness,  555 

Frequent,  447 
Frequently,  447 
Fresh,  new,  448 

modern,  572 

Fret,  217 
Fretful,  448 
Friendly,  95 
Fright,  85 
Frighten,  449 
Frightful,  352 
Frigid,  247 
Frivolous,  497 
Frolic,  451 
Front,  416 
Frontier,  180 
Froward,  612 
Frugal,  o64 
Fruitful,  431 
Fruition,  617 
Fruitless,  ineffectual,  517 
vain^  734 


Frustrate,  142 
Fugitive,  717 
Fulfil,  to  discharge,  449 

to  observe,  588 

Fully,  544 
Fulness,  450 
Function,  591 
Funeral,  587 
Furious,  450 
Furnish,  709 
Futile,  497 


G. 


Gam,  to  acquire,  46 

emolument,  451 

Gainsay,  275 
Gait,  209 
Gale,  741 
Gall,  217 
Gallant,  178 
Gambol,  451 
Game,  amusement,  97 

plau,  451 

Gang,  143 
Gap,  183 
Gape,  183,  452 
Garb,  469 
Garbled,  281 
Garland,  744 
Garment,  355 
Garnish,  66 
Garrulous,  553 
Gasconade,  669 
Gather,  248 
Gathering,  124 
Gaudy,  452 
Gay,  cheerful,  227 

gaudy,  452 

Gaze,  452' 
Gelid,  247 
Gem,  452 
Gender,  452 
General,  732 
Generally,  447 
Generation,  295 
Generosity,  465 
Generous,  164 
Genial,  133 
Genius,  ability,  11 

character,  220 

taste,  453 

Gentile,  479 
Gentle,  453 
Genuine,  135 


762 


INDEX. 


Germinate,  189 
Gesticulation,  action,  50 

antic,  102 

Gesture  50 
Get,  46, 
Ghastly,  45  J 
Ghost,  45 1 
Gibe,  536 
Giddiness,  549 
Gift,  endowment,  o77 

gratuity,  464J 

Gigantic,  455 

Girl,  294 

Give,  to  grant,  455 

to  ofer,  590 

Glad,  456 
Glance,  457 
Glare,  436 
Gleam,  153 
Glide,  457 
Glimmer,  153 
Glimpse,  457 
Glisten,  153 
Glitter,  153 
Globe,  ball,  113 

land,  542 

Gloomy,  dark,  295 

sad,  671 

Glossary,  324 
Glory,  to  boast,  176 

lumour,  457 

Glow,  458 
Glut,  462 
Godlike,  480 
Godly,  668 
Gold,  458 
Golden,  458 
Good-humour,  459 
Goodly,  419 
Good-nature,  459 
Goodness,  458 
Goods,  458 
Gorge,  308 
Gorgeous,  459 
Gourmand,  386 
Govern,  4,59 
Government,  223 
Grace,  favour,  426,  '1^ 

remission,  658 

Graceful,  249 
Gracious,  460 
Grade,  2-10 
Grand,  460 
Grant,  to  admit,  63 

to  allow,  91 

to  cede,  215 

to  givCf  455 


Grapple,  212 
Grasp,  212 
Grateful,  31 
Gratify,  462 
Gratified,  456 
Gratitude,  163 
Gratuitous,  463 
Gratuity,  46 1 
''-rave,  seriouSy  464 

tomb,  722 

Gravitation,  356 
Gravity,  464 
Great,  big,  169 

grand,  460 

Greatness,  bulh,  190 

magnanimitif,  165 

Greediness,  361 
Greedy,  465 
Greet,  36 
Grief,  77 
Grievance,  466 
Grieve,  466 
Grieved,  695 
Grim,  454 
Grimace,  466 
Grin,  466 
Gripe,  to  catch,  212 

to  pinch,  615 

Grisly,  451 
Groan,  466 
Gross,  245 
Grotesque,  363 
Grotto,  214 
Ground,  150 
Group,  124 
Grove,  742 
Grow,  467 
Grudge,  467 
Guarantee,  739 
Guard,  to  defend,  306 

guardian,  467 

Guardian,  467 
Guerdon,  252 
Guess,  468 
Guide,  7-nle,  W^ 

to  lead,  5i? 

Guile,  446 
Guilt,  284 
Guilty,  286 
Guise,  469 
Gush,  469 
Gust,  741 


Habiliment,  35.'" 


Habit,  custom,  291 

drei>s,  355 

gnise,  469 

Habitation,  470 
Habituate,  43 
Habitude,  291 
Hail,  36 
Hale,  to  haul,  352 

healthy,  476 

Hallow,  266 
Hallucination,  390 
Handsome,  155 
Handy,  H76 
Happen,  470 
Happiness,  470 
Happy,  471 
Harangue,  56 
Harass,  534 
Harbinger,  441 
Harbour,  to  entertain,  381 

haven,  475 

Hard,  difficult,  113 

Jast,425 

Hardened,  585 
Hardihood,  179 
Hardly,  472 
Hardship,  466 
Harm,  491 
Harmless,  472 
Harmony,  concord,  259 

melody,  564 

Harsh,  472 
Harshness,  48 
Haste,  472 
Hasten,  28 
Hastiness,  473 
Hasty,  cursory,  473 

passionate,  605 

Hate,  473 
Hateful,  474 
Hatred,  474 

Haughtiness,    arrogamt, 
115 

dignity,  328 

Haunt,  447 
Have,  622 
Haven,  475 
Havoc,  619 
Hawl,  351 
Hazard,  chance,  218 

danger,  294 

Haze,  476 
Head,  476 
Heal,  290 
Healthy,  wholesome,  476 

sound,  696 

Heap,  477' 


INDEX. 


763 


Hearken,  477 

Hopeless,  488 

Hearty,  47B 

Horde,  143 

Heat,  458 

Horrible,  rJ52 

Heathen,  479 

Horrid,  352 

Heave,  to  lift,  .549 

Host,  489 

to  swell,  711 

Hostile,  70 

Heaven,  479 

Hot,  194 

Heavens,  479 

House,  4«9 

Jleavenlv,  180 

However,  489 

Heaviness,  464 

Hue,  490 

Heavv,  191 

Hug,  239 

Heed,  480 

Huge,  490 

Heedless,  509 

Humanity,  165                  \ 

Height,  370 

Humble,  to  abasBy  % 

Heighten,  549 

loicly,  554 

Heinous,  180 

Humid,  293 

Help,  n.,  481 

Humiliate,  4 

v.,  4Sl 

Humour,  burlesque,  192 

Hence,  '266 

caprice,  2(^4 

Heresy,  482 

to  indulge,  462 

Hero,  218 

Juice,  538 

Heroic,  178 

mood,  574 

Hesitate,  to  demur,  313 

Hunger,  490 

to  falter,  422 

Hunt,  224 

to  pause,  606 

Hurl,  720 

Hesitation,  350 

Hurricane,  701 

Heterodoxy,  482 

Hun-y,  472 

Hidden,  545 

Hurt,  damage,  491 

Hide,  to  conceal,  482 

sorry,  695 

skin,  691 

Hurtful,  584 

Hideous,  483 

Husband,  492 

Hi^h,  484 
Hilarity,  484 

Husbandman,  425 

Husbandry,  289 

Hind,  607 

Hut,  197 

Hinder,  to  clog,  242 

Hyperbole,  397 

to  debar,  298 

Hypocrite,  493 

Hint,  484 

H^T)othesis,  468 

Hireling,  485 

' 

History,  accorcnt,  37 

aniials,  485 

I. 

Hit,  154 

Hoard,  485 

Idea,  notion,  493 

Hoist,  519 

thought,  718 

Hold,  (0  contain,  271 

Ideal,  imaginai'y,  494 

arrest,  486 

model,  494 

to  maintain,  557 

Identity,  494 

Hole,  214 

Idiom,  544 

Holiday,  431 

Idiot.  494 

Hollow,  cavity,  214 

Idle,  lazy,  494 

empty,  375 

leisure,  495 

Holy,  devouty  322 

Ignition,  435 

sacred,  671 

Ignominy,  495 

Homage,  486 

Ignorant,  495 
111.  badlu,  141 

Honesty,  487 

Honour,  e/orv,  U^7 

evil,  395 

virtue,  7V 

Illiterate,  495 

Hope,  488 

Illness,  516 

Illuminate,  381 
Illumine,  381 
Illusion,  301 
Illustiate,  408 
Illustration,  396 
Illustrious,  37o 
Ill-will,  474 
Image,  effigy,  368 

statue,  700 

Imaginary,    chimenral, 

231 

ideal,  494 

Imagination,  Ja?jci/,  124 

thought,  718' 

Imbibe,  496 
Imbrue,  354 
Imbue,  354 
Imitate,  to  follow,  496 

to  copy,  496 

to  mimic,  570 

Iramaferial,  unimpoi  iuut, 

497 

incorporeal,  498 

Immediately,  331 
Immense,  499 
Imminent,  499 
Immoderate,  402,  5'2'i 
Immodest,  499 
Immolate,  500 
Immunity,  500 
Immuring,  207 
Impair,  500 
Impart,  501 
Impassable,  501 
Impeach,  222 
Impede,  242 
Impediment,    difficulty^ 

326 

obstacUj  588 

Impel,  53 
Impending,  499 
Impenetrable,  523 
Imperative,  134 
Imperceptible,  533 
Imperfect,  305 
Imperfection,  417 
Imperious,  134 
Impertinent,  501 
Impervious,  501 
Impetuous,  450 
Impious,  502 
Implacable,  502 
Implant,  502 
Implement,  525 
Implicate,  382 
Implicit,  712 
Implore,  123 


764 


INDEX, 


Imply,  comprise,  256 

signify f  503 

Import,  504 
Importance,  505 
Importunate,  505 
Impose,  506 
Impost,  715 
Impostor,  506 
Imprecation,  290 
Impress,  506 
Impression,  506 
Imprint,  506 
Imprisonment,  207 
Improve,  507 
Improvement,  634 
Impudence,  179 
Impudent,  501 
Impugn,  263 
Impute,  122 
Inability,  332 
Inaccessible,  507 
Inactive,  507 
Inadequate,  508 
Inadvertency',  508 
inanimate,  296 
Inanity,  509 
Inattention,  508 
Inattentive,  509 
Inaugurate,  510 
Inborn,  510 
Inbred,  510 
Incapable,  510 
Incarceration,  207 
Incessant,  273 
Incident,  accident,  32 

circumstance,  235 

Incidental,  210 

Incite,  403 

Inclination,  166 

Incline,  548 

Inclose,  233 

Include,  circumscribe,  233 

— comprise,  256 

Incoherent,  511 
Incompatible,  511 
Incompetent,  510 
Incomprehensible,  732 
Inconceivable,  732 
Incongruous,  511 
Inconsiderable,  497 
Inconsistent,  511 
Inconstant,  511 
Incontinently,  331 
Incontrovertible,  512 
Incorporeal,  498 
Increase,  to  grow,  467 
— —  accession,  512 


I  Incredulity,  334 
j  Inculcate,  502 
I  Incursion,  523 
I  Indebted,  503 
j  Indecent,  499 
!  Indelicate,  499 
I  Indentation,  506 
I  Independent,  446 
Indicate,  to  iruirk,  558 

to  show,  685 

Indication,  514 
Indict,  222 
Indifference,  514 
Indigenous,  515 
Indigent,  620 
Indignation,  515 
Indignity,  526 
Indiscriminate,  634 
Indisposition,  516 
Indisputable,  512 
Indistinct,  516 
Individual,     particular, 
516 

person,  610 

Indolent,  494 
Indubitable,  512 
Induce,  53 
Inducement,  575 
Induction,  518 
Indulge,  462 
Industi-K^us,  329 
Inebriation,  358 
Inebriety,  358 
Ineffable,  517 
Ineffectual,  517,734- 
Inequality,  341 
Inert,  507 
Inexorable,  502 
Inexpressible,  517 
Infamous,  674 
Infamy,  495 
Infatuation,  518 
Infection,  271 
Inference,  51^ 
Inferior,  519 
Infest,  447 
Infidelity,  334 
Infinite,  boundless,  182 

immense,  499 

Infirmity,  417 
Influence,  to  affect,  73 

ascendancy,  121,519 

Inform,  519 
Infraction,  520 
Infringe,  to  encroach,  376 

to  transgress,  726 

Infringement,  520 


Infuse,  502 
Ingenious,  520 
Ingenuous,  478 
Ingraft,  502 
Ingratiate,  521 
Ingredient,  270 
Ingi-ess,  384 
Inherent,  adherent,  60 

inborn,  510 

Inhibit,  298 
Inhibition,  634 
Inhuman,  147 
Inimical,  70 
Iniquitous,  580 
Iniquity,  284 
Initiate,  510  _ 
Injoin,  506 
Injunction,  249 
Injure,  500 
Injurious,  584 
Injury,  wrong,  284 

damage,  -J  91 

Injustice,  wrong,  284 

harm,  491 

Innate,  510 
Inner,  521 
Innocence,  521 
Innocuous,  472 
Innuendo,  484 
Inoffensive,  472 
Inordinate,  522 
Inquire,  522 
Inquiry,  397 
Inquisition,  397 
Inquisitive,  523 
Inroad,  523 
Insanity,  555 
Inscrutable,  523 
Insensibility,  514 
Insert,  531 
Inside,  524 
Insidious,  524 
Insight,  524 
Insignificant,  497 
Insinuate,  ingratiate,  521 

suggest,  524 

Insinuation,  484 
Insist,  525 
Insolent,  501 
Insolvency,  145 
Inspection,   examinatiofif 
397 

insight,  524 

Inspire,  98 
Instance,  398 
Instant,  573 
Instantaneously,  33J 


NDEX. 


765 


nstantly,  331 
nstigate,  28 
nstil,  502 
nstinctive,  525 
nstitute,  to  establish,  393 

institution,  525 

nstitution,  525 
nstruct,  519 
nstruction,  366 
nstrument,  525 
nsufficient,  508 
nsult,  526 
nsuperable,  526 
nsurmountable,  526 
nsurrection,  527 
ntegral,  384 
ntegrity,  487 
ntellect,  reason,  528 

mind,  570 

ntellectual,  529 
ntelligence,  inteltec  1, 528 

neti>«,  581 

ntemperate,  402 
ntend,3J7 
ntense,  529 
ntent,  129 
ntercede,  529 
ntercept,  486 
nterchange,  149 
ntercourse,  529 
nterdict,  298 
nterest,  advantage,  68 

concern,  530 

nterfere,  529 
nterior,  inner,  521 

inside,  524 

nterloper,  530 
ntenneddle,  529 
ntennediate,  530 
nterment,  192 
ntermission,  53i) 
nternal,  521 
nterpose,  529 
nterposition,  531 
nterpret,  410 
nterrogate,  522 
nten'uption,  530 
ntersection,  531 
nterspace,  531 
nterstice,  531 
nterval,  531 
ntervening,  530 
ntervention,  531 
nterview,  531 
ntestines,  7S8 
ntimacy,  45 
ntimate,  410 


Intimation,  484 
Intimidate,  449 
Intombment,  192 
Intoxication,  358 
Intrench,  376 
Intrepid,  178 
Intricacy,  255 
Intrinsic,  521 
Introduce,  531 
Introduction,  626 
Introductory,  532 
Intrude,  encroach,  376 

obtrude,  532 

Intruder,  530 
Intrusion,  523 
Intrust,  250 
Intuitive,  525 
Inundate,  312 
Inure,  43 
Invade,  376 
Invasion,  5'i3 
Invective,  532 
Inveigh,  302 
Inveigle,  384 
Invent,  275 
Invention,  337 
Inventive,  520 
Inventory,  211 
Inversion,  277 
Invert,  667 
Invest,  377 
Investigation,  397 
Inveterate,  705 
Invidious,  385 
Invigoi-ate,  533 
Invincible,  526 
Invisible,  533 
Invite,  168 
Inviting,  130 
Invoke,  200 
Involve,  comprise,  256 

imply,  503 

Inward,  521 
Irascible,  534 
Ire,  743 
Irksome,  716 
Irony,  192 
Irrational,  24 
Irrefragable,  512 
Irregular,  101 
Irrelevant,  497 
Irreligious,  502 
Irreproachable,  533 
Irresolute,  533 
Irritable,  534 
Irritate,  400 
Irruption,  523 


Issue,  flow,  438 

to  emerge,  534 

offspring,  591 

proceed,  631 


J. 

Jade,  534 
Jangle,  535 
Jar,  535 
Jargon,  204 
Jaunt,  535 
Jealous,  385 
Jeer,  536 
Jeopardy,  294 
Jest,  536 
Jewel,  452 
Jocose,  416 
Jocular,  416 
Join,  to  coalesce,  244 

to  unite,  536 

Jointure,  351 
Joke,  536 
Jollity,  484 
Journey,  537 
Jovial,  227 
Joviality,  484 
Joyful,  456 
Judge,  to  decide,  302 

arbiter,  537 

Judgment,    discernment 
334 

sense,  537 

Juice,  538 
Jump,  538 
Junction,  732 
Jurisdiction,  136 
Just,  fair,  419 

right,  538,  668 

Justice,  equity,  388 

precision,  538 

rectitude,  654 

Justification,  103 
Juvenile,  745 


K. 

Keen,  54 

Keep,  to  hold,  486 

— —  to  observef  588 

Keeping,  539 

Kill,  539 

Kind,  affectionate,  75 

character,  220 


766 

Kind,  gi-acious,  460 
Kindness,  163 
Kindred,  75 
Kingdom,    empire,    373, 

374 
Kingly,  539 
Kinsman,  339 
Knavish,  540 
Knowledge,  540 


Laborious,  329 

Labour,  743 

Lace,  169 

Lacerate,  183 

Lack,  541 

Laconic,  541 

Lading,  209 

Lag,  542 

Lament,  to  bemoan,  162 

to  grieve,  466 

Lampoon,  192 
Land, 542 
Landscape,  543 
Language,  544 
Languid,  418 
Languish,  357 
Lank,  548 
Large,  big,  169 

broad,  187 

extensive,  41 1 

Largely,  544 
Lass,  294 
Lassitude,  426 
Last,  to  continue,  544 
— —  latest,  546 
Lasting,  359 
Latent,  545 
Latest,  545 
Laudable,  545 
Laughable,  356 
Lavish,  413 
Law,  303 
Lawful,  546 
Lax,  546 
Lay,  617 
Lazy,  494 
Lead,  547 
Leader,  476 
Leading,  230 
League,  88 
Lean,  meagre,  548 

to  bend,  548 

Leap,  538 
Learn,  705 


INDEX. 

Learning,  540 
Leave,  liberty,  548 

to  quit,  549 

Legal,  546 
Legitimate,  546 
Leisure,  495 
I/engthen,  549 
Leniency,  566^ 
Lessen,  7 
Lethargic,  358 
Letter,  character,  220 

epistle,  387 

Letters,  540 
Level,  equal,  387 

jlat,  436 

Levity,  549 
Levy,  715 
Lexicon,  324 
Liable,  39 
Libel,  203 
Libeml,  164 
Liberate,  311 
Liberty,  freedom,  447 

leat)e,  548 

Licence,  548 
Licentious,  344 
Licit,  546 
Lie,  421 
Life,  99 
Lifeless,  296 
Lift,  549 
Lightness,  549 
Like,  387 
Likebv  551 
Likeness,  550 
Likewise,  92 
Liking,  127 
Limb,  551 
Limit,  border,  180 

to  circumscribe,  233 

extent,  412 

Limited,  435 
Lineage,  489 
Lineament,  428 
Linger,  542 
Liquid,  439,  538 
Liquidate,  309 
Liquor,  538 
List,  211 
Listen,  477 
Listless,  551 
Literature,  540 
Little,  551 
Live,  406 
Livelihood,  552 
Lively,  227 
Living,  552 


Load,  191 
Loathe,  10 
Loathing,  579 
Locality,  621 
Location,  621 
Locomotion,  57A 
Lodge,  10 
Loftiness,  328 
Lofty,  484 
Loiter,  542 
Loneliness,  630 
Lonely,  553 
Look,  159 
Loose,  lux,  546 

slack,  691 

Loquacious,  553 
Lot,  319 
Loud,  553 
J-^ve,  127 
Lovely,  155 
Lover,  708 
Low,  149 
Lower,  to  abase,  4 

to  reduce,  554 

Lowly,  554 
Lowness,  6 
Loyalty,  88 
Lucid,  184 
Lucky,  471 
Lucre,  451 
Ludicrous,  356 
Luminous,  184 
Lump,  175 
Lustrous,  184 
Lusty,  701 
Luxuriant,  555 


Machination,  196 
Machine,  555 
Madness,  555 
Magical,  576 
Magician,  556 
Magnanimity,  465 
Magnificence,  620 
Magnitude,  190 
Maid,  294 
Maim,  556 
Main,  230 
Maintain,  to  sustain,  556 

to  assert,  557 

Maintenance,  552 
]\Iajestic,  460 
Majesty,  556 
Make,  28S 


Malady,  338 
Malediction,  290 
Malefactor,  286 
Malevolence,  474 
Malevolent,  557 
Malice,  474 
Malicious,  557 
Malignancy,  474 
Malignant,  557 
Malignity,  474 
Malversation,  305 
Manage,  275 
Management,  223 
Mandate,  376 
Manful,  557 
Mangle,  556 
Mama,  555 
Manifest,  apparent,  104 

to  show,  685 

Manifold,  347 
Manly,  557 
Manner,  air,  83 

custom,  291 

' mode,  572 

Mannish,  557 
Manoeuvre,  728 
Manufacture,  Jabric,  415 

produce,  632 

Manunxission,  371 
Margin,  185 
Marine,  558 
Mariner,  558 
Maritime,  558 
Mark,  butt,  195 

impnssioii,  50b 

to  indicate,  558 

Marquee,  180 
Marriage,  559 
Marsh,  559 
Martial,  559 
Marvel,  559 
Mask,  241 
Mason,  190 
Mass,  block,  175 

volume,  560 

Massacre,  561 
Massive,  191 
Master,  561 
Match,  713 
Mate,  251 
Material,  280 
Materials,  561 
Matrimony,  559 
Matter,  561 
Mature,  562 
Maxim,  641 
May,  562 


INDEX. 

Meagre,  Uan,  548 

scanty,  674: 

Mean,  average,  137 

base,  149 

to  design,  317 

abject,  562 

Meaning,  504 
Meat,  562 
Mechanic,  120 
Mechanician,  120 
Mediate,  529 
Meditate,  563 
Medium,  137 
Medley,  564 
Meed,  252 
Meek,  453 
Meet,  564 
Meeting,  assembly,  124 

intervieiv,  531 

Melancholy,       dejection, 
309 

sad,  671 

Melody,  564 
Member,  551 
Memoir,  37 
Memorable,  564 
Memorial,  565 
Memory,  565 
Menace,  719 
Mend,  507 
Mendicant,  157 
Menial,  350 


Mention,  566 
Mercantile,  250 
Mercenary,  hireling, 

venial,  735 

Merchandize,  458 
Merciful,  460 
JMerciless,  566 
Mercy,  566 
Mere,  148 
Merit,  568 
Merry,  227 
Message,  390 
Messenger,  441 
Metamorphose,  568 
Metaphor,  569 
Metaphorical,  432 
Method,  custom,  291 

system,  712 

jNIien,  83 
Mighty,  569 
Mild,  453 
Military,  559 
Mimic,  570 
Mind,  970 


185 


767 

Mingl;,,  261 
Minislei,  92 
Minor,  519 

Minute,     circumstantial, 
236 

little,  551 

Miracle,  559 
Miraculous,  709 
Mirthful,  227 
Misadventure,  198 
Miscellany,  564 
Mischance,  198 
Mischief,  491 
Misconstrue,  571 
Misdeed,  284 
Misdemeanour,  284 
Miserable,  571 
Miserly,  581 
Misery,  71 
Misfortune,  198 
Misgiving,  327 
Mishap,  198 
JNIisinterpret,  571 
Mislead,  300 
Mist,  476 
Mistake,  390 
Mistrust,  327 
Misuse,  26 
Mitisfate,  106 
Mix,"  26J 
Mixture,  composition,  2fi6 

a  medley,  564 

Moan,  466 

Mob,  288 

Mock,  570 

Mode,  572 

Model,  example,  398 

ideal,  494 

Moderate,  abstinent,  23 

fair,  419 

to  temper,  573 

Modern,  572* 
Modest,  bashful,  151 

lowly,  554 

Modify,  573 

IVIoist,  293 

Molecule,  604 

Molest,  100 

Moment,  importance,  5  ."> 

instant,  573 

Monarch,  573 
Monastery,  276 
Money,  210 
Monograph,  392 
Monster,  559 
Monument,  565 
Mood,  574 


768 


INDEX. 


Moody,  671 
Morality,  674 
Morals,  574 
Morass,  559 
Morbid,  574 
Moreover,  674 
Morose,  574 
Mortal,  297 
Mortification,  736 
ftlortity,  589 
Motion,  575 
Motive,  575 
Mottle,  697 
Mould,  character,  220 

' form,  443 

earth,  542 

Mount,  120 
Mountebank,  224 
Mourn,  466 
Mournful,  671 
Move,  to  affect,  73 

to  stir,  576 

to  remove,  659 

Movement,  575 
Moving,  606 
Mulct,  433 
Multifarious,  347 
Multiplication,  512 
Multitude,  288 
Municipal,  2S6 
Munificent,  164 
Muniment,  319 
Murder,  539 
Murmur,  to  comjilaiii,  254 

to  mutter,  576 

Muse,  563 
Muster,  248 
Mutable,  511 
Mute,  358 
Mutilate,  5*56 
Mutiny,  527 
Mutter,  576 
Mutual,  576 
Mysterious,  576 
Mystical,  576 


N. 

Naked,  577 

Name,  577 

Narrate,  578 

Narration,  37 

Narrative,  37 

N  arrow,  contracted,  578 

straight,  702 

Natal,  578 


Nation,  608 
Native,  578 
Natural,  578 
Nature,  220 
Naughty,  140 
Nausea,  579 
Nautical,  558 
Naval,  558 
Nice,  delicate,  309 

exact,  395 

Niggardly,  581 
Nigh,  579 
Nightly,  582 
Nimbleness,  86 
Near,  579 
Nearest,  579 
Nearly,  92 
Necessary,  579 
Necessitate,  503 
Necessitous,  needy,  580 

poor,  620 

Necessity,  541 
Necromancer,  556 
Need,  541 
Needful,  579 
Needy,  necessitous,  580 

poor,  620 

Nefarious,  580 
Neglect,  disregard,  580 
to  omit,  593 

Negligent,  509 
Negotiate,  726 

Neighbourhood,  580 

Neophyte,  278 

Neutrality,  514 

Nevertheless,  489 

New,  fresh,  448 

modern,  572 

News,  581 

Next,  579 

Nobility,  114 

Noble,  460 

Nocturnal,  582 

Noiseless,  358 

Noisy,  553 

Nominal,  119 

Nominate,  582 

Note,  582 

Noted,  584 

Notes,  583 

Notice,  566 

Notify,  584 

Notion,  idea,  493 

opinion,  595 

Notorious,  584 

Notwithstanding,  489 

Nourisl),  229 


Hi  Orel,  fable,  41-1 

new,  572 

Novice,  730 
Noxious,  584 
Nugatory,  497 
Number,  586 
Numeral,  585 
Numerical,  685 
Nunnery,  276 
Nuptials,  559 
Nurture,  229 


O. 

Oath,  686 
Obdurate,  585 
Obedience,  586 
Obedient,  686 
Object,  aim,  83 

to  demur,  313 

motive,  676 

subject,  706 

Objurgate,  171 
Obligation,  360 
Oblige,  170 
Obliged,  513 
Obliging,  236 
Obliterate,  367 
Oblivion,  442 
Ohliviousness,  4i't 
Obloquy,  587 
Obnoxious,  39 
Obscure,  dark,  296 

indistinct,  516 

Obsequies,  587 
Obsequious,  686 
Observance,       ceremonii, 

216 
observation,  587 

Observation,  a  note,  682 

observance,  587 

Observations,  583 

Observe,  to  behold,  159 

to  keep,  588 

to  watch,  740 

Observer,  697 

Obsolete,  691 

Obstacle,  difficulty,  326 

impediment,  688 

Obstinate,  obdurate,  68."^ 
stubborn,  705 

Obstre])erous,  553 

Obstruct,  242 

Obstruction,  3^ 

Obtain,  46 

Obtrude,  632 


Obverse,  277 
Obviate,  629 
Obrious,  104 
Occasion,  to  cajisBy  283 

occurrence,  588 

opportunity,  589 

Occasional,  210 
Occult,  545 
Occupancy,  589 
Occupation,  employment, 
375 

occupancy,  589 

Occur,  470 

Occu  rre  nee  ,circum  stance, 

occasion,  588 

Odd,  363 
Odious,  474 
Odour,  444 
Offence,  284 
Offend,  589 
Offender,  590 
Offer,  to  give,  590 

to  propose,  640 

to  tender,  718 

Office,  591 
Officious,  195 
Offspring,  591 
Often,  447 
Old,  591 
Older,  370 
Omen,  592 
Omit,  593 
On,  598 
Only,  593 
Onset,  593 
Onwards,  444 
Opaque,  295 
Open,  478 
Opening,  594 
Operate,  594 
Opinion,  595 
Opinionated,  370 
Opponent,  379 
Oppose,  595 
Opposite,  70 
Opportune,  721 
Opportunity,  589 
Opprobrium,  495 
Oppugn,  263 
Option,  231 
Opulence,  740 
Oral,  596 
1  Oration,  56 
I  Oratory,  371 
Orb,  143 
Orbit,  596 


INDEX. 

Order,  character,  220 

class,  240 

com.mand,  249 

direction,  331 

to  dispose,  597 

rule,  597' 

Ordinance,  376 
Ordinarily,  447 
Ordinary,  251 
Orifice,  214 
Origin,  157 
Original,  beginning,  157 

primary,  597 

Ornament,  66 
Oscillation,  736 
Ostensible,  598 
Ostentation,  598 
Outcry,  238 
Outdo,  401 
Outline,  691 
Outlive,  600 
Outrage,  526 
Outward,  412 
Outweigh,  600 
Over,  cd)ove,  15,  598 
Overbear,  599 
Overcome,  264 
Overflow,  312 
Overpower,  599 
Overrule,  709 
Overrun,  599 
Oversight,  599 
Overspread,  599 
Overture,  639 
Overwhelm,  599 
Own,  44 
Owner,  561 


P. 

Pace,  600 

Pacific,  607 

Pacify,  106 

Pack,  182 

Pagan,  479 

Pageant,  684 

Pam,  601 

Paint,  248 

Painting,  601 

Pair,  182 

Pale,  601 

Palliate,  412 

Pallid,  601 

Palpable,  apparent^  10 i 

tangible,  602 

Palpitate,  602 


769 

Panegyric,  602 
Pang,  601 
Panic,  85 
Pant,  602 
Parable,  414 
Parade,  598 
Paradise,  479 
Paradoxical,  24 
Paragraph,  612 
Paraphernalia,  104 
Parasite,  437 
Pardon,  excuse,  404 

absolution,  20,  658 

Pardonable,  735 
Pare,  603 
Parody,  192 
Parsimonious,  364 
Part,  division,  603 

piece,  614 

to  separate,  680 

Partake,  603 
Participate,  603 
Particle,  604 
Particular,  236 

exact,  395 

individual,  516 

special,  696 

Particularly,  230 
Partizan,  60 
Partner,  251 
Partnership,  88 
Party,  604 
Pass,  308 
Passage,  604 
Passion,  428 
Passionate,  605 
Passive,  605 
Pastime,  96 
Pathetic,  affecting,  606 

touclting,  724 

Patience,  378 
Patient,  605 
Pattern,  398 
Pauperism,  623 
Pause,  606 
Pay,  v.,  309 
Pay,  n.,  606 
Payment,  606 
Peaceable,  607 
Peaceful,  calm,.  201 

peaceable,  607 

Peasant,  607 
Peculation,  305 
Peculiar,  696 
I  Peel,  to  pare,  603 

rind,  608 

Peer,  182 

3d 


70 


INDEX. 


Peevish,  448 
Pellucid,  7'27 
Penalty,  433 
Penetrate,  608 
Penetration,  334 
Penitence,  660 
Penman,  744 
Penurious,  savingj  364 

poor,  620 

People,  nation^  60S 

persons,  611 

Perceive,    to    apprehend, 

110 

to  behold,  159 

Perceptible,     apparent, 

104 

palpable,  602 

Perception, /gc/m^,  428 

conception,  493 

Percolate,  608 
Perdition,  609 
Peremptory,  609 
Perfect,  entire,  384 

finished,  434 

Perfidious,  420 
Perforation,  214 
Perform,  34 
Performance,  609 
Performer,  50 
Perfume,  444 
Peril,  294 
Perilous,  295 
Period,  date,  295 

sentence,  612 

Perish,  300 
Permanence,  268 
Permanent,  359 
Permeate,  608 
Permissible,  63 
Permission,  548 
Permit,  to  allow,  90 

to  tolerate,  722 

Pernicious,     destructive, 

320 

noxious,  584 

Perpetrate,  251 
Perpetual,  273 
Perplex,  609 
Persecute,  100 
Persevere,  610 
Persist,  to  insist,  525 

to  persevere,  610 

Persistent,  359 
Person,  610 
Persons,  611 
Perspicuity,  611 
Persuade,  to  convincef^9 


Persuade,  to  exhoriif'405 
Pertinacious,  585 
Pertinacity,  717 
Perturbation,  262 
Peruse,  611 
Pervade,  608 
Perverse,  612 
Pervert,  278 
Pest,  144 
Pestiferous,  612 
Pestilent,  612 
Pestilential,  612 
Petition,  612 
Petty,  497 
Petulant,  448 
Phantasm,  454 
Phantom,  454 
Phenomenon,  559 
Philosophy,  540 
Phrase,  612 
Phraseology,  613 
Picture,  601 
Piece,  614 
Pierce,  608 
Pile,  477 
Pillage,  614 
Pillar,  614 
Pinch,  615 
Pine,  357 
Pinion,  615 
Pious,  322 
Pique,  467 
Piteous,  doleful,  349 

pitiful,"  615 

Pitiable,  615 
Pitiful,  615 
Pittance,  349 
Pity,  566 
Place,  to  lay,  547 

position,  621 

site,  689 

Placid,  201 

Plain,  appo)  en t,  101 

simple,  688 

Plan,  616 
Plank, 176 
Plausible,  598 
Play,  drama,  351 

game,  451 

Player,  50 
Plea,  103 
Pleader,  617 
Pleasant,  agreeable,  81 

facetious,  416 

Please,  462 
Pleased,  456 
Pleasing,  81 


Pleasure,  617 
Pledge,  earnest,  361 

deposit,  617 

Plenipotentiary,  92 
Plenitude,  450 
Plenteous,  279 
Plentiful,  279 
Pliable,  618 
Pliant,  618 
Plight,  619 
Plot,  196 
Pluck,  351 
Plunder,  614 
Plunge,  346 
Poise,  143 
Poison,  619 
Polish,  195 
Polished,  619 
Polite,  civil,  236 

polished,  619 

Politic,  620 
Pollute,  272 
Poltroon,  282 
Pomp,  620 
Ponder,  563 
Ponderous,  191 
Poor,  620 
Populace,  288 
Port,  475 
Portend,  131 
Portion,  603 
Portrait,  368 
Pose,  609 
Position,  place,  621 

situation,  690 

Positive,  actual,  50 

defnite,  308 

Possess,  622 
Possession,  458 
Possessor,  561 
Possible,  427 
Posterior,  622 
Postpone,  306 
Posture,  129 
Potent,  569 
Potentate,  573 
Potential,  737 
Potion,  356 
Pound,  188 
Pour,  623 
Poverty,  623 
Power,  authority,  136 

energy,  379 

faculty,  417 

Powerful,  569 
Practicable,  427 
Practice,  291 


Practise,  4^5 

Pragmatical,  195 

Praise,  applause,  108 

■ to  applaud,  623 

Praiseworthy,  545 

Prank, 451 

Prate,  140 

Prattle,  140 

Pray,  624 

Prayer,  612 

Precarious,  624 

Precedence,  624' 

Precedent,  398 

Preceding,  625 

Precept,  249 

Precinct,  180 

Precious,  625 

Precipitancy,  473 

Precise,  exact,  395 

concise,  625 

Precision,  538 

Preclude,  to  debar,  298 

to  prevent,  629 

Precursor,  441 

Predecessors,  440 

Predicament,  619 

Predict,  442 

Predominant,  626 

Predominate,  600 

Pre-eminence,precede/ice, 
624 

Pre-eminence,  superio- 
rity, 626 

Preface,  626 

Prefer,  233 

Preferable,  371 

Preference,  choice,  231 

precedence,  624 

Preferment,  636 

Prejudice,  hurt,  491 

prepossessiori,  627 

Prejudicial,  584 

Prelate,  171 

Preliminary,  532 

Prelude,  626 

Premeditation,  441 

Preparatory,  532 

Preponderate,  600 

Prepossession,  627 

Preposterous,  24 

Prerogative,  237 

Presage,  to  augur ,  131 

omen,  592 

Prescribe,  323 

Prescription,  291 

Present,  actual,  50 


INDEX. 

Present,  to  introduce,  531 

fo  offer,  590 

Preserve,  486 
Press,  615 
Pressing,  505 
Presume,  627 
Presumption,  115 
Pretence,  628 
Pretend,  to  affect,  74i 

to  feign,  429 

Pretension,  claim,  237 

pretence,  628 

Preternatural,  709 
Pretext,  628 
Pretty,  155 
Prevailing,  626 
Prevalent,  626 
Prevaricate,  389 
Prevent,  to  clog,  242 
— — •  to  anticipate,  629 
Previous,  625 
Prey,  614 
Price,  280 
Pride,  arrogance,  115 

disdain,  629 

Primarily,  230 
Primary,  597 
Primitive,  597 
Primordial,  597 
Prince,  573 
Principal,  230 
Principally,  230 
Principle,  doctrine,  348 

element,  630 

maxim,  641 

Print,  506 
Prior,  625 
Priority,  624 
Priory,  276 
Pristine,  597 
Privacy,  630 
Privilege,  237 
Prize,  to  appraise,  109 

capture,  208 

Probability,  218 
Probable,  551 
Probity,  487 
Proceed,  to  flow,  438,  631 

to  advance,  631 

Proceeding,      procedure, 
632 

transaction,  726 

Procedure,  632 
Process,  632 
Procession,  process^  632 

train,  725 

Proclaim,  99 


774 

Proclamation,  303 
Procrastinate,  306 
Procrastinating,  329 
Procreate,  184 
Procure,  46 
Prodigal,  413 
Prodigious,  490 
Prodigy,  559 
Produce,  afford,  78 

to  create,  283 

product,  632 

Product,  632 
Production,  performance, 

609 

produce,  632 

work,  632 

Productive,  431 
Profanation,  633 
Profane,  502 
Profess,  633 
Profession,  633 
Proffer,  590 
Proficiency,  634 
Profit,  68 
Profligate,  3 
Profundity,  315 
Profuse,  413 
Profuseness,  634 
Profusion,  634 
Progenitors,  440 
Progeny,  591 
Prognostic,  592 
Prognosticate,  131 
Programme,  16 
Progress,  634 
Prohibit,  298 
Prohibition,  634 
Project,  616 
Prolific,  431 
Prolix,  328 
Prolong,  to  defer,  306 

to  lengthen,  549 

Prominent,  373 
Promiscuous,  634 
Promise,  635 
Promote,  635 
Promotion,  636 
Prompt,  apt,  112 

diligent,  329 

Promulgate,  636 
Proneness,  166 
Pronounce,  to  utter j  312, 

636 

to  declare,  637 

Proof,  experiment,  408 

testimony,  637 

Propagate,  to  breed^  184 


772 


INDEX. 


Propagate,  h?  spread,  638 
Propel,  644 
Propensity,  166 
Proper,  156 
Property,  goods,  468 
— —  quality,  638 
Prophesy,  442 
Prophet,  348 
Propinquity,  580 
Propitiate,  258 
Propitious,  133 
Proportion,  rate,  639 

symmetry,  711 

Proportionate,  58 
Proposal,  639 
Propose,  640 
Proposition,  phrase,  612 

proposal,  639 

Proprietor,  561 
Propriety,  302 
Prorogue,  640 
Prosecute,  643 
Proselyte,  278 
Prospect,  543 
Prosper,  438 
Prosperity,  640 
Prosperous,  640 
Protect,  306 
Protest,  125 
Protract,  306 
Proverh,  641 
Provide,  709 
Providence,  642 
Province,  346 
Provincialism,  642 
Provisions,  424 
Provoke,  400 
Proximity,  580 
Proxy,  643 
Prudence,  providence,  642 

wisdom,  741 

Prudent,  cautious,  213 

politic,  620 

prudential,  643 

Prudential,  643 

Prying,  523 

Publish,  to  advertise,  71 

to  announce,  99 

to  promulgate,  636 

Puerile,  childish,  231 

young,  745 

Pull,' 351 
Punctual,  395 
Punish,  225 
Punishment,  643 
Purchase,  196 
Pure,  240 


Purge,  643 

Purify,  to  chasten,  225 

to  purge,  643 

Purity,  521 
Purlieu,  180 
Purport,  504 
Purpose,  design,  317 

motive,  575 

to  propose,  640 

Purposely,  72 
Pursue,  to  cJiase,  224 

to  prosecute,  643 

Push,  644 
Pusillanimous,  721 
Put,  547 
Putrefy,  644 
Puzzle,  609 

Q. 

Quack,  224 
Quagmire,  559 
Quaint,  24 
Quake,  682 
Qualified,  644 
Qualify,  573 
Quality,  638 
Quantity,  560 
Quarrel,  645 
Quarter,  346 
Querulous,  448 
Query,  646 
Question,  to  inquire,  522 

a  query,  646 

Quicken,  28 
Quickness,  646 
Quiet,  calm,  201 

ease,  362 

Quit,  549 

Quiver,  682 

Quote,  cite,  169     647 

R. 

Race,  489 
Rancour,  474 
Rage,  743 
Rap,  647 
Raiment,  355 
Raise,  549 
Rally,  147 
Ramble,  ja«nt,  535 

to  roam,  648 

Range,  to  adjust,  61 

to  arrange,  648 

to  roam,  648 

Rank,  240 


I  Rans.rai,  648 
Rant,  669 
Ripacious,  6^9 
Rapidity,  646 
Rapine,  614 
Rapture,  365 
Rare,  649 
Rashness,  473 
Rate,  to  calculate,  199 

proportion,  639 

taxy  715 

Ratify,  673 
Ratio,  639 
Rational,  649 
Ravage,  649 
Ravenous,  649 
Ray,  153 
Reach,  650 
Read,  611 
Ready,  112 
Real,  50 
Realize,  449 
Realm,  650 
Reason,  intellect,  528 

motive,  575 

cause,  651 

Reasonable,  yan",  419 

rational,  649 

Rebellion,  527 
Rebound,  651 
Rebuff,  656 
Rebuke,  171 
Recall,  13 
Recant,  13  . 
Recapitulate,  660 
Recede,  651 
Receipt,  652 
Receive,  to  take,  30 

to  admit,  63 

Recent,  572 
Reception,  652 
Reciprocal,  576 
Recite,  660 
Reckon,  199 
Reclaim,  652 
Recline,  652 
Recognize,  44,  653 
Recoil,  651 
Recollection,  565 
Recompense,  252 
Reconcile,  258 
Recondite,  24 
Record,  37 
Records,  113 
Recount,  to  narrate,  578 

to  relite,  653 

Recover,  653 


INDEX. 


773 


Recreation,  96 
Rectify,  93 
Rectitude,  654 
Recusant,  659 
Redeem,  648 
Redound,  42 
Redress,  654 
Reduce,  554 
Reduction,  97 
Redundancy,  402 
Reel,  654 
Re-establish,  654 
Refer,  91 
Reference,  655 
Refined,  619 
Refinement,  289 
Reflect,  563 
Reflexion,  428 
Reflexions,  considerations, 
267 

7wtes,  583 

Reform,  to  amend,  93 

correction,  280 

to  reclaim,  652 

Refractory,  655 
Refrain,  22 
Refresh,  656 
Refuge,  12? 
Refuse,  dregs,  353 

to  decline,  656 

Refute,  263 
Regain,  653 
Regal,  539 
Regard,  to  behold,  159 

consideration,  267 

deference,  307 

to  meditate,  563 

Regimen,  324 
Region,  346 
Register,  211 
Regret,  to  complain,  254 

repentance,  660 

Regularity,  268 
Regulate,  to  direct,  330 

" to  govern,  459 

Regulation,  303 
Rehabilitate,  654 
Rehearse,  660 
Reign,  374 
Reiterate,  657 
Reject,  656 
Rejoice,  414 
Rejoinder,  101 
Relate,  653 
Relation,  account,  37 

reference,  655 

Relationship,  75 


Relative,  539 
Relatively,  252 
Release,  311 
Relentless,  502 
Relevant,  109 
Reliance,  314 
Relief,  654 
Relieve,  to  appease,  106 

to  help,  481 

Religious,  322 
Relinquish,  1 
Relish,  714 
Reluctant,  657 
Remain,  to  continue,  544 

to  stay,  700 

Remainder,  657 
Remark,  582 
Remarkable,  413 
Remarks,  583 
Remedy,  290 
Remembrance,  565 
Reminder,  565 
Reminiscence,  ^65 
Remiss,  509 
Remission,  20,  658 
Remnant,  657 
Remonstrate,  to  complain, 

255 

to  represent,  662 

Remorse,  660 
Remote,  344 
Remove,  659 
Remuneration,  252 
Rend,  183 
Render,  455 
Renegade,  659 
Renew,  656 
Renounce,  13 
Renovate,  6h6 
Renown,  422 
Renowned,  659 
Repair,    to     re-establish, 

654 

reparation,  695 

to  resort,  665 

Reparation,  n.,  659 

v.,  659 

Repartee,  660 

Repeal,  14 

Repeat,  to  reiterate,  657 

to  rehearse,  660 

Repel,  656 
Repentance,  660 
Repertory,  661 
Repetition,  661,  715 
Repine,  254 
Replace,  654 


Reply,  101 
Report,  423 
Repose,  ease,  362 

to  recline,  652 

Repository,  661 
Reprehension,  661 
Represent,  662 
Representation,  684 
Representative,  662 
Repress,  662 
Reprieve,  663 
Reprimand,  171 
Reprisal,  663 
Reproach,  to  blame,  171 

scandal,  674 

taunt,  715 

Reprobate,  3 
Reproof,  661 
Reprove,  171 
Repudiate,  to  abjure,  13 

to  disavow,  333 

Repugnance,  474 
Repugnant,  70 
Repulse,  656 
Reputation,       character^ 

220 

fame,  J 22 

Repute,  422 
Request,  to  ask,  123 

petition,  612 

Require,  663 
Requisite,  579 
Requisition,  237 
Requital,      compensation, 

252 

retribution,  666 

Rescue,  311 
Research,  397 
Resemblance,    ana  log u, 

97 

likeness,  550 

Resentment,  515 
Reserve,  664 
Reserved,  151 
Reside,  10 
Residue,  657 
Resign,  to  forego,  440 

to  abdicate,  664 

Resignation,  378 
Resist,  595 
Resolution,  analpsis,  97 

determination,  664 

Resolve,  to  decide,  302 

to  solve,  695 

Resort,  665 
Resource,  407 
Respect,  307 


774 


INDEX. 


Respite,  663 
Response,  101 
Responsible,  39 
Rest,  ease,  362 

to  recline,  652 

remainder,  657 

Restitution,  659 
Restoration,  659 
Restore,    to    re-establish, 

654 

to  return,  666 

Restrain,  to  circumscrioe, 

233 

to    repress,    662, 

665 

to  restrict,  665 

Restrict,  2.33,  665 
Result,  666 
Retain,  to  hold,  486 

reserve,  664 

Retaliation,  663 
Retard,  242 
Retinue,  725 
Retire,  651 
Retirement,  630 
Retort,  66^ 
Retract,  13 
Retreat,  asylum,  127 

to  recede,  651 

Retribution,  666 
Retrieve,  653 
Return,  to  restore,  666 

to  revert,  667 

Reveal,  to  disclose,  3'3ti 

to  promulgate,  636 

Revenge,  131 
Reverberate,  651 
Revere,  65 
Reverence,  to  adore,  65 

deference,  307 

Reverie,  667 
Reverse,  converse,  277 

to  invert,  667 

Revert,  667 
Reviling,  203 
Revive,  656 

Revolt,  527 
Revolution,  527 
Revolve,  563 
Revoke,  to  abjure,  13 

to  abolish,  14 

Reward,  252 
Rhetoric,  371 
Riches,  740 
Ridicule,  667 
Ridiculous,  356 
Right,  claim,  237 


Right,  direct,  331 

Juir,  419 

just,  538 

justice,  668 

Righteous,  668 
Rigid,  668 
Rigorous,  668 
Rigour,  austerity,  133 

severity,  682 

Rim,  185 
Rind,  608 
Riot,  527 
Ripe,  562 
Rise,  to  ascend,  120 

beginning,  157 

Risk,  294 
Rite,  216 
Rivalry,  254 
Road,  668 
Roam,  648 
Robbery,  669 
Robust,  strong,  669 

vigorous,  737 

Rodomontade,  669 
Roll,  211 
Komance,  414 
Romantic,  680 
Room,  apartment,  102 

space,  670 

Rot,  644 
Rotundity,  670 
Rough,  abrupt,  17 

coarse,  245 

harsh,  472 

Round,  670 
Roundness,  670 
Rouse,  403 
Route,  668 
Rove,  646 
Royal,  539 
Rub,  217 
Rude,  245 
Rudiment,  630 
Rueful,  319 
Rugged,  17 
Ruin,  144 
Ruinous,  320 
Rule,  decree,  303 

to  govern,  459 

to  gxiide,  469 

order,  597 

Ruling,  626 
Rumour,  423 
Rupture,  444 
Rural,  670 
Rustic,  jmisant,  607 
rural,  670 


S. 

Sacred,  671 
Sacrifice,  500 
Sacrilege,  633 
Sad,  671 
Safe,  672 
Sagacious,  54 
Sailor,  558 
Sake,  673 
Salary,  606 
Salubrious,  476 
Salutary,  476 
Salutation,  673 
Salute,  accost,  36 

salutation,  673 

Sameness,  494 
Sample,  398 
Sanction,  673 
Sane,  696 
Sanguinary,  175 
Sarcasm,  192 
Satiate,  462 
Satire,  192 
Satirical,  213 
Satisfaction,       compensu' 
tion,  252 

contententment,  273 

Satisfy,  462 
Saturate,  354 
Saunter,  542 
Savage,  barbarous,  147 

ferocious,  430 

Save,  674 
Saving,  364 
Savour,  714 
Saw,  641. 
Saying,  641 
Scale,  120 
Scan,  159 
Scandal,  674 
Scandalous,  674 
Scanty,  674 
Scarce,  649 
Scarcely,  472 
Scarcity,  675 
Scare,  449 
Scatter,  675 
Scene,  684 
Scent,  444 
Scheme,  616 
Schism,  482 
Scholar,  60 
School,  26 
Science,  genius,  4o3_ 

knou'ledge,  540 

Scoff,  536 


INDEX. 


775 


Scold,  171 
Scope,  aim,  83 

import  J  .504 

Scorching,  194 
Scorn,  676 
Scornful,  337 
Scream,  677 
Screen,  482 
Scribe,  744 
Scruple,  313 
Scrupulous,  265 
Scrutiny,  397 
Scura,  .353 
Scurrilous,  677 
Seaman,  558, 
Search,  examinatioUy  397 

to  seeky  678 

Season,  720 
Seasonable,  721 
Secede,  651 
Seclusion,  630 
Second,  519 
Secondary,  519 
Secrecy,  677 
Secret,  latent,  545 

clandestine,  677 

Secrete,  482 
Secular,  743 
Secure,  to  ensure,  381 

safe,  672 

Security,  617 
Sedate,  677 
Sediment,  353 
Sedition,  527 
Seditious,  417 
Seduce,  to  entice,  383 

to  suborn,  678 

Sedulous,  329 
See,  159- 
Seek,  678 
Seem,  678 
Seemly,  156 
Seize,  212 
Seizure,  208 
Selection,  231 
Self-conceit,    arrogance, 
115 

self-will,  678 

Selfish,  370 
Self-sufficiency,  678 
Self-will,  678' 
Semblance,  686 
Seminary,  26 
Senior,  370 
Sensation,  428 
S>eii»e,  feeling,  428 
— — *  import,  604 


I  S>ense,  judgment,  537 

'SenHihihty,  Jeeling,  128 

*£ndeniess,  679 

Sensible,  conscious,  138 

' sensitive,  679 

'  Sensitive,  679 
j  Sensualist,  386 

Sentence,  612 
I  Sententious,  258 

Sentient,  679 

Sentiment,  595 

Sentimental,  680 

Separate,  680 

SepulcJire,  722 

Sepulture,  192 

Sequence,  681 

Serene,  201 

Series,  681 

Serious,  464 

Servant,  350 

Service,  733 

Servitude,  207 

Set,  547  . 

Settle,  39.) 

Settled,  201 

Sever,  680 

Several,  347. 

Severe,  681 

Severity,  austerity,  133 

rigour,  682 

Sex,  452 

Shackle,  242 

Shade,  682 

Shadow,  682 

Shake,  to  tremble,  682 

to  agitate,  682 

Shallow,  683 

Shame,  495 

Shamelessness,  179 

Shape,  character,  220 

form,  443 

Share,  pa rf,  603 

to  partake,  603 

Sharp,  acute,  54 

shrill,  686 

Shed,  623 

Shelter,  refuge,  127 

to  hide,  482 

Shield,  to  hide,  482 

buckler,  683 

Shift,  407 

Shine,  153 

Shock,  683 

Shocking,  483 

Shoot,  189 

Shore,  246 

Short,  683 


1  Shouting,  238 

j  Shove,  644 

I  Show,  ostentation,  598 

r exhibition,  684 

' to  exhibit,  685 

semblance,  686 

Showy,  452 

Shreds,  647 

Shrewd,  54 

Shriek,  677 

Shrill,  686 

Shrink,  687 

Shrub,  195 

Shudder,  682 

Shun,  391 

Shut,  687 

Shy,  151 

Sickness,  338 

Sight,  684 

Sign,  372 

Signal,  emblem,  372 

memorable,  564 

Signalize,  687 

Significant,  687 

Signification,  504 

Signify,  to  express,  410 

to  implu,  503 

• to  notify,  584 

——  to  denote,  688 

Silence,  712 

Silent,  dumb,  358 

tacit,  712 

Silly,  688 

Similarity,  5.50 

Simile,  569 

Similitude,    likeness, 
550 

metaphor,  569 

Simple,  plain,  688 

silly,  688 

single,  688 

Simulate,    to    feign, 
429 

to  mimic,  570 

Sin,  284 

Since,  266 

Sincere,  478 

Sincerity,  487 

Single,  ijidividual,  516 

only,  593 

simple,  688 

Singular,  eccentric,  363 

extraordinary,  689 

Sink,  357 

Sinuous,  689 

Site,  place,  689 

■        situation,  690 


776 

INDEX. 

Situation,     circumstance, 

Solid,  694 

Splendour,  6S0 

235 

Solitary,  desolate,  318 

Split,  183 

posiiioii,  621, 690 

individual,  516 

Spoil,  614 

site,  690 

lonely,  553 

Spontaneous,  698 

state,  690,  699 

sole,'^69S 

Sporadic,  386 

Size,  190 

Solitude,  630 

Sport,  amusement,  96 

Sketch,  691 

Solve,  695 

to  jest,  536 

Skill,  11 

Sonorous,  553 

Sportive,  227 

Skin.  691 

Soon,  361 

Spot,  site,  689 

Slack,  691 

Soothe,  106 

speck,  696 

Slander,  ^03 

Sophistical,  421 

Spouse,  492 

Slang,  204 

Sophisticated,  281 

Sprain,  702 

Slant,  692 

Sorcerer,  556 

Spread,  to  propagate,  638 

Slaughter,  to  kill,  539 

Sordid,  581 

to  scatter,  675 

massacre,  561 

SoiTOw,  77 

Sprightly,  227 

Slavery,  207 

Sorry,  695 

Spring,  to  flow,  438,  631 
fountain,  698 

Slay,  539 

Sort,  220 

Sleep,  692 

Soul,  570 

Sprinkle,  675 

Sleepy,  358. 

Sound,  healthy,  696 

Sprout,  189 

Slender,  692 

tone,  722 

Spruce,  439 

Slide,  457 

Sour,  44 

Spurious,  281 

Slight,  neglect,  580 

Source,  beginning,  157 

Spurn,  676 

slender,  692 

spring,  698 

Spy,  699 

Slim,  692 

Sovereign,  monarch,  573 

Squander,  739 

Slip,  457 

suprem,e,  695 

Squeamish,  426 

Slope,  692 

Space,  670 

Squeeze,  to  crush,  188 

Slothful,  507 

Spacious,  95 

to  pinch,  615 

Slow,  692 

Spare,  674 

Stability,  268 

Sluggish,  507 

Sparing,  364 

Stagger,  654 

Slumber,  692 

Sparkle,  153 

Stain,  248 

Sly,  117 

Speak,  696 

Stammer,  699 

Small,  551 

Special,  696 

Stamp,  character,  220 

Smear,  296 

Specie,  210 

r  impression,  506 

Smell,  444 

Species,  220 

Standard,  699 

Smooth,  693 

Specific,  696 

Stare,  452 

Smother,  232 

Specious,  598 

Startle,  449 

Snatch,  212 

Speck,  697 

State,  realm,  650 

Sneer,  536 

Spectacle,  684 

sitiuttim,  690 

So,  266 

Spectator,  697 

condition,  699 

Soak,  354 

Spectre,  454 

Stately,  460 

Sober,  23 

Speculation,  697 

Station,  621 

Sociable,  693 

Speech,  address,  56 

Statue,  700 

Social,  693 

language,  544 

Statute,  303 

Society,     associalion, 

Speechless,  358 

Stay,  to  abide,  10 

126 

Speed,  to  accelerate,  28 

to  remiiin,  700 

YeUowship,  4:30 

haste,  472 

Steadfastness,  268 

Soa,"453 

quickness,  646 

Steadiness,  268 

Soil,  lund,  542 

Spend,  698 

Steep,  354 

to  sully,  708 

Sphere,  143 

Steeple,  700 

Sojourn,  10 

Spill,  623 

Step,  600 

Solace,  226 

Spire,  700 

Sternness,  lo3 

Soldier-like,  559 

Spirit,  animation,  99 

Stick,  241 

Sole,  693 

soul,  570 

Stifle,  232 

Solecism,  642 

Spiritual,  498 

Still,  calm,  201 

Solemn,  464 

Spite,  467 

however,  489 

Solicit,  123 

Splendid,  bright,  184 

Stimulate,  403 

Solicitude,  694 

— —  grand,  460 

Stipend,  606 

INDEX. 


777 


Stir,  576 

Stock, /a»n?7i/,  489 

store,  701 

Store,  701 
Storm,  701 
Story,  37 
Stout,  701 
Straight,  331 
Strain,  702 
Strait,  702 
Strange,  363 
Stranger,  441 
Strangle,  232 
Stratagem,  728 
Stray,  739 
Stream,  brook,  188 

to  gush,  469 

current,  703 

Strength,  379 
Strengthen,  533 
Strenuous,  703 
Stress,  accent,  30 

strain,  702 

Stretch,  660 
Strew,  675 
Strictness,  133 
Stricture,  287 
Strife,  703 
Strike,  154 
Strip,  168 
Strive,  704 
Stroll,  648 
Strong,  mighty,  569 

robust,  669 

vigorous,  737 

Stubborn,  705 
Structure,  365 
Struggle,  704 
Study,  application,  108 

to  learn,  705 

Stupid,  706 

Sturdy,  669 

Stutter,  699 

Styles  613 

Suarity,  733 

Subdue,  26* 

Subject,  accountable,  39 

materials,  561 

object,  706 

subordinate,  706 

Subjugate,  264 
Sublime,  460 
Submerge,  312 
Submission,  586 
Submissive,  obedient,  586 

passive,  605 

Submit,  745 


Subordinate,  706 
Suborn,  to  seduce,  678 

to  bribe,  707 

Subsequent,  622 
Subservient,  706 
Subside,  707 
Subsidiary,  137 
Subsist,  406 
Subsistence,  552 
Substance,  392 
Substantial,  694 
Substantiate,  449 
Substitute,  643 
Subterfuge,  728 
Subtle,  117 
Subtraction,  304 
Subvert,  667 
Succeed,  439 
Success,  736 
Succession,  681 
Succinct,  concise,  258 

precise,  625 

short,  683 

Succour,  help,  481 

to  help,  481 

Suffer,  to  allow,  90 

to  bear,  707 

to  tolerate,  722 

Suffering,  601 
Sufficient,  58 
Suffocate,  232 
Sufii-age,  738 
Suggest,  to  dictate,  323 

to  insinuate,  524 

Suggestion,  484 
Suit,  to  Jit,  435 

petition,  612 

Suitable,  111 
Suitor,  708 
Sullen,  574 
Sully,  708 
Sum,  723 

Summary,   abridgment, 
16 

cursor i^,  291 

short,  683 

Summit,  708 
Summon,  168 
Sumptuous,  459 
Sunder,  680 
Sundry,  347 
Superb,  460 
Supercilious,  337 
Superficial,  683 
Superficies,  710 
Superfluity,  402 
Superhuman,  709 


Superintendence,  599 

Superiority,       excellence, 
401 

pre-eminence,  626 

Supernatural,  709 

Supersede,  709 

Supervene,  42 

Supervision,  599 

Supine,  551 

Supple,  618 

Supplicate,    to    ask, 
123 

to  pray,  624 

Supply,  709 

Support,  help,  481 

livelihood,  552 

to  maintain,  557 

sanction,  673 

to  sustain,  710 

Supposition,  468 

Supposititious,  281 

Suppress,  662 

Supreme,  695 

Sure,  52 

Surface,  710 

Surge,  740 

Surmise,  468 

Surmount,  264 

Surpass,  401 

Surprise,  710 
j  Surrender,  312 
j  Surround,  233 
i  Survey,  737 

Survive,  600 
j  Susceptibility,  428 

Suspense,  731 

Suspicion,  327 

Suspicious,  385 

Sustain,    to    maintain, 
556 

to  support,  710 

Sustenance,  552 

Swain,  607 

Swamp,  559 

Swarm,  288 

Sway,  519 

Swell,  711 

Swerve,  739 

Swiftness,  646 

Sycophant,  437 

Symbol,  372 

Symmetry,  711 

Sympathy,  566 

Symptom,  514 

Synchronous,  246 

Synopsis,  16 

System,  712 


778 


INDEX. 


Tacit,  712 

1'aciturnity,  712 

Tact,  714 

Taint,  272 

Take,  SO 

Tale,  37 

Talent,  11 

Talisman,  713 

Talk,  696 

Talkative,  553 

'1  all,  484 

Tally,  713 

Tame,  453 

Tangible,  apparent,  104 

jxilpuble,  602 

Tantamount,  389 
Tardy,  692 
Target,  683 
Tarnish,  708 
Tarry,  542 
Tartness,  48 
Task,  714 
Taste,  genius,  453 

tart,  714 

flavour,  714 

Tatters,  647 

Taunt,  715 

Tautology,  repetition,  661, 

715 
Tax,  715 
Teach,  519 
Tear,  183 
Tease,  100 
Tedious,    irksome,    716, 

721 
Teem,  716 
Tell,  to  disclose,  336 

to  narrate,  578 

Temerity,  473 
Temper,    disposition, 

343 

to  moderate,  572 

mood,  574 

Temperament,  445 
Temperate,  23 
Tempest,  701 
Temporal,  743 
Temporary,  717 
Tempt,  383 
Tenacious,  61 
Tenacity,  717 
Tend, 259 
Tendency,  bent,  166 

drift,  356 

Tender^  718 


Tenderness,    attachment, 
127 

sensibility,  678 

Tenet,  348 
Tenor,  504 
Tent,  180 
Tentative,  408 
Tenn,  condition,  118 

tvord,  411 

Terminate,  to flnish,  43 

to  cease,  215 

to  close,  433 

Termination,  243 
Terrible,  352 
Terrific,  352 
Terrify,  449 
Territory,  718 
Terror,  85 
Test,  699 
Testify,  410 
Testimonv,  637 
Theft,  669 
Then,  ^66 
Thence,  266 
Theologian,  718 
Theory,  697 
Therefore,  266 
Thick,  187 
Thicket,  742 
Thin,  692 
Think,  718 
Thought,  718 
Thoughtful,  719 
Thoughtless,  509 
Thoughts,  267 
Threat,  719 
Threatening,  499 
Thrifty,  364 
Thrive,  438 
Throb,  602 
Throng,  288 
Throw,  720 
Thrust,  644 
Thwart,  595 
Tide,  703 
Tidings,  581 
Tie,  169 
Tight,  702 
Tillage,  289 
Time,  date,  295 

duration,  720 

seaso7i,  720 

Timely,  720 
Timid,  721 
Timorous,  721 
Tinge,  248 
Tint,  490 


Tire,  534 
Tiresome,  721 
Title,  577 
Toil,  743 
Token,  514 
Tolerate,  to  allow,  90 

to  suffer,  722 

Toll,  715 
Tomb,  722 
Tome,  722 
Tone,  722 
Tongue,  544 
Too,  92 
Tool,  525 
Top,  708 
Torment,  723 
Torpid,  723 
Tortuous,  689 
Torture,  723 
Toss,  to  shake,  682 

to  throw,  720 

Total,  whole,  384 

amount,  723 

Totter,  654 
Touch,  to  affect,  7S 

contact,  723 

Touching,  724 
Tour,  excursion,  535 

circuit,  670 

Tower,  700 

Trace,  to  derive,  316 

track,  724 

Track,  724 
Tract,  district,  346 

treatise,  392 

Tractable,  348 
Trade,  profession,  633 

commerce,  725 

Traducement,  203 
Traffic,  725 
Tragic,  606 
Train,  to  accustom,  43 

procession,  725 

Training,  366 
Traitorous,  728 
Tranquil,  201 
Transact,  726 
Transaction,  726 
Transcend,  401 
Transcribe,  726 
Transfer,  to  deliver,  312 

to  transport,  727 

Transfigure,  568 
Transform,  568 
Transgress,  726 
Transgression,  284 
Transient,  717 


INDEX. 


779 


Transitory,  717 
Translation,  735 
Translucent,  727 
'JVansmute,  568 
Transparent,  727 
Transport,  to  banish,  144 

to  carry,  186 

ecstasy,  365 

to  transfer y7 '27 

Travel,  537 
Travestie,  192 
Treacherous,  faithless, 

420 

insidious,  524 

traitorous,  728 

Treasonable,  728 
Treasure,  485 
Treat,  146 
Treatise,  392 
Treatment,  728 
Tremble,  682 
Tremendous,  352 
Tremor,  80 
Trepidation,    agitation, 

80 

alarm,  85 

Trespass,  281 
Trial,  effort,  368 

experiment,  408 

Tribute,  715 
Trick,  to  cheat,  226 

artifice,  728 

Trifling,  497 
Trip,  535 
Triumph,  736 
Trivial,  497 
Troop,  143 
Trouble,  77 
Troublesome,  721 
Truce,  115 
Truck,  149 
True,  50 
Truism,  641 
Trust,  belief,  161 

hope,  488 

Trusty,  420 

Truth,  729 

Try,  729 

Tug,  351 

Tumble,  357 

Tumid,  7S0 

Tumult,  238 

Tumultuary,  730 

Tumultuous,    boisterauSy 

177 

tumultuary,  730 

Turbulent,  177 


Turgid,  bomkistic,  730 

tumid,  730 

Turn,  166 
Twine,  730 
Twirl,  730 
Twist,  730 
Type,  730 
Tyrannical,  19 
Tyro,  730 


U. 

Ugliness,  731 
Ultimate,  conclusive,  259 

latest,  545 

Umpire,  537 
Unapproachable,  507 
Unbelief,  334 
Unbounded,  182 
Uncertain,  doubtful,  350 

precarious,  624 

U  ncertainty,  731 
Unconquerable,  526 
Uncouth,  awku-ard,  139 

coarse,  245 

Uncovered,  577 
Undaunted,  178 
Undecided,  533 
Undeniable,  512 
Under,  731 
Understand,  110 
Understanding,  528 
Undertaking,  731 
Unessential,  497 
Unfold,  322 
Ungainly,  139 
Ungovernable,  655 
Unhappy,  571 
Uniform,  387 
Unimpassioned,  342 
Unimportant,  497 
Unintelligible,  732 
Union,  732 
Unison,  concord,  259 

Tuelody,  564 

Unite,  to  coalesce,  244 

to  attach,  264 

to  join,  536 

Universal,  732 
University,  26 
Unleai'ned,  495 
Unless,  402 
Unlettered,  495 
Unlike,  733 
Unlimited,  182 
Unmerciful,  566 


Unoflfending,  472 
Unprincipled,  3 
Unproductive,  148 

'  Unquestionable,  512 

I  Unravel,  322 

I  Unrelenting,  502 

i  Unruly,  655 

j  Unsearchable,  523 

I  Unspeakable,  517 

i  Untruth,  421 
Unutterable,  517 
Unwilling,  657 
Upbraid,  171 
Uphold,  557 
Upon,  15,  598 
Uprightness,  487 
Uproar,  238 
Urbanity,  733 
Urge,  to  hasten,  28 

to  enforce,  381 

Urgent,  505 
Usage,  custom,  291 

treatment,  728 

Use,  accustom,  43 

to  employ,  374 

utility,  733 

Usefulness,  733 
Useless,  734 
Usually,  447 
Usurp,  112 
Utility,  733 
Utter,  312,  636 


V. 

Vacanc}^,  509 
Vacant,  empty,  375 

idle,  495 

Vacuity,  509 
Vagary,  204 
Vague,  546 
Vain,  517,  734. 
Valiant,  178 
Valour,  734 
Valuable,  625 
Value,  to  appraise,  109 

cost,  280 

Vanish,  734 
Vanity,  115 
Vanquish,  264 
Vapour,  476 
Variable,  511 
Variableness,  204 
Variance,  343 
Variation,  change,  219 
difference,  325 


780 


INDEX. 


Variation,  varieti/,  73r> 

Variety,  variation,  219 

difference,  325 

change,  735 

Various,  347 

Vary,  219 

Vast,  490 

Vaunt,  176 

Vehement,  460 

Veil,  241 

Velocity,  646 

Venal,  735 

Venerate,  65 

Venial,  735 

Venom,  619 

Venture,  danger,  294 

to  dare,  295 

Venturesome,  69 

Veracity,  729 

Verbal,  596 

Verge,  185 
Verify,  121 
Veritable,  50 
Verity,  729 
Versatile,  511 
Version,  735 
Vertex,  708 
Vestige,  724 
Vestment,  355 
Vesture,  355 
Vex,  589 
Vexation,  7'36 
Vibration,  736 
Vice,  284 
Vicinity,  580 
Vicissitude,  736 
Victor,  265 
Victory,  7'36 
Victuals,  424 
Vie,  704 
View,  aim,  83. 

aspect^  124 

to  behold,  159 

landscape,  543 

to  survey,  737 

Vigilant,  740 
Vigorous,  7S7 
Vigour,  379 
Vile,  149 
Vilification,  203 
Vindicate,  to  avenge,  131 

to  maintain,  557 

Violate,  726 
Violence,  737 
Violent,  450 
Virtual,  737 
Virtue,  goodnesa,  458 


Virtue,  honour,  737 
V^isage,  416 
Viscera,  738 
Visible,  104 
Vision,  454 
Visionary,  382 
Visitant,  738 
Visitation,  198 
Visitor,  738 
Vitiate,  272 
Vituperate,  171 
Vivacious,  227 
Vivacity,  99 
Vivid,  184 
Vocabulary,  324 
Vocal,  596 
Vocation,  375 
Vociferation,  238 
Vogue,  291 
Voiceless,  358 
Void,  destitute,  320 

empty,  S75 

Volatility,  549 
Volume,  mass,  560 

tome,  722 

Voluntary,       gratuitous, 
463 

spontaneous,  698 

Voluptuary,  386 

Voracious,  649. 

Vote,  738 

Vouch,  738 

Vow,  to  consecrate,  266 

oath,  585 

Voyage,  537 
Vulgar,  251 


W. 

Wages,  606 
Wakeful,  740 
Walk,  209 
Wan,  601 
Wander,  to  roam,  648 

to  deviate,  739 

Want,  541 
Wares,  458 
Warlike,  559 
Warm,  478 
Warmth,  458 
Warn,  64 
Warrant,  739 
Wary,  213 
Waste,  739 
Watch,  740 
Watchful,  740 


Waterman,  177 

Wave,  740 

Waver,  313 

Way,  668 

Wealth,  740 

Weaken,  380 

Weakness,  417 

Weapons,  115 

Weariness,  426 

Wearisome,  721 

Weary,  534 

Wedding,  559 

Wedlock,  559 

Weight,  burden,  191 

heaviness,  464 

importance,  505 

Weighty,  191 

Welcome,  31 

Welfare,  640 

Well-being,  640 

Wheedle,  197 

Wherefore,  266 

Whim,  204 

Whirl,  730 

Whiten,  173 

Whole,  all,  87 
complete,  384 

Wholesome,  476 
Wicked,  140 
Wickedness,  284 

Wide,  187 
Wield,  183 
Willing,  spontaneous,463f 

698 
Wily,  117 
Win,  46 
Wind,  741 
Wing,  615 
Wink,  175 
Wisdom,  742 
Wish,  742 
Wit,  buffoon,  189 

• humour,  192 

Withdraw,  651 
Withstand,  595 
Witness,  742 
Wizard,  556 
Woeful,  349 
Wonder,  amazement,  94 

marvel,  559 

Wood^  742 
Wooer,  708 
Word,  411 
Work,  to  operate,  594 

production,  632 

task,  714  ' 

labour,  742 


INDEX. 


78' 


World,  542 
Worldly,  743 
Worship,  65 
Worth,  value,  280 

7Jierit,  668 

Wrangle,  535 
Wrath,  743 
Wreath,  744 
Wrench,  741 
Wrest,  744 
Wretched,  571 


Wring,  744 
Writer,  744 
Wrong,  offence,  284 
hurt,  491 


Yet  489 

Yield,  to  afford,  78 


Yield,  to  concede,  21r 

to  submit,  745 

Yielding,  586 
Young,  745 
Youthful,  745 


Zeal,  745 
Zealot,  382 


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